Looking at the “thing” pondering his options , I floated suspended in the air.

  That thing was my newly acquired summoner, the act was non consensual , one day I was roaming all of the underworld then.

  BAM

  I'm here. I didn’t mind though , the change in scenery justified my current relocation in life. Not that I had much choice , I learned long ago not to ruminate on things out of your control.

  Any who back to the present this guy “Alioth” seemed to be quite the romanticist . He's always giving speeches every two seconds , about “pain or “love . All the things children believed but in a way, watching mortals try to change things with their brief existence was endearing. He wasn't a particularly handsome or charismatic fellow but that also had its charms.

  I can see in 360 degrees vision so I liked to do this thing where I gauged his allies facial expressions. One thing that was new even for me was how fervent this bird monster “Oolia” I believe her name was , to Alioth. If I didn't know any better I would say that she was in love .she really was under some sort of mind control. This is what I thought anyway , I didn't know that much about mortal hormones and what not.

  He didn’t notice it but she was literally always looking at him, who knows maybe they were a couple but Alioth didn’t seem as interested. I was surprised to see Eldritch make an appearance , that old rat managed to trick someone into selling him their soul . Though that wasn’t my jurisdiction to speak on yet and more importantly I didn't care as much.

  There was also a Goblin who I could tell was a schemer. Somehow she always knew the right things to say or do in order to gain the teams good grace or maybe she was just lucky , hard to tell.

  Then there was the dragon who I saw as the guardian of the team , he was by far the most mature and powerful, though he had the flaw that came with those qualities at such a young age.

  he was prideful. Each member of this team had glaring flaws but I suppose that's why they get along so well.

  “ I'm going to put on the crown “ Alioth said

  The man was then put on the crown .The gear he was bestowed looked quite powerful, if I did say so myself.

  Upon putting on the crown it morphed to cover half his face like a mask. He was given red and black knight armor , with a crescent shaped staff . He didn’t even have to hold the staff , this was proven when he accidentally dropped it but it remained stationary. The clothes made the man and in this case the armor. He went from looking like a peasant boy with a dream to a real conqueror in the matter of point 2 seconds

  “You look absolutely kingly Alioth “

  “Thanks Oolia, I feel tons more powerful too . I'm getting a shit ton of notifications about mana reduction and restoration. I almost feel like I'm cheating “

  “Nah dude you're fine. You need to be as strong as possible if you want to live fighting all the crazy shit that goes on in the later floors .” Gabla told him

  I happened to agree Alioth was certainly a powerful C ranker even by raider standards but he was only tasting a taste of true power. The armor was bestowed upon him by a god so what did he expect. Looking at his party again I could estimate that they were collectively A rank. The power difference between C and A were ginormous if you didn't know.

  “Gabla is right “ I didn’t spare many words ,there was no need . Experience will do that for me

  “Isn’t that heavy” Oolia asked

  “ No it's actually even lighter than the rags I was wearing earlier. It says that it is magically enhanced . I hate to say it but Eldritch came through clutch on this one. Just putting it on is making me gain most of my mana back, and it is filling up rapidly.” the boy responded

  I could tell that Eldritch had some type of emotional investment to Alioth. I could just tell by the level of gear that was given basically free of charge. There could be more to their deal than I knew of.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “So do you believe we’ll be ready in a days or? The dragon Zhilsiza asked

  “They way this is going in a few minutes “ Alioth said back

  "A few minutes?" Zhil replied

  ' Yeah I know its insane right? Maybe this could better help with parleying . "

  Looking at his red demon scythe staff Ali said "Yeah I think this might do the trick"

  After a few minutes Alioth was ready to go for a second attempt.

  How did he plan to do this , just because his mana was full doesn't mean mine was full.

  "Lethero, can you open the gate"

  "Alioth you are aware that my mana is at 1% correct? " i asked him

  for some reason he seemed to think my voice was childlike. In the demon realm my voice was feared.

  "yeah I know but earlier i mentioned mana restoration. I think if i touch you with the staff and will it, than i can transfer my mana to you "

  i floated there gob smacked without any gobs around to smack. Ok i could clearly tell the Eldritch wanted him alive , he gave Alioth exactly what he needed to survive this encounter. Putting his staff

  dangerously close to one of my eyes , he closed his eyes. I could feel the mana flooded into me. It wasn't painful but it felt like Alioth was entering me , never in my life have I felt this . It was ok with me I welcomed the new sensation. Living for so long any new experiences were worth pursuing .

  "Did it work? Alioth asked me unsure

  "It did. How big of a gate do you want open?"

  "Just enough to fit me and Zhil." Turning to his dragon friend he asked "Hey Zhil... uh... can I ride you... like on your back. I mean just think about how cool and powerful you'll look with me on it"

  "Alioth, no need to be coy about these things. I understand it is for the mission so I will allow it"

  "Thanks Zhil you always have my back" He said while rubbing the back portion of his skull mask"

  "As you have mine" the dragon responded in a rare show of affection

  Getting on to the dragons back The king said " Leto whenever you're ready. "

  Looking at the pair they really looked the part.

  "Ok Im going to open the gate , prepare yourself"

  Pouring my energy into my core A gate opened roughly the size of the duo. Alioth's face changed from happy to a stern expression, so I knew he meant business

  I wonder what its like to have a face

  "we'll make it back alive"

  and like that they left

  With Zhilsiza and Alioth gone it was only me , Gabla and Oolia.

  “ Eeeeeeeeeeeeek ” Oolia said while rolling on the grass. It was comical to me how she continued rolling back and forth making all kinds of strange noises.

  “Dude you have a huge lady boner for Ali”

  “Is it really that obvious “ Oolia said while continuing her roll grass bath

  “KiNg AlIoTh HaS TaUghT mE THiNgs” Gobla said while laughing her ass off

  “You couldn’t suck his dick harder even if you wanted to.”

  “Shut up!” Oolia responded rather embarrassed “you don't know what’s it like , this soul bonding shit changed me”

  “Your a simp!! ”

  Watching the two gossip while I was right there was amusing. You would think they would immediately focus on plans for if things went wrong or their roles in the kingdom. Out of sight out of mind as they say. Perhaps I should join in their jest.

  “It’s only natural Oolia would admire a man such as Alioth”

  Oh crap my voice was monotone ,I think the last time I attempted humor was a few hundred thousand years ago. So my skills have perished .

  Standing up straight as a pole ,Oolia took and held my spikes. “You understand me don't you!”

  Eh… The look she was giving me was intense. If I said no , what was the probability of her ripping out my spikes. Blinking twice, I made a decision to lie.

  “Eh, of course”

  “That's right your just like me! “

  The goblin only busted out laughing harder. I think she could see the predicament i was in . In Between laughing and cry she said “You know we should start a Alioth Super Secret Fan Club”

  The birds pupils were darting around disturbingly. The thirst levels were unreal , though she was still holding onto my spikes so I reserved comments.

  “I think that's a perfect idea “ Oolia quipped

  This was the downside of not having hands , I couldn’t brush her off me. Luckily she let go and turned to Gabla.

  “I declare myself leader of this fan club” Oolia said with one hand, her hip and a finger pointed to the sky.

  I knew a guy named Subaru who would do the same thing but that's neither here nor there. Of course this Alioth maniac would want to be leader of an imaginary fan club.

  “... ah… You do realize I was joking right? The goblin responded terrified . Of what? Who knows.

  “I'm not joking at all , if this kingdom is going to succeed then there needs to be a secret underground fan club that works from the shadows”

  There didn’t need to be a secret underground Fanclub, but her brain was already ticking. This is probably what she was terrified of.

  “There does?” asked the goblin

  “There does. Think about it who else will protect the king when things got rough” The harpy eagle look alike said

  The army was what I was thinking but I already knew where this was going

  “That's right its his most loyal supporters or aka his biggest fans” she said without anyone interrupting her tirade.

  In a sense that was true but it was obviously her warped interpretation of the truth.

  Let's see how far I can take this.

  “I agree with Oolia , we need to be his supporters in the shadows, and recruit people without him knowing .He can never find out but we have to act in devotion deserving of a king.

  A single tear came from Oolia's eye “ Leto you're my second in command “

  Fuck

  I needed to stop goading her on even if it was for my entertainment

  “You know I don't think I can do about third in command, I mean Gabla clearly wants this more than I do. She's even the one who mentioned it.”

  Gabla slowly turned to look at me like I was her betrayer, which was true .I was totally throwing her under the horse. No mercy

  “See look how happy she looks , you know Oolia if I wasn’t the wiser it would seem to me like you have a romance competitor.!”

  “YOU!” Gabla tried to lunge for me but Oolia stopped her dead in her tracks.

  Holding her hand across her chin in a check mark Oolia remarked “ A rival I see “

  “No! I'm not a rival Leto is just-”

  “Ah ah. No need to be shy about this. I will officially declare you my rival ”

  My job here was complete

  About 3 hours later I got a telepathic message

  “LETO OPEN THE GATEE!! I MANAGED TO CHANGE THE MINDS OF 30ISH PEOPLE, ALSO I GOT RANK C- , LETO OPEN THE GATE! OPEN THE GATE. Ali kept screaming in my mind

  I got it open the gate, which I did. I assumed he was in imminent danger. He with all his foolish ambitions , came across as one of the less temperamental members of the crew.

  After opening the gate a group of 30 yellow bird people jumped in , including the one I assumed to be their leader.