Merchant Crab-Chapter 193: Pebbles

“Bouldy!” exclaimed Balthazar, beaming with a smile despite being held down by two forge guardians.

Next to him, the captured goblin grinned with glee at the sight of the golem. Even Blue seemed to have lit up with excitement upon seeing their reborn friend.

The sentries that were not holding the intruders down turned to the golem with their weapons at the ready, clearly viewing him as another threat to engage.

With a single step, Bouldy cleared the ridge of the forge, remnants of lava falling off his body as he exited the smelter and marched toward his comrades in peril.

“Friends!” he called, a determined stone frown over his eye orbs.

[Golem created. Crafting experience gained.]

[You have reached level 24!]

Despite being made of entirely new material, Balthazar felt like he was looking at the same old boulder and the same friend of always, from his rough stony expression down to his massive rock body.

A body massive enough to make even the forge guardians look like children next to him.

The two sentries at the front charged at the golem, one with a bronze-colored spear, the other a longsword.

Before their weapons could even reach him, Bouldy used his long arm to swat the other constructs out of his way with unbelievable ease, sending them both tumbling toward a wall.

Seeing the others failing to stop the golem’s advance, four more living statues stepped up to seize the crab’s friend.

Encircling him from all sides, the guardians began cautiously closing in with their spears and shields held forward.

The golem reached for the closest one with his massive hand, grasping its helmet-like head and effortlessly tossing him toward a second guardian like a ragdoll.

Taking advantage of the opening, the two living statues behind him charged at his legs, thrusting their spears at the golem’s joints to bring him down.

To Balthazar’s surprise—and perhaps even the guardians’, if they had been capable of expressing any emotion—their bronze weapons shattered upon meeting the primordium rock of the giant’s body. Not even a scratch was left, just the magical glow of blue cobalt veins where the strike connected, which quickly faded after a second.

“Sturdy!” the crab commented, still being held down by one of the statues, but having somewhat forgotten about that fact while watching his friend in action.

With an impressively swift turn for something his size, Bouldy faced his assailants with a disapproving scowl and kicked one away with his tree trunk-like leg. The statue collided against one of the hall’s pillars with deadly force, breaking in two and falling lifeless on the floor.

Seeing his fellow guardian eliminated with one blow, the other sentry turned back to the golem, shattered spear in hand. Bouldy, however, felt no pity for the faceless construct, if mercy is what the soulless statue even wanted.

Making a fist, the golem brought his hand down on the guardian’s head like a hammer on a nail.

Metal and rock shattered and scattered in all directions as the guardian was smashed under the golem’s massive strength, leaving just a pair of bronze legs standing in its place.

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

Seeing how dangerous the cobalt-infused construct seemed to be, the remaining guardians all moved to attack him in a group, even the ones previously holding the crab and his party.

“Friends,” Bouldy repeated, stomping forward with an unwavering determination to reach his buddies.

Punching, kicking, and smashing, the towering golem dispatched every forge guardian that attempted to stop him, their attacks unable to harm or slow him in any way. ＲÃɴ𝘰ВƐṥ

[Forge Guardians defeated x12. Shared experience gained.]

In disbelief at how easily his golem friend was fighting off the other constructs, Balthazar flicked his eyes through the system screen to bring up his party’s screen, which now included Bouldy again.

[Name: Bouldy]

[Race: Golem]

[Level: 40]

[Class: None]

[Health: 800/800]

[Stamina: 200/200]

[Mana: 0/0]

[Attributes:]

[Strength: 60]

[Endurance: 50]

[Agility: 5]

[Perception: 1]

[Intellect: 1]

[Charisma: 1]

[Traits]

[Cobalt Heart]

[This golem’s core has been infused with a unique cobalt alloy, making the core impervious to physical damage.]

[Draconic Forging]

[This golem’s body has been forged in draconic fire, granting the construct +80 magical defense.]

[Skills:]

[None]

The merchant let out an impressed whistle. “Nice upgrades…”

Wading through the rubble of his foes, the crab’s bodyguard finally reunited with his party, leaving a trail of fallen sentries behind him.

“You’re alive!” Balthazar said with a smile from eyestalk to eyestalk. “I can hardly believe it!”

“Friend,” Bouldy quietly said in his guttural voice, kneeling down in front of the crab with an earnest smile on his rough stone face and patting him gently on the shell.

“I missed you too, buddy,” the merchant said. “More than I can put into words.”

“Bouldy! Bouldy!” Druma exclaimed, rushing to the golem with open arms.

The goblin lunged at the living boulder, latching on to his stony arm while holding the wizard hat in place with one hand. He hugged the golem with a smile as tears of joy ran down from his closed eyes.

With impressive gentleness, Bouldy patted the goblin’s back in return as he watched Blue approaching too.

The drake let out a quiet, almost timid screech that Balthazar could not recall ever hearing out of her. Whatever it was, it seemed to convey her feelings just fine to the golem, who used his massive finger to scratch the top of her head while smiling broadly.

A soft rumbling traveled from the stone floor up Balthazar’s legs, quickly growing into a full tremor.

“Alright, we will have more time for reunions later,” the crab said with a loud sniff. “We need to get out of here now. There are probably hundreds more of those guardians in this place, and it sounds like they’re all coming for us. As strong as you seem, Bouldy, I don’t really want to find out how much it will take to crack your core again. Let’s bail!”

Hopping off the golem’s arm, the caped goblin pointed a finger at the west side of the hall. “Boss, boss! Druma find other way out while boss bake Bouldy!”

“Good job, Druma. Hopefully we can get back to the outside through there, because by the sounds of it, going back through where we came from is not going to be an option.”

Balthazar and company hurried to the side tunnel, the crab glancing back at the large corridor the group had arrived from as large shadows began to loom from around the distant corner before the storage room.

The party reached the tunnel and the merchant found another runed plaque on the wall.

Stolen story; please report.

[Surface deliveries access]

[Authorized personnel only]

[Safety hard helmets required]

“To hell with your signs!”

With the marching of the sentinels growing louder, the four intruders rushed through the back tunnel, which grew narrower the further they went, until they came upon a corner and had to skid to a sudden stop.

“You have got to be kidding me!” exclaimed Balthazar. “Why is there always something?!”

Part of the tunnel’s ceiling appeared to have collapsed long ago, leaving the exit obstructed by a giant boulder, even bigger than the living one accompanying the crab.

The raw stone seemed to be part of an ore vein, with metallic lines scattered over its surface like lightning bolts.

“Friend…” Bouldy murmured, staring up in awe at the giantess of a rock before him.

“Yes, it’s a pretty rock, but stop gawking now, bud,” the crab said, rolling his eyestalks.

Heavy footsteps sounded from the forge halls, telling them that the reinforcements were hot on their trail.

“I don’t suppose you could tell your girlfriend here to move out of our way, could you?”

“Friend?” the golem said, averting his gaze in a way that made Balthazar sure that if a rock could blush, it would be doing it right there.

“We need to get through! Or else we will be stuck between a rock and a… bunch of other murderous rocks!”

“Friend!” Bouldy exclaimed, his expression shifting to one of pure determination.

Flexing his powerful arms, the golem squatted slightly before engaging the giant boulder into a tight hug, putting all of his strength into pushing it aside.

“What the…” said the befuddled crustacean.

The construct grunted and pushed, his face, chest, and hands tightly pressed against the glistening stone.

“Frieeeeend!”

The veins of metal on the rock’s surface seemed to react to Bouldy’s embrace, pulsing ever so lightly as the round boulder slowly began to roll.

“Why do I feel like we should be looking away?” Balthazar said to Druma, scratching the top of his shell, which had shed its silver imbuement and returned to normal.

The golem roared, and his feet sank into the cracking stone floor beneath, the immense pressure straining his stone face as he dragged the other rock out of the way.

“Alright, that’s enough space for us to pass!”

The construct released the other stone with an expression of relief, but as he did, Balthazar heard a small crack of stone.

“Bouldy! Are you alright?” the concerned crab asked, rushing to his friend.

The golem looked down as he held his hand to his chest, making Balthazar’s mouth go dry and his heart skip a beat, remembering the small crack that eventually led to his friend’s demise under the pressure of an avalanche.

Bouldy’s brow rose and then he smiled. “Friend.”

“What do you mean?” the confused crab said.

Bouldy brought his hand down from his chest, showing his palm to the merchant. On it rested a rock. A tiny, smooth pebble, round in shape and gray in color.

It was the stone Balthazar had dropped in the forge, his most precious pebble from his childhood collection. With one key difference. The rock now had a slightly blue tint to it, with hair-thin lines of cobalt all over it.

“You… you remembered?” he said, looking up at his old friend.

The stone wiggled and the crab’s eyestalks frowned slightly. “What is—Ah!”

Balthazar jolted in surprise as the pebble rolled over and revealed a face. Two tiny beads for eyes and a groove for a mouth made up a visage that resembled a miniaturized copy of Bouldy’s.

“Creee!” the little stone exclaimed in a cheerful, high-pitched chirp.

Druma and Blue looked over Balthazar’s shell, both as astounded as him.

“What… but… how… What?!” the crab stammered, his eyes going back and forth between the golem and his pebble.

Bouldy nodded and smiled. “Friend.”

“Hold on,” said Balthazar. “Did you just make this when you… clashed against that big ore boulder?”

The golem shrugged sheepishly. “Friend…”

“Is boss uncle now?!” Druma exclaimed.

“What?!” the flummoxed crustacean said, turning to his assistant. “I… No! I mean… I don’t… How do you even—”

“Druma has new friend! Druma has new friend!” the goblin chanted, doing a little dance in place.

Balthazar looked down at the giant construct’s palm again, staring into the tiny beady eyes of the smiling pebble.

It was just like he used to imagine it when he was a little crab. A pet rock. A tiny companion he used to take by his side in his childhood adventures, when he was away from the much larger boulder that one day would become the golem, exploring the pond and its surroundings.

“It really is you, isn’t it?” Balthazar whispered to the pebble, smiling with heartfelt warmth as he carefully picked her up with his pincer.

Druma stopped his song and dance. “Boss, boss! Does little rock have name?”

“Yes, she does,” the smiling crab said without taking his eyes off Bouldy’s offspring. “Her name is Pebbles.”

“Oh…” said the goblin, nodding slowly.

Balthazar turned to look at the assistant. “What?! I was never great at naming things!”

“No, no! Pebbles is good name! Druma like a lot!”

The merchant’s golden monocle picked up on the tiny pebble’s presence and attempted to examine it.

[Examining item…]

[Failure]

[Unknown item type]

[Examining party member…]

[Failure]

[Unknown entity]

Huh… I guess you really are pretty unique, little one.

A rapid rumbling came rushing up the tunnel from the forge, and the group turned to see a metal figure wielding two bronze daggers heading their way. The guardian, smaller and leaner than the other constructs, seemed to be built for speed over sturdiness, moving much faster than the previous ones.

[Forge Scout - Level 26]

“Friend,” Bouldy said, reaching down to the crab’s pincer and picking up the pet rock again.

“What are you doing?” Balthazar asked, confused.

The golem smiled at him. “Friend.”

“What do you mean you’re going to—Wait! Stop!”

Raising one leg up as he pulled his right arm back, the living boulder took aim while the sentry rushed toward them, and with a powerful swing forward, he tossed the small pebble right at it.

“What the hell, Bouldy!”

The crab threw his arms up in shock as the rock shot out like a tiny cannonball, leaving a fading “Weeeee!” as it flew off.

It hit the bronze construct right in the helmet, piercing straight through and leaving a hole in its forehead.

The previously living statue stopped dead in its tracks and dropped lifeless to the ground.

[Critical hit!]

[Forge Scout defeated. Shared experience gained.]

[You have reached level 25!]

Balthazar’s stunned expression at what he had just witnessed only grew as he saw the tiny pebble casually rolling her way back to them, completely undamaged.

“Cree-cree!” Pebbles chirped happily, smiling at the crab from the floor below.

“What… in the name of custard just happened?!” the befuddled crustacean said.

A new line appeared under Bouldy’s previously empty list of skills.

[Skills:]

[Pebble Toss]

[Cost: 25 Stamina]

[The golem takes aim and throws a piece of itself at a target, dealing an amount of piercing damage based on the material of the projectile and the thrower’s Strength.]

The stomping of dozens of forge guardians grew closer up the tunnel.

“I don’t even know what to make of all this, but right now we have to get out of here,” Balthazar said.

Picking up the tiny pebble and carefully placing it in one of his backpack’s side pockets, the merchant led his team through the now unblocked tunnel.

With the sentries hot on their tracks, the group continued running up to the surface until they finally saw the gate meant for outside deliveries.

Naturally, that was sealed shut too.

“Seriously?!” exclaimed the panting crab as they came to a stop.

The merchant looked to the side of the giant door.

“There! This one has the same mechanism from the storage room.”

As he walked closer, Balthazar realized the thick chain was broken, one end bunched below and the other rolled above.

“Damn it, now what?” he said, glancing back nervously as the sound of the marching sentries continued to grow. “Bouldy, come here! I need you to grab both ends of this chain and pull them together.”

“Friend!” the golem said with a nod.

Stepping forward, the crab’s bodyguard wrapped his giant stone mittens around each end of the broken chain and used all of his strength to pull them closer.

Metal creaked as the huge shutter door started moving up.

“Keep going, Bouldy! Just a little more and we’ll fit through.”

Shadows began to form against the tunnel walls as the incoming statues caught up to the fugitives, making the crab gulp nervously.

It sounded like the entirety of the forge’s forces had come for them, however many dozens—if not hundreds—that was. Even with a reforged Bouldy by their side, Balthazar had no wish to risk such an unfair match.

“Blue, squeeze through first, make sure it’s safe on the other side.”

The drake folded her wings and crawled through the gap between the gate and the dusty ground as Bouldy continued straining to slowly bring the chains together and raise it further.

“Boss go next!” Druma said, grabbing his magical staff. “Druma has idea!”

“You do?!” Balthazar said with surprise.

“Yes, yes! Druma got idea from when Druma help boss with forge!” said the confident assistant. “Druma will smash rock!”

“Oh,” said the crab, with less surprise now.

The goblin began to spin his staff, aiming at the rocks protruding from the ceiling of the tunnel.

Deciding that there was no time to argue against peak goblin theory, the merchant started squeezing his way under the moving gate.

As he crawled through, Balthazar heard arcane bolts being shot, followed by the sound of rocks breaking and falling to the ground.

Blue was already waiting on the other side, scanning the dark passage with her bright yellow eyes. Up ahead was a speck of light—the outside.

Druma’s spark of inspiration was actually working. Chunks of the ceiling were collapsing, blocking the way for the guardians who had already reached the other side.

“Good job, buddy! Now cross over too!” Balthazar told his assistant, waving his pincer under the opening.

“Yes, yes, boss!” the goblin said, sheathing his staff again and running for the exit.

“Friend!” Bouldy shouted, both arms trembling under the pressure of holding the gate’s chain together.

“Don’t let go yet!” the crab said.

A violent blast came from the collapsed ceiling, sending pulverized rocks flying everywhere as a tall bronze figure broke through the rubble, halberd in hand.

It was the larger and higher level storage keeper from before, who had nearly crushed Balthazar for taking the gold ingot.

“Hurry, Druma!”

The keeper broke into a sprint, each massive step covering as much ground as five from the goblin.

Druma’s eyes widened with panic as he held on to his hat and dived under the gate.

“Boss!” the scared assistant called, reaching his hand for the crab’s claw as he crawled.

“Grab my pincer!” Balthazar said as the gate rose further and he saw the bronze sentry bring his huge halberd down on his green friend. “No!”

A thunderous gust of wind coming from the outside of the tunnel blew over the crab’s shell like a storm unleashed from the heavens.

All that the crab’s eyes managed to catch was a white blur shooting through the guardian’s chest in a flash, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

Perplexed, Balthazar gazed past the collapsed remnants of the sentry.

Lodged in the ground behind them was a massive arrow, still smoking with the scent of scorched earth.