Jules felt his thoughts shatter like glass, a whisper weaving in between the shards.
His head suddenly throbbed with pain, making him take a step back.
The world seemed to whirl, his senses falling into disarray.
Everything—sounds, scents, sights—they were all becoming a blur.
Amidst this, he found himself active.
His legs began moving on their own, following the whisper of whatever lay in the depths of the forest.
Jules, who had been trying to suppress all memories of the mission, suddenly recalled a particular shard of memory.
"...so make my sacrifice count!"
Remembering this, Jules raised his shortsword in one go and stabbed it into the arm with the injured shoulder.
Hot blood surged out in thick pulses, coating Jules' hand in sticky warmth, his fingers twitching like a dying spider.
"Ahh!" Jules let out a yelp before swallowing it back. He tore a piece of his shirt and tied the wound, the blood spilling from it reducing.
'That fucking Heart...wants to take over...my body!'
With the pain recovering his senses, Jules looked at the glowing trail leading him to his destination.
Hesitation cleared from his mind as he darted towards his destination.
Even Jules's body seemed to have momentarily forgotten the poison with how he moved, his golden eyes sharp like a predator.
In ten minutes, Jules found himself at the entrance of his destination.
It was easy to miss.
A small entrance sat between a boulder and the ground—grass further concealing its depth.
The yellow trail wove into the shadowy entrance, its yellow glow thicker and stronger than ever.
Jules slid into it, falling into a narrow tunnel, cool and damp, with walls of rough stone.
It twisted out of sight, as if leading to something long forgotten.
The tunnel was dark, but Jules managed to create a little fire with his mana.
He didn't stop—worrying that if he gave these Artifacts a chance, they'd take over.
Soon, Jules found himself standing in front of a wall.
Stabbed into the wall was a sword.
The sword had a long, black double-edged blade. Faint red runes glowing under Jules's light.
The hilt was crafted for two-handed use, forged from a dark, almost obsidian-like material, with crimson accents that stretched from the base, winding through the short guard and continuing along the blade's spine.
The blood-red streaks seemed to bleed into the black steel, as if the weapon itself thirsted for battle.
This was the blade Warforged and it extended its desire for blood to Jules.
'You're the first proof of my accomplishments!'
Putting his shortsword in his weak hand, Jules looked at the black blade and used his hand to comb his dirty white hair back.
Then he grasped the sword with one hand. The blood on his palm trailed down the blade slowly.
Before Jules could attempt pulling out, he felt an ounce of mana in his core drain out like a snake, coiling around the sword before seeping into it.
[The artifact, 'Warforged,' has been bound to 'Jules Evanava']
[Warforged's status is now available]
Without giving Jules any time to comprehend anything, the sword had bonded itself with Jules.
The sword loosened its grip from the wall, leaving Jules to easily pull it out.
Jules stood stunned for a moment, then thought, 'That…was easy.'
He raised the sword up and looked at the blade as if feeling its intent.
Jules mused. 'Are you excited to be with me, or are you excited to go out?'
"System." Jules said, "Obtain inventory feature."
[Creating inventory feature…]
Jules watched the process, slightly feeling regret for missing out on the other features.
Looking on the bright side, the other two could be overlooked, but getting storage was way harder and had more benefits in the long run.
The heart, for example, would boost Jules's unimpressive stats upon usage.
[Successful]
[Inventory: This gives you access to a pocket dimension where you can store non-living things.]
Already familiar with the inventory from the novel, Jules activated the inventory.
Using his mana to draw more of the atmosphere's mana, the system opened a small portal–a swirling black crack in space, formed by a gray energy–and Jules inserted his sword into it.
'I have to be fast. They should already be looking for me by now.'
Jules shifted his attention back to the yellow trail that remained pointing into the hole he had removed his weapon.
From behind it was the source of the whisper that kept clawing at Jules's mind.
'With how strong its mental attack is, this Heart must be top-tier. Well…that's expected. It's the vestige of an Archangel after all!'
Hearts are vestiges left behind upon the death of certain creatures, holding the traits and skills of the creature.
Depending on the creature that left the Heart, the quality of the Hearts varies, but they were still highly coveted materials in this world.
Jules touched the wall and noticed it was barely strong.
'Did the people miss this in the novel because the Heart repelled people away?'
'Is it attracted to me because I transmigrated?'
Jules pondered as he brought his shortsword and slowly started breaking the wall, his movements terrifyingly slow.
Clang–!...Clang–!
'The poison is really catching up to me. I can barely sense mana anymore.
'Ignore it.' Jules told himself, 'You've made it this far. Just see it to the end.'
After a couple of hits, the wall came crumbling leaving a small chamber to come into view.
The chamber was small, stuffy and extremely dark.
But due to the sheer amount of mana that was revolving around it, Jules recognized the heart to be at the center.
Moving the fire light forward, the chamber brightened up.
A small object, the size of a fist, was scarlett in color.
It looked like an actual heart as it pumped slightly and had the texture of a flesh with arteries and veins underneath.
There seemed to be blood around it–some dried, some slightly fresh–as though the Heart had pulled the blood to itself.
Surrounding the Heart like a bird watching its egg was the bone of a fairly large beast, a reptilian creature of sorts.
Most parts of the bone were still intact while others had long given into time.
'These bones…' Jules's eyes gleamed. 'Jackpot!'
After looking around to confirm if there was any trap or monster laying waiting, Jules darted in.
Using his precious shortsword as a tool, he dug out the bones and stuffed them into his inventory.
The heavy mana in the chamber assisted with the mana consumption to do open the portal.
Then looking at his main course, Jules prepared to put it in his inventory for later, when he had the chance to do the ritual to improve the effects of Heart consumption while reducing side effects.
Crouching, he stretched his hands to it, but the Heart responded to this.
Turning half-incorporeal, it merged with Jules.
Jules wasn't able to complain as his mind went blank.