Snowsprites, according to the elder, were meant to allow creatures desiring shelter from cold to follow them to warmth, but here, they became death traps.

Prey animals flocked like moths to a flame. An antlered, quadrupedal mammalian specimen. Three rabbits with exceptional size exceeding a meter and a half.

These prey specimen, the goblin swarm worked together to entrap and hunt. Once they had slaughtered them, the Collector dispelled the Snowsprites again to minimize its presence.

These prey specimens did not possess much magical energy flowing through them, nor were their genetic samples particularly useful, but sampling them did indicate information about specimen generally in this area.

It would seem that far up enough north, the constant and severe Grainfall acted as an evolutionary push for specimen to enlarge themselves to better accommodate themselves to the temperatures.

In addition, these creatures, though they themselves did not possess much in terms of magical capacity, had an impressive ability to sense mana in the air through antlers, altered olfactory organs, and so on.

This also meant that, like the Collector, the creatures could bypass the mana-insulating effects of Grain. However, they did not possess Primal Density charging their cells, and therefore, the Collector came to deduce that Grainfall seemed optimally fashioned against tinkerers.

Tinkerers and humanoids upon this planet did not possess any Primal Density, and the unique energy itself was, as the Collector had observed, naturally occurring in specimens that were more deeply connected to the environment.

Thus, when the Collector absorbed the dungeon's ownership, it gained more Primal Density for the dungeons were highly linked with the natural environment.

Primal Density, too, possessed the unique ability to neutralize magical energy wavelengths that corresponded with anything sourced from the gates wielded by the entities known as 'gods'.

In essence, it almost seemed as if Primal Density was a natural adaptation of the environment itself against the 'gods'.

The Grainfall, too, seemed uniquely engineered against tinkerers. Because its mana insulating properties worked only on those with little to no Primal Density, the vast majority of tinkerers would never be able to traverse this part of the world.

Any tinkering specimen that relied upon Sorcery, the magic granted by the gods, would find themselves completely powerless.

Only tinkerers that relied solely upon the might of their own physical forms would survive here, and even then, they would be greatly cut off from their social units, for the Collector highly doubted that any form of magical surveillance could penetrate Grain.

As the Collector utilized its flames to roast the prey specimen meat for the goblin units to enjoy, it came to hypothesize that it was possible that the environment itself possessed some measure of will, or, at the very least, functioned like a body possessing a thorough immune system.

According to the elder, the gods descended, and in response, enemies known as dragons first faced them, then these lairs known as 'World Dungeons' manifested.

This Grainfall, said to be sourced from a World Dungeon, had the markings of being deliberately engineered to stymie gods and tinkerers that relied on them.

Thus, it was a possibility that these 'gods' were an entirely foreign presence upon this world that the environment rejected as a pathogen.

Correlating this fact with the presence of Unitan, the language of the United Front against the Collective among spacefaring tinkerers, led the Collector to fashion yet another conclusion: it was perhaps that the spacefaring tinkerers themselves were 'gods'.

However, too many inconsistencies. Too little evidence to truly ground a conclusion. If the United Front truly was upon this world, then their advanced sensory systems would have picked up on the Collector immediately.

This was not to mention the fact that the first god the Collector had faced, the one styling itself as a 'high king', possessed absolutely none of the technological advancements that marked the United Front's innovations against the Collective.

Yet, there was no doubt that the two, the presence of the United Front and the 'gods', were inextricably linked.

Further investigation needed.

For now, the prime directive was still to survive and grow strong. And this environment was apt for such a directive, for the Grainfall would grant the Collector cover from any tinkering force or surveillance.

As the Collector mused, the elder, now seated upon a mound of snow, still wrapped up in his thick padding of skins, spoke.

"O great king," said the elder.

The Collector clicked the mandibles of its main skull to bid the elder speak further. As it did so, it solidified another shard of Firefly Shinchu light and hovered it away, to the greater body of the swarm, thus arming the goblins.

All the while, the Collector continued to open the pores in its carapace to imbibe magical energy, restoring what it had lost.

"The purpose you have bestowed upon yourself, upon us, this 'Great Purpose'," said the elder. "You have said we must stand against a great darkness. What, if I may ask, is this darkness?"

"The end of all things," stated the Collector. "It is the loss of life and warmth to the inevitable approach of decay."

"And this darkness…will it strike us soon?" said the elder.

"Unlikely. Yet, there is no reason not to prepare," said the Collector. "The darkness acts over extended periods of times, times unfathomably large to lifespans for specimens such as yourselves, yet, that alone is no reason for complacency.

The darkness is capable of manifesting and devouring in sudden moments that belie any sense of common reason."

The Collector knew this well.

Ultimately, the Collective Hivemind stood against the inevitable approach of entropy, but both tinkering races and the Collective itself did not fully grasp the nature of this heat death.

The tinkerers, in particular, knew nothing of its true nature, for they believed entropy a far-flung fate billions of years in the distant beyond.

However, the Collective Hivemind with its extensive tendrils of awareness had picked up swathes of space where entropy had come and went, rendering all energy in the area inert.

Such spaces were deemed Voids.

Simply areas of sheer nothingness that were inaccessible due to their permanent lack of energy, largely undetectable, and inscrutable.

The exact mechanisms by which these Voids occurred, the Hivemind did not yet know, yet, the immutable fact stood: entropy could approach billions of years ahead of its calculated coming.

And there was equally as much possibility that this entropy was random as it was potentially targeted.

In the case that it was targeted, then that necessitated the presence of a phenomenon or entity that could direct entropy, and the mere idea of that alone was a monumental enough threat for the Collective Hivemind to fashion the Great Purpose against.

"How is it that we stand against such darkness, my king?" said the elder. "Forgive me, but these old bones and grey hairs are always curious."

"Power," stated the Collector simply, mediating its words in such a way that they were easily understood by the elder. "There is a force that, should this form of mine manage to reach it, will bring salvation upon this world and all others like it.

Yet, I lack the necessary capability to forge communications with said force. Thus, I require access to a warp mechanism of sufficient complexity and strength.

This, I have deemed to be located in this city known as 'Middir' located to the south of this biome."

The elder's head perked up with sudden notice. "Middir? You will storm Middir? The most fortified city of the North?"

"I sense from your elevated heartbeat and agitated tone of voice that such a prospect is one incurring incalculable risk. This, I have already factored. Thus, I gather power for now until it is such that I cannot be challenged.

Or, if this Facestealer you speak of is capable of easily altering its form, then it would be preferrable to harvest its genetic material and infiltrate the city."

"I…I see" said the elder before he chuckled to himself. "So that is where we, as a people finally united, are to head. To either storm Middir, against the full might of the Adventurers and the gods themselves. Or against the Facestealer, the highest of all spirits whose fearsome strength has been unchallenged in a thousand years."

"Does this intended course of action displease you?" stated the Collector.

"No. No, no," said the elder, emphasizing his words with a shake of his head. He smiled, baring his worn, yellowed and chipped teeth. "Always, I have feared that we as a people have decayed so far. The elder before me told me only of the glory we once had.

Many, many centuries ago.

It was always with a lament or far off look that he would tell me the stories of our people and this land, as if, if he could just reach out, with simply a bit more strength, he could take our legacy back.

At first, I had thought him foolish, the stories just as foolish, but perhaps it is the nature of this land. In such cold, I suppose it is natural to grasp onto warmth, and in time, I found myself longing just as much as he had for a time that was so far gone it might as well have never existed at all.

The greatest fear I have held in my life thus far is that my people, my once great people, would never amount to anything. That we would stay scrounging for rotting carcasses left by those stronger and larger than us. That when these blind eyes of mine faded unto death, all I would have seen was how pitiful we were.

But this. Facing Middir. Standing against the gods that cast us down. This does excite my heart so.

And we may save this world while we regain our former glory. There is nothing more I could wish for."

The Collector formulated an idea after it heard the elder. "Your species is given to extremes of desires, oscillating between cowardly fear and decisive desire for the fight and purpose.

I seek to eliminate the occurrence of such inefficient fear. To my understanding, it is such that among your social unit, only those designated to become 'elders' commit to memory these tales of your former glory.

Spread such knowledge throughout the rest of the swarm. Instill within them longing for the greatness of the past. In particular, if it is possible, develop within them a thorough will to stand against these 'gods'.

And ensure they understand that it is through me that their desires, this former glory, will be recaptured."

"I would have done that already," said the elder with nod. "Truth be told, the average goblin was simply too brutish to learn our long history, thus, our tales were relegated to only those among us who were stunted in body but more capable here."

The elder tapped his head. "But now that all of us shall ascend into higher minds soon, I will do as I have dreamed: to spread the pride of our people, the knowledge of all that we have had and lost, to them."