Boulder’s Point lay hushed beneath its brand-new blanket of snow as the first light of morning spilled gently across the pond, glinting off tiny ice needles

From inside his small wooden shelter at the center of the pond’s islet, a crab emerged, still groggy and scratching the backside of his carapace with a pincer.

Balthazar stretched both claws up to the sky and let out a long, loud, and drawn-out yawn.

After letting his arms drop and making a few wet smacking sounds with his tongue, the merchant felt a shiver run down his whole body.

“Brrr! So cold!”

Casting his gaze across his domain, the crab slowly nodded in approval.

Despite layers of snow covering most surfaces that weren’t protected by a roof, he noticed how Bouldy had already cleared a large rectangle behind the bazaar, where Madeleine’s kitchen would be built.

The golem stood by, waiting to assist John and Mason in whatever heavy lifting the carpenter and stone worker needed, as Balthazar had instructed him to. Druma was also there, ready and eager to assist in whatever lighter work the two retirees required of him.

To his surprise, the merchant found that John and Mason were not only there, but already busy setting up their work tables and tools.

Looking through the back door of the bazaar revealed that Henrietta was also already working on her usual spot, sitting atop the counter.

Balthazar leisurely crossed the flat bridge connecting his little islet to the outer shore of the pond with both pincers behind his back—one of them holding a rolled-up piece of parchment—and feeling pleased. He had woken up to find everyone already hard at work, just the way he liked it.

The merchant had slept a little later than everyone else that morning, but that was understandable after almost single-pincerly clearing out a dangerous dungeon floor like he had. He had earned the right to rest a little more.

Rye, Jack, and Leah had left back up to Ardville after a brief break to frolic in the snow outside the tunnel, where the archer had far too much fun tormenting the other two adventurers by sniping them with snowballs that they could never dodge. In between that, the fighter and the swordsman took turns seeing who could make the best snow angel on the white shore of the pond.

The crab still felt shudders just from remembering Jack rolling in the snow. How that boy could withstand the cold while wearing practically nothing at all was something beyond his understanding.

Standing by the edge of the water, Balthazar stared far off into the distance at the Semla Dungeon entrance.

His mind had been restless the previous night, keeping him from falling asleep for several hours, wondering what to make of what that dungeon floor had turned out to be. From the fountain of delicious whipped cream, to the hundreds of now deactivated skeletons roaming the halls, the very halls themselves, and how to approach the matter of the mines he discovered below.

But more than all of those things, what really had kept him from getting any shut-eye for hours—other than not having any eyelids—was the burning question of why he felt so compelled to go down.

It was as if something—or someone—had planted this urge in him.

Could it really be that he was picking up the adventurer’s fever and experiencing their uncontrollable need to delve into dangerous dungeons for mediocre rewards?

“Pfah! Preposterous!” Balthazar exclaimed to himself before turning his back to the pond.

The merchant felt a rumble in his stomach and sighed.

“I should get some breakfast, but first…”

Bringing his focus to the roll of parchment he was carrying, the crab admired its filigree ribbon through his golden monocle.

[Scroll of Potential]

“I was saving this for a quiet moment…” he mumbled.

Wanting to make sure he would be alone and with a fresh mind, Balthazar had decided to have a night’s sleep before using the scroll. Now that he had slept and was sitting peacefully by his pond, it felt like the right time.

“Alright, let’s just get this over with. What will I get now, the ability to equip earrings?”

The crab unfurled the piece of parchment, which produced a bright glow. If nothing else, he at least enjoyed the light show.

[Revealing skill…]

[Crab Snack]

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Balthazar frowned at the name displayed in front of his eyes. “For some reason, that name makes me uncomfortable…”

[Skill - F tier]

[Requirements: None]

[Cooldown: 8 hours]

[Food is life. Your special metabolism and unique eating habits have made you able to get more out of a quality snack than just delight. For the next 5 minutes, each sweet pastry or baked good you eat heals you for a small amount.]

“Wait…” the confounded crab muttered as he read his new skill a second time. “This… This is actually good?!”

A smile formed on Balthazar’s face, and he skittered back to the central islet, where he started digging through a basket for any leftover biscuits or some other pastry. “I need to try this out!”

But the crab found nothing. Not even a crumb left—he was pretty thorough with eating those too.

“Damn it…” he said before navigating through his system stats.

[Health: 300/300]

“Well, not like I would be able to heal right now anyway.” He paused and looked at the number again. “Heh, might as well sort this level-up while I’m here.”

As Balthazar navigated to the unchecked notification at the corner of his sight, he noticed something else besides the one to use the points from his level-up. Curious, he pulled that open first.

[Despite your unwillingness to lead, your leadership skills continue to grow. Through your efforts to bring those around you to success, you have learned how to be a better leader.]

[Leader’s Voice]

[Skill - B tier]

[Requirements: 45 CHA, 15 INT]

[Cost: 25 mana]

[For 5 minutes, you and up to six of your allies receive +3 to all attributes, and all actions performed as a team receive a large bonus to success.]

[Upgrade Leader’s Voice from C to B tier?]

[Yes] [No]

Balthazar carefully analyzed the new version of his skill, pondering each of the changes.

The skill increased all attributes by three instead of just one, a reasonable improvement. It lasted a few minutes longer, which was also useful. And it would now cover six allies instead of just three. While he had no intention to increase his party beyond Druma, Bouldy, and Blue, he welcomed the extra room. The skill did not specify the allies had to be members of his party, so if he ever found himself teaming up with others like they did inside the dungeon, the bonuses could be of great use.

The requirements had gone up, however. Fifteen more Charisma and five more Intellect than before. Thankfully, he still had both covered, but the merchant noted the possible drawback of upgrading a skill in the future and becoming unable to use it.

Feeling safe about the choice, Balthazar pressed the affirmative option and let the system upgrade his skill.

He wondered what it would take to do the same for some of his other skills, but feeling the hunger growing inside, the crab decided that would be an experiment for another time and moved on to the level-up screen.

Staying true to himself, the stubborn crustacean moved to increase his already generous health pool by another ten points when a flash of common sense made him pause.

The skill upgrade had served as a reminder of the downsides of focusing too much on just one skill over all the others, and back when they were fighting the bone colossus, Balthazar had already experienced a limitation on how much he could use his skills due to his rather small mana pool.

Listening to the voice of reason in his mind—which also reminded him of how awful mana potions taste—Balthazar decided to leave his health at 300 for now and instead give his mana some attention too.

[Mana: 40/40]

Then came the next screen, and all that common sense and wisdom went out the window with a growl from his stomach.

[You have 3 unspent attribute points]

[Attributes:]

[Strength: 5]

[Endurance: 5]

[Agility: 5]

[Perception: 5]

[Intellect: 20]

[Charisma: 78]

His stomach rumbled again, louder this time, and Balthazar groaned with impatience.

“I can’t think while I'm hungry. I’ll just dump all three into Charisma as always. Why would I change a winning strategy anyway?”

[Charisma: 81]

“Good stuff! Now, to find a snack!”

The hungry crab skittered on to his bazaar, passing by the toad on the counter in a hurry.

“Morning, Balthazar,” Henrietta greeted with a friendly croak.

“Hello!” the crustacean answered, his eyes scanning the surface of a table for anything edible. “You can take a break if you want, Henrietta. I’ll watch the bazaar for now.”

“Sure thing,” said the green shopkeeper as she hopped down from the wooden surface. “I’ll go check how our boys are doing with the construction out back.”

The crab stood on the tips of his eight stretched-up legs and peeked through some shelves, frowning.

“Hmm, I could swear I still had a jar of butter biscuits left around here last night. Did I eat them and forget?”

Balthazar searched and searched, but found nothing worth eating. Only a couple of two-day-old meat pasties that belonged to Druma, a half-eaten cheese sandwich that had probably been left there by Tristan, and also a full bowl of salad with all sorts of beautiful and fresh vegetables.

“There’s nothing to eat!” the crab lamented before letting out a sigh and walking closer to the front door. “I’m going to starve over here!”

A gust of wind blew through the entrance, making Balthazar shudder with cold.

“Argh! Assuming I don’t freeze first!”

But as mother nature sent a breath of frosty air past the crab, she also sent something else—a scent.

The merchant sniffed once, and then again but harder. He knew that smell better than any other, and he would recognize it anywhere.

Bursting out of the front entrance, Balthazar ran outside with eyestalks standing up to attention.

“Madeleine!” the crab exclaimed with a grin upon seeing his favorite human being atop the path leading down from the main road.

The baker waved and started walking down to meet him.

Hooked to her left arm was a wicker basket. It was the kind the crab was already more than familiar with and no doubt the source of the heavenly scent he felt, filled with freshly baked delicacies he could not wait to sink his mouth parts into.

But under her right arm the girl carried something else. A round blue box with a lid, which seemed too light and the wrong material to carry pie.

“Hello, Balthazar!” Madeleine greeted with a bright smile. “I’ve brought you sweets and a gift!”