Mountains and Buffalo.

Chapter 30: Thin Skin

The ambush from the last floor was felt throughout the crowd.

Even though Juke and I weren't affected, the other's faces were considerably downtrodden. Some members were now left without a partner and had to team up with people they weren't very familiar with. Morale was low, especially since our leaders were missing.

The remaining group was small, too. Only about eight people were left, meaning that, with the five remaining floors, some were simply required to take them alone. There was chatter of moving as a single unit, taking on each room as a whole rather than having forces split from the group, but others countered that doing so would be abandoning an order and that we had to "trust our other members."

As for me, my nerves only spiked. The image of all those fallen bringers was engraved into my mind, and I desperately tried to keep the word "corpse" out of my head. Over and over, telling myself that they were simply unconscious when the right side of my mind constantly told me otherwise–

**SLAP**

"Ack!"

I wasn't prepared for the strength I slapped myself with. My muscles were incredibly tense, and I hadn't even realized.

"No use in thinking about it. No use in thinking about it! Come on!"

I steeled whatever I had left of my resolve and kept trudging through the stairs. I had a complete vision of the crowd, and it made it apparent just how thinned out it had become. To my great dismay, I could even see Rover.

"...Useless–!"

I tried not to think about anything that. I knew I couldn't suspend it for long, but every second I could force my legs forward was valuable. So I ran and ran and ran and ran and–

Suddenly, I noticed something. Though I naturally hadn't been paying much attention to her, the person beside her had changed.

And it was someone I recognized

–

–

–

The most grueling part of this siege hadn't been the laborious running. It hadn't been the various enemies, the threat of death or even seeing allies fall like flies in the previous ambush. No, for Rover, it was restraint.

To do nothing in the face of Hard-Bringer gave her near-uncontrollable rage. Those she swore she'd see crumble, running amok and stealing lives as they always have, unable to even point her weapon at them. If it weren't for those looming words by that wimpy child, resting in the corners of her mind like spiders, she would've caved in.

Especially now that her surrogate partner was a completely new face.

"Hi."

As she raced up the steps, a man in glasses only a little taller announced himself. She could see him facing her in her peripheral, and though her habits urged her not to, she matched his gaze.

"What!?"

Though, perhaps, she should've spared an extra second checking her tone.

"S-Sorry for the intrusion, ma'am! I just thought we'd familiarize ourselves."

His nervous expression didn't loosen one bit. When Rover tried a softer face, the sweat on his brow multiplied. Rover gave up appearances, quickly discarding dismissive dialogue before her introduction.

"I'm Nigel. You're the volunteer, aren't you?"

"Volunteer makes it sound lame! I'm Rover! L-Let's work well together, alright!?"

Nigel's tense expression eased a little. He worried about a sudden reassignment just as much as Rover did.

"I know this is a bit impromptu, but my partner perished on the floor below. Thank you for bearing with me."

He raised his right hand, one that clutched a metal collar with a tag. Rover knew immediately who it belonged to, and the unusual idea of consolement entered her mind.

"That... that's really bad. I'm sorry for–"

"Don't worry about it. You've suffered a similar fate, haven't you? We're in the same boat."

He kept a smile with those words, but his eyes lacked the light to convince her. He turned his head away, and the two of them kept running up with their usual worries.

And then, finally, they hit a flat surface.

"The next room's up ahead!"

She had been in this scene nearly a dozen times already. And each time, she dreaded it. Sprinting to that door, knowing that there would be a monster in man's skin. She swallowed that dread like before, and each time, it poisoned her blood further and further.

The crowd made it to the room. It was relatively small, but an immediate feature was the giant stained windows, granting a tinted view of the city outside. Rover gave minimum attention to the stature of the room, however, because there, by the exit, sat a man who could only be described as–

"Holy shit! Are ya a titan!?"

Rover glanced behind her, realizing that Juke was the one to yell that. She saw Kenny near him, huffing with his hands on his kneecaps.

A titan. It was a familiar word. She heard it from the stories her mother told her. But, of course, there were no titans in King's Peak, only tales of them.

But, even if it was only in name, the titan a man was. A member of Hard-Bringer with such size, and his head nearly reached the ceiling when he stood. Such monstrous height intimidated nearly everyone, but for Rover, it was the opposite.

Rover recognized that height. Rover recognized that build, even though it was concealed by robes, and as the man went to pull his hoodie down, the face that appeared only confirmed her intuition.

"This is where your advance ends– huh?"

The towering man stopped his speech, compelled by the dashing girl with a rapier in hand. She leaped forward and stuck her foot out, but the man blocked the kick by raising his arm. Rover then thrust her blade, and the man narrowly dodged by tilting his head. However, his angled head was grabbed by her free arm, and through a feat unexpected of her size–

**THUD**

She shoved the man down to the ground. She immediately followed with a thrust, but she only caught his robe, and the man scurried away.

"...Same tricks as always."

Though her snide remark was entirely unperturbed, the rest of the room stared with mouths agape, as if they had just witnessed alien life.

"Hoh– it is you. You!"

Because, the once hulking, monster of a man, was now suddenly the size of a teenage boy.

"I never expected to run into you today, Rover! Hahaha!"

The crowd was stunned. Only one member moved through the shock, and everyone stared to find it was Nigel.

"Everyone," he shouted. "Move on, we'll take care of things here!"

Rover pointed her weapon at the man, a clear warning to stay in place. The man obliged without much resistance, and Rover turned her head to make sure everyone would leave. But then she noticed how Nigel didn't move one inch to that door, and his use of 'we' only just registered in her mind.

"Nigel."

"Yes?"

"Leave. I'm fighting this one alone."

"...You're kidding me, certainly."

Rover shook her head back and forth.

"Do you honestly think you can take him alone? You saw what he did, didn't you?"

"Of course I did. And I know how it works."

"You fought him before, then?"

Rover quickly nodded. Nigel looked at the man with a constrained face, balling his hands into shaking fists. After an irritated, almost hopeless sigh, he complied. But not before one final word.

"Aren't you and I a team? Are you absolutely certain?"

Operating on instinct, Rover nodded, but then his opening question computed with her, and her eyes suddenly constricted.

"Very well! Don't die on me!"

His opening words caught Rover like a chain. It reminded her of that moron's scolding, forced her to consider her vow– her earnest word that she'd cooperate –and inquired why she didn't abide by them. But Rover answered that inquiry easily.

This man wasn't just a Bringer. She had a history with him. This man was an enemy. A bipedal wretch, barely human, who boiled her blood and furrowed her brows.

No, now she was certain of it. This monster had to fall to her hands; anyone else would just be a hindrance. So she would take him alone, as she always had.

She looked back one last time, making sure that only she and the man were in the room. Nigel was gone, but to her surprise, there was still another member of the crowd there. He drew particular attention. Standing between the exit, not quite leaving it, with clear indecision festering within.

"Rover," Kenny suddenly shouted. Her eyes moved to his face, constricted and complicated. She was compelled to call it a scowl, but no scorn was in Kenny's face. Only concern, and disappointment.

Even without hearing it, Rover knew his words. It suddenly was difficult, to see his face like that. Now, the embodiment of that vow was staring directly into her. Not just at her eyes, no– she felt the observation of her soul.

"..."

It was suddenly difficult to do anything. And yet, the feelings that burned within her formed too great an inferno to douse. If that boy took two steps further into this room, or even one, she felt like she would lash out. She felt like– she knew she would yell at him not to butt in, to mind his own business, to go fuck himself, and to leave her alone. Words that she had slung candidly before. Words that she knew better than family.

And so, she communicated with a stern nod, and Kenny's biting mouth chipped his nail.

"Fine. Good luck!"

And then, he was off. His bidding of good fortune completely stunned her. However, she quickly recovered–

**THUD**

"Sharp as always! I'm a fool to think that would work!"

There came a sudden strike from her front, but it was one that she blocked. She freed her rapier from the struggle and backed away, brandishing her weapon and sliding a leg back into a stance.

"Are you ready," the man asked, a boorish smirk on his face. She could almost see the swirls in his eyes, the way they lost any reason, seeing only combat and carnage as they always had.

She tried to ignore the uncertain, guilty way her stomach formed a pit.

"Come at me, Boris!"

–

–

–

Right before she charged forth, her stalled thoughts sprung into action.

Rover knew of their volatile unpredictability. But she was always prepared for it. Even on that street, when they made their audacious announcement, Rover hadn't a shocked bone in her body. But to see Boris utterly defied expectations. She wished she had more time, maybe a moment to sharpen the tip of her rapier, to check the grip on her dagger. But it was too late now, and as she took her first step into battle, she lost all leeway to care.

Boris contested her dash. As he charged forth his smaller stature expanded slightly. He leaped forward, but it wasn't to tackle or to grab. He swung his hips and turned ninety degrees, unbending his legs for a sudden drop kick.

Rover blocked it with her hands. His increased size made the blow harder to cope with, but she still only slid a foot back. Now on the ground, Rover seized the opportunity to stab at the man. She thrust once, and her sword was met with the sole of his boot.

"Huh!?"

He spun onto his belly, catching himself with his hands, using her rapier as a borrowed axel. He pushed himself off the ground with enough force that, even with his lack of leverage, he flew as a battering ram toward her. Rover's rapier nearly snapped under the pressure, but she moved it away before its steel blade turned into a wobbly tube. She ducked Boris' charge, but he grabbed onto her rapier, swinging back around and destroying Rover's balance. Rover, however, had only one hand on that Rapier.

"Hah!"

She used her other to grab her dagger and stabbed at the man. He took the blow unceremoniously, even growing to lessen it, and she was sure it hurt by the subsequent grunt. He flew off her rapier a solid few meters away, taking Rover's dagger with his body.

But she didn't let up, because she knew that if she waited any longer–

"Here!"

Boris dislodged her dagger and he chucked it like a throwing knife. Rover caught it at one of its crossguards, but as she was distracted with doing so, the man performed mana spinning.

"Good thing that dagger's so thin. Otherwise, this wound wouldn't be so easy to heal."

"Tch."

Boris returned to his former size. He stroked his chin, tending to his thoughts as he stared down Rover. She afforded him no time and charged forth. She thrust her rapier once, met with a jerk away, and thrust it again. She repeated her thrusts, each of which dodged but less comfortably each subsequent attempt. Rover knew him better, however. She knew that right as she thought she'd get him, he would pull an underhanded trick. So she assumed the eyes of an analyst, narrowing them and gazing at Boris like a hunting cat.

**CLANG**

And that trick came. Boris caught her thin rapier between his hands, clamping it so fiercely that the metal would snap any moment. But Rover's stance suffered no blow, and poised to strike back, she slung her leg from her side. The blow struck Boris right under the rib, and from his obvious wince, the damage wasn't meaningless.

She struck again quickly, sliding her rapier out and using the butt of its hilt like a rock, smacking Boris square in the face. Boris reeled from the blow and took a few steps away, but Rover swung her arm back and straightened her Rapier, honing in for a vicious thrust.

That thrust, however, had been dodged. And the force Rapier stockpiled only sent her tumbling to the ground. She never landed, though, because a sudden fist to the face replaced her embarrassing fall with a punitive flight. She soared across the room, disoriented, anchoring herself on the floor with her Rapier right before colliding with a wall.

As she gathered her bearings, she saw Boris charging forth with a puffed chest. Only, it wasn't puffed, but swollen to inhuman degrees. The image of a bull came to her mind, and for a moment she was paralyzed. But she shook the intimidation off and stepped away, missing a blow that–

**SMASH**

–shook the room as it ruined the wall.

"Ack. Shit!"

Rover realized his reckless gesture was an attempt at an early victory, but she was too energized to fall prey to it, and now Boris was only more hurt.

"These tactics don't work how they used to. You've grown. Haha, you've truly grown!"

Boris deflated his comical size, returning to a more reasonable stature.

"But not enough."

"--!"

Those words, unlike anything prior, brewed steam within her head.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm kicking your ass!"

He wiped some dirt off his shoulder.

"Your intellect hasn't improved one bit, has it? Can't you tell I'm still toying with you?"

Her jittering mouth couldn't open to respond. So badly did she want to deny it, to call him out for being coy. But to do so, would just be to lie.

"I remember when you and I first met. Back in those ivory fields, when I offered you a home, you scowled at me and called me scum. That a bringer like me ought "

"...So what? What are you getting at, shitface?"

He smirked. He placed his hands behind his shoulders, closing his eyes. Rover didn't understand what he was doing, and that worried her. That worried her deeply because she thought she knew every trick this monster could pull. She thought she knew every ace up his sleeve, every nook and cranny of his capacity.

But, as she was proven yet again, keeping expectations like that was for fools.

From the back of his shoulders, cylindrical masses of earth formed, taking shapes and morphing as his hands moved outward. His arms stopped just above his chest, and as he lowered his arms, Rover's eyes blew open, her clenched throat vomiting a gasp.

"You talked so much of this goal of yours. Of how you'd beat me. Of how you'd prove yourself to me and all of my colleagues."

From the back of his shoulders, a new pair of arms found home, and they pointed their fingers with snappy girth.

"Hahaha! Come! Show me that this time, you'll do just that"

"--Fine!"

Though the doubling of his limbs was obviously intimidating, Rover tried not to be dissuaded by his appearance. She charged forth, dagger now firmly in hand. After all, if she fought the new Boris with a stale arsenal, she'd be crushed.

She began with a thrust, and immediately it was caught by one of Boris' earthly arms, not budging an inch. He bent his legs and threw a regular punch at Rover, one she avoided with a backstep. Her rapier was now confiscated, and she watched Boris raise it with his earthen arms.

Something inside urged her to scream in defiance. To yell at that man not to do it, but she pushed that unburied temptation down with a commanding glare. Gazing at Boris as he snapped the rapier like a twig.

"Well," he asked, "what now?" He threw the split rapier to the side and taunted Rover, daring her to come closer. Rover didn't fall for the taunt, because what she had was not rage– at least, not at the man before her.

Rather, her shaking fists were directed at herself. She raised the dagger and looked at it. Despite its needle-like blade, the curved cross-guards made it a poor tool for thrusting. This was her only weapon. This and her fists, anyway, but if her past had taught her anything, it was that fists were a futile tool against him.

"Completely still. But, of course, you lost your only way to kill me. Will you give up?"