“Hello, child. Is there a reason that no one has seen fit to tell me what happened to the Heart?” She delivered the line quite casually considering that she’d just dragged me from my tent and strung me upside down from a tree branch.

Internally, I cursed.

Really? Rock didn’t end up giving her the lowdown? The shadows seemed to take the whole “dryad” thing pretty seriously, so it came as somewhat of a surprise.

Wonder if he left this for me as payback for immediately going to bed after the dungeon and leaving him with explanation-duty. Or maybe he just hadn’t gotten to it. After all, it had only been a day.

Regardless, it looked like I’d be delivering more bad news today.

“Um. Hi Elphaea. Lovely chatting with you. No chance you want to have this talk while I’m right-side-up, is there?” All the blood was uncomfortably rushing to my head.

She stared at me, silently. I let out a nervous chuckle.

Well, it was worth a shot.

“So, Hartha kind of got kidnapped. By a god. But in a good way! The god said she’d bring Hartha back eventually.” That about covered it, right? I shot her my most winning smile, not sure if it really registered upside down.

The dryad sighed, stirring up a breeze that rustled through the trees. “Child. Explain.”

What? Short version really not good enough? Ah well.

As best as I could, I gave Elphaea the longer version, still trying to be as succinct as possible so she’d free me faster. It wasn’t the most pleasant chat I’d ever had, but eventually I got it all out.

Once the story was complete, far from looking angry or worried, Elphaea actually looked somewhat relieved.

“I see. That is acceptable, although I do wish these gods of yours had cleared their planned course of action with me beforehand. I am happy to hear that the Heart is alive and well.” At this, she at last seemed to decide to release me, the root which bound my leg slowly lowering me to the ground. Covered in dirt, I rose to my feet.

“Thanks. And, uh, sorry for not getting around to telling you. Busy day.” I could have tried something sterner, like “Next time, maybe just try knocking?” but for all that I was nominally the settlement owner, I wasn’t going to push my weight around with the dryad. She could, after all, very thoroughly kick my ass, and this time around, her concern was understandable.

Choosing not to acknowledge my thanks, she pushed on. “Do you have any estimate for when the Heart will be returned?”

I shook my head. Who could say when it came to gods? Years for them probably passed like days.

“Unfortunate. You do realize that I am stuck here until she returns?”

My mouth curled into a wide O. I’d forgotten just how important Hartha was to the dryad, just for getting around. Her class ability was the only reason Elphaea was able to walk outside the forest. Without it…

“I’m guessing you can’t just give another shadow the Heart of the Forest class then?” The process had seemed pretty simple the first time around. If all she needed was someone with the class…

She sighed once more, shaking her head. “I cannot. Such blessings have heavy limitations and cooldowns. If the Heart does not return, then I would remain stuck here for a long, long time.” Her gaze left me as she seemed to consider something for a second before looking back to me. “Although, now that the dark mana has subsided, I do suppose I could simply join this forest up with the one I came from. A hassle, but it would be a rather short affair. Likely only a few brief decades, give or take.”

Right. A short affair. I at least strongly hoped that Hartha would be coming back before “a few brief decades.”

“Well, having the deadlands not be so… dead would be nice either way. And if Hartha does come back, I’ll make sure to let you know immediately. Does that about cover it?”

She shooed me away dismissively. “Yes, yes, child. Thank you for meeting with me.”

Didn’t really have much of a choice, but, all right.

Not waiting for me to head off, Elphaea walked back into the tree she’d come out of. Right before she was completely gone, she turned back to me, no more than a face in the wood.

“And perhaps consider talking with the other child. The bartender.” With that, she fully sunk into the tree, leaving me alone once more.

My nose wrinkled at the comment. She literally tried braining me with a tankard of moonshine last time. Why would I- You know what? Not dealing with that one right now. I had different priorities.

Still, Elphaea’s situation stuck with me even after she left. First with the arrival of the kexids, and now with her, it seemed as though Emer’Thalis was bound to be less empty than I’d expected. I still assumed that most all of the shadows and the fighters would be leaving eventually, and certainly foreman Tuk would be as well, but the place wasn’t going as fully deserted as I’d imagined.

Well, that’s fine by me. Maybe Elphaea can make friends with the kexids if Hex takes too long with Hartha.

Done with the unexpected interruption, I made my way back to my tent.

After spending some time washing the heavy dirt stains out of my clothing, I returned to my previous task: Notifications. And if I recalled, there’d been a rather big one right before I’d been dragged off. I flipped over to it, reading the start of it once more.

CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE SLAIN A PROTAGONIST! FOR YOUR FEAT, YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED THE MARK OF THE ANTAGONIST!

You have received the Mark of the Antagonist (I).

+250 Prestige

+1 Average Boon

Boons gained through the Mark of the Antagonist will be aligned with the deity who selected the slain Protagonist.

This is a levelable mark! Further kills will cause the mark to upgrade, allowing you to gain more experience, Prestige, and boons from each Protagonist you slay.

Be aware, this mark can also be leveled by slaying other Antagonists as well.

Bonus for next kill:

+1% of all experience ever gained by the slain Protagonist

+1 stat point in the slain Protagonist’s highest stat

I stared at the text for a while, mind racing until it eventually settled on one thought over the rest.

Well, fuck.

The mark was neat! True! I’d gotten some extra Prestige, and I’d be getting an extra boon as well. I could get behind that.

What I couldn’t get behind was the implication behind the mark. The implication that many people would absolutely love to kill me right now.

Based off the levelable nature of the mark, I had to imagine that some people made a lifestyle out of it too. There would be people out there who’d killed scores of Protagonists. Someone like me — weak and low leveled compared to other Protagonists — would be a goldmine for them.

I sighed, but ultimately remained calm. The new side effect from Trauma Suppression must have been working well in this case, as the idea of being hunted would have normally freaked me out a bit more.

Probably… shouldn’t have told so many people I was a Protagonist. In this case, if I couldn’t win against other Antagonists in a fight, anonymity was my best bet.

Still, it wasn’t all bad. Considering none of the shadows had ever specifically warned me about Antagonists, I was hoping they weren’t common, or perhaps not widespread knowledge.

And considering that the mark could be leveled by killing other Antagonists, even if people did know about it, they’d likely think twice before trying to kill me. It would, after all, be painting a giant target on their back.

Nothing I can do about it now. And besides: Getting this mark just means that I have just as large of a target on my back as I would anyways.

I summoned up the mark, finding it to be in a similarly swirling and ornate style to the Protagonist version. The main difference was that this one shone in a bloody red.

It was something I’d likely want to think more on, especially if I went out into the broader world, but for now, I wouldn’t dwell on it any further.

What I would dwell on was the new boon! The next prompt was a welcome one.

You have received a Light-aligned Average Boon. Would you like to look at your options?

Dare I even hope? Maybe because this boon wasn’t associated with Dex, I’d actually get to pick it this time? I hit yes, and lo and behold, a list popped up!

Only to flicker out a moment later.

As a Protagonist chosen by a god of lu-

“God dammit!” At least I had 25 Luck now. Hopefully I’d get something good?

Average Boon Selected. Gained new ability: Illuminated Sight

All detection skills are treated as if they were 10 levels higher.

Grants resistance to illusions and visual obfuscation effects.

Grants darkvision.

Prevents others from detecting your use of Identification skills.

My sight went dark for a moment before returning to me, as if my eyes had just undergone a reboot. Compared to the changes from hitting 25 in Perception, the effects were more subtle. Still, the interior of my tent did seem a touch brighter.

In many ways — save for the darkvision — it felt like it was doubling down on what I already got from God’s Eye. Still, I had no complaints. My stats had largely evened out by this point, but I’d started off with most of my points invested into Perception.

While nonstandard, I had to admit I’d grown to enjoy it. It was possible that it wouldn’t come up that often, but being able to spot secrets and see past illusions had already proved its worth before.

Plus, that note about other people not being able to tell when I Identified them was a major plus too. I still remembered how Elphaea had somehow known that I’d tried using God’s Eye on her, and I’d been afraid to use it on anyone high-leveled since then out of fear of offending them. It looked like I’d be able to do so now without them knowing.

Still would have kind of preferred “Obliteration Ray” or “Light That Kills All the Bad Guys” more, but can’t really complain.

I’d have to try the ability out at some point, but that could wait. By this point, I was nearly to the end of all my notifications.

Congratulations! You have earned an Achievement: Underdog (II)

Win a solo fight or land the killing blow on an enemy at least 15 levels higher than you.

+15 Prestige

Congratulations! You have earned an Achievement: Underdog (III)

Win a solo fight or land the killing blow on an enemy at least 25 levels higher than you.

+25 Prestige

I let out a long whistle. The guy was apparently at least a level 33. God’s Eye didn’t let me get a read on people that high-leveled, so I hadn’t actually known. With the exception of maybe Elphaea — who’s level I still had no idea about — Ephesis had been leagues above anyone else I’d come into contact with. Admittedly, that was something I’d already known, but seeing it written down had a different effect.

Ephesis, however, was not the only one to grant me an achievement.

Congratulations! You have earned an Achievement: Meet a God x2 (Repeatable)

+100 Prestige (first time bonus)

+50 Prestige

Neat. The system didn’t seem to count things I’d done before coming here, but if I counted Dex, that actually made it three gods that I’d had a chat with so far.

Wonder how many people can say that? And I wonder what it says about me that it’s starting to feel normal?

After all of that, only one pair of notifications remained. It dealt with one of my lesser-used abilities that I’d gained from God’s Mind after hitting my Perception and Intelligence thresholds. As I read the twin prompts, I groaned.

Watch and Learn Activated: You have gained the skill Ritual Magic.

That one wasn’t so bad, but…

Watch and Learn Activated: You have gained the skill Demonic Summoning.

Cancel! Undo! Unlearn! I wasn’t sure if any nations had the magical equivalent of the FBI, but something told me this was the sort of skill that landed a person on a watchlist.

Well, fine. Just because I had the skill didn’t mean I needed to level it. It could sit tight. In fact, it would kind of have to sit tight. While I’d gained the first level in both of the skills, I was hardly proficient enough in either to cast a full-on ritual. I’d probably just blow myself up or accidentally sell my soul to a demon.

No thanks. Still not sure exactly how souls work, but I like mine unsold.

And at last, that was it. I’d gotten through all the notifications I’d somehow amassed in less than two hours spent inside the dungeon. Multiple levels, multiple skills, multiple achievements, and a new mark to boot. I couldn’t say that I’d do it over again given the choice, but at least the experience had rewarded me well.

Now what?

Remembering one of my other short term goals, my eyes slid over to my dimensional pouch.

Suppose I might as well look at those crystals Hex gave me, then.