7 slowly pointed to an area just above its eye.
With that, Raddan got to work. He manipulated the iron dust so that it would slither into the crevices of Number 7's eye sockets. And once it was in, he moved it around until he felt something of interest.
'Oh, what's this?' Raddan focused on an area where the control of his iron felt easier and increased the intensity. He used all his mental strength, and compacted the dust so that it would completely incase the area.
Number 7 began shaking violently, as if having a seizure. The color of his eyes flickered between red and orange, and black fluid began to seep out the crevices of his body.
However, Raddan did not stop. He could feel something about to happen, something.... interesting.
[Quest Complete!]
[Error! User has gone beyond the bounds of current quest.]
[Processing...]
Surrounding rock materials began moving towards Number 7, clinging to his body and slowly encasing him in a rocky cacoon.
A moment later, it cracked, and like a dragon reborn, Number 7 came out. The entire process has broken the chains, however, there were far more interesting things happening right now.
'I don't know much about rock-based creatures. But I'm fairly certain I've just bioengineered it.'
Number seven now had tiny, almost unnoticeable streaks of iron dust running across all the crevices of its body. Its once jagged skin was now smoother, and the red glow in its eyes had changed to orange.
On top of that, Raddan could now sense a magnetic field around it. It was something beyond just a rock creature. And it seemed that Number 7 knew it as well.
It stood up, inspecting its body; feeling it and picking at the iron dust. "I'm, evolved," it whispered, before looking at Raddan. Its eyes seemed to hold more emotion now, surprise, fear, joy. Its voice had changed as well, now more melodious.
"I-I won't be able to repay this," Number 7 said suddenly, before falling to his knees. "I don't have enough to offer," he added, now sounding a bit desperate.
"You-You won't take my freedom, will you?"
Raddan was still intrigued by the changes Number 7 had undergone. He wished now more than ever that he had a notebook with him to jot down the changes.
"Are you tired? I'm sorry, I'll- I'll feed you," Number 7 said, quickly standing up.
7 was right, the process had taken a lot out of Raddan. Right now he wanted nothing more than to try re-engineering 7 again, but that would not be possible for a long while.
A short scream broke Raddan's train of thought, and a moment later, 7 returned with a glowing red rock. It was perfectly spherical and hummed with weak power.
"Here," 7 said, holding the rock next to Raddan.
[A new rock has been discovered!]
[System is currently processing previous quests!]
[Adding advancements to queue...]
With that, a stream of light jumped from the rock, into Raddan's body, slowly draining away its color.
'What was that?' Raddan thought. He didn't feel any different, but since the strange voice reacted, then it definitely did something.
"You still seem weakened. I'll get another," 7 said, before retreating once again.
This time Raddan followed its movements.
It rushed towards one of the crazed golems, and held out a hand. An instant later, the iron dust on 7's body morphed into a dull blade at the tip of its finger.
'Don't tell me...'
7 thrust the blade into the golem's skull. The poor creature only realized what was happening to it once it was too late.
Black sludge gushed from the wound like a rotten cavity. 7 calmly retrieved the creature's core and ran back to Raddan.
"Here, another," it said, holding it out towards him.
[Addition rock material has been added for refinement!]
[Processing...]
Raddan was at a loss for words. Of course, it was common for animals to attack each other, but perhaps 7's higher-than-average intellect had fooled him into perceiving golems as more human-like.
"I'm sorry, Lord Raddan, I can't bring you another," 7 said, deep sadness in his tone. "I-It's not because I don't want to. But killing any more than two will raise suspicion," he added.
'No, it's not the fact that I didn't expect golems not to kill each other. I just didn't expect this fickle, shy thing to do it so calmly.'
7 suddenly stood up. "I should take care of the evidence before we leave." He walked back towards the first golem he had killed and began stabbing it with the dull iron blade.
Once it was in smaller chunks, 7 began... eating them.
The other golems did not seem aware of what was going on, still whispering random nothing to the walls.
'Interesting. Golems must be a cannibalistic race,' Raddan thought, finally coming to terms with 7's dual nature.
[Processing complete!]
[System has been reconfigured based on recent advancements!]
[New Meta-Skill unlocked: Core resonance!]
[100% progress towards evolution has been achieved!]
[Ev. 2 has been reached!]
'So many new things to investigate,' Raddan thought excitedly.
[User has been added to the player rankings.]
[Current ranking: 110th]
'Player rankings?'
[Please standby while system reboots to apply evolution...]
And with that a darkness, much like death, consumed Raddan's consciouness.