Man of Hollows

"Really?" she muttered, her voice sounding awfully raspy, most likely from a parched throat. "You brought me another one?"

Zeke didn't offer her a response. From his seemingly safe position outside the tent, he moved to address Hill once more. "I'm sure you can recognize who your new companion is. However, despite her presence, don't make the mistake of believing that this assignment is a form of punishment. You can still prove your worth here."

After saying that, he swiftly departed, turning heel and marching away with Eliana in tow. Hurian watched as the two of them walked away, her expression pensive but also slightly annoyed. She then slapped Hill on the back three times before strolling away in a different direction.

Hill was left alone with the mysterious girl. He took a deep breath before stepping inside the tent. The girl didn't react, watching him as he strolled over to the opposite bedroll. He sat down on it and turned to face her.

"That's not your bedroll," the girl mumbled, rubbing her throat.

"Huh?" Hill began, raising an eyebrow. "Then who—"

"It belongs to Lands, obviously."

"Lands? I'm afraid I don't follow..."

She pointed behind him, causing him to turn around and stare blankly at the tent canvas. "He went into the forest to fetch me something to eat."

"Ah," Hill mumbled, mostly to himself. "So 'Lands' is a person's name. Is he a member of this company?"

"Yeah."

"I see."

An awkward silence followed the exchange. The urge to speak was strong, but the lack of anything remotely interesting to discuss kept his mouth shut. The girl seemed to be struggling with the same thing, but as he continued to stare at her, he sensed that she was more detached than interested in conversation.

He didn't know her name, though. Zeke seemed to have expected him to already know who she was, but he didn't. Was she some kind of celebrity? If so, there was no chance Hill would recognize her. He didn't care for those spaces anyway.

"So, what's your name?"

The second he asked that question, the girl's head jerked upward. She seemed surprised, but for a reason Hill didn't understand.

"What?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"What's your name?" He repeated, deciding to elaborate. "Zeke assumed I could recognize you, but I don't."

The girl blinked repeatedly, her amethyst eyes trembling. His eyes may have deceived him, but he thought he saw her begin to tear up. Finally, she spoke.

"Soleil."

Hill smiled. "Soleil, huh? That's a cool name."

Soleil seemed puzzled, laughing awkwardly at his compliment. "I—I suppose it is."

Any air of combativeness seemed to have faded away. Unlike his first impression, she seemed strangely vulnerable. Perhaps she was happy that he didn't recognize her. Everything seemed to point to that conclusion.

I suppose I shouldn't do any digging regarding her past, he thought to himself. It could end ugly.

"What's your name?" Soleil asked, her voice firmer than before. "In standard practice, you would introduce yourself before asking the name of another."

"Ah—you're right. I apologize," Hill stuttered, ruffling his hair to ease the awkwardness. "My name is Hillel, but you can just call me Hill."

"Hill," Soleil repeated, testing the name. The fragility from moments before was gone, replaced by an appraising neutrality. She had settled in, and so had Hill.

Leaning back against the tent wall, Soleil's amethyst eyes studied him. "So, Hill. This will be your formal welcoming to the Fourth Company. I'm sure Zeke has spoken plenty about how disdainful our presence is. Would you mind telling me why you were assigned to us?"

The question was direct but devoid of the earlier hostility, though still pointed in manner. "I... I don't think I'm able to use my blessing or summon my runes," Hill admitted honestly. "This flaw has been defining me for the past few minutes."

Soleil let out a short laugh. "I see. That's quite unfortunate." Then her expression became serious. "But how are you unable to summon your runes? Did you not awaken after passing the soul trial?"

"I guess I didn't. In fact, I don't remember the end of the soul trial at all," Hill replied.

"Surely it's just a misunderstanding of some kind? I can explain it to you—"

"No, there's no need," Hill began, closing his eyes. "Look, I'll try to summon them right now. I just have to think about the runes I saw in the soul trial and give a mental command to summon them, right?"

"Y-yes, that's exactly it..."

"All right, just watch."

Hill breathed in and out, repeatedly thinking of summoning the runes while simultaneously picturing the runes he had seen in the bloody arena. Nothing seemed to be happening. Opening his eyes in disappointment, he shook his head. "Perhaps there's something wrong with me."

Soleil smiled awkwardly, observing how dejected Hill seemed to be. She quickly changed the subject. "Do you mind physical labor?"

"Labor?" The question caused Hill's heart to thump. His weak and frail body certainly couldn't handle any intense work. He also didn't want to risk suffering another asthma attack. "I'm afraid my body isn't built for it."

"It's not overly difficult tasks. We're the Fourth, so we live on our own. We handle our own food, our own drink, and we don't interfere in camp activities. The most you'll have to do is cut broccus weeds or fetch water from the spring we discovered."

"Oh, thank goodness," Hill sighed. "Surely that wouldn't be too difficult."

"Yes, it shouldn't be. Not as difficult as dealing with the lava ants," Soleil said, frowning.

"Lava ants? What on Earth are those?"

"What on Igashia are those, you mean," Soleil joked.

"Igashia?"

"Ah, you truly don't remember the end of your soul trial," Soleil chuckled. "Otherwise you would know that this world we are in is called Igashia. Anyhow, back to the ants..."

As they gradually eased into a lengthy conversation, Hill was able to learn a lot about the strange world he found himself in. Just as he had suspected, the forest they were currently residing in was deep underground, filling an expansive chamber that was approximately eighteen miles in diameter. The fact that such a place could exist was mind-boggling, but as Soleil continued to speak, he realized why it was able to exist in such precarious balance.

"The First Company found evidence of the main colony living in a network of old magma tunnels high above us, closer to the surface," Soleil explained. She spoke like a general briefing a soldier. "The colony is constantly expanding, and they send out scouts to find new territory. For the past month, the scouts have been coming down here more and more frequently."

"I see..." Hill began. "Surely handling a couple of ants isn't too big of a challenge, right?"

Soleil fixed him with a look that seemed to say: Oh, you have no idea. "A 'scout' is the length of a fully grown man, stands four feet tall before you even account for its legs, and has mandibles that can shear through ironwood—which is what we call the wood found in this forest. Their carapaces are almost impossible to penetrate with normal weapons. But that's not the worst part."

She paused, letting the weight of her next words settle. "Their blood. We call them Lava Ants because of their molten appearance, but it's a misnomer. Their blood is cryogenic. A single splash will give you frostbite so severe your flesh will blacken and die in minutes. If a guardian from the First Company kills one in close quarters and gets sprayed, they can lose a limb or their life."

Hill felt a chill run down his spine that had nothing to do with the thought of subzero blood.

"The First Company has capable awakened and relics far superior to anyone else's," Soleil continued, "so they can kill the scouts. But that's the entire crisis. Every dead scout is a failure for the hive. But if just one of them makes it back to the colony, if it reports that there's a giant, resource-rich cavern filled with soft-shelled food down here... the entire colony will descend on us. All four hundred of us would be wiped out in a day. That is the existential threat this camp deals with every day."

The revelation was daunting, and it caused him to feel the same hopeless anticipation he had felt when the devouring cloud was crossing the ocean toward his home continent. His knowledge of ant colonies back on Earth seemed to provide no comfort, for colonies could have thousands of ants.

These Igashian ants were thousands of times bigger, which made them all the more deadly. As Soleil had said, they would be dead meat if the colony realized they existed.

Just as the silence settled between them, the tent flap was pushed aside. A boy with a cheerful face framed by a mop of curly, strawberry-blonde hair stepped inside. He was carrying a bundle of asparagus-like weeds that looked strange and discolored.

"The broccus haul was pretty good today!" he announced, his smile bright and his eyes cheery. He stopped when he saw Hill. "Oh! Hey! Who are you? I'm Lands!"

The sudden shift in tone was jarring. Soleil merely grunted in acknowledgment.

"I'm Hill," he replied, grateful for the interruption.

"Nice to meet you, Hill!" Lands said, dropping the broccus onto a flat stone. "Are you joining us in the Fourth Company, or are you visiting from another?"

"Fortunately, I'm joining you guys."

"Oho, fortunately!" Lands exclaimed, laughing aloud without a care in the world. "I'm so glad to have someone as humorous as you on the team." He winked at Hill, earning a glare from Soleil. "Speaking of which," he said, turning to her, "I brought you something."

He reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a glowing papaya-shaped object.

Soleil's eyes widened, the hard mask she had adorned when Lands entered the tent dropping for a split second to reveal a truly shocked expression.

"Where did you get that?" she whispered.

"Hah! It was sitting on the ground," Lands said proudly. "Figured you could use one. Now," he said, clapping his hands together, "who's ready to help me cook some broccus?"