Chapter 228: Marked by the Tide... Together.
After Haxley, walking straight back to the warehouse feels like daring the world to take the rest of our sanity. So we head to the docks of Azure Prime instead, where at least the air has room to move and the hospital smell falls away behind us.
Oliver doesn’t question it. He just walks beside me in silence, his face caught between deciding whether he’s escaped a problem or only bought time before the next one.
The docks are crowded enough not to feel empty, but wide enough that no one has to overhear us. The ocean stretches out until it meets the watery sky of Thirstfall, drawing an impossible line where real water and blue sky blur into each other. Too beautiful for a world this rotten. Maybe that’s exactly why it bothers me.
We buy relaxing tea from a stall across the street and lean on the railing, watching the slow waves break against the stone pilings.
I wait a few minutes before speaking. Not because I don’t know what to say, but because I need to be sure there aren’t too many eyes nearby, and to settle on the choice I’m about to make. I search for traces of energy, runes hanging in the air, any sign of listening or artificial attention. Nothing worth worrying about.
"Big guy," I say, still looking at the sea, "I have a curse."
Oliver turns and sets his back against the railing, letting out a short sigh.
"We all do, boss. Being down here counts as one."
"Not that kind."
The joke leaves his face slowly. He turns his back to the sea, props his elbows on the railing, and gives me his full attention. It’s one of the things I respect most about him. When a conversation turns serious, he doesn’t fake lightness to protect himself.
I open my HUD Stream and let only the skill show between us. The blue panel, translucent like water trapped in glass, ripples in the air.
[Passive Skill: Chaos Theory]
1
[Unique Passive Trait: Causal Dissonance]
"By manipulating fate like a God, you didn’t become the Game Master. You only raised the House’s stakes."
Description: The Law of the Ocean detects an anomaly in the time continuity. You are an error in the equation. The world’s enthalpy resists alteration, forcing the universe to correct your existence through calamity.
Passive Effect (Curse): Drastically increases the probability of Impossible Encounters, Catastrophic Environmental Failures, and the hostility of creatures ranked higher than the user. The world will actively attempt to eliminate you.
Passive Effect (Blessing): Fate favors the bold. Surviving Dissonance events generates rewards of Transcendental quality. The probability of Drops, Hidden Discoveries, and Skill Evolution is increased proportionally to the danger faced.
Current Status: Marked by the Tide.
Oliver reads it once without blinking. Then again, slower, as if he expects the words to change if he pushes at them hard enough. He reads it so many times he starts to look like a statue that only moves its eyes.
"Don’t ask me too much yet," I say. "I just needed you to know enough to protect yourself when we are together. Keep an eye out."
He keeps staring at the panel for a few seconds before drawing a deep breath, deep enough to show he understands that the next word has to be chosen with care.
"The world will actively attempt to eliminate you," he repeats, low. "And you think what happened with Haxley today is tied to this?"
"I think a lot of what’s happened since we met might be tied to it. Maybe not all of it, but enough that I won’t pretend it’s coincidence."
Oliver closes his eyes for a moment. I expect anger, an accusation, maybe the obvious question about how many times he nearly died just from standing close to me. It would be fair. Instead, he opens his eyes with a heavy calm.
"I’m more bothered that you didn’t tell me sooner," he says, "but I get why you didn’t. This isn’t family gossip, boss. This is the kind of taboo that makes a guild sell out a friend, a researcher lose all shame, and a noble pretend he didn’t hear a thing."
The answer lands deeper than I want to admit.
"I’ll understand if you want out."
Oliver looks at me as if I’ve just said the dumbest thing in the conversation so far. High up on the structures, Nutrinas begin to shriek, announcing the end of the afternoon with that grating sound somewhere between a seagull and an offended child.
"Thank you for not giving up," he says.
I turn my face toward him.
"That wasn’t one of the answers I was expecting."
"Then update your expectations. That panel says the world tries to crush you because you exist wrong. And you still keep walking, making plans, picking fights with big people, and trying to drag the rest of us somewhere better. If you’d given up, plenty of folks would already be a statistic. Me included."
I can’t find a good answer for that. So I raise my fist. Oliver understands and taps his against mine, firm enough to close the subject without needing more words.
I shut the panel, but not the stream on my HUD.
"There’s one more thing."
"Of course there is." He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Are you going to tell me there’s an artificial intelligence living in your brain? Or that you came from another world? Because after that panel, I’m willing to accept almost any absurdity with only a small complaint fee."
I make a face.
"What kind of books have you been reading?"
"The bad ones prepared me better for talking to you."
"I just want to show you my profile. I’ve never shown it, or even mentioned it, to anyone. You’ll be the first."
The joke dies again, but this time it gives way to something more serious. Respect, maybe. Or the awareness that I’m handing him another piece of my own throat.
I project only the basic profile, hiding anything tied to the class description. The Aion Codex is still a closed door. Not from any lack of trust in Oliver, but because some truths don’t get lighter just because a good person helps you carry them.
Name: Dryden Sands
Guild: Safe Harbor (Leader)
Rank: D (Coral) — ★★★☆☆☆
Class: Drifter — Order [SSS]
Class Type: Unique
[OXI: 2,331/2,500]
Strength: C (1★) [Horizon Set]
Agility: C (1★) [Horizon Set]
Vitality: C (1★) [Horizon Set]
Spirit: C (1★) [Horizon Set]
Wisdom: B (3★) [Retained from Memory]**
Oliver lifts the cup to his mouth as he reads.
It’s a tactical error.
The choke comes so violently he nearly sprays the whole mouthful across the railing. He doubles over, coughing as if the information went into his lungs instead of the drink. I slap his back twice, more instinct than use, until he recovers enough air to face me with tears in his eyes.
"Order SSS?!"
I offer the best sheepish smile I can manage.
"Surprise?"
Oliver points at the panel, then at me, then at the sea, as if waiting for some authority to rise out of the horizon and confiscate my existence.
"Boss," he says, still hoarse, "I take back what I said about accepting almost any absurdity today."
I pick up my tea, gone cold by now, and finally drink.
"Fair," I say, giving him a crooked smile.
