Chương 107: Chapter 93 – A Path Beyond Desolation

Particles from Cade's mantle began winking out one by one at the outermost edges of the storm. He immediately shoved the mystery of the leeches and worms aside as he plunged his awareness inward and focused on the tether connecting him to the [Mantle of Dissolution]. The connection remained just as strong as before. Pure essence still flowed steadily through the tether into the rotating mantle. Yet despite that— He could still feel the detached ash fading away. Cade frowned.

The particles should sustain themselves from what they encounter. Once the ash detached from the mantle and stabilized into orbit, it retained the aspect of Dissolution and continuously fed itself by consuming surrounding organic matter, life essence, and corruption. But now the outermost layers of the vortex kept winking out as if they were starving. Slowly, Cade forced his damaged eyes open. Pain immediately flared through his skull.

The world beyond his ruined vision looked like little more than a smeared haze of white fire and spiraling ash. The vortex still raged around him in enormous rotating layers, but he could barely distinguish individual details through the blurry maelstrom. Cade grimaced and closed his eyes again then he pushed his awareness back into the tether. This time he focused on a fresh stream of ash separating from the mantle. He tracked the particulate flow carefully as rotational force flung it outward into the storm.

The particles spiraled outwards before eventually stabilizing into a distant orbit around him. For a few seconds, the new ash joined the vortex before the connection vanished completely. Cade's brow furrowed as he thought. If the ash particles were no longer finding life essence or corruption to consume, then they would eventually burn out once they drifted beyond the range of the tether. Detached from the mantle, they could no longer draw directly from Cade's channels.

The particles had only remained self-sustaining because the vortex continuously carried them through pockets of life essence and corruption they could strip apart for fuel. Had he really burned everything? The Great Tree. Sildraxa's lingering corruption. All of it? The thought lingered in his mind for several long seconds before Cade finally willed the quest screen open.

He had ignored the constant notifications flooding his awareness and several windows immediately tried forcing their way into his mind all at once. He dismissed everything except the quest. Dungeon Quest: Cleanse Cynthia's Legacy Cynthia's Legacy was forged as a sanctum for her brood. It contains trials to temper the Monarch's descendants, accelerate their growth, and instruct the paths of ascent. However, Sildraxa's corrupting presence has taken root, distorting the dungeon and its legacies.

Purge the taint from its creatures, sever its conduits, and restore the sanctum to its intended purpose. Objectives: Find and Cleanse the Corruption within Cynthia's Legacy - Complete Restore Cynthia's Legacy (Optional) Progress: Minor Corruption Cleansed: 100 / 100 Major Corruption Cleansed: 2 / 2 Prime Corruption Cleansed: 1 / 1 Restore Cynthia's Legacy to its intended purpose (optional): 0 / 1 Reward: Performance-based; rewards scale with the depth and thoroughness of cleansing.

Exit the dungeon to receive your reward. Cade slowly exhaled as relief spread through him. It was done. The corruption was gone. The confirmation from the quest settled the lingering uncertainty clawing at the back of his mind. Sildraxa was dead and her corruption had been purged from Cynthia's Legacy. Although the quest was updated with one final objective. Restore Cynthia's Legacy to its intended purpose. Cade honestly had no idea how he was supposed to accomplish that. Maybe Vorduun would know. Or Pearl.

Or Varosk assuming the giant golden toad was still alive. At least the System considered it optional so he didn't really have to do it, he could just find another exit and leave. Either way, continuing to maintain the vortex served no purpose now. However, Cade quickly realized that he could not simply stop the cataclysmic sized vortex with a flick of his will. The storm had grown far too massive for that.

Instead, he focused on the mantle itself and slowly reduced its rotational speed as he limited the essence pumping through the tether. Gradually, the mantle's spiraling velocity decreased until the cloak finally settled back around his body once more in a drifting sheet of pearlescent ash. Even then, the storm around him did not stop. The dying vortex still howled without his input. Massive winds continued whipping while distant rotational currents slowly ground themselves apart.

It would die down eventually, all he could do now was wait. He had entered this realm carrying a quest with a vague objective from the System and no understanding of what the corruption actually was. Now the Great Tree had fallen, Sildraxa was dead, and the corruption infecting the dungeon had finally been purged. A small flicker of satisfaction stirred deep inside. But the feeling faded almost as quickly as it came. The accomplishment felt hollow sitting amidst the destruction he had caused. He had done this.

He alone was responsible for burning the Great Tree down. It had been sacred to the frogs. A living symbol that had endured through countless Cycles of growth and desolation. And Cade had burned it down, roots and all, leaving nothing but ash and pure essence behind. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. He believed it had been necessary. No, it had been necessary.

After witnessing Sildraxa's influence firsthand and seeing the impossible entity she originated from, Cade could not imagine risking even the smallest fragment of that corruption surviving. But necessity did not erase guilt. A tired sigh escaped his cracked lips. What would the frogs think when they saw what remained of their sacred tree? What would Pearl think? She had watched the destruction begin with her own eyes. Cade knew she understood why he had done it. She had seen Rowana's corruption.

She knew how dangerous Sildraxa's influence was. Still— Understanding did not make the loss hurt less. Hopefully she was alive somewhere beyond the dying storm. He didn't have the heart to look through his notifications right now to see if she got caught up in the vortex. Cade rubbed at his face tiredly before immediately regretting the motion as pain flared through the damaged flesh around his eyes. He really hoped Pearl survived the vortex.

The thought lingered there uneasily for several moments before his mind drifted again. He thought of Sil, the black frog from his mucus-induced vision. She had somehow grown the Great Tree from seemingly nothing but an ashen wasteland. If she could do that, then maybe the destruction was not entirely permanent. Maybe Pearl or Varosk could eventually grow another tree in its place. A distant rumble of thunder rolled high above the diminishing vortex. Cade barely acknowledged it.

Instead, another realization slowly began connecting itself inside his mind. Sil, the frog's ancestor and Drax, the ancestor of the tortoises. Those names could not possibly be coincidence. They were both fragments of Sildraxa's name. Cade leaned back against his cloak, willing it to harden around him for support while thoughts turned over one after another. Sildraxa had claimed she fractured two souls into many smaller pieces to break some sort of chains binding them.

At the time Cade had mostly dismissed the explanation as manipulative nonsense from an ancient corruption monster. But now? Now he was no longer so certain. What if Sil and Drax really had been fragments of two souls? Had Sildraxa named them after herself intentionally to keep some measure of control over them? To subtly shape the frogs and tortoises around identities tied directly back to her? The idea felt disturbingly plausible and it raised even more uncomfortable questions.

Were all of the frogs and tortoises truly individuals? Did they each have their own soul? Or were they merely fragmented pieces of the original? Slowly, Cade inhaled again. Pure essence pressed against his channels. Even now, despite the vortex dying around him, absurd quantities of pure essence still saturated the air where the Great Tree once stood. He was already full so his channels rejected most of it automatically.

Now that he had stopped feeding his [Mantle of Dissolution], the amount of essence packed inside his body felt almost uncomfortable. His channels brimmed to capacity. Cade exhaled slowly as another thought crept into his mind. There was enough essence here to form a Core. More than enough actually. Probably enough to form something absurdly powerful if he knew what he was doing. Sildraxa's words drifted in his mind uninvited. She had claimed that normal Core formation would not work for him.

According to her, simply condensing essence would not be enough. He would need a Core specifically aligned to the Path he walked with precise integration to properly bridge his fused physical and metaphysical channels. Otherwise his growth would eventually stall and his channels could destabilize. She had clearly wanted to manipulate him, and Cade refused to blindly trust anything that insane creature said. But that didn't mean every word out of her mouth had been a lie. Maybe he really did need a special Core.

Vorduun had to be somewhere nearby. Once the storm weakened enough, Cade could find the old tortoise and ask for guidance on Core formation. He would certainly know more about advancement than Cade did and he sure as hell trusted Vorduun's words over Sildraxa's. Yet even as the thought surfaced something about it felt wrong. Sure, he could probably absorb the essence surrounding him and attempt to force a Core. But that felt… selfish. He had already made enormous gains from Cynthia's Legacy.

He had reforged his body, gained new skills, created two Law Seeds and one of them even sprouted. He could manipulate essence, something that, as far as Cade knew, even the System didn't teach in the Tutorial. He had grown so much in this formerly corrupted dungeon that taking the Great Tree's essence to form his Core felt wrong. Even though the Great Tree was dead because of him, the essence drifting around him did not really feel like his to claim. Maybe the tortoises could use it instead.

Maybe absorbing the essence would help heal whatever fragmented soul they originated from. Cade knew the frogs would not touch any of it. Not after the Great Tree's destruction. This essence had been released through its death and Pearl had said it was not their path to strengthen themselves through death and destruction. The storm still howled around him, though much weaker now. Cade slowly exhaled as he leaned further into the cloak. He felt movement beneath the ruined flesh around his eyes.

The rhizome wriggled softly through the damaged tissue around his face as if probing him. He suddenly froze. Then he nearly laughed at himself for not thinking of it sooner. Back when Vorduun taught him to breathe the [Flames of Desolation], Cade had planted one of the rhizome spears into the ash-filled ground. Within minutes, the thing had grown into an enormous tree after absorbing the surrounding essence. His rhizome could grow directly from pure essence.

Sure it could use life essence as well but he had fed it with pure essence before and it could obviously grow from pure essence in the area without his instruction. Pieces began fitting together inside Cade's mind. Sildraxa's corrupted version of the Great Tree had likely required the leeches and ash worms to continuously gather and cycle essence back toward its roots.

The entire ecosystem of Cynthia's Legacy had revolved around harvesting life essence and pure essence from both the frogs and tortoises before feeding it back into the tree. But Cade's rhizome didn't seem to need that process at all. It could absorb and grow from pure essence directly. His pulse quickened as he stood, no longer leaning against his hardened cloak. He might actually have the tools necessary to grow another Great Tree himself. Right here. Right now.

Genuine excitement cut through the exhaustion weighing on him. He wouldn't have to wait for Pearl or Varosk to somehow restore the tree on their own. And if he could actually pull this off, then maybe he could complete the optional portion of the quest as well. Restore Cynthia's Legacy to its intended purpose. Some of the crushing guilt sitting in Cade's chest loosened slightly at the thought. He hated that the destruction had been necessary.

But if he could restore something afterward— If he could leave this realm better than he found it— Then maybe the Great Tree's death would not be the only mark he left behind. Ideas immediately began spiraling through his thoughts. The rhizome. The absurd quantity and density of pure essence surrounding him. The frogs. The tortoises. Aquelion. Sildraxa's voice resurfaced in his memory. You were far more attuned to destruction. Cade's excitement faltered slightly as doubt pressed against the edges of his thoughts.

Sildraxa had manipulated him ever since he entered Cynthia's Legacy, but she had also understood Paths and advancement on a level far beyond Cade himself. What if she had been right? What if everything Cade touched naturally drifted toward destruction? After all, he had no affinity for the frogs' Paths and he had taken to desolation disturbingly easily. Doubt lingered for several long seconds before Cade abruptly snorted.

"Fuck her," he muttered aloud into the dying storm. What did Sildraxa actually know about him? She understood the Path she wanted to force him onto. That did not mean she understood him as a person. She did not get to decide what he could or could not become. The Law Sprout of Inviolable Self stirred within his soul, resonating with the thought. If Cade wanted to walk a path of growth instead of destruction, then he could carve that path himself.