Merchant Crab

The crab dreamed.

He dreamed not of water and fish, not of gold and treasure, not even of pies and pastries.

He dreamed of a mountain. Lush and beautiful, with just a little white atop its green.

It felt familiar, but at the same time it felt like the first time he was seeing it too.

Either way, it felt like home.

The world flashed white, and the crab found himself inside now. Inside what? He did not know. Wherever it was, it was beautiful.

An endless hall of white extended before his eyes, both forward and above. Walls were but distant mirages past countless pillars of polished marble. The ceiling seemed as distant as the sky.

The place was radiant, not a single dark corner in sight, despite there being no visible sources of light anywhere. It was comfortably warm and completely spotless, each stone surface polished to immaculate perfection. But above all else, it felt like the safest place in the world.

The crab did not know what heaven looked like, but that could have easily been it.

Someone else was there. Above. Observing.

He looked up, and his eyes widened.

Perched atop the sculpted ledges of the many marble pillars populating the chamber were countless birds, each one looking down at the crab with an attentive gaze.

There were small birds, like finches and pigeons, even a dove sitting on one of the higher pillars. There were also large birds of prey, such as hawks and owls. There were seagulls and there were parrots, hummingbirds and woodpeckers, many corvids too.

No matter where he looked, there were avian creatures looking down at him.

The crab thought the dream was turning into a nightmare. Birds were his worst enemies, the beings he had the most animosity toward. Being surrounded by the winged fiends should have brought a sense of panic to his heart.

Yet, it did not.

Instead, he felt calm, safe, as if surrounded by… friends?

Something was not right.

Someone else approached. Not from above, but from the side, walking across the floor. Not a bird.

A figure stopped in front of him, blurry and vague, like a distant sight in a scorching morning, distorted by waves of heat. The crab did not know who that was, but he knew in his heart that someone was friend, not foe.

The unknown figure was not alone. Others appeared all around, just as unidentifiable. They seemed… excited. They cheered but without sound, their movements the only hint of their mute celebration.

Something burst into the air above them. Tiny pieces of glittering paper?

The crab felt confusion grow within and mix with the sense of joy he was experiencing.

Why was he feeling joy? That did not make sense.

The first figure extended both arms at him, holding something.

It was a plate. On it was a cake, covered in chocolate, a single slice cut from it and resting on top.

The crab reached a hand forward to grab the slice of cake being offered to him.

A hand?

No, that did not make sense. Crabs do not have hands. Where was his pincer?

Something was not right with that dream. With that… memory?

The crab stirred. That dream was not his to have. That memory did not belong to him.

Balthazar awoke from his slumber.

***

“Ow.”

The crab stood back up onto his eight legs with difficulty, one pincer rubbing the top of his shell as his dazed eyestalks tried to focus on his surroundings.

He did not know how long he had been out, but the position of the sun told him it was still morning, so he knew not much time could have passed.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“And this is why I don’t accept invites to go to parties. The hangover after isn’t worth it,” Balthazar grumbled to himself, still dismissing the fact he had never been invited to any parties.

He felt like he was forgetting something. Something recent. He tried to recall what it was, but like sand through pincers, the memory slipped his grasp until it was fully gone.

Probably just a dream. Nothing worth remembering.

The merchant glanced back at the tunnel entrance behind him. No signs of movement came from it.

“Good. Those rude skeletons can stay there. They’re not welcome anywhere near my pond!”

As he brushed dirt off his chitin, Balthazar remembered the last message he saw from the system before passing out.

Update aborted. Ah, crabapples. Don’t tell me I lost that stupid thing again?

Worrying he’d have to take another trip to a nearby beach and wait for another fool to wash ashore to trade him a conch for a new scroll, the crab tried to bring up his system screen.

A spinning circle he had never seen before appeared at the center of his vision, but to his surprise and relief, the system appeared as normal after a few seconds.

Huh… It looks fine. Nothing different about it.

With a shrug, Balthazar concluded the supposed “update” had simply failed before it could finish. With no consequences at all.

“I have more pressing matters to worry about right now,” he said, looking over to his bazaar on the other side of the pond.

The crab sighed. He needed to get back, there was plenty to do. But knowing how big of a “I told you so” his friends were going to give him, he felt no urgency to admit his incursion into the Semla Dungeon had been a failed endeavor.

Balthazar looked around, admiring his surroundings. He knew the territory around the pond like the back of his claw, but that specific area between the mountainside and the edge of the water was not one he visited often.

Vines of ivy stretched down from the rugged edges of the mountain stones, making for a curtain of green that draped over the gravel at the shore of the pond, creating a cozy recess in the underside of the cliff.

It felt like the perfect spot for the crab to take a break.

He skittered to his chosen spot and plopped himself down on the gravel, marveling at the beauty of his home for a moment.

“I missed this,” he whispered, taking a deep breath as his eyestalks waved along with the calm ripples of his pond.

Balthazar had never been away from his home for so long. Or been away from it at all, in fact.

After the chaotic few weeks he had on the road, having a moment for himself, by his beloved pond, enjoying the peace and quiet as the sound of the nearby waterfall enveloped his thoughts, was just what he needed.

And just as the crab let his carapace relax and a content sigh escaped his mouth, a line of text appeared in front of his eyes.

[Spend unused points now?]

“You just had to ruin it, didn’t you?” Balthazar muttered with crabby bitterness. “Fine. I know you won’t leave me alone until I do, so might as well get it out of the way now.”

The merchant brought up his familiar level-up screen, which asked him to choose a base stat to increase.

[Health: 290/290]

[Stamina: 30/30]

[Mana: 30/30]

“I’m back home. It’s a new chapter, a new phase of my life. I’m feeling daring. Like doing something radical. I think I’m going to increase… Health!”

Balthazar chuckled quietly at himself. He knew the system never acknowledged his complaints, quips, or anything else beyond his direct selections, but it still brought him some joy to mess with his impersonal companion.

[Health: 300/300]

“Nice round number. I like it!”

Next came his attributes. Three points to distribute, as always.

The expert merchant rolled his eyestalks.

“As if we both don’t already know I’m dumping them all into Charisma.”

Without hesitation or second thought about silly adventurer concepts like “balance” or “well-planned builds,” Balthazar increased his highest stat by three.

[Attributes]

[Strength: 5]

[Endurance: 5]

[Agility: 5]

[Perception: 5]

[Intellect: 20]

[Charisma: 78]

His physical stats were still at base values, but Balthazar did not mind it. That was what companions and friends were for. He was too busy doing business and eating pastries to waste his time fighting stuff anyway. At least the stats were still evenly distributed, which pleased the crab’s affinity for neatly organized numbers.

“Looks perfectly balanced to me,” the shrugging crustacean said. “As all crabs should be.”

Taking a quick look through his system sheet, his latest trait, the one he had gained from the golden scroll, caught his attention.

[Crab of Many Hats]

[Trait]

[Your versatility and knack for improvising (or mostly just making things up as you go) has granted you the ability to do what once seemed impossible. You can now equip hats.]

I still haven’t tried to wear one. I have plenty of headgear in my bazaar, I’ll just have to take a moment to fetch some and see what happens later.

Done with the system’s badgering for the time being, Balthazar stood up and walked through the curtain of vines, taking one last deep breath in.

As much as he would have liked to stay lounging around his pond all day, he knew there was work to be done. And likely not much time left for what he had planned.

Making his way around the shore, the merchant reached the back entrance of his bazaar, slowing down to a quiet pace as he tried to listen inside.

Perhaps if his friends did not notice his return from the dungeon he could simply slip behind the counter and start merchant-ing like nothing happened and avoid any questions about what transpired in those halls.

That’s totally possible, right? Balthazar thought.

Peeking inside with one eyestalk, the crab saw no one in the immediate vicinity, and his hopes rose like cake batter in the oven.

Maybe I can slip in unnoticed!

The bazaar’s owner pushed the wooden door open a little further with a creak as he tried to sneak his wide body inside.

Where is everyone, though?

His answer came in a form he did not expect or really welcome either.

A rush of air dashed toward the crab from behind a stack of large wooden crates faster than he could say “croissant.” He felt something pounce at him, followed by a pressure pushing down on his carapace and holding him in place.

“Ouch! What do you think you’re doing?!”