The Collector landed beside the small, nearly imperceptible mound in the snow. There was no doubt about it. From further analysis of the fall of snow and the geometric orientation of how the snow had fallen in this specific structure, there was a specimen underneath.

A still specimen that possessed no signs of vitals according to the Collector's immediate sensory investigation. Nor was there any hint of magical energy output.

The Collector utilized Sapia to uncover the snow, purple wreaths of energy outlining the white matter and driving it away. Underneath a meter of snow was the body of a humanoid. A smaller humanoid, and judging by an analysis of its features, a female human that had yet to reach full maturity, likely being within ten to fourteen years of age.

Her skin had become pale, tinted by the faintest shade of blue, and stiff, ice crystals having frozen her solid. She was curled up in a ball to preserve warmth, yet the elements had been too harsh for her to withstand. This was in spite of the fact that she wore thick animal hides and skins meant to prevent her from expiring due to exposure.

Her eyes were closed, having entered a sleep of finality from which she would not awake.

The Collector estimated that it had been slightly over one day since the specimen had perished. Because she was dead, her living body possessed no real core and mana flow with which to resist the Collector's Sapia, nor could she have had she been alive.

She was far too weak. A core's innate protection against foreign magical influences only worked up to an extent. A sufficiently more powerful individual could still overpower it.

The Collector used Sapia to uncurl the specimen. It shattered off an arm and consumed it to gain information, and from that, gleaned that the female specimen was a human adapted to this biome, possessing pale skin capable of withstanding cold, but Grainfall was dramatically colder than anything she was used to.

Even the goblins had difficulty initially adapting to it, let alone a weaker human like this.

Other than that, the specimen was unremarkable biologically, nor did she seem to possess an adequate quantity of spirit roots to indicate high magical potential.

However, she held clutched in her chest a bag of leathery skin.

The Collector investigated this, floating the skin towards itself and opening it up. Within, the Collector found a Volcanite shard meant for starting fires, a red lightstone meant to emanate heat, though it had long lost magical energy to do so, a flask for containing water, and a plain blue crystal that still hummed with magical energy.

The Collector telekinetically withdrew the blue crystal and noted a sigil within it. From analysis of its magical design, it could determine that the crystal was meant to be activated by inputting magical energy in it, and there was no encryption or deterrence preventing anyone from activating it.

The Collector flowed in a small measure of mana to activate the crystal, sensing little to no threat from it. Even if the crystal was some kind of detonatable device, the amount of magical energy stored in it was so infinitesimal that it would do nothing to the Collector.

The crystal glowed a faint blue before emitting a voice. A young male humanoid's voice.

A recording, the Collector noted.

"Greetings, to any who has activated this record crystal, and thank you for listening to my message. My name is Liu Qian, five-star adventurer of the League, and I was assigned for the B-rank contract in the Guild of Middir.

My objective was to find the lost daughter of the Boar-clan's chieftain, and I am quite pleased to say that I have been successful on that end. She was being held by a tribe of Amoraks located in the Dark Zone some way north of the Signi Outpost of the Order.

Exactly where, I cannot say, for the fall of Grain prevents me from conjuring any real magic to ascertain my location. I slew a great host of the Amoraks, but as to why they were keeping the chieftain's daughter, I could not ascertain.

It did not seem like they hungered for her flesh, nor did she have much meat on her bones in the first place. Rather, they had painted her in their tribal colors, presumably for some ritual, but in the arcane arts, though I am competent, I am not truly an expert.

Thus, I cannot say.

Regardless, know that Astrid did not meet her end between Amorak jaws. If…if she did meet her end, it was with a fellow Common being by her side."

A brief pause. Then, the voice continued.

"That is not the true intent of this message. What I am to convey signifies a threat that may potentially drown the entirety of this land in the curse of Undeath.

In rescuing Astrid, it seems that I have fallen under the curse of Undeath's ill effects. I do not know exactly how this came to be.

It may have been that the Amoraks have somehow harnessed the curse against me, or that perhaps they themselves were accursed, or that I had stepped foot into a Null Zone where Undead energy flows strong.

Regardless, my time is limited, and by the time I record this message, I fear I am a mere day's time away from fully turning. The curse has slowed me down, and I fear I am still far from the Signi Outpost. The fall of Grain is still heavy, and I have run out of light crystals for warmth.

Thus, I send Astrid now with this message.

A message to the Order and the League that the foul presence of Undead may be brewing far north, in the depths of the Dark Zones where Grain obscures any investigation.

Pray, I beseech the League and Order to investigate, but to also be wary.

To those that hear this message and feel enough generosity in their hearts, I also ask of a few final wishes.

I shall be sealed within a Sealing Array. Eliminate and fully seal my Undead self. If it is possible, take from me the Azure Edge, my blade. It is a family heirloom, and I wish it to be returned to my home. It belongs to the Water Breath school of Blade Rippling headed by my father, the head of the Liu clan in the River Province in Haiyang of Xia.

I wish my family to possess at least one physical remnant of me before my soul now passes to the gods.

Also, to any that find Astrid, if…if she has fallen, then know that she was a kind, sweet, and bright soul, and that she was destined for much greatness, and that this world has lost a great light in her falling.

To her family, to her father Magni, chieftain of the Boar clan, I can extend only my deepest apologies. I tried my best, and it has ended in failure.

None other would take a contract to a Dark Zone, and I, as martial artist, thought myself suited to it, but alas, I wonder much whether another would have been more capable than me.

Grant Astrid all burial rites of honor. I have ensured that the Undeath did not spread to her. To Magni, I know that this is no recompense for her life, but I also bequeath the Pale Moon, one of six great blades of the Liu family."

The blue glow of the stone died down, indicating that the recording had stopped.

The Collector noted this development with a click of its mandibles. The information was useful in assessing the nature of this 'Undeath' as a threat. It was highly evident that based upon the goblin elite's reaction and the tone of high urgency in this message that the phenomenon of 'Undaeth' was perceived as an extraordinary threat by tinkerers.

The mode of transmission for this pathogen, or 'curse' as the tinkerer put it, seemed to be in proximity with an infected specimen or exposure to a 'Null Zone'.

Yet, the Collector even with advanced and close exposure to the infected specimen had not suffered any il effects, nor did it believe it possible for pathogen biological or magical to effectively infect it, for the Collective had absolutely ensured against such possibilities.

What the Collector could glean from this was that this area was likely to become a hotbed of extreme activity, for if the tinkerers could not sense the presence of undead in the Grain and allowed the pathogen to proliferate, they would have extreme difficulty in dealing with it when it emerged on their front door.

To that end, it seemed that the dwarven fleet must have been sent here to investigate this undead outbreak.

In other words, time was more limited than what the Collector had initially calculated to stay in this area.

The Collector could not investigate further. It would have to leave now if the tinkerers were already aware of the undead and actively searching for it.