Nic’s first goal was to make contact with the Native Settlement and establish good terms, or better yet, just steal some of their citizens. His current location was pinned between two Settlements, Native and Invader…

Nic couldn’t fight both at once.

Or he really, really didn’t want to.

His bet was that the humans might be more reasonable than the rich, sport-hunting city of Invaders who’d spent the last few weeks drinking violently and hyping themselves up to spill Native Blood. But there was only one way to find out for sure.

The path Nic took swung by the cleansed forest of the slimes, and he paused to collect Inkspur from the lonely vigil atop the Sword of the Nephilim. The wyvern alighted gratefully on his shoulder.

“I REFUSE to waste any further time EDUCATING that MALIGN WASTE OF BREATH.” He huffed, preening at his wings nervously. “It has been UNBEARABLE.”

“Wait, so you’ve been able to talk with it? Where is it?” Nic glanced around, but saw nothing.

“It has…” Inkspur growled. “It has LEARNED TO TALK, and it has NOT LEARNED TO STOP. It is why, why, why, why, WHY EVERY SECOND THAT IT BREATHES…”

“Inkspur…” Nic groaned. “What did you do?”

“I simply TOLD THE BOTHERSOME SPROUT where it could FIND SOME ANSWERS.” The wyvern sounded suspiciously proud of itself. Nic’s eyed narrowed.

“And where is that?”

“Why, I only told him about the NATIVE SETTLEMENT on the horizon.” Inkspur chuckled to himself. “Oh yes, the little QUESTANT is off on a JOURNEY. It thinks its going to MEET SOME QUAINT LOCALS, perhaps MAKE FRIENDS with them. HAH!”

Nic gave Inkspur a venomous sideways look. That was the last thing he needed. Not only was the ooze marked of interest by the System, but the more he thought about things, the more he was sure exposure to the Concept of Aleph was to blame. If it was just exposure to the Primordial Mist, there would have been similar evolutions in the past.

It was a rare shard, but rare was relative in a cosmos as wide as infinity, while the Concept of Aleph was a truly unique one.

In short, the ‘bothersome sprout’ might actually be what Nic needed to learn the nature of Aleph…

Leave it to Inkspur to send the poor thing on a death quest.

“Alright, well, we’ve got to go find it then.” He paused and added. “And when we do, you’re going to apologize.”

“WHAT? Never in my existence as a PROUD SON OF THE DRACONIC BLOOD have I, the MIGHTY INKSPUR, apologized for ANYTHING…”

And that was how they set out. Quarreling already.

---

Nic went on his way with increasing purpose in his step. The jungle was full of deep, dark groves where the trees closed overhead and the only light came from luminous flowers. Just as often it opened up to the blue sky, with the shadows of leaves dancing on the golden light that illuminated the forest floor.

Sofia had given him a map. It was barely more than a skeleton of Dominus Nodes and the lines between them, forming triangular zones, but each time he found a Peregrine Rune the surrounding area would fill in with lush detail on the map.

One of the perks of Settlement life.

He found his Peregrine Rune hidden in a waterfall that tumbled off a short cliff. As it rippled over several rocky outcroppings, the trailing, turbulent foam of the waters formed the lines of the glyph.

Of course, the full design could only be seen from the right angle - and that angle was dead in the center of the river, hopping across moss-slicked standing stones.

Nic wasn’t at all shy about wading in. The river held no danger to him, and he easily skipped across the slippery footing by coating his feet in tar-like aura from Mire-Caller. As he reached the stone at the center of the river, he paused for a moment.

The last stone was perfectly square, emerging from the river at an angle. It was man-made. As he looked down, into the flowing water, he saw a massive statue submerged beneath. Fish darted over a wise, kingly face, and hollow spaces stood where the eyes must have been. There were similar hollows along the crown, suggesting that there used to be massive gemstones in the sockets.

Nic pondered, kneeling down. The gemstones were taken - but were they stolen by living hands, or by the river. He looked up at the waterfall and the flickering rune held within its currents. Slowly, fueled by his gaze, the rune began to glow.

Peregrine Rune Uncovered

200 Essence awarded.

While at the vantage point, the world will be revealed.

From the misty vapor gathering at the waterfall’s basin, a map emerged, rising out of the water. It contained the trees and the forest, the rivers and lakes, following the path of the waterfall’s stream down through the earth until it reached a familiar lake.

Nic studied carefully.

He found the places where the river’s quick current went sluggish and slow, and an object being carried might drift to the bottom of a small ditch or a pond. It was a bit of a detour…

But the ooze was nearly unkillable. It would survive an hour or so without his help.

Grinning to himself, he turned off the path and changed course to follow the river…

---

An hour later and two quick dives into stagnant ponds, and Nic had claimed exactly zero gemstones. It was beginning to sour his mood. But his sidetrack eventually led him to a broad, marshy field. Reeds stuck up from islands of mud in the middle of a deep pool of algae-covered water. The air buzzed with swarms of mosquitoes feasting on the wildlife that came to drink at the pool’s edge.

And they weren’t the only ones on the hunt.

As Nic crept up through the reeds, he saw a goat-man creature perching cautiously on the shore. It had a body covered in downy fur and huge horns that glowed with an inner flame.

It was an intimidating specimen-

But it was out of its depths.

Nic didn’t have time to cry out a warning massive dragonfly with a scintillating orange shot down like a bullet. Its six legs all ended in bladed points, and they stabbed viciously into the furs of the goat, piercing the beast as it let out a scream. It was dead in seconds. More and more descended, the younger ones eating while the full-grown specimens stood guard. Their wings let out a buzzing shriek like chainsaws.

Nic licked his lips.

Coral Dragonfly. G-Class // Demi-Sapient. Known for their incredible grace in the air, these bright-shelled predators hunt with speed, razor-sharp bladed limbs, and an ability to sense delicate changes in air current.

Only G-Class, but they were perfect prey. No mind or soul that he minded extinguishing, and plenty of them on the plate.

He made his way into the water, wading closer, closer-

One of them sensed him. It reared up into the air, preparing to dive, and Nic infused the base of his resonant greatsword with aura as he stabbed it down into the water. As he pulled it free, a blade of clear azure river formed around the hilt.

It was different than the wind-attuned sword. Not as quick, not as weightless, surprisingly heavy in his hands. But as he cut towards the dragonfly and it darted away, wings swiveling to allow it to shoot straight backwards, the blade extended into a razor-sharp whip that covered the distance and ripped the insect in two.

More exploded upwards, and began to buzz down at him. The unholy sound of their wings drilled into Nic’s head and he felt a hint of aura in the sound, enhancing it, turning it into a deadly mental attack.

It simply wasn’t enough. He cleaved through the first one in line with a quick stroke, then kicked himself out of the way of the next. As it swooped past him his water-blade extended and sliced half of its wings off before it could get away.

More came.

He was dancing between attacks, letting the Eight-Eyed Mantle guide his movements as they swerved about and tried to strike from all angles. The reach of his sword was enough to cut them down before they reached him. If not that, then he’d crack their skulls with the pommel, or unleash gouts of deadly mist to kill them as they dived blindly in.

The entire swamp became a battlefield. Through the roar of wings, the whip-crack of the water-sword sounded again and again, a cool musical tone like a crystal bell being struck. Nic grunted, bled, and took three brutal punctures to his body before he finished the lot…

And when it was over he was almost surprised. The air had been thick with flying bodies for so long he’d almost forgotten what silence sounded like. As the last immature dragonflies fled, he was left waist-deep in water, surrounded by floating bodies, soaked in green blood.

He panted, letting the blade collapse back into simple water and wiping his face clean.

Already, the scavengers were coming. Fish surfaced, risking life and limb to gulp up fragments of dragonfly meat. Long-legged deer with strange, metallic horns darted towards the water, shedding their reputation as gentle herbivores to drink up the blood slicking the surface.

Nic spotted another one of the goat-people lurking in the shadows, nervously hanging back.

“Inkspur.” Instantly the little wyvern was on his shoulder.

“Yes yes. FEARFUL CREATURES, you behold WINTERHOME’S FINEST. There is no need to be TIMID. My master is regrettably NOT IN A KILLING MOOD. These ugly waspish creatures merely ANGERED HIM WITH THEIR IMPUDENCE…”

“You could make me sound a little less erratic…” Nic complained.

“HE IS MERCIFUL AND KIND, MOST OF THE TIME.” The animals were pausing, looking up. Considering how deep in the forest they were, this was likely the first time in a long time they’d been able to communicate. “And he offers you SANCTUARY. If you head to the south, you will find the city BEARING HIS ILLUSTRIOUS NAME. There, you will not have to worry about BRAZEN PREDATORS or the STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE...”

The speech continued that way as Inkspur took off into the air. Nic, for his part, waded deeper and deeper into the swampy water, stomping through the soft mud at the marsh’s base. He could sense something nearby. Sylphs were gathering above a point in the murk, dancing atop a rippling space where some force disturbed the still, stagnant mire…

He dove down and found what he was looking for. A sapphire gem the size of his fist, stuck into the mud at the river’s muddy terminus.

Nic popped back up, grinning widely as he polished the clinging filth off a treasure that gleamed like a blue planet in the midday light.

Goddess Tear Sapphire. F-Class // Treasured Artifact. Carved from the heart of a spiritually rich gemstone vein, this precious stone can serve to contain great deals of Essence, serving as either a battery to draw upon in battle or a component of a powerful formation.

Tossing it high into the air catching it again, Nic waved to the staring creatures listening to Inkspur’s little speech. And with that, he was on his way…

Heading towards humanity.