The scuffle inside the room had come to an end, there was no need to keep the room closed any longer. The hand let go of the door, and soon after an abyssal shrill accompanied the opening of the rusted hinges. He readjusted his black leather glove and dusted it off against his black overcoat.

“Didn’t she tell you to keep her alive?” the man from behind him asked unhappily. “What are you planning? Even if you’re The Collector you cannot get away should you sully her reputation⁠— even in this remote land.”

The Collector nodded with a small frown, but it was quickly erased as he made up his mind.

“Should she die too bad for her, even if she decides to kill me for sullying her reputation it will be too late.”

The man behind The Collector nodded grimly, but he still sighed. “You know full well that she can kill you without using mana stones.”

The Collector answered. “Alchemist, do not interfere. Even if this Dungeon is dead, by the time she gets to know of it. Our operation will be long done.”

“Right, it’s just⁠ a small girl—

“Are you worried?” The Collector asked with a chilly voice, interrupting Alchemist. “Small girl, wolf cub, kitten⁠— Whatever form a Dungeon has, they are still a monster.” He readjusted one of his gloves. “As monsters, they shall die under my hand, that is my mission.”

Alchemist, the man with the dreadlocks paused, simply sighing in response.

“You’ve had my warning, she’s not a normal Dungeon. That’s why she wants this one alive.”

With those parting words he left the building. The Collector grunted in displeasure. Alchemist meddled too much for his liking, he was too soft, too easily influenced. If it weren’t for his talent for brewing he wouldn’t have been present in this town and the operation partaking in it. However, he couldn’t get too hung up on the Alchemist, he had places to be, but more importantly, things to check.

“Not a normal Dungeon?” The Collector scoffed. He was going to be the judge of that.

Entering the room whose blaring light came from the cheap minerals in the ceiling, the first thing he saw was the hulking slave trader that he dealt with every so often, or well — the corpse of the slave trader he dealt with. He didn’t pause, there was no change in his countenance, he was no stranger to death. The man was quite weak even for his level. However, he did feel rueful that he let the man go fight a Dungeon.

There was blood⁠ that looked almost black from the green light of the room, but The Collector knew it was the slave trader's. He could barely remember his name. Nonetheless he found it annoying to try to find a new slave trader to keep his supply up, he wasn’t keen on torturing them, but they were cheap manpower; disposable too.

The Collector solemnly shook his head as he kicked the corpse, but paused upon seeing the injury on his neck. He leaned in to check it more, eventually deciding to pull out the embedded foreign object. Raising it up high, The Collector inspected it.

It was a stake, pitch-black like the abyss, particles of darkness floated up and vanished into nothingness. It was slowly losing its physical form and going back to the ambient as mana. The Collector had seen a skill like that before. A slight sigh escaped his lips, looking at the slave trader in pity. But at the same time it was his mistake for not judging the skills of his adversary properly. The Darkness attribute was particularly notorious for the temporary destruction of one’s senses and well being.

The Collector tossed the stake aside, and looked at his victim. It was a small girl like he had heard, but his eyes didn’t change. Regardless of form, the nature of a monster was primal and simplistic. At the same time, it was an opportunity he couldn’t waste, the bracelet was now on her⁠, while he didn’t like the origins of said bracelet, he understood the importance of it. He simply had to finish the contract.

Removing the glove from his left hand he leaned in and touched the bracelet on the Dungeon.

“I shall restrain you from now on. I shall keep you in check. I shall be there for you.” His voice came out devoid of emotions, he had done it way too many times. Soon, a notification came.

Ding!

[You can now command: Leah, D̶̻̫͗̒ȇ̸̟͖̔̇s̸͈͆̅̓c̶͇͆̎͠ͅe̴͎̍ǹ̵̢͗ḑ̵̜͆e̴̗̰͑̈́̓d̸͕̻̮̒̆̑ Dungeon Core. Lvl. 32]

The Collector paused slightly surprised. He hadn’t expected such a low level Dungeon, at the same time part of her race was corrupted.

So, she is indeed special. He thought, but it hardly mattered.

“Let me borrow your strength to slay my foe.” The Collector spoke in a low voice.

The collar hummed and a ding went off in his mind.

[Borrowed title: Monster Slayer ⁠— +200% Damage against monsters]

He paused. “Let me borrow your strength to slay humans.” Another ding went off in his mind.

[Borrowed title: Grim Reaper ⁠— +200% Damage against bones]

The Collector thought for a moment, he knew of this title too. But it was for undead. It could work against humans, but there was of course a title specific for them. Every monster that he knew of held it, but this⁠— this Dungeon didn’t? What kind of Dungeon didn’t kill humans? Moreover, thinking further about it, she shouldn't have the Monster Slayer title. Perhaps she didn't consider herself a monster, so she had the title, at the same time she was forced into killing this human so it's not as if she sought to kill him. It was strange.

The Bracelet of Compromise wouldn’t fail either, not with its long standing history. A bracelet to bind, a bracelet of submission, even if its real purpose had been twisted beyond belief. It was still infallible. Finally, he closed his eyes.

A monster that doesn’t kill humans? He smiled. It was too interesting to pass up. He looked at Leah once again, but it gave him pause. He saw her eyes staring at him, crystal blue gems devoid of emotions only holding coldblooded hostility. His smile froze and he spoke.

"Monster, I presume?"

Leah— The Dungeon shook her head. "If you're here to end it all, then I shall fight to the death." Her cold voice betrayed her trembling body as she tried to stand up.

The Collector stared in interest. "I don't plan on killing you just yet."

However, he only got a scoff in response. "We are going to die sooner or later, I might as well make it bearable for her, so she doesn't need to suffer anymore. It makes me feel pity for her, considering her instructions." Soon she stood against the wall, unable to stop shaking.

Hearing the Dungeon's words The Collector paused. We? He couldn't recall the nature of a Dungeon, but he knew this wasn't normal. However, there were two things that caught his attention, suffering, and instructions. He knew of the instructions of Dungeons, unlike other monsters these beings were special. He wasn't dealing with a girl, but a Dungeon. His hand tensed as he got ready to use a skill to instantly kill her should she try something.

"What are her instructions?" He asked with ridicule. Yes, he was interested in the special Dungeon. However, he wouldn't spare it should there be any risk of harm.

The Dungeon smiled, a hint of emotion flashing on her eyes. "The Logic unit of this vessel believes herself to be human. That's why she shouldn't keep fighting pointless battles anymore. These battles aren't something that can be won," her smile faded into nothingness. "Which is why if you're here to kill, then let us end it at once. There is little to no point in struggling."

"She believes herself to be human?" The Collector felt conflicted about this, it sounded too... unrealistic.

"That is right, that is also why I plan to end things here. She'll die a painless death this way." The Dungeon in front of him entered a stance, but it just sounded a bit off to him.

"Let me borrow information about your Logic unit," he commanded.

The bracelet on the Dungeon's arm began to tremble, black lines ran up her arm before she started to puke black blood. "What did you do?"

"Don't resist or you will die from it." The Collector wanted to know. "For now at least, you're safe, at least if you're human."

The Dungeon bit her lip. "I am not human, however, she believes herself to be, cough."

A sigh escaped The Collector, he had seen his fair share of unhinged people, including the people whose behavior was erratic and nonsensical. But, he had to know.

"If she's human, then neither of you will die; in spite of killing a human, there is no Human Slayer title, that says enough. However," his dropped a few degrees. "Should there be danger, then both of you will die a gruesome death."

The Dungeon thought for a second before she sat on the ground. "Very well, I will talk."

◇ ◇ ◇

The Collector asked questions for a few minutes, he gathered... not a lot. Dungeons were divided into two sections, a Computing unit and a Logic unit, but it didn't matter whether he had heard of it or not, he was talking to the Computing unit, the least available one from what he gathered. The Logic unit was named Leah as per her name tag on inspection.

[Computing unit. Lvl. 32]

That was enough proof for him, and enough to make his decision. The Beyond couldn't be easily meddled with, and if she could meddle with it then she wouldn't even be in this situation to begin with.

"Then we have a deal?" Computing unit asked him, her voice carrying the same tone as always. Now that he remembered when the Dungeon was locked up in the room, she sounded completely different, which added to the truths he gathered.

"You shall be safe under my wing from now on." He nodded.

Frankly he had believed Computing unit, the name changing was enough for him, at the same time there was no threat, a Dungeon who lacked their main racial abilities was like a beast with no claws. He had ordered her to use her racial abilities but nothing happened, no backlash nor movement, so he knew for a fact she had tried. They just, didn't work.

"Then..." She paused and looked at the ground. "I suppose I have no choice but to trust you, I also need to be alive for her. What is your name."

"You can call me The Collector." The Collector smiled.

"Race..." He heard her barely audible mutter, but paid it no mind. Soon, a sigh escaped Computing unit. "Then I hope we never have to speak again, The Collector. Farewell..." She spoke indifferently closing her eyes, soon her body slumped. Everything was back to normality.

[Leah. Lvl. 32]

In the end, it seems to be true. The Collector didn't know what to do with the information of the units of a core. Frankly it seemed to hardly matter. He leaned in and picked up Leah. He had to at least treat her like a human for now. For at least now, she was one in his mind. He put the girl over his shoulder and left the room. Though unfortunately, one couldn't be too cautious. He was still going to need to talk with her just to make sure, last thing he wanted was to take care of a monster, even if she had asked.

It shouldn’t interfere with the contract. The Collector thought as he glanced at the full moon, the stars twinkled overhead. But he didn’t linger on the sight and simply disappeared into the dead of night.

◇ ◇ ◇

Adin Eckhart slumped on his chair and looked at the ceiling, the night view through the single square skylight allowed him to think properly. His squared office was isolated from the world at the moment, he had a lot of things to think over after all.

The girl he had taken in, or the Dungeon, he was still unsure. But there was something more important — the contract.

He closed his eyes. It was all much simpler before the contract happened. The job as The Collector had been getting to him since then. Signs of aging had begun to appear on his stoic face, and his beard had grown, every passing year he looked more and more like a battle-hardened warrior. He couldn’t remember how long he had been in the role for. But one thing was certain, he was the first one in the role. Everyone after received a number. For all intents and purposes he was the original Collector.

It had been a few years since he had arrived in Arlesh. It was nothing but a small village at the start, eventually growing to its current almost-city size. The job of a Collector was tiring for his soul, little of his justice-filled persona remained now. And the contract made it worse.

The only distinction he had in his mind were monsters. Whether it was Dungeons, Wolves, Apparitions, no matter what they were⁠— no matter from which era they were. Even if the primal monsters of the long past showed up. It didn’t matter to him,

He squeezed on the armrest of his wooden chair, the wood creaking under his grip.

He would kill every single one of them. He would take what was theirs just like they took from him.

Adin let go of the chair thinking of the new slave he had acquired. He didn’t like the person that requested for said girl to be kept safe. Even by his standards, that person was unhinged. She didn’t hate monsters, but it surprised him that the girl was alive after encountering her directly. Let alone such a strange girl at that. Still, he had to make an effort to treat her normally, however, not before questioning.

He shook his head, recalling a myriad of titles of the crazed horned woman. No matter what title he used, it was all in a bad light. She had a tendency to leave unsettled debts with anyone, causing grudges that lasted lifetimes. In retrospect, Adin was relieved that he didn’t need to deal with her, he had lost his fear a long time ago, even if she was a member of them, it didn’t matter.

Well, it wasn’t useful to think about that person anymore. She had left shortly after requesting him to take care of the Dungeon girl. Her presence stirred the waters too much for her and everyone’s liking.

As far as the Dungeon slave⁠— Leah, was concerned. He had done everything he could, in the end she wasn’t too injured. Not anything that needed a middle-grade or high-grade health potion anyway. She had simply run out of mana, so all he could do was wait for the next day and give her a mana potion. It was impressive that Computing unit could even move under such conditions, his evaluation of her had improved drastically.

He opened his eyes. There was still the contract problem.

At first I wanted to stay out of it, but⁠— A small sigh escaped his lips. It was something that he couldn’t ignore. Even if it was a team assembled by an organization of the Black Market, even if he had only joined for the contract. It was too troublesome.

A Contingency Contract: A threat to humanity.

The words still echoed in his mind, the husky voice from that person that smelled of iron and rot. He shook his head. After all, for this contract he had appeared, an Exalted had appeared, one of the only two in the organization.

Those that stood at the apex, the ones who were at the top of the food-chain. Human, monster, animal⁠— Exalted were acknowledged by the Beyond itself as the strongest. The ones whose name had been branded in the Beyond to last forever.

Adin felt like he was close, but even among the Exalted there was disparity. After all, not every Exalted could destroy a whole kingdom in a day. Nonetheless, the arrival of one by the contract simply meant that Arlesh was in peril. Or rather, it meant that the whole entirety of Arlesh and its inhabitants were in peril.

But in spite of everything, all Adin could do was follow the operation. Not like he planned on stopping it, it was something he couldn’t ignore after all.

The eras shift once again. An era of true monsters.

Massacre was beginning to occur across the world, things of old moved, and the undercurrents they left behind sprouted seeds of vengeance and unpaid debts of blood. Though that was unimportant to him.

No matter if he was Adin or The Collector. His mission remained largely the same.

He closed his eyes, this time going to sleep. Whether the girl was a monster or not, whether an Exalted was present or not, whether the crazy woman would show up or not, it didn’t concern him just yet. For now, he simply had to keep doing his job as The Collector.

And Collect he would.