A Mysterious Stranger

Luke spent the first couple of seconds of his freefall panicking. However, as the air blew through his hair and the ground grew ever closer, Luke had a brief window to look around. He couldn't help but enjoy that moment.

Not long into his descent, he was joined by Ra who flew alongside him and danced along in the air. It was as if Ra was trying to share with him just how liberating the feeling of flying could be, even if Luke was just able to fall.

Sadly, despite the height of the jump, it didn't take long before he was diving into the large pile of toilet paper.

"That was Incredible!" Luke said jumping up after the landing, which had not done any damage in the slightest. "I kind of want to do it again." 

The adrenaline of free falling had given Luke a massive rush. He couldn't help but compare it to his earlier jump which he had hated. This one, however, had been an amazing experience that he hadn't wanted to end.

The dramatic change in the size of his jump felt like a metaphor for Luke's growth. In such a small period the scale of what he could do was changing dramatically. Luke started to consider how fast his other abilities could grow. How much more would he need to improve before a small-time gang like the one who had held him captive would be no match for him? 

Luke's perceptions of scale and his own self-confidence were growing by the minute.

When Luke had landed he had also received a notification. 

*ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED*

[No Hay, Just Toilet Paper] Bronze Achievement unlocked for completing 1 Faithful Leap (+2 to 3 Random Stats: Defence, Attack, Magic Attack)

It turned out that this achievement had been unhidden, so Luke made a mental note that at some point he needed to just sit down and read through all the revealed achievements. That said he wasn't sure he would have guessed what he needed to do from the description. It was once again a weird reference to a video game.

Having landed without any trouble Luke got off the giant mound of toilet paper. This time as he left he didn't take any of the rolls. He didn't want to end up with yet another weird title. Once he was a few metres away from the mound it vanished. 

"I guess I can't do that again even if I wanted to." Luke sighed, however, he knew he had to get back to the supermarket as quickly as possible.

When Luke arrived at the supermarket, the fire had already burnt itself out. The only thing that remained of the building was a large pile of rubble. Luke felt a bit guilty that there had probably been some useful things left inside. Thankfully, as it was a free-standing building, the fire hadn't spread, which was at least a small relief to Luke's conscience. 

Approaching the large pile of rubble Luke realised that his worries hadn't been unfounded. He wasn't the only one searching the debris.

A group of rats had the same idea. While they were once rats, like the predator pigeons the large changes to their bodies meant that they had also gained another name: 'Rancour Rats.' As they saw Luke draw near, one by one they came out of the rubble and squared up to Luke. In all, there were 6 of them. 

Luke was more than ready to start his rematch with the creatures that had tried to gang up on him at his weakest and this time he would fight without any cheats. However, before he could Ra flew in between him and the rats.

"Oh, Ra do you want to take this fight then?"

"Kreee" Ra replied positively.

"Well then let's see what you can do."

As soon as Ra had been given the go-ahead he flew forward at full speed smashing into the group, sending them all flying. The Rancour Rats got up quickly, seemingly not too badly hurt, but Ra used the fact that the rats were now spread out to start attacking them one at a time. 

Even though Ra had grown much smaller and lost some of his power he had clearly held a seat of power for a reason. Ra could be ferocious. His wings were still strong and sharp enough to slice at the rats almost as well as his talons. 

As much as Ra's attacking prowess was nothing to scoff at, he really shone whenever the rats tried to attack him back. Flying around, Ra was able to dodge and weave passed every single attack the creatures threw at him. It made Luke wonder if he had gotten a little lucky in their fight when he had so effectively negated Ra's strong point early on. 

One after another the competition for the gems was killed by Ra. After the fourth Luke received a notification. 

*ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED*

[Pest Control] Bronze Achievement unlocked for killing 5 Rancour Rats (+3 to health)

More than just the stats Luke was delighted at what this achievement meant. Now he knew that what Ra did could contribute to Luke's Completion system.

As the 6th rancour rat was defeated by Ra, Luke thought that the fight was over. But from under the rubble, one last rat emerged and in its mouth it held what Luke had come here for. 

Ra noticed what was going on just as fast and darted to prevent the rat from absorbing the Azure Gem. It was an impressive size larger than the ones that had come from the predator pigeons, which was no surprise considering its source, a dark wolf, was stronger. Unfortunately, as fast as Ra was he could not prevent the rat from consuming it. 

As soon as the Rancour Rat did, it immediately grew in size. Its whole body bulked up and there could be no doubt that the creature was stronger. But the change wasn't enough to protect it from a now angry Ra. Grabbing the larger Rancour Rat in its talons the Guardian dragged the creature high into the sky. Ra then looped back on himself and soared straight towards the ground. Just before the ground Ra released the rat and while he narrowly missed the ground the Rat continued straight into it.

The Rancour Rat did not survive Ra's Avian version of a suplex, instead, it now lay motionless and looked a little too much like roadkill for Luke's liking. 

"Hmmm probably not best to get on Ra's bad side," Luke mumbled. 

"Yes, I hope that you will treat him well."

Luke jumped at the voice. He had gotten used to Ava's voice surprising him by suddenly communicating directly to his head, but this was not Ava's voice.

"Who was that?" Luke responded searching for the source of the voice and putting up his guard. 

"No need to worry I just came to see who had defeated the Eastern Guardian and has become the newest Seated Lord in the city. I wish you no harm." Luke managed to locate where the voice was coming from. The top of the building behind him. But as he looked up at the rooftop, he could only see a shadowy figure.

Ra flew in between Luke and the shadowy figure and let out a loud call.

"Sorry, I will not stay in your territory long..... I guess it is no longer your territory but the boy's. Anyway, I was merely curious, I will be on my way. Before I go what is your name?" 

"I am Luke." and Ra gave off a "Kree"

"Luke it was nice to meet you. And Ra, was it?"

Another "Kree" came from Ra in response. It appears the mysterious stranger could fully understand Ra's speech.

"I will be sure to address you by your new name from now on. I like the name Ra, it suits you. "

"Are you going to tell me your name?" Luke asked.

"Oh, that can wait. I am sure we will meet again. As an apology for crossing into your territory, I will give you some advice. Look west. It looks like the gates will be opening soon. I would recommend you find shelter."

Luke looked to the west but saw nothing different from usual. But if the gates really were opening he needed to listen to the suggestion and get moving. "Thank you for the advice, but you don't need to worry we are heading to shelter in a place called pleasure."

"Oh I see, have you been before?"

"I have not, but are you saying it does exist, how do I find it?"

"Oh asking favours from me already? Hmmm, I will give you this for free but other questions will cost you. It does indeed exist. As to how to find it... Well... How about a clue? 'They say that those who seek nothing but pleasure, end up in hell.' With that, I will take my leave now. Goodbye."

"Wait what does that mean," Luke shouted but the shadow was already gone. "Couldn't you just have told me and not given me some weird riddle thing? Uhhh, Well at least they confirmed it's real."

Ra came and landed on Luke's shoulder and Luke noticed that he seemed crestfallen. "What's wrong Ra?"

In response, Ra pointed its wing towards the larger rat.

"Wait do you feel bad about the gem? Don't worry about it. It was my fault for not collecting it before." These weren't just sympathetic words. Luke should have taken the gems, but it had slipped his mind. It was his fault. "You never know there still might be some left. Would you check for me Ra?"

"Kree" Ra responded emphatically and flew off. 

Only a minute or so later he returned with two stones, one just as big as the one the rat had found, the other smaller. Ra's speed confirmed that he had a talent for gathering the gems and he was pleased he could now delegate that responsibility.

*ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED*

[Gemologist II] Bronze Achievement unlocked for collecting 5 Azure Gem (+2 to All Stats)

Yet another achievement, however, it seemed they weren't going to stay this easy forever. [Gemologist III] required 25 gems and gave the same reward. It also appeared that the size of the gems didn't affect the completion system like it influenced the degree of improvement through absorption.

With the detour over, Luke was going to take the mysterious figure's warning seriously. He looked out west nervousness painted all over his face. "We need to get to Pleasure as fast as we can."