Chương 73: Chapter 61 – Truth for Truth

"Take a step back." The Duke of Desolation did not raise his voice, yet the words carried the weight of his authority. Cade hesitated only a fraction of a second before he stepped away from the shattered remains of his old shell scattered across the ashen ground. Vorduun moved forward. The ancient tortoise lowered his massive head and inhaled a slow, deliberate breath. And as he inhaled, the broken shell fragments trembled.

Cade's eyes widened as the pieces cracked further, dissolving into fine gray particles that lifted from the ground in delicate streams, spiraling through the air like smoke caught in a gentle current. The cloud that was once Cade's shell drifted toward Vorduun and settled against his own immense shell. As the particles sank in, his own brilliant pearlescent shell dulled ever so slightly. The ground where his old shell had been was left bare. Cade swallowed.

"What… what did you just do?" Vorduun exhaled softly, a plume of warm air stirring the ash at their feet.

"An ancestor's shell does not belong on this soil," he said.

"I will return it to its proper place in time." There was reverence in his voice. Cade stared at the Duke's shell, mind racing. Between that display and everything he'd witnessed during the fight with Brahm—the vortex, the white flames, the control over ash—it was becoming harder to dismiss the tortoises as mindless destroyers. Maybe they did understand what was happening inside him. Maybe they could do something about the rhizome. It's not like the frogs taught you anything, he thought grimly.

Esmerelda had dangled knowledge like bait but offered nothing concrete. If the Duke was offering answers… wasn't that worth the risk?

"How would I even come with you?" Cade asked.

"The Ashen Front doesn't exactly sound… hospitable to humans." Vorduun's ancient eyes regarded him with faint amusement.

"You survived Brahm's Ashen Vortex," he said.

"You endured what would have reduced most living beings in this realm to drifting residue. I suspect you will manage." That wasn't exactly reassuring but the old tortoise did have a point.

"And what of the Great Tree?" Cade asked.

"If I go with you, won't the Ashen Front just come through and burn it down? I can't let you do that." Vorduun let out a low, rumbling chuckle.

"Many tortoises have tried," he said.

"The outer bark may be scorched. The youngest roots can be burned. But the deeper structure…" He shook his massive head slightly.

"It endures." Cade frowned.

"The tree resists even the purest flames," Vorduun continued.

"When the Ashen Front advances through its territory, it withdraws. Its essence recedes inward. It becomes dormant and is not worth the essence it would take to consume." Cade's brow furrowed further.

"So you're saying it just… waits you out?"

"Yes. It has done so for as many Cycles as I can remember. We burn what we can. We consume what is exposed. But the Great Tree persists." His gaze remained fixed on Cade.

"None have yet reduced it to ash." Cade's eyes narrowed slightly as he processed that. Without further ceremony, Vorduun turned toward the maze of the Great Tree Trials. White flame bloomed along the edges of his jaws. He exhaled and the living wood wall crumbled before the precise flame. Cade lingered only a heartbeat longer, then exhaled and made his choice. Whatever waited at the Ashen Front—answers or ruin—was more than he would find standing here alone. He fell into step behind the Duke without another word.

They walked through corridors of smoldering roots and curling smoke, the Duke leading with unhurried steps. After a time, Vorduun spoke again.

"Tell me your story." Cade stiffened.

"How a human came to walk this realm," the Duke continued mildly.

"I am curious." Cade's pulse quickened. Telling his life story to a creature who could make Brahm bow in deference didn't exactly feel safe. He walked in silence, weighing his options. Vorduun glanced back at him.

"A simple exchange," he said.

"If you give me no lies, you will receive no lies. Offer half-truths, and I shall answer in kind." The Duke's gaze sharpened slightly.

"I value knowledge. Share yours, and I will share mine." It reminded Cade uncomfortably of Second Elder Varosk and the golden toad's quiet, knowing stare. He took a slow breath.

"That's really what you want? In exchange for teaching me how to control whatever it is inside of me?" Cade asked.

"It is."

"Fine," he said.

"Then I'll tell you everything."

"My world was… normal," he began.

"Well. Non-magical is probably a better word. No Cores or System or mana. No talking frogs or tortoises." Vorduun hummed thoughtfully.

"How dreary." Cade huffed a quiet laugh.

"Yeah, it kind of was. The science and technology we had were impressive, I'll give it that—but day-to-day life? Pretty dull, honestly." He kept his eyes forward as they passed through another corridor in the maze.

"I was about to lose my job when it happened. The System came. Just sort of appeared out of the blue. As far as I know, it took everyone on Earth and evaluated us."

"Evaluated," the Duke repeated, as though tasting the word.

"It classified people, separated us into Normies or someone more worthwhile. The worthwhile ones got System Cores." Vorduun's heavy steps slowed slightly.

"Cores are forged," he said.

"They are the crystallization of will, essence, and refinement. How does this 'System' gift them to your people?" Cade shrugged.

"I don't know. I didn't get one." The Duke's gaze shifted to him briefly but he did not say anything further.

"I was labeled a Normie," Cade went on.

"But something went wrong. Instead of sending me to a normie Tutorial, it shoved me into one meant for people with Classes and Cores."

"And you had neither."

"Right." They stepped out of the last smoldering corridor and into open terrain beyond the maze, ash drifting in lazy currents behind them.

"The Tutorial, at least the part I was in, was a swamp," Cade said.

"A giant, miserable swamp. And I wasn't alone. I was stuck with my old lab mates. And my boss. The same boss who'd fired me less than an hour before the System showed up." Vorduun made a soft, amused sound.

"Fate has a sense of humor."

"They all had Classes. Well the professor had a Profession but they seem like the same thing to me. They all had Cores." Cade's jaw tightened slightly.

"I tried to keep up. But without a Core, I couldn't grow the way they did. Every fight caused them to pull further ahead." If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. He paused.

"After a day, we ran into another group and merged. Strength in numbers, right?" He gave a humorless smile.

"I've never felt more unnecessary in my life. I stuck out like a sore thumb. Even my smallest contribution meant nothing to them." Vorduun said nothing, but Cade didn't feel like his silence was dismissive.

"One night, I was on watch with Sasesh—one of my lab mates. We got into an argument." Cade flexed his fingers unconsciously.

"About my usefulness. About whether I was holding everyone back." The memory still burned clear in his mind.

"So I left," he said simply.

"I told myself it was strategic. That I didn't want to be a burden. That I didn't want them wasting resources protecting someone the System had already rejected." He let out a slow breath.

"If I'm being honest… I was embarrassed. They had Cores. I didn't. I was tired of being the one everyone had to watch over. Tired of being the one that was dragging down the group." Vorduun's ancient eyes narrowed faintly. Cade continued.

"After that, I somehow survived on my own." He hesitated, then added, "I killed two Lords of the Swamp." The words hung in the air between them.

"I got lucky," Cade said quickly.

"The first one underestimated me and I was in the right place at the right time for the second." He glanced sideways, trying to read the Duke's reaction. Vorduun's expression remained placid. Unbothered as if Cade just told him two plus two equaled four. When he noticed Cade looking, the Duke spoke.

"Death is a natural consequence of life," he said calmly.

"My kind culls the excess the frogs produce. We consume the essence and refine it." Cade's brow furrowed.

"What exactly is essence? The frogs kept bringing it up, but the System never mentioned anything about it." Vorduun's gaze drifted back to the path ahead.

"Essence is the foundation of all things in this realm," he said evenly.

"When properly claimed, it tempers the body and aids in the shaping and refinement of one's core. We harness it to strengthen ourselves—so that, one day, we may burn away the knot that binds this realm." Cade's steps faltered for half a heartbeat but Vorduun did not slow.

"You will learn in time," he said mildly.

"For now continue with your story." Cade frowned but let it go. If the Duke was serious about trading truth for truth, he would circle back eventually.

"After I killed the second Lord," Cade continued, "I found an egg." He could still picture it pulsing faintly underneath the Burrow-Warden's den.

"The System told me to destroy it. Said whatever hatched from that egg would grow into something that could threaten humanity inside the Tutorial." Vorduun's eyes flicked toward him.

"And I take it you did not."

"No." Cade shook his head.

"I couldn't. It hadn't done anything yet. Killing it felt… wrong." He glanced down at his hands as they walked.

"When it hatched, the System gave me a new quest. I was supposed to guide the hatchling to its ancestral training grounds." He hesitated. The Duke had said no half-truths.

"The hatchling was a small alligator," Cade said.

"Its name was Aquelion." At the mention of his name both Vorduun and Brahm stopped in their tracks. Ash swirled lazily around their massive forms as they turned to look at him fully.

"Aquelion?" the Duke repeated, and for the first time since Cade had met him, genuine interest sharpened his voice.

"Yes."

"Where is he?" Brahm demanded, unable to keep the edge from his tone.

"I don't know," Cade said quickly. Vorduun held his gaze for a moment longer, then inclined his head slightly.

"Continue." Cade exhaled slowly.

"Aquelion led me through the swamp. He was… stronger than he looked. Kept most of the beasts in the swamp away from us with just his aura." A faint smile tugged at Cade's mouth before fading.

"Eventually we reached a ritual circle. He performed some kind of magic then there was a beam of violet light." He paused but again remembered the Duke's warning about half-truths.

"When we entered the beam," Cade added, "the System told me I was entering a corrupted dungeon. It said System access would be limited inside." Vorduun's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.

"And during the transport…" Cade searched for words.

"We were in a weird void space and then a giant violet eye appeared." Brahm shifted uncomfortably.

"It separated us," Cade finished.

"Aquelion and I were torn away from each other before we arrived. The next thing I knew I was lying in what I now know is the Ashen Wastes." At the mention of it, Brahm gulped audibly. Vorduun's gaze rested on Cade with a knowing glint.

"I was alone," Cade continued.

"Ash dunes everywhere around and a storm rolling in from the horizon. I saw a massive worm fleeing the storm—only for the storm to catch it not long after I arrived." His throat tightened slightly at the memory.

"And then I saw him… the Ashen Emperor." Even speaking the title felt heavy.

"He brought the worm down and erased it with white fire," Cade said, gesturing faintly between them.

"Like the flames you and Brahm use—just… greater. No offense. The Emperor's fire felt final. Like there was nothing left once it touched the worm's corpse."

"You were fortunate," Vorduun said quietly.

"Creatures that cross paths with the Ashen Emperor rarely survive. Even his kin must be careful around him."

"Yeah," Cade muttered.

"I kinda figured that out later." He let out a slow breath.

"I somehow found a discarded tortoise shell and hid under it while the storm and the emperor passed."

"When the Emperor gathered the ash from the worm some of that ash fell onto me." Brahm's head angled subtly, but the slight movement couldn't hide the flash of envy that sparked in his eyes at Cade's words. Cade's jaw tightened.

"It burned. Stripped me of everything. My gear. My clothes. Even the two Lord Cores I'd taken." Vorduun stopped walking.

"Ah," he said softly. Then louder, with unmistakable satisfaction, "I knew it." He turned toward Brahm.

"That is how he survived your Ashen Vortex." Brahm stiffened. Cade blinked.

"Wait—what? What do you mean that's how I survived?" Cade asked. Vorduun studied him as if he were a puzzle finally snapping into place.

"What you experienced," the Duke said, "was an Ashen Baptism." Cade blinked.

"Yeah. The System told me that much." Vorduun inclined his head.

"Not merely an Ashen Baptism. One delivered by the Ashen Emperor himself—using the purest ash in this realm." Brahm's eyes widened at the Duke's words. Cade frowned.

"All I know is that it burned me nearly to death. Stripped every piece of equipment I had. Reduced me to skin and bone and black sludge." A faint, knowing smile tugged at the corner of the Duke's mouth.

"The Ashen Baptism is a sacred rite," he calmly explained.

"Every tortoise undergoes it. It scours the body clean, forcing weakness and impurities out through whatever path they can escape. What you called sludge is nothing more than the remnants of those expelled impurities. The ash refines what survives and prepares the body for what lies ahead." He continued walking, voice calm and measured.

"For one who walks the Path of Ash properly, the number of impurities is small. Our fire refines us as we grow. Your body expelled what did not belong. That black effluent you describe was waste, nothing more." Cade thought back to the stench. The weakness in his body afterward. The way he'd felt hollowed out. He couldn't help the stray thought that surfaced. I didn't exactly live clean before all this. Late nights in grad school. Dinner from the vending machine outside the lab. Energy drinks instead of sleep.

Years of stress layered over poor habits. Vorduun's voice cut through his thoughts.

"What happened after the Baptism?" Cade was dragged out of his thoughts and drew in a breath.

"When I woke up, everything was different. The dunes were gone. No more rolling ash hills. Just flat, compacted ground. A completely desolate land." They crested a low ridge as he continued.

"I walked away from the ash storm. After a while, the air started getting misty. Then I heard thunder." A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth despite himself.

"I tried hiding under the shell again at first. But when lightning struck it…" He hesitated, searching for the right words.

"I can't really explain it but after the lightning struck, something in me didn't want to hide anymore. It was like my body craved that lightning." Brahm shifted, clearly preparing to comment but Vorduun gave him a look and the younger tortoise fell silent.

"I climbed on top of the shell," Cade continued.

"And let the lightning hit me." Brahm's head snapped toward him, eyes wide in disbelief.

"It felt—" He struggled for words.

"Right. Like my body was drinking it in." He flexed his fingers as if remembering the current in his veins.

"Until the violet lightning came." His expression darkened.

"That one didn't mesh as well as the others." Vorduun's eyes sharpened slightly, but he did not interrupt.

"I survived," Cade continued.

"Barely. That's when Pearl found me. The orange frog that was with me when Brahm attacked." Brahm's jaw tightened but he remained quiet.

"She brought me to her village," Cade said.

"I met Second Elder Varosk, but we couldn't understand each other, so Pearl forced me to eat Varosk's golden mucus." For the first time since this conversation began, Vorduun let out a deep, rumbling laugh.

"That old toad still insists upon that particular… delicacy? Though I suppose it remains the only reliable way for our species to communicate."

"Yeah, well, it did more than that," Cade admitted.

"I had a crazy vision. Felt like I'd taken drugs or something." Vorduun's amusement vanished in an instant and he came to a complete stop. The genial warmth that had colored his presence thinned, sharpening into focused intent. The ancient tortoise turned fully toward Cade, his gaze heavy and unblinking.

"Tell me. What exactly did you see in this vision?"