Chapter 345: Low-Beach Mangrove Forest

The train picks up speed as Azure Prime disappears behind us.

I stay near the window.

The first regions still carry marks of the city: bridges suspended between rock formations, artificial canals, narrow roads following the terrain, and small settlements built around the rail lines. Farther out, the structures start to thin and give way to wetlands cut through by wide rivers.

The ocean sky covers everything.

The light crosses that suspended mass of water and moves over the landscape in slow bands, almost too beautiful to match what I know is coming two years from now. After using Drifter Mode last night, I catch myself searching the currents above for something without meaning to. A flaw. A tension. Any detail that might betray that the sky isn’t as permanent as everyone believes.

I find nothing.

Without Overmemory, it’s just water.

Too much water, held where it shouldn’t be.

I rest my elbow against the window and keep watching.

Maybe I’m looking for problems because it’s more comfortable to find them before they find me.

"Are you waiting for something to attack the train?"

I look at Freya.

She’s sitting on the bench across from me, turned partway toward me. The question came out casual, but she’s been watching me for a while.

"I’m waiting for the train to decide our destination was only a suggestion."

Freya follows my gaze out the window.

"Because of Lost Ark?"

’Looks like one of them already told her.’

"One wrong trip is already a large enough statistical sample for me."

But she doesn’t answer right away.

Rhayne and Zhang Xi are a few benches ahead. Zhang has made Rhayne sit facing her and is speaking quietly while holding two fingers over her own wrist.

Freya looks back at me.

"You’ve seemed different since we got on."

"Different how?"

"Quieter. You were so happy before that everyone noticed a change in you. Now, you’re the exact opposite."

"That should be an improvement."

She lets a small breath out through her nose, but she doesn’t push.

That’s exactly when I notice what she’s doing. Freya isn’t trying to pry. She’s just making conversation because she noticed my head is somewhere else.

’That’s new... or maybe I just never gave her the space to notice.’

"I’m fine," I say. "I just have too many things to think about."

She nods.

"Then think about fewer things for a few minutes."

The answer is simple, almost practical.

I end up smiling a little.

"Excellent technique."

"Works for me."

"That explains a lot."

She turns to the window with an offended expression that doesn’t quite hide the corner of her mouth lifting.

I let the conversation die there.

On the other side of the car, Zhang Xi is still teaching Rhayne.

"Don’t push the flow," she says. "When you force it, you create turbulence."

Rhayne has her eyes closed and her hands resting on her legs.

"I feel it stop here."

She touches the center of her chest.

Zhang sets two fingers over her wrist.

"Because you’re trying to control everything at once. Breathe first. On the inhale, let the OXI drop down to the center of your abdomen. Hold it a moment and let it split on its own before it comes back."

Rhayne breathes deep.

The first attempt doesn’t change much.

On the second, a very faint line of light appears under the skin near her wrist and disappears a few seconds later.

"Better," Zhang says. "Now don’t think about the destination. Just follow it."

Rhayne nods without opening her eyes.

It’s probably the first time since the station that I’ve seen her shoulders really relax.

I look at the rest of the car.

It’s empty.

Not because this line sees little use.

I saw the opposite back on the Academy platform.

Every time a plate locked onto safer destinations, dozens of people moved at once. Cadets filled cars bound for markets, training areas, smaller cities, and hunting regions suited to the lower Rankings. Some trains left with people standing in the aisles.

When Low-Beach Mangrove Forest came up, no one moved but us.

That says more about the region than any warning sign.

Among the Azure Academy cadets, only Freya and I are already at Rank C. The other Divers who frequent an area of that level tend to be instructors, researchers, hired professionals, or people who’ve long since passed the stage of needing the Academy to tell them where they’re allowed to die.

Rhayne and Zhang Xi are going because I’m bringing them.

That makes my responsibility for them a little hard to ignore.

The portal structure appears ahead.

My body tenses before I finish recognizing it.

Freya notices the movement.

I grip the side of the bench.

"Dryden?"

"Portal."

Rhayne opens her eyes.

She looks out the window and immediately goes tenser.

The train crosses through.

The outside goes black.

Not dark.

Black.

That kind of complete absence that erases any sense of speed, distance, and direction. The car keeps vibrating over the rails, but the windows might as well have been covered with stone.

My hand tightens on the bench.

I just need the next place to have air.

Solid ground would help.

Anything above the ocean floor would be an excellent start.

Rhayne shuts her eyes hard.

Zhang Xi notices and keeps a hand near her wrist without saying anything.

Freya looks at me first, then at Rhayne.

I think she finally understands that the fear of this trip doesn’t come from superstition.

A few seconds pass.

Long ones.

Then light appears.

Green.

The train leaves the portal surrounded by vegetation.

It takes me a moment to let go of the side of the bench.

Enormous leaves pass close to the windows, some as wide as the sails of small boats, held up by thick stalks that grow in clusters between exposed roots. Much taller trees rise behind them, covered in moss and vines that hang down almost to the shallow water spread across the ground.

I let my breath out slowly.

It worked.

No ghost city.

No ocean trying to crush us.

No anomaly.

Low-Beach Mangrove Forest is exactly where it’s supposed to be.

Freya moves to the window beside me.

The landscape is different from the forests near Azure Prime. The ground disappears in many places under dark water, broken by curved roots that rise from the mud before plunging back in. Enormous ferns grow between trunks, and the lower broad leaves form layers that hide much of what exists beyond the railway.

Small birds cross the spaces between the canopies. Some carry green and yellow feathers that shine when the light of the ocean sky hits the right angle. I see creatures the size of land rats running along a root, with wide tails used for balance, and a small blue reptile vanishing under a leaf as the train passes.

Freya follows a group of birds.

"Are they Beasts?"

"No."

She looks at me.

"No?"

"Thirstfall still has normal animals. Not everything here wakes up thinking about how to tear your head off."

Freya goes back to watching the forest.

"Reassuring."

"Don’t get comfortable. The Beasts in this region start at Rank C. The deeper you go, the higher the chance of running into Rank B."

That changes the way she looks at the trees.

The same place that seemed beautiful a few seconds earlier gains depth.

It’s easy to forget a forest can be full of life without all of that life being harmless.

The train runs on for a few more minutes.

The vegetation starts to open around the line, and human structures appear between the trees.

The station looks like it grew alongside the forest instead of being built against it.

Wooden platforms sit raised over thick pilings, connected by walkways and small rope bridges. Wide roofs made of dried fibers protect boarding areas from the damp, while hand-carved signs hang from beams and sway in the wind.

Some enormous roots have been worked into the construction. One of them crosses literally through the side of a small trading post before disappearing under another platform.

Nothing here resembles the monumentality of the Academy station.

It’s a forward outpost.

Rustic, damp, and functional.

The train slows down.

I see Divers walking the platforms with gear much heavier than what ordinary cadets carry. Some hold Rank C weapons openly, others wear armor covered in mud and recent hunting marks. Supply crates fill a side area while workers move barrels on narrow carts.

The train stops.

"We’re here."

We stand.

Rhayne takes a little longer to leave the bench, but she’s much better than at the last station. When we step down, she looks around for a few seconds and breathes deep.

The place helps.

There are birds.

People arguing over prices.

Wood creaking.

The smell of water, vegetation, and food coming from somewhere close.

Lost Ark had felt dead before we even knew something was wrong.

Low-Beach feels irritatingly alive.

Zhang Xi adjusts the hood of her tunic over her back and looks toward the station exit.

"Do we head for the canals now?"

I think of Veric.

Even with all his complaining, he probably still needs some time to arrive. Standing near the platform waiting for the prince doesn’t interest me.

And there’s something else I need to handle.

I look at one of the walkways leading to the older sector of the station.

I know this place.

More important, I know someone here.

Someone who owes me.

"Not yet."

Rhayne looks at me.

"Are we waiting for Veric?"

"While we wait."

I start walking.

The three of them come after me.

"Before we reach the canals, we need to buy the Dungeon ticket."

Freya frowns.

"I thought we already knew where the entrance was."

"Knowing where it is and having permission to cross it are different problems."

I pass a wooden sign marked with hunting symbols and follow a narrow passage between two buildings.

"Stay sharp. The people here are a bit of a tough nut to crack."

Rhayne looks around at the armed Divers, then at me.

"And who are we going to talk to?"

I keep my eyes on the building across the walkway.

"Someone who owes me a debt."