The Amoraks scrambled back at the sight of the black heart, at its grotesque, rapid beating. Already, flesh was beginning to wrap around the heart due to the regeneration provided by the condition known as 'Undeath'.

It was not that the Amoraks were unused to the sight of viscera, for they were wild specimens that likely ate their prey raw and live, but more that they were instinctively repulsed by the presence of the blackened heart.

The Collector, too could feel this to a degree. The parts of its body that were enriched and relied upon magical energy instinctively classified any Undead presence as a threat which made sense in that the origin of this pathogen seemed to nullify any magic, not to mention the capacity for its spread.

Layers and layers of flesh and blood vessels perfectly reconstructing themselves around the heart, and as the Collector observed for an additional second, it began to make note of a crucial fact from analyzing how the other Amorak specimens, when they too were infected, restored their bodies.

It was not due to simple cellular regeneration, elsewise their regenerative patterns would have all been the same.

Rather, it appeared that Undead specimen regenerated in a way akin to reversing time. Their body parts restored themselves in the order they were destroyed, with the only exception being the case that their core, their heart, was directly removed.

In this case, the Collector noted, the rest of the body would deteriorate and disintegrate while a new form was created around the core.

The significance of this, the Collector could not adequately glean yet, only merely note, but it did understand that this was the first instance of temporal-spatial manipulation outside of Warp Gates that it had observed.

Regardless, the Collector could not simply allow the Alpha's infected core to simply regenerate again. Instead, it activated a lower charge of its Breath of Life, utilizing only 10% of its total mana, funneling out a thin, steady stream of misty white fog from its maw that collected directly into the beating black heart.

The white mist slowly but surely drove the blackness from the heart's flesh, painting it over instead with a pale, icy white that then turned a deep blue. Crystalline structures began to form all around the heart, embedding in the flesh and glimmering under any exposure to light, granting the heart a nearly prismatic quality about it.

The Collector initially found it difficult to optimize the Breath of Life due to how much energy it took to channel, but now that it had utilized it several times, it could begin to regulate its output, though it seemed that even to fully restore a being from the Undeath pathogen via directly targeting their core, it would still take 10% of its max mana.

The purified heart regenerated its flesh more organically now, with cluster growths of ice crystals sprouting out from it spurring the generation of blood vessels, then flesh, then bones, and so on until the Alpha stood once more in its original state.

The Alpha, white-furred and blue maned, was distinctively more imposing than any of the other Amoraks, likely possessing mutations for both increased magical energy output and muscular hypertrophy.

At four meters tall, the Alpha towered over every single being in the immediate vicinity, being a head taller even than Kandak with his Grizzled Stormbear and Bugbrute genes granting him increased muscular mass and size.

The Alpha's fur also constantly fluxed with magical energy, granting it an almost flame-like flickering texture.

It no doubt had been the premiere of their species, possessing a host of battle scars running under its fur that showcased the many battles it had undergone both among its own kind and among others in defense of its pack.

The Collector, from its battles with the Amoraks, had a good grasp of their abilities.

They possessed extraordinarily sharps senses, particularly regarding scent which allowed them to fight even with their ocular systems destroyed, and they were primarily physical fighters, relying on speed and strength.

Their magical energy was utilized solely to boost their physical might, though they did have one unique application of it.

By overloading their hearts with an initial deposit of magical energy, they were capable of manipulating their heart beat, blood flow, and consequently their mana flow to vastly enhance their physical movements, though this would over time tax their cardiovascular health and lead to heavier bleeding.

Had the Alpha not been in the depths of the pit with its own magical energy limited, then it could have exhibited a marvelous display of physical might that the Collector could have enjoyed, though not much.

The Collector had simply grown too strong to encounter any real threats below the Rift.

Numerically speaking, if the Collector had to roughly evaluate the beings around it in mana output and physical strength, it determined that the average goblin champion was a 10 and the twin elites a 50, with Thokk hovering at 35.

This was, of course, vastly better than how they were unenhanced by Breath of Life, for before then, they might as well not have been registered on this numerical scale.

The average Amorak specimen ranged from 20-30 with maned specimens reaching 50 and the Alpha specimen at 100. The average draconid ranged from 60 to 80.

The Collector, in this scale, would be at a 600. The golden winged humanoid at a 400.

All rough estimates, of course, and pure physical power and raw mana output did not even comprise 50% of a specimen's true combat capability where factors such as skill, experience, instinct, equipment, and compatibility had to be considered.

The golden winged humanoid with its weaponry could easily cut swathes through dozens of Amorak alphas even though from a purely numerical standpoint, four Alphas had the same level of total mana and strength.

The Collector, too, if it entered its giant form, could easily spike up to over 1000, because it would massively increase its strength and mana output, but that would not account for it becoming a massively larger target with compromised agility of movement and stealth capacities.

Combat was complicated. Raw numbers did it no justice.

Regardless, a reflection on combative comparisons was secondary to addressing the current situation.

The Collector noted as the sizable Alpha laid down low on all fours, its tail curled between its legs in sign of pure submission. It bowed down its head, baring its neck.

"Thank you for freeing me," said the Alpha. "And now, you must kill me or exile me, for I have fallen in the Rite. Take of me my wives and the children too, if you so desire."

"I shall not expend time rearing the offspring of weak specimen," said the Collector plainly. "From my observation, your kind uphold greatly to this notion of 'tradition'. Thus, I shall assume that there is no other option than your death or exile.

You are, however, a capable specimen of considerable strength. The terms of this exile, explain them to me."

"I lose the rights to the females and rearing the children," said the Alpha. "I must leave the pack

"Simple terms. Room for additional circumstance and manipulation of them, then," said the Collector. "All of you are now collected to some degree to me and the rest of the swarm by the Breath of Life. You will know the general directions of where my carrier units are regardless of whether you are the same species or not."

The Collector gestured to the rest of the Amorak pack. "You now recognize me as the 'Alpha' specimen, yes?"

"There is no question," said the Amoraks.

"Then you will take your pack and travel to the carrier unit below this Rift and reinforce his forces," said the Collector. For now that the Undead threat was here and the tinkering presence soon to intensify, Thragg and his conquering force would require more military assistance.

"As for you, the Alpha specimen," said the Collector. "You shall be exiled. If exile necessitates merely that you are geographically separate from your pack, then it will be done. You will cross the Rift and assist me, for your strength to be squandered is a waste of efficiency."

The Collector gazed at the Amorak pack and clicked its mandibles. "Are there objections to this course of action?"

The Amoraks looked among themselves, then to the old Alpha, wondering whether exile accounted for the Alpha traveling with the Collector who technically was the new Alpha and part of the pack.

"Remember that I may end your lives in a mere instant," said the Collector. "I understand that tradition is a value that you believe throwing your lives away for. Yet, shall you throw away your lives for a 'tradition' that is merely not followed to exact specifications?

Wage the cost and benefits to your decisions well, for without your assistance, the young you no doubt rear will all perish, and I possess no obligation to preserve them."