“Druma can do it,” the goblin said to himself with a determined brow over his squinting eyes.

The small assistant sat cross-legged behind stacks of hay, hidden between empty crates and barrels outside the bazaar. It was his little corner of the world. The small enclosed space, too small for most to notice, was where the goblin would go to hide when he wanted some time alone.

It felt safe, like the hole on the side of a hill that he used to hide in near his tribe’s camp, back when he still used to live among his kind—back when they’d come to kick and throw things at him for being different almost every day.

But thankfully, those were distant memories now. Still there, bitter and painful, but no longer at the forefront of his mind.

That space was currently occupied by what lay on the ground in front of him—a book.

But not just any book. It was a tome. A magical tome. A special magical tome given to the goblin by a powerful wizard.

Ever the hard worker, Druma had been spending most of his time ever since they returned to the pond doing tasks and assisting his boss in whatever way he could. But that morning the goblin was sure he would finally find the free time to begin his arcane studies properly.

He had woken up early, right before the sun appeared over the horizon, to get started on his daily tasks around the bazaar and finish them as fast as he could. After he was done, the green assistant checked on his boss, who was calmly sipping his morning drink by the back of the gazebo, staring off into the distance and chuckling to himself for whatever reason the goblin couldn't understand.

Bouldy was busy helping the carpenter and the mason, while Blue rested on her pillow on the other side of the pond, pretending to sleep while guarding the tunnel.

All was well, and Druma could finally put some time into studying the book of spells he had been so keen on learning from since Tweedus gifted it to him, along with the stylish cape the goblin was wearing.

So the small creature sat staring at its pages, trying to learn magic.

A few quiet moments passed as Druma strained, squeezed his face, and gritted his teeth at the open book in front of him.

“Druma can’t do it!” the aspiring mage conceded as he relaxed his frown and a thick bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

His shoulders slumped, and the goblin felt deflated. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t do that strange, elusive action required for using books—reading.

“Maybe if Druma squint harder, book will start reading for Druma?” the little guy considered, still clearly not fully grasping the concept of what reading was.

But no matter what he tried, the grimoire would just not share its secrets with the eager student.

Druma raised the brim of his large wizard hat to scratch the top of his forehead, wondering how he could extract the precious knowledge out of the book. His first, most primal instinct, was to hit the book with a rock until its contents came out—he was still a goblin after all—but the aspiring mage knew that was not the way a wizard would do magical things.

He would need finesse, cleverness, and to think through the lenses of the arcane.

So, naturally, he would hit the book with his magical staff instead.

Gripping the long piece of wood with both hands, the goblin placed its gemmed tip right above the open pages of the tome, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he took careful aim.

After raising up the staff, Druma brought it down on the unsuspecting book, delivering a limb whack that barely wrinkled the page it connected with.

The crab’s assistant watched intently for a few seconds. He didn’t exactly know what he expected, but nothing visibly magical happened, and he was still no closer to knowing how to read.

“Aww…” Druma sighed in defeat.

He wanted to learn magic so much. He wanted to cast fantastic spells. To make pretty colors and big explosions. He wanted to be a wizard.

He also wanted to be a famous dancer and renowned drummer, but those were separate dreams not currently relevant.

Druma remembered one of his first memories was watching the goblin shaman of his tribe standing in front of their camp’s bonfire one night, waving his staff as he riled up the flames into shapes and faces. He used them to tell stories to the young goblins like him, sitting around the fire. Tales of warning, of fear, of how every other creature in the world was their enemy, and how they should hate them all.

Druma cared little for the old goblin’s stories. Even back then he could puzzle together how they were all lies meant to instill fear in the minds of the young. But he couldn’t deny the elder looked just awesome making those bright flames pop and crackle at will.

He had no wish to ever be a goblin shaman, they were horrible and cruel. But a wizard? That’s where it was at.

His arcane staff was nice, but the young goblin craved more. Something that wasn’t dependent on limited charges. Real magic. Magic that came from him.

But for that he needed to read.

How did humans do it? Better yet, how did his boss do it?

Druma knew his boss was smart. Maybe the smartest creature he knew. But for a crab to read? It baffled his little mind.

The goblin peeked over the hay.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

His boss was still there, on the steps behind the bazaar.

He wanted to ask him. Ask how the crab learned to read. If it took many years. If he was born with that power.

Druma wanted to ask if he could teach him.

But the little assistant felt timid. He knew his boss already had so much important stuff on his mind. He was such a busy crab. It didn’t feel right to bother his boss with his small, unimportant needs or wants.

A voice played in the back of Druma’s mind. His boss’s voice, reminding him that he shouldn’t let anyone tell him he’s an unimportant creature or that he doesn’t matter. And by that logic, that should include not letting himself say that.

And the crab always knew better.

Slamming the book shut and standing back up with it in his arms, the goblin gathered all of his courage. The crab wasn’t just his boss, he was his friend, like Bouldy and Blue, and friends helped each other.

Druma would learn how to read that book. If not alone, then with help from a friend.

***

“You want me… to teach you how to read?” Balthazar asked, baffled by the goblin’s request.

“Y-yes,” Druma said timidly, his gaze fixed on the ground under his feet as he hugged his book even tighter against his chest. “If… If boss is busy, or if boss don’t want to teach Druma, then Druma understand, boss.”

The crab looked at his assistant with surprise still painted across his expression.

He had no actual problem with the goblin’s request, but he had also never expected anyone to ask him to teach them anything, let alone how to read. The merchant himself had no idea how to explain it in the first place.

As a crab, he had never needed to read, until the day he gained access to the system and began his trading career. And when reading things became a necessity, the crustacean didn’t start studying, he simply took the easy path and bought the ability to read from the system as a skill.

How am I supposed to teach someone something I can’t even understand?!

The system had made him able to read and understand the words formed by letters he saw, but beyond that, Balthazar was none the wiser as to how that made any sense. To him, it was like breathing, pinching, or being snarky—he just did those things naturally.

“No, no, it’s fine,” the merchant said to his assistant. “I don’t have a problem with helping you, Druma. I’m just… not sure how to get started.”

Joy lit up the goblin’s eyes as he looked at the crab with a wide grin. “Boss can start with Druma’s magic book! Druma want to read wizard book so Druma can cast big spells to help boss more!”

The caped mage aspirant stretched his arms out, offering Balthazar the tome.

Simple and Totally Safe Arcane Spells for Newbies was written in hasty, chaotic squiggles on the cover, likely Tweedus’s handwriting. Remembering the lunacy of the old wizard, the merchant wondered if letting his green assistant use anything from that book was actually a good idea.

“Hmm, maybe before I try to teach you how to read it I could try reading some of its contents to you, how about that?”

Druma nodded vigorously, causing his oversized wizard hat to bob back and forth until its floppy tip was almost slapping him in the face.

Balthazar took the tome into his claws and flipped it open to a random page.

And then another.

And another.

With each page he looked through, his eyestalks frowned further.

Spells for lighting a match, for clearing condensation off a glass, for peeling a banana with just one hand, and even a spell for removing dry mustard stains off clothing through the use of some listed reagents.

Wow, these are really useless spells. The crab thought. But I guess at least the title didn’t lie, they are safe.

Scanning through the lengthy paragraphs below each spell, the crab felt himself grow bored and almost sleepy at the descriptions on the stances, movements, thoughts and intentions, as well as exact words and enunciation required to successfully produce the desired spell.

Gah, magic is so boring.

But as he glanced at his eager goblin student behind the open book, still grinning and waiting, Balthazar sighed. He could tell this mattered a great deal to Druma, and he couldn’t find it in his heart to just crush his dreams and hopes like that.

To his surprise, as he reached the end of a chapter on a spell for drying socks 25% faster, a system notification popped into his sight.

[Unable to learn spell. Merchant class not compatible with arcane spells.]

Huh. Interesting. I guess I’m not too bothered by that, never cared for magic anyway. But if I don’t know how to teach him how to read, which is something I already know, what hope do I have of teaching something I can’t even learn myself?

The crab closed the book and pondered for a moment before bringing up his party screen to look at his assistant’s sheet.

[Name: Druma]

[Race: Goblin]

[Level: 3]

[Class: None]

[Health: 60/60]

[Stamina: 90/90]

[Mana: 0/0]

[Attributes:]

[Strength: 2]

[Endurance: 3]

[Agility: 4]

[Perception: 3]

[Intellect: 2+2]

[Charisma: 1]

Balthazar sighed. As he suspected, even if the goblin could somehow learn to read the book, he would still not have any mana to cast the spells with. Despite them all being quite cheap, every spell he flipped through still listed some small amount of mana needed to cast—of which the goblin had zero.

The merchant looked at his green friend, smiling under his big, pointy hat, his tattered green cape flapping in the soft winter breeze behind him. A tinge of pity tugged at his heart. What right did he, the crab who decided he would be a merchant, have to tell the goblin who wanted to be a wizard that his dream was doomed to fail?

The mana issue is moot anyway, since he can’t read in the first place.

With the goblin’s sheet still open in front of his eyes, the crab noticed something else that caught his attention below Druma’s attributes. A trait he had mostly forgotten about.

[Eager Learner]

[Trait]

[Goblins don’t usually like learning things, but this one is different. Whether because he hit his head, or precisely because he didn’t, this creature has a knack for picking up new skills if taught. Able to gain up to one compatible skill if given an active Scroll of Potential or trained by a tutor.]

Wait a minute…

Hope sparked within the crustacean’s shell. Druma’s single natural trait might be exactly what he needed to unlock the skill he needed. While Balthazar had no Scroll of Potential containing a reading skill, the description also mentioned learning from a tutor. The crab knew how to read, even if he had no exact understanding of how. He also remembered how Captain Leander tutored him on a skill for days back when they sailed away from Marquessa.

Why can’t I just do the same for Druma? Crab, merchant, adventurer, ascendant. If everything and everyone keeps slapping so many labels on me, why not tutor too?

As ever, the crab decided he would have to rely on his old strategy of improvising as he went, and letting the system shenanigans sort it all out in the end.

Balthazar looked at his loyal assistant and smiled while opening the tome of spells back up.

“Druma,” he said, “I’m going to tutor you on how to read, or my name isn’t Balthazar.”

The goblin’s eyes lit up and he scurried to the crab’s side, sitting on the wooden step as the two of them focused on the first letter of the first page.