When Amy touched the mana string to the merman, nothing happened, and the merman was still unconscious.

Well, thought Amy, I might as well try to heal him. Maybe then I could see if there are those types of limits to what my mana could do.

With that in mind, she dragged the unconscious merman to the iceberg and opened up a tunnel to an unused room that was partly submerged and filled with moss. Amy figured that if she managed to heal the merman, the room should at least be somewhat comfy for him to rest in.

Anyways, she decided to go at it like the way she does when she wants to convert a creature into one of her residences. So, she took some of her mana strings, inserted them into the major wounds of the merman, and started pushing her mana into him. While pushing her mana through, she inserted the thought heal into the mana.

After five minutes of doing this, Amy could feel the wounds internally start to heal. Then, after another couple of minutes, the wound started to visibly heal on the surface. Soon enough, the major wounds were all healed, and Amy stopped pushing her mana and withdrew the mana strings. But still, the merman was not awake.

So, seeing that this was going to be a waiting game, decided to set a mana string to alert instantly when he was awake and go work on something else. But before she could even turn her attention to something else, the merman started to stir.

"Ugh, what happened?" groaned the merman as he reached up and rubbed his eyes. Then, suddenly, like he was struck by lightning, he sat up and started feeling around his body, especially where the wounds that Amy had healed were.

"This can't be … I remember getting harpooned and slashed, but where are the wounds?"

It was then that Amy realized that she had no way of communicating with him.

The merman finally started looking around and murmured, "where am I?"

You're in my iceberg, Amy mentally replied. She couldn't help responding to the merman.

After she thought that, the merman started to rapidly look around like he was trying to find something.

"Who said that? Who's there?"

Wait … can you hear me? Said Amy.

"… Yes?"

Hehehe. You can actually hear me?

"… Yes? And once again, where am I, and who are you?"

Weeelll, that's kind of a complicated answer. Well, you are on an iceberg. And who am I? All you need to know is that I'm the one who saved your life, and what you need to do is figure out how to repay me.

It wasn't Amy's original intention to demand something in return. Still, she figured if she could get something unique out of this whole experience, then all the better.

"I have to repay you? What do you want?"

What can you offer?

After a couple of minutes of thinking, the merman responded to her. "I don't exactly have anything that I can give you. Everything I've owned has been destroyed."

Well, that gave Amy an idea.

How about a contract? If she could somehow bind the merman to his word, then she might be able to set up a permanent agreement. Otherwise, it would be just like a gentlemen's agreement.

"A contract? And what would that entail?"

I provide a place to live and fertile hunting grounds, and you help me with things that will not be detrimental to you. But you cannot harm me or those within my care without or reveal my secrets and information about me without my say so. The contract would last for a total of one year. Is that agreeable?

The merman seemed quite perplexed at what Amy suggested. It must not be something that is asked for in this world. But she didn't want to reveal anything about what she was until she knew that the merman would not be able to say anything without her say so.

After about twenty minutes of thinking, it seemed that the merman had come to a decision.

"I have nothing to lose and can't go home. I want you to add the ability to include materials to help me recreate the things that I lost that I could take with me when I go. The potential for you to heal me again, and if this works out, the potential to extend our contract."

After a minute of thinking, Amy agreed. And as soon as both the merman and her agreed, a blue screen appeared.

The dungeon core Amy is going into a system-enforced contract with the siren, Calder.

The terms for the dungeon core Amy are as follows:

Provide a place to live Provide a place to hunt/gather Provide available materials for siren, Calder, to use The healing of siren Calder in the case of severe injury during the contracted period to the best of the dungeon core Amy's ability Allowance for the siren, Calder, to take any object that he has created with him when the contract ends

The terms for the siren Calder are as follows:

Must not harm any denizens of the dungeon unless given permission by the dungeon core, Amy (hunting for food does not count as harm) Must not reveal any information or secrets about the dungeon core, Amy learned during the contracted period Has to help in any way that the dungeon core, Amy, has asked (does not include anything life-threatening or permanently damaging)

The contract will be up for renewal after one year (400 days)

Both parties will follow the terms to the best of their abilities. If a party breaks any of the terms, the system will assign a punishment.

Do you agree with the contract?

As Amy read through the contract that the system created, she was actually surprised that it would work. It was kind of far-fetched when she thought of the idea, but hey, it worked out. On the other side, what she thought was a merman was actually a siren. It's not like she knew the difference in this world. But she agreed with the contract, and she then felt a tingle go through her core which she assumed was the system creating the contract.

When she turned her attention back to Calder, it appeared that he accepted the contract too. Amy decided that she would wait and see if the contract with him was effective, and if it's not, she at least has some company for a year.