Chương 134: Chapter 117 – Three, Actually

"The System probably won't let me explain most of it," Cade said. Amanda stared at him, still pale from watching Cade work. Professor Sanders looked much the same, though curiosity also pushed through the horror in his expression. Cade scratched the back of his neck.

"The leg was something only I can do. At least, I think so. The wood it's made of is part of my Path. But the healing afterward came from an item I found earlier in the Tutorial." He revealed the Primordial Bead Dewdrop in the palm of his hand. Soft light glowed within the crystalline dewdrop, shining through its translucent body as firelight gleamed across its surface. Amanda leaned closer, and Professor Sanders adjusted his glasses, then froze. His eyes widened behind the lenses.

"An epic rarity item?" Cade glanced down at the bead.

"Yeah." Amanda's brow tightened.

"Then why didn't you use it before?"

"It can only be used once every eight hours. I used it on Earl earlier today after Richard's shadows tore him up. It didn't become usable again until after I finished with Kyle's leg," Cade said.

"How did you get such a thing?" Professor Sanders asked, his eyes still fixed on the Dewdrop.

"From another Lord of the Swamp I defeated earlier in the Tutorial," Cade said matter-of-factly. For a moment, all that could be heard was the crackle of the fire. Then Sasesh's voice came from behind him.

"Wait. You've killed two Lords of the Swamp!?" Cade turned and found Sasesh staring at him with open disbelief. The earth mage crouched near one of the wooden chairs, one hand still pressed to the ground. A foot away, Bryan had been buried in a mound of packed earth that came all the way up to his neck. Only his head remained free. So that's what Amanda meant when she said Bryan had to be restrained. Cade's gaze moved past them and swept over the rest of the survivors he hadn't realized were there.

As he looked closer, he realized everyone had gathered around the fire. Earl, Sasesh, Nadean, Kranti, and every other survivor of Richard's massacre. Most stared at him like he had just grown a second head. Their eyes kept flicking from his face to Kyle's new leg, then back again, as if they were still trying to understand what they had just witnessed. But a few looked at him in a way Cade didn't like.

He didn't know their names, but he recognized the tension in their shoulders and the way they flinched when his gaze passed over them. They were afraid. Not just of what they had seen, but of him. Of what he could do if he ever turned his strength against them. Cade didn't like seeing that fear. He didn't enjoy watching weaker people look at him like he might turn on them. He wasn't Richard. He wasn't going to kill a bunch of exhausted, traumatized humans just because he could.

But downplaying the truth wouldn't help either.

"Three, actually," Cade said. Sasesh blinked.

"Three?"

"So far."

"That can't be right," Sasesh said.

"The other two Lords of the Swamp were killed early in the Tutorial. Before that violet beam shot into the sky. Before the System sent the message about the Viscount of the Swamp reaching its training grounds." Cade met Sasesh's eyes.

"Yeah. That was me." Sasesh stared at him, mouth hanging open in stunned silence.

"I'll admit that I got pretty lucky with the first two," Cade said.

"They weren't nearly as strong as Kharvaxis was. Back then, they were more like overpowered beasts. Strong and dangerous, but they didn't have cannons or use lightning magic." For a second, Cade considered telling them about the Viscount. About how Aquelion was honestly just a big swamp puppy who didn't seem interested in fighting at all. But he discarded the idea almost immediately. That conversation probably wouldn't go well.

"Can we come back to Cade killing multiple Lords of the Swamp after I'm no longer buried up to my neck?" Bryan asked. Sasesh jolted at the sound of Bryan's low bass.

"Right. Sorry." The mound around Bryan softened and slid away in heavy clumps. The large man pushed himself upright, shaking dirt from his limbs as he stood. Cade had noticed Bryan's size before, but it stood out more now that the man walked toward him, the firelight flickering over his form. Bryan was built like Earl, thick muscle and broad shoulders, and stood at least five inches taller than Cade. He stopped in front of him and looked down, expression tight.

"I'm sorry," Bryan said.

"For losing control and trying to stop you." Cade looked up to meet the man's eyes.

"I already lost John and Miriam," Bryan continued, his voice roughening.

"Kyle's one of my best friends. Seeing him like that, hearing him scream…" He swallowed.

"I couldn't just stand there. I thought you were killing him." Cade's chest tightened. [Hyperfocused Meditation] had blocked out more than he realized. He had known there were sounds in the background, but he hadn't even felt Bryan try to intervene. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Don't worry about it. I understand," Cade said, offering a hand. Bryan looked at it for half a second, then ignored it and pulled Cade into a hearty bear hug.

"Thank you," Bryan said quietly in Cade's ear.

"Thank you for helping him." Cade felt the awkwardness wash over him for a moment before he exhaled and returned the hug as best he could.

"No problem," he said. Bryan released him a moment later and stepped back, wiping one hand roughly across his face. Cade turned to give the man a moment and saw Kyle near the fire, still moving gingerly as he tested his new leg. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. The knee bent a little too slowly and the ankle lagged when he adjusted his stance. It worked, but it wasn't perfect. Cade hoped those issues would correct themselves as Kyle grew used to the new limb.

Then Kyle braced himself on his good leg and kicked forward with the new one. The motion was awkward, but the leg responded. The knee snapped out, the foot extended, and the wooden sole cut through the air before settling back to the ground. Then he did it again. Cade felt a faint smile tug at his mouth.

"Careful throwing those kicks around or you'll end up with the nickname Doomfoot." Kyle looked over at him, face completely deadpan.

"No, that won't happen. I'm an archer, not a hunter." Then he gave Cade a sly wink. Cade froze. Was Kyle a fan of the same books before the System? Before he could ask, Nadean stepped closer.

"You should rest," she said. Cade turned to her.

"I'm not that tired." Nadean gave him a concerned look.

"Cade, today you apparently killed Richard, took down a Lord of the Swamp, somehow grew an entire freaking village out of the ground, and then gave Kyle the ability to walk again. You may not be able to tell us exactly how you got so strong, or you may not want to, but everything has a cost. After everything I've seen you do today, I don't believe for a second that it didn't take something out of you."

"Won't you need help on watch?" Cade asked.

"We already worked out a rotation," Nadean said.

"One that doesn't include you. Not because we're trying to exclude you, but because you've already done so much. Even you need to rest." He glanced around the camp. The survivors still watched him, but some of the awe and fear had faded from most of their faces. Now they mostly looked tired. Nadean had a point, from her perspective at least. Cade should have been exhausted. A normal person would be. They didn't know his body ran on essence now. They didn't know sleep and food had become optional for him.

Well, mostly optional. He had passed out after exhausting himself by regrowing the Great Tree inside Cynthia's Legacy, but that had been an exception. Still, now that he thought about it, he had spent a lot of essence since returning to the Tutorial. He had gained some from Richard, but not nearly as much as he would have expected. His Core was incredible, and sometimes it felt like a nearly limitless source of essence, but that didn't mean it actually was.

Being alone would mean he could check in on the realm in his Core. He needed to speak with Vorduun and Varosk anyway. To let them know that the realm was no longer in danger of being destroyed. He also wanted to check on Aquelion and ask the Viscount why he had wanted Kharvaxis' Core so badly. Cade looked back at Nadean and let his posture sag a little.

"You're right. I'm pretty tired. I was just trying to put on a brave face in front of everyone." With those words, some of the tension in the air eased.

"Are you sure you can handle the overnight watch?" Cade asked. Nadean nodded.

"We're sure. And thanks to the wall you grew, there's only one entrance to guard."

"Fair enough," he said.

"But come get me if anything happens."

"We will," Nadean said.

"Okay," Cade said.

"I'm going to take one of the huts. There are plenty available for the others. Goodnight." A few people murmured it back. Earl gave him a lazy wave from one of the chairs like he fully intended to enjoy staring into the fire for a few hours. Kyle was still testing his new leg, though Amanda was trying to convince him to sit down. Cade left them to it and walked toward one of the rough huts he had grown earlier. It wasn't much to look at.

The walls were made from interwoven roots, the roof sloped just enough to shed rain, and the floor was mostly packed earth covered by a thin layer of root fibers. Compared to the wet swamp, though, it was practically luxury. He stepped inside, turned around, and sent a pulse of essence and intent into the rhizome. Roots slipped from the soles of his feet, thin strands weaving together to form a rough barrier across the entrance. It wasn't a proper door, but it would do for the night.

Gaps remained between the roots, wide enough for sound and air to pass through, but too narrow for anyone to enter without cutting or breaking their way inside. He didn't think anyone here would attack him in the middle of the night. He also doubted they could do much damage even if they tried, thanks to his body's natural Toughness. Still, he wasn't about to leave himself completely vulnerable. Not when he intended to enter his Core.

He still didn't know exactly what would happen if he was attacked while his consciousness was inside his Core. He assumed he would get pulled back if something damaged him, but he didn't want to rely on that assumption. He'd have to test it later to find out for sure. No one had made a bed in this hut, so Cade sat on the ground at its center and crossed his legs into a lotus position. He had one more thing to do before entering his Core. He sent another pulse of essence into the rhizome.

Roots grew from beneath him and burrowed deep into the ground. A moment later, something shifted below the hut and rose through the dirt. A fist-sized sphere of brown stone emerged from the ground and settled into his palm. Cade turned it over in his hand. He had found it after dissolving Kharvaxis' body. At the time, he had been surprised that anything remained at all. [Mantle of Dissolution] had converted nearly everything it touched into pure essence.

Flesh, shell, blood, bone, all of it had broken down under the Ashen Vortex. But not this. Cade focused on it and activated [Greater Identify]. Stormshore Shotstone (epic) — A dense brown stone polished smooth by the tides. Once belonged to Kharvaxis, Shellbound Shocklord of the Shore. When loaded into a projectile weapon, the Shotstone may draw Mana from the wielder to create ammunition. The original Shotstone is not consumed in this process.

Projectile shape, size, and mass are determined based on the weapon and the Mana consumed. Generated ammunition will break down into ambient Mana after 8 hours. So that was how Kharvaxis had fired so many cannon blasts. Pretty cool. Also pretty useless for Cade, he didn't use projectile weapons. Maybe Kyle could use it. Unlimited ammunition sounded useful for someone with a bow. Though the Shotstone was a round rock, not an arrow. Would it turn into an arrow if Kyle tried to load it into a bow?

Cade stared at the Shotstone for another second before deciding that question could wait until tomorrow. He set the item beside him and exhaled slowly as he readied himself to send his consciousness back into Cynthia's Legacy. Then he paused. He really needed to think of a new name for the realm inside his Core. It wasn't Cynthia's Legacy anymore. It might have started out that way, but he had subsumed the realm when he bound its Core to himself.

It was something else now, something that belonged to him as much as it belonged to the inhabitants inside. Another problem for another day. Cade closed his eyes, focused his will inward, and sent his consciousness into the realm within his Core.