Above Or Below

Above the helmet of Razimaru did everyone witness the brief moment of golden glowing words before they disappeared into thin air.

[Lost Empress of Akatosh]

[Envoy Of Light]

The awestruck faces of the beings before her made her confused, but she had let it slide because it might be an after effect of coming under her rule.

"Where have the Sanguans decided to stay in the Tree?" Razimaru asked out loud.

A smooth voice not strangled or broken sounded with clarity, "Below! Above has more room and there's more of them!"

"Croatians! Head up and find a spot to rest!" Razimaru said with a wave of her hand.

The Sanguans moved aside as the Croatoans explored the main floor and climbed up with ease, disappearing from view.

[Subordinate Bond Created]

[You May Chose To Respond At Your Will]

Nodding at the notification, but planned on a list of what to check when the Sanguans came forward in a respectable manner.

~Mistress of Light! What would you like us to do now that we don't have restraints? ~

~I was told you didn't know where any food stashes were, is that correct? ~

Astonished faces began to smile now that they all heard me without having a mediator.

~Correct.~

~Have you ever gone really high up?~

~No~

~Follow Yina and she'll help you find them just make sure you gather what you can! ~

"Yina!"

A white tiger appeared just under her Master, ~I heard! But how are they to carry them?~

GASPs

The Sanguans were taken aback, all staring at the tiger as they whispers and murmurs amongst themselves .

~It talked!~

~You heard what I heard?~

~The beast speaks!~

~Oi! Of course I speak!~ Yina replied with a whip of her head, ~I also can carry a lot of stuff in my fur! I just need help to store stuff. ~

Some of the females came forward, ~Of course we'll help you!~

~Let's go then! ~ Yina replied happily and bounded out of the entrance with the entirety of the Sanguans except for their leader.

"Now that you can speak... Do you want a name?"

"I have one!" He said proudly, "It is Darien!"

"Darien... Good name." She said in a happy tone as she was distracted by all the new types of options available to her that she could see near her status.

Multiple thuds could be heard from above as the Croatoans were having a difficult time seeing in the dark.

"I should go and check on them." She said with a heavy sigh as she tried to get out of his arms.

Setting her down she made her way to under one of the holes and 'doubled jump' straight up and disappeared as the light given off from her dimed from Darien's sight.

Darien sighed and made his way down as far as he could before he swiped his hand in front of him which brought up a glowing green screen.

[Shadow Guard Of Empress][Name: Darien]

[Leader Of Sanguans]

[Strength: 749]

[Agility: 630]

[Knowledge Transferred: 7 Beings][Welcome Back From The Dead Demon King Darien]

"Hide the last title! No one should know about that part!"

[Understood! What Do You Want To Access?]

"My followers statuses!"

[Gathering Please Wait]

[Total Available: 30/1,572]

Multiple smaller green screens popped up as he was given admin permission to change them however he wanted.

"Is [Storage] available for usage?"

[You Need Permission From The Empress]

[Why Would Your Majesty Bow To An Unknown Empress?]

"Empress is a higher status than a King. Wouldn't it be better to attempt to marry the Empress to become an Emperor?" Darien responded as he adjusted the stats of the still alive subjects of his from before.

[Records Are Lost About That Day Of Annihilation]

"That's good to know." He dismissed without giving any info as he was working on the last of the smaller screens.

[There's No Record Of The Empress Coming Through The Gate]

Darien paused.

[How Did She Come Into This Dungeon Without Being Recorded Coming In?]

The screen read as it was confused and needed answers.

"I don't know... But she has the title of Envoy of Light under her Empress title!" Finished with the modifications, "Trigger the modifications once they sleep!"

[Understood]

[Envoy Of Light? Weren't They All Killed By The Field Duo Bosses?]

(?∆?)

"They were Killed?"

[Correct]

"So how is she labeled as one?"

[Searching Database]

[Errors Are Detected]

[It Seems As If A 'Higher Accessed Classed System' Is Interfering With Your 'King System' Unable To Break Free But There's A lot Of Room To Move With]

Sighing heavily, he really didn't want to let her know about his past... But it looks like he has to get her acknowledgement before he's able to use other advanced options.

Looking up at the ceiling for a long time before he headed back up slowly as he tried to figure how he would bring it up that wouldn't get him killed.

Unbeknownst to him was something small with claws that was following him silently and well hidden like a ghost.

********

Heading up with a simple 'double jump' was refreshing as it was melancholy that she had control over her limbs and didn't go into an animated pose when doing so.

Making it up to the next level her armor glow lit up the level which startled the Croatoans. They were on the floor rubbing their heads as if they had gotten hurt.

"Y'all ok?"

They looked up at her while some had tears in their eyes while others looked away embarrassed.

The Leader came forward, "Could you by chance heal us a little?" He said while his face turned red and his hood turned a shade of pink, "As well as help us up?"

Scoffing silently to hide her laughter from sounding.

She walked to the middle of the room before putting a closed hand facing her, in front of her chest, then turning her hand upward and opening just a little bit until a small ball appeared. She threw it to the ground and a large misty healing circle appeared.

All those who were enveloped in it recovered rather quickly.

"I'll head up first and y'all come up through the lights in the ceiling." With that said she walked on air up to a hole and pulled herself up with ease.

As she waited for them to come up Shadurel contacted her through the new bond that was made.

~Master!? Would someone with a system be considered a 'Player' like from the game you took me from?~

Pausing and in deep thought she didn't notice that the others had come up until their Leader put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" He asked in a concerning tone with worry in his eyes.

"Yea... I'm fine... Just a bit exhausted from recent events since I haven't been able to rest." Razimaru replied as she took another look at this barren floor with the 40 people that took up less space than what was provided.

"How about you guys only take the first two floors so that way you know where the entrance is because I don't know if the sunlight will reach this high up."

Many nodded their heads before some slowly made their way down and they each got their own personal space as they laid down to rest and think about what they had done before up till now.

Heading back down to the main floor did the Hooded leader follow her.

"By the way?" She asked while looking back at him as they made their way to the middle of the room in the far back, "What should I call you?"

"We don't have names." He replied as he didn't miss a step and stayed within arms length of her, "Though there is this weird screen that we all can see that is separated by person... There's only our race and we are your subjects that are shown."

Once he said that she paused and looked back at him in disbelief.

"Can you do anything with the screen?"

"No! It only says our [Race] is [Croatoans] and [Subjects] of the [Empress of the Lost Light of Akatosh]!" He said as he read what he saw.

Baffled, Razimaru Triggered the effect 'I sit where I want' and sat in midair as she processed what he said.

As a dark figure slowly came out of a hole just to the side of where she was at did it hear her mumble.

"Empress of the Lost Light of Akatosh? Nothing Else is shown?" She asked.

"Correct." He replied, "Is it possible for you to name me and my people? Or just me so it would be easier for you..." He asked as he noticed Darien who was halfway out of a hole and was stepping lightly as he got closer.

"So who is this?" Darien asked.

Turning her head, she noticed Darien as an option popped up in her hud as she became conflicted.

"He's the Leader of the Croatoans!" She replied with a dismissive wave of her hand, "He doesn't have a name yet but I'm too exhausted right now to think." She moved to lay down on her side in midair, "Could you take him outside and see what you can gather?"

Darien replied with a hint of annoyance, "We have nothing to put anything we gather into though!"

"Not a problem!" With a snap of her fingers did Yanga appear beneath her. "Take Yanga! He has similar abilities as Yina does." she said with a yawn to her voice.

With that it was apparent that she had fallen asleep, the two boys left with the black tiger who was always behind them since he's supposed to only take care of the inventory.

Once the three of them fully left did she call out, "Alright now what do y'all want?"

Multiple heads popped out of the ceiling as they verified their Leader had gone before one from each hole came down with another still in the hole ready to pull them back up.

"Thank you for your forgiveness!" The ones on the main floor respectfully bowed with one hand over their chest and the other behind their lower back and their hoods retracted all the way into their heads and necks.

"No need to, just become useful in the future." She nonchalantly waved her hand.

Pausing because she had forgotten that she hadn't eaten anything since she got here.

She placed a hand in front of her helmet and it disappeared!

Many gasps sounded as more heads popped out from the ceiling to gaze upon her face as she summoned a tear drop looking fruit before eating it.

"Pretty!" x39 whispers.

With multiple gazes on her she summoned 39 Wumpa fruit and gave it to them to share.

Once she was done she put a hind back in front of her face and re-equipped her glowing helmet before laying down to sleep.

"Will we also get names?" They asked.

Making an annoyed face that none could see she replied with a sigh, "Make groups of Five people who will be incharge of different skillful

things. The leader for each group gets a name!"

Nodding their heads the ones on the floor got back up and they relayed her words for the naming issue. Quietly, so as not to wake her up, they began to group up in fives but there were four left without a fifth member so they decided that they would become a different type of unit.

They began to rest as well and would tell her their results when she was awake.

She however never went to sleep.

She just slowed her breathing down and became comfortable so her body would relax. What she was really doing going through all the notifications and options that had cluttered her screen inside her helmet.

[King System Detected Bonded With Subordinate Darien]

[Override Is In Place]

[Admin Control Over King System Access Available]

[Systems Given To Croatoans]

[Croatoan Hunters Have Grouped Into 7 Groups Of 5 & 1 Group Of 4 Who Wish The Creation Of Special Unit]

[Do You Approve?]

[Lost Light Of Akatosh! Do You Wish To Shine Brighter Than The False Sun's That Dot The Universe's, Who Contributes To The Distortions Of Multiple Lives Under Their False Glow Of Life?]

[Main Mission: Find The Lost Fate Underground]

[Underground Not Specified]

[Hint: I Am A Dwarf And I'm Digging A Hole]

[Dual Bosses Are Detected To Be In Stone Prisons]

[Bosses Not A Threat!]

[Cleared The Field Bosses With No Injury Is Detected]

[Reward is Being Generated]

[Reward Can Be Found In Inventory On A New Tab]

[Remaining Time Until Forced Relocation: 26 Hours 41 Minutes 12 Seconds]

[Find The Exit Or The Hidden Door In-between Worlds]

Shadurel appeared

on top of her side as he curled up and rested as he knew what she was doing.

'Yes I grant permission for the special unit?' She thought of keeping the composure of sleeping.

[Permission Granted Has Been Detected]

[All Special Ops Skills From Your Memory Will Be Transferred To New Special Unit]

[What Would you Like To Do With the Other 7 Groups?]

'Give them all Super Soldier Spartan training from memories from the books!'

[Accepted! Modifications Will Commence]

Faint muffled whimpers could be heard from overhead as they underwent modifications.

~Master! The Signal is getting closer at a steady pace!~

Shadurel mentioned as he turned his head in that direction which was opposite of the entrance of the Tree.

~Should I Initiate communication?~

After finishing up clearing the notifications did she look at the [Radar] map and saw what he had mentioned. It looked as if the larger dot wasn't alone, whereas her people had dispersed in the opposite direction that the other unmarked dot was.

Since there wasn't a need to worry about any clashing, she figured she might as well see who was coming since there was about half an hour before they made it to the Tree.

~Yes, do it~ She replied as she got up and [Hover Step] out the Tree and around to the back as quietly and quickly so no one would follow her.

[Communication Searching]

[Suitable Contact Possible]

[Initiating Communication]

[Sub Host, With Inferior System Of Mine, Access Detected]

[Contact?]

"Yes!" She replied as she was on her way, in the air, to meet the group of unknown dots halfway.

[Contacting Weapon Support]

[Connected]

A gruff deep smooth voice sounded with years of experience and had a hint of a tone that was familiar but couldn't place it,

"Unknown Empress! What is the pleasure of your call?!"

"Friend or Foe?" Razimaru asked in the same seriousness.

"Who wants to know?" He replied with a hint of amusement.

"The Empress of the Lost Light of Akatosh who's a Glowing Warlock right now! Can I assume you are a mix of a Titan or a Soldier and have a Ghost or AI with you?"

"You would be correct!" He said with a smile in his tone, "Friendly inbound with 15 subordinates!"

"Is this because of the countdown that you seek me?"

"Yes! As far as I'm concerned you are of higher rank so you are my superior... If you'll let me?"

"I'll think about it."

The dots stopped at her location but they couldn't find her as she looked down from above.

"Where are you at?" He asked.

As a Soldier with gray skin and a strong build with a white skull mask with three slashes on it and no mouth opening. He wore green camo cargo pants and odd looking armored combat boots that came into view with 15 others with wraith type hooded long cloaks behind him.

He looked around his surroundings before he asked, "Are you underground or in the air?"