Ellie, standing behind them with her arms folded, said nothing, but her fingers tightened at the edge of her sleeve. She had meant to leave; she really had.
The Boars weren't especially impressive, but still dwarfed Little Tank. The party needed only a pair. Rogue planned to pull them carefully, but that changed when Little Tank stepped forward first.
He didn't charge, posture, or raise his shield. He walked forward at his usual steady pace, planted his boots, and activated his new skill.
A faint pulse flickered. A brief glow traced his amour. The boars jerked up, eyes snapping to him. Then, in a blast of dirt, they charged. If he sidestepped, each could flatten him.
He didn't have anything to gather, and he was a tank, right?
The first boar crashed into his shield. Little Tank shifted half a step, boots grinding. Shoulders braced. The second boar slammed his side, tusk scraping iron before bouncing away.
-5 damage taken.
-5 damage taken.
The numbers rose, almost insultingly small. Little Tank's health bar dipped only slightly.
HP: 110 / 200
Rogue stopped mid-step, "Oh."
Mirra lifted her staff, ready to panic heal. But when she saw Little Tank barely flinch, she blinked in confusion and lowered her staff, uncertainty evident on her face.
Little Tank looked down at the ground.
At first, Ellie thought Little Tank was finally reacting, maybe weighing whether to run. But Little Tank crouched, still under attack, and plucked a green stem from the earth.
Rogue stared at him in disbelief. "Is she gathering?"
Mirra actually laughed, a short, startled sound that escaped before she could stop it. Shaking her head in amused disbelief, she replied, "No way." The surprise lingered in her tone.
Little Tank gathered as two boars slammed her. One hit her shield, one at her boots. Little Tank stayed rooted, unfazed. This was noisy gardening.
[Herb x1 acquired.]
[Weed x31 acquired.]
Another impact landed.
-5 damage taken.
HP: 105 / 200
A second impact followed.
-5 damage taken.
HP: 100 / 200
Mirra snapped out of it, lifted her staff, and sent a gold pulse to Little Tank. The healing light sank in. Silence enveloped the moment.
+15 HP restored.
HP: 115 / 200
Little Tank ignored Mirra, still searching the ground and uprooting whatever the boars spared.
Rogue made a noise, half outrage, half admiration. "Whatever, she's tanking," he said, then rushed to attack the nearest boar.
+15 damage dealt.
+15 damage dealt.
Boar HP: 170 / 200
The boar squealed and twisted toward him, but the aggro held. Little Tank stayed at the center, tanking and foraging, his stats almost mocking game balance.
The message appeared with flat confidence. It was a fact now. The rest were just noticed. The rogue made a strangled, almost laughing sound.
"You know what," he said, dragging a hand down his face, "whatever. She's tanking, I guess."
Mirra looked from the field to Little Tank, brow furrowed. "You can pull aggro, right?" she asked, cautiously.
Little Tank nodded.
"And you understand I'm healing you?"
Little Tank nodded again and lifted her shield, as if clarifying further.
Rogue exhaled through his nose, "This is going to be a disaster."
Ellie moved closer without realising. She halted just outside the field, hand on sword, jaw tight. Every hit landed, he stayed small, unfazed, eyes only for the ground as the numbers floated up and the boars pressed in.
"What the hell is she doing?" Ellie muttered under her breath, but there was no real anger in it now, only confusion layered over concern so persistent it had started to feel personal.
The boars slammed into Little Tank again.
-5 damage taken.
-5 damage taken.
Little Tank bent, shield braced against one shoulder, and uprooted a thick spray of grass that looked potentially edible if boiled long enough.
[Rough Herb x2 acquired.]
Rogue slashed a boar, breathing harder as he worked through the farm the normal way. Without pausing, he called, "Mirra, tell me I'm not seeing this wrong."
Mirra sent another heal into Little Tank, watching numbers with the hollow calm of someone resigned to today's reality. "You are seeing it wrong," she said. "There is no right way to see this."
"Is she… stronger?"
"She is being hit in the face by boars and sorting herbs by quality."
"That wasn't my question."
"It is my answer."
Ellie tightened her grip on her sword. She should have felt reassured by now. Instead, his survival made things worse, pushing the situation from "tiny idiot making a mistake" into the more unsettling realm of "tiny idiot might actually know what she's doing." Ellie did not enjoy how much that mattered to her.
Another heal ticked through him.
+15 HP restored.
Little Tank shifted slightly, making sure both boars stayed in front of him, then leaned down to pick up a small stone with a smoother surface than the others.
[Stone x1 acquired.]
Rogue actually laughed this time, sharp and disbelieving, a note of admiration hidden beneath it. "She's looting the floor while tanking."
Mirra, horrified, seemed almost impressed. "She holds aggro better than most tanks I've healed."
"That is not helping."
"It is true."
"And I hate that."
The boars' HP bars finally dipped into the range where death was inevitable. Rogue moved faster, finding his rhythm, his daggers flashing with practiced precision in step with Mirra, who spaced her heels cleanly every ten seconds, moving like clockwork. At the center, Little Tank stood like a strange shrine to efficiency, taking hit after hit with calm patience and occasionally shuffling aside when he spotted something growing under a pig's shadow.
A hoof clipped him, tilting his helmet askew. Ellie stepped forward, unable to stop herself, irritation rising in her chest. He calmly straightened his helmet and picked a sprig beside the fence post as if nothing had happened.
"Oh my god," she muttered. "Why am I stressed?"