Coming out of the mansion, Seven immediately headed to a dense forest behind it.
The novel said it wasn't originally a forest, but an open grass field where the founding head of the Hart household used to train. However, ever since his death, the place was left unused, and trees had grown over the centuries.
'Not here.'
Seven zigzagged between the trees, pushing his pale body to keep running. Time was running out, and the sun was setting.
After reaching a less dense spot, he stopped and scanned the area.
'Not here either.'
Seven ran forward once again. As if the universe was teasing him, the sun seemed eager to hide behind the clouds.
And so, he quickened his pace.
His heart pounded faster, as if it might burst from his ribcage at any moment.
Having trouble finding less dense areas, he climbed a nearby tree. But as he reached the top, he realized it might have been a bad idea as the view of the ground was covered by thick leaves.
He decided to come back down.
Rustle.
A faint rustling sound startled him and was on the verge of losing balance. But he didn't care. After all, his full attention was focused on a sword gleaming just a few steps away from the tree.
With that, just like before, a system window flashed before his eyes.
[In the middle of the forest behind Hart's mansion, a sword was stuck through an anvil and into a large stone. It was rumored that no one could remove or pull it out.]
He could remember the following lines detailing the process and steps on how to pull the sword out, but he knew that even if he knew the procedure, he couldn't pull it out now.
The truth was, for now, it wasn't the sword he was after—it was the thing inside it.
Seven smiled, shifting his gaze from the sword to the sun and back to the sword.
"I found you."
Seven walked towards the sword and crouched beside it.
Closing his eyes, he recalled what the protagonist did. In the process, his fingers brushed against the hilt of the sword.
'I'm sure it's around this part.'
Then he felt a faint roughness on its texture. Forcing his eyes open, he stared at it closely.
A button.
Seven pressed it without any hesitation.
Click.
With a metallic scrape that hurt his ears, the hilt came apart, and at the same time, something small tumbled out. It was a smooth, glass-like orb, no larger than a marble, which landed neatly into his waiting palm.
The orb was cold to touch, like a chill that seemed to sink deep into his bones, making his fingers tingle. It was the same cold he felt when he first woke up in this world.
It shimmered faintly as it caught the light of the dying sun. It glowed, as if a fragment of the sun itself was plucked off from the sky and placed in his hand.
Then, the hilt of the sword twisted and turned on its own. He watched in stunned silence as the metal realigned itself seamlessly.
The button was gone.
Seven ran his fingers over the surface, but there was no trace of it. No bump. No mark. Nothing to suggest it had ever been there.
Well, if he remembered correctly, the novel did mention this.
[Once this orb is obtained, there will be no second chance.]
"But is this really it...?"
As much as he doubted, he knew he couldn't afford to second-guess. Time wasn't on his side.
Seven tightened his grip around the orb, his hand trembling as he brought it closer to his face. His breath hitched, and his steady pulse roared in his ears.
He didn't want to do this.
And yet, he raised his free hand.
"Gahhh!!"
The pain was immediate as his fingers plunged into his left eye socket. His nails scraped against flesh and bone as he clawed at his eye.
Blood poured freely down his face, dripping from his chin. His tears mixed with the blood as his screams echoed through the trees.
Still, he didn't stop.
Finally, the eye came free. It dangled grotesquely for a heartbeat before he tore it out completely as the severed nerves trailed like broken strings.
Without hesitation, he pressed the marble-like orb against his empty eye socket.
The moment it touched his torn flesh, it shifted on its own, sliding into place as though it had been waiting for this exact moment—and for that exact spot.
It was as if all this time... it had craved that place.
Seven groaned.
At first, the orb felt freezing cold, like shards of ice piercing his skull and being shoved down into his brain. His fingers clawed at the ground as he fought against the pain.
But then the cold shifted. The frost melted away, replaced by searing heat.
It was as if his blood turned to molten metal, burning through his veins and igniting his nerves. Desperately, he grasped his face, dirt still clinging to his fingers.
The orb finally merged with his flesh and bone.
"Hah... Hah..."
Visions flooded his mind.
He saw a blinding light, endless skies, and a dark silhouette watching him from beyond the horizon. His screams turned to gasps as his left eye snapped open.
"Hah..."
It looked no different than a normal eye, as if the marble-like orb had transformed. From the outside, it was still Seven Hart's gray-blue eye. At least, until his left eye began to shine like gold.
The world no longer appeared the same.
Colors bled into each other, twisting and warping infinitely, like a Van Gogh painting.
Blood still dripped from his cheek, but he could no longer feel the wound. Unsteadily, he wiped his face and stared into the forest with his new vision.
Howl.
The wolf howled again, and it appeared behind him. It was small—like a puppy, if it were a dog.
Without hesitation, he swung his hand and threw his extracted left eyeball as far as he could.
The wolf pup immediately ran to chase it.
Ding!
[Anomaly Detected.]
[An extra character has obtained Theia's Eye. A revision is required.]
[Revising...]
[Replacing the original storyline...]
[Revision complete.]
[You have obtained 7777 Narrative Points.]
This was the ability the protagonist in the novel possessed: Theia's Eye. It was the artifact that shaped his entire journey from the moment he first obtained it.
"Hehehe…"
Seven giggled.
"It's mine now."