I stayed in the village for a few more days while further logistics were worked out. Soon, however, it was time for me to leave.

Thankfully, I would not be trekking through the deadlands again. Though they rarely ever used it, the shadows also had access to the Diplomatic Visit ability. While it wasn’t quite long-ranged enough to get me straight to Ftheran, they’d be able to get me to Emer’Thalis, and I could make the jump from there.

“So is this it then? Time for me to teleport off and chat with a king?” A small send-off party consisting of the Elder, Hartha, Rock, and Amak had come to see me off, and I did my best not to look nervous in front of them.

“Not quite, dear,” the Elder chuckled. “Two gifts from me before you go. First, take this.” He handed me a large pouch which he procured from a satchel at his side. “Probably not a good idea to have you showing up in a city penniless, now is it? Consider it a payment for what you’ve done for us, and a forward payment for what you’re yet to do.”

I thanked the Elder and accepted it from his hands. As I transferred it into my inventory, I couldn’t help but notice the surprising heft it had. How much had the Elder given me, and where had he come by the coins in the first place? Did the shadows even use money?

“And second,” he continued. “Take this.” He reached out and touched my forearm, and I stifled a surprised yip as it began to burn. A black mark formed — a tree covered with patches of moss — and a notification sprang up.

Received Mark of the Redmoss Elder. Duration: 1 month

“It’s only temporary, but the mark will show that you have my support when you speak to the city’s leaders.” The Elder bowed, and immediately Hartha chimed in.

“Something from me too! Here!” She handed me a leafy branch, the use of which I couldn’t begin to guess at. I studied it, and some info text popped up.

Mouth of the Forest

If standing near a tree, the holder of this branch may contact the holder of its twin. Breaking this branch and planting the halves will allow the item to be duplicated.

Duration: 3 months

Cooldown: 1 day

“Neat, right? It’s a new skill I got. In any case, you’ll be able to contact me once a day. If something goes wrong, we’ll be in the loop, and if you send anyone our way, we’ll know to prepare for them. But also, don’t hesitate to just say hi!”

The newly-empowered shadow looked entirely pleased with herself. And why wouldn’t she be? Apparently Hartha could grow nature’s cellphones now. I stowed it away and thanked her with a hug.

Amak merely nodded at me. Of the two of us, it was actually I who had gifted him in some sense. The Elder had had me give the man administrative access to Emer’Thalis, and in my absence, he’d be able to let any shadows through the barrier if need be.

Last and certainly least was the commander.

“I will admit, I am reluctant to let you off on your own, girl. Mostly because this is a rather large task, and failure is not an option. I, however, am not worried that you will take the money you’ve been given and abandon us.”

For a moment, I was actually touched by his level of trust in me until he placed a meaty hand on my shoulder and clamped down. “I have faith that you wouldn’t do something like that, as I would hunt you down to the ends of the world if you did.” He fixed me with a predatory grin, barely looking abashed at all when the Elder cleared his throat.

“Aw, don’t worry. I’ll miss you too pal.” I shrugged off the threat and disengaged from the shadow as he scowled.

With that, I said a final round of goodbyes and the Elder activated his settlement ability. For better or for worse, it was time to leave the forest and the deadlands behind me and venture out into the wider world.

As the ability activated, I was thankful that the Elder had told me what to expect. Otherwise, I likely would have panicked.

Even with the warning, it was a jarring experience: Everything around me began to turn see-through.

Slowly at first, and then all at once, the world was leached of its opacity, shifting from various stages of translucence until finally settling into full transparency. The effect was dizzying, leaving me feeling as though I’d stumbled into a sea of glass.

I studied the crystal-clear figures that seconds ago had been my companions, finding them completely frozen.

“Weeeeirrd.” I spun north, turning my head back and forth until I caught sight of a single speck of black far into the distance. I focused on it, and the desired prompt popped up.

Emer’Thalis

Would you like to use your Diplomatic Visit to travel to Emer’Thalis?

I confirmed, and a pleasant tingling sensation filled my body, growing in intensity until it was all I could feel. It built up and up, as if my blood had been sucked out and replaced with champagne bubbles. Then, without warning, I shot forward.

My body raced straight through the many transparent trees between me and the city in the distance. With each passing moment, my pace increased dramatically, until everything about me melted together in a single blur of movement.

For a single second, the entire world went pitch black, and then, quite suddenly, it was over.

I stood, dizzy and reeling from the abrupt transition and once again in a world with color. Not much color considering the sky was black and the only things around me were weathered stone and layers of dust, but still.

But hey! I’d been a bit worried there for a moment, but I guessed I’d survived my first teleportation spell! I resolved to check that off my bucket list of otherworldly magical experiences as soon as my head stopped spinning.

Once I was certain I had my wits about me, I activated my own version of the ability to repeat the experience once again. Quickly, I found my next destination.

Would you like to use your Diplomatic Visit to travel to Ftheran?

One more time, I was sent hurtling through a world of transparency, and then, I was there. A trip that would have taken me weeks on foot, and it was done in minutes.

Unlike the previous time, however, I didn’t end up in the open. Instead, I found myself in a round room which almost could have passed for the interior of any administrative building back on Earth.

The only giveaways were the walls and the chairs. The prior consisted of some soft-looking, shockingly smooth material that I couldn’t make out. Its base color resembled a clay brown, but parts of it had been colored — predominantly with shades of green and black — to form wave-like geometric patterns. In its entirety, the effect was somewhere between a mural and a wallpaper.

The chairs likewise appeared to be made out of the same material. They were bulky and had large triangular bases in lieu of legs.

Otherwise, though, things were standard. A wooden desk lay before me, papers scattered across it and a man sitting behind it. He was perhaps in his 30s, with dark skin and a bald head, and presently he was looking at me with wide eyes and raised brows.

After a moment, he collected himself.

“Welcome to Ftheran City. You’ll have to excuse me, but I wasn’t made aware of any incoming teleports today. Are you expected?”

Welp. There was probably a whole protocol for this sort of thing, wasn’t there? Ah well. Hopefully there wasn’t too much bureaucracy to go through.

“Sorry. Not expected. The reason I’m here is kind of important, though, and I do have this if it helps!” I flashed my newly acquired settlement owner’s mark.

Apparently that was a somewhat big deal, as his eyes only grew wider before he excused himself to find someone else.

The wait was surprisingly long given how quickly the man had run out, and I settled into one of the bulky chairs. Much to my surprise, the material seemed to hug me like a memory foam, but more snug. It was horrifyingly comfortable, and I briefly considered trying to shove it into my spatial pouch before recalling that stealing chairs would probably not be the best look on me.

I was snapped out of my larcenous thoughts a moment later as an older man in emerald robes shuffled in. He bowed deeply before addressing me.

“Greetings. Apologies for the wait — we sadly were not expecting you. Might I inquire as to whom I’m speaking? I was made to believe I was aware of all the settlement owners in the near vicinity, but you’ll hopefully forgive me for saying I fail to recognize you.” Each word came out slowly, as if hand-crafted by a team of artisans living in his head.

Was there a polite way to tell him to chill out with the verbal tiptoeing? Probably not. In any case, I imagined he’d feel much more at ease as soon as he figured out what my deal was, so I wasted no time.

“Hi there, I’m Tess. I recently picked up an abandoned city in the deadlands, and I’m on a mission to get an audience with the king to have a chat about it with him.” I left out the part about informing the king of the nearby ancient evil creature of darkness. Probably best not to spread a panic if I could help it.

The man’s demeanor shifted instantly as I got past the words “abandoned city,” and I wondered if I should have kept that a bit closer to my chest. “Ahhh, I see. Certainly a tale I’d be interested to hear more of, and I imagine you’ll get no shortage of attention from the archeologically inclined. Just to set expectations, however, I feel it necessary to inform you that this likely is not a matter that directly requires the king’s attention. As you might imagine, he’s a very busy man, an-”

He raised a good point. Did I actually need to talk directly to the king? Maybe his aides would suffice.

Eh, they probably wouldn’t. Not without ten kilometers of red tape, in any case.

Besides, I bet the king would be a lot more willing to help if I could get into a room with him and show him the vision crystal. One look at the freaky monster living a week from his border, and he’d be very interested in taking care of it.

“Totally get where you’re coming from. What if I said it was reaaallly important and had this though?” I pulled up the Mark of the Protagonist and held my wrist out to the man while shooting him my best winning grin.

Things moved much more quickly from there.

An hour later, I sat in the world’s fluffiest bed with a second breakfast on a tray in my lap. Even with my marks, the king was still too busy to meet with me until tomorrow, but apparently “settlement-owning Protagonist” was the kind of thing that got you a room in the royal palace.

As expected from a palace, the food was superb. A large bowl of a yellow granular substance was topped with fried eggs, a rich orange sauce, and a few thin slices of crispy meat. The sauce had a tomato taste to it, and the entire thing reminded me of a mixture between a breakfast polenta and some shakshuka. Accompanying it was a dark cube of dense and yeasty spiced bread coupled with a large mug of kash.

I inhaled it all indiscriminately.

“The king can take as long as he wants,” I belched out. The bed alone nearly brought me to tears after spending a month sleeping on furs.

Still, the day was early, and there was an entire city to explore! It was time to be a tourist!

I looked downward at my visibly rounded food belly. Just maybe after a little nap.