Nic stepped into the portal and the world broke apart into colors. They flew past like spears of rainbow, forming a strange and twisting passageway. Nic could feel his body warping in all directions, his matter only loosely held together.

Then he hit something. A snag in the fabric of the tunnel, a great crack that spread across the sky in tones of absolute black to match the rainbow all around. It swept him up with a sudden changing of direction that left him nauseated, his eyes blurring over for a moment-

And with a sudden, violent lurch that shook his body and soul, Nic was flung out of the portal. One moment he was drifting beyond gravity's reach in the abstract place between worlds - the next he was tumbling through very real sky towards a very solid earth with terrible speed.

He hit the dust below, bounced up, and came crashing down again, skipping and tumbling across a dune in a trail of red sand.

When he came to a stop…

Welcome To

The Scales of Sand

Rise to the heavens

Guide your ship to the Hall of the Sun

Slay the Master of the Hall

(Optional) Slay the False Gods of the Ruins to gain their Boons (1/4)

--or--

Slay the Native interlopers (4/4)

Make a sacrifice on the Altar of Night (0/1)

Present yourself to the Master of the Hall for your reward.

The loose energy of the portal clung to him in pale, colorful fires dancing around his body in a ghostly aura. But as Nic watched the flame dance harmlessly in his palm, his eyes were drawn upwards-

And upwards-

And upwards.

He stared into the heart of a monstrous storm, the wind visible in a great circling pyloon of twisting air currents. Where it reached the heights of the sky it expanded out into a maelstrom, and within that maelstrom, flickering, were windows into other skies. The calm blue of a summer day. Dark and star-spanned nights where countless moons hung like jewels. Evenings, sunsets, every kind of distant view, even ones completely drowned underwater and spilling trails of seawater from their windows.

There was a breach in reality. Where the portals slashed into one another, Nic saw distortions mangle the fabric of the world. Where they intersected there were moments of warped spacetime that hurt his soul to look into.

"And Pathos wept." Sofia said. It was perhaps the most horror Nic had ever heard in her voice. A sober, still kind of fear that paralyzed any emotion.

"I think I did that." Nic admitted. He wasn't exactly proud - but he wasn't not proud either. "Me and Anet-Mu."

Anet-Mu. The vengeful sorcerer had created some kind of spell that had sat dormant for a thousand years, maybe more. But when the System had shoved the remains of Anet-Mu's world into Earth as a Dungeon, the curse had taken hold, drawing in a terrible weapon from the old world and delivering it to Nic's hands.

Maybe this, too, was part of the sorcerer's revenge.

A Quest is Bestowed - “The Heart of the Storm”

This terrible storm gathers power from a relic within, the Heartstone of the Aleph. In one week’s time, the System will open a path to the Heartstone.

In order to walk this path, you must first acquire a full set of Aleph runes; any creature you kill within the desert will surrender their runes as your prize. But beware. Upon completing a full set, you will be marked for one hour, made visible to all.

Objective - Obtain the full ‘Aldebaran’ set of Aleph Runes (5/7)

Objective - Obtain the full ‘Regulus’ set of Aleph Runes (4/5)

Objective - Obtain the full ‘Antares’ set of Aleph Runes (1/3)

Objective - Obtain the full ‘Fomalhaut’ set of Aleph Runes (2/3)

Reward - On collecting all sets, gain entry to the All-Storm. Each individual set will grant guidance from the System.

Nic paused as the voice of the System spoke. Collect Aleph runes?

He’d already begun. The moment the Aleph was unleashed, it had covered his skin in markings, and so far Nic had struggled to uncover how they might be used. But maybe he’d found his answer here…

The notification said he possessed parts of four different sets - but not a single complete one.

Maybe that’s why his control over the powers of the Aleph was so fragmentary and confused.

As for this deathmatch over the runes…

Nic was a walking treasure. Already, he had twelve of the need eighteen parts.

Which meant he needed to take cover quickly.

But as he glanced around him, taking in his environment, Nic felt a strange sinking sensation in the pit of his guts. The sandstorm had almost covered the remnants of the tents and the palisade walls that the humans had built, but all the same, he recognized where he was. Bare white bone showed beneath the red crawl of the desert…

He had returned to Azmin Hale’s camp.

Which meant, twice now, the origami world had managed to predict where he’d go; it was growing hard to deny that they might really have seen his future.

As he walked through the ruins, he paused to push at a stone with his toe, full of morbid curiosity. As it emerged from the desert, the sand fell through the hollow spaces of eye sockets, revealing the ‘stone’ as a skull.

Something moved amidst the tents. He turned, lifting Peacemaker, but the creature was already hurrying away. It was a massive desert spider, hairy and dark-furred.

Not a contender coming for the runes printed on his skin…

Nic tried to relax, but something else caught his attention. High on a dune near the horizon line, where the air shivered with mirage-heat. there were dark spots. Moving points of black against the blue sky, the red sand. Many of them.

And then the white sail of a ship.

With no time to waste, Nic drew the Sandrider Blade and tied it to his back. Channeling aura into the Shard-Born weapon, he felt his will spread into the sand underfoot. In moments he’d dug a tunnel and vanished, disappearing into the dark beneath the earth on all fours and slowly crawling away.

His danger sense could feel the ship pass overhead, a massive threat that pressed against his temples with all the presence of a knife held to his throat. Whatever was aboard…

It was a true threat.

Nic emerged hundreds of feet away, drawing a spyglass he’d bought from Ol’ Ben. Lifting it to his eye he watched as the ship sailed across the empty camp, small figures leaping down from the massive galleon’s side to sweep the runes.

He adjusted the scope’s sight, focusing on one of the footsoldiers.

It was a tall, crooked being, with a body clad in black and yellow chitin. Its limbs had a smooth, almost mechanical nature, while its face was horrific, a mix of staring eyes, plated armor, and short bristling hairs. From the back of its spine extended a massive wasp-like sting.

A sand devil.

But not like the ones Nic had nearly wiped out. It was wearing long, loose robes over its body, with a pair of daggers made from cast-off shell strapped to its sides. It had been… humanized.

Nic was actually angry, he realized. He’d thought he’d finished off these pests, and yet, someone had come and saved them after he slew their queen and collapsed their nests. Now they would threaten the world all over again…

When he killed someone, he liked them to stay dead.

He swung the lens about, sweeping the ship, trying to hone in on what had given him such an immense sense of dread when it passed overhead. His scope settled on an elven figure, her tall body adorned with beetle-blue plates of armor and a single rising horn.

The last of the Ascended sand devils.

She had run every time Nic had fought her, escaping as the others died one by one. Now she had returned at the head of this army, standing on the prow of the ship giving orders to the buzzing mass of footsoldiers who labored under her watch.

Was she the source of the danger?

At this distance, Nic couldn’t be sure.

But as he watched from afar, a gleam of light caught on the edge of his spyglass, reflecting back towards the vessel. The elven devil’s sharp eyes snapped wide and she called out, pointing-

Nic had been spotted. Instantly he began to dive as the ship turned course, sailing towards him. Deeper and deeper into the earth he dug, collapsing the tunnel behind him so there was only a small cavern of space around him. He was counting on being able to hold his breath long enough to reach safety.

He had counted wrong.

A massive wave of force pounded into the sand, disrupting his digging. The cavern collapsed upon him, crushing the breath from his body as the weight of the earth slammed down.

He tried to dig up, pushing his energy against the sand, but another wave passed down and disrupted him again, forcing his aura back.

Nic was barely able to open up enough of a space to move his limbs. He was drowning in sand, the harsh scraping grains raking across his flesh as he fought to avoid being buried. If he was near the surface, he might have made it up in time, working between waves. But he’d dug too deep.

He was going to suffocate before he reached his goal.

With a snarl, Nic thrust out his hand towards the small ‘ceiling’ formed by his digging. A pearl of water grew in his grip. Pushing all his energy into Mire-Caller he flooded the cavern, hardening the walls with the sticky tar to keep them from soaking up the reservoir he was building. When his aura ran dry he burned Essence instead, calling upon the Concept of Sacrifice to convert one to the other.

The next wave came and dust fell into the pool from above, but this time, reinforced, the cavern didn’t collapse. He had escaped whatever weapon they’d designed to flush out tunneling creatures.

Nic was able to submerge himself into water, breathing slowly in and out with great relief. Although the enemy continued to shake the earth with their fury, he was safe, sealed away in a chamber of dark and calm.