Balthazar stared out into the horizon, his arms hanging over the wooden fenext to the entrance of his trading post, his eyes gng over the pins grass.

  The crab sighed.

  He didn’t even want to look toward the build site, as he didn’t want to grow even more annoyed by whatever nonsense was happening there. He o find some advehat could help him find the person he sought. But as always, their kind would only show up when it was most inve.

  Or, sometimes, they would show up only to prove the crab wrong.

  Two figures appeared from the south, walking up the road. One was a female adventurer, carrying a bag over her shoulder and another hanging from her hand. The sed adventurer was a young man, a few paces behind, walking with difficulty, struggling with each step, despite not carrying any visible baggage except for the sword on his back.

  Hopping down from the fence, Balthazar quickly made his way around it and onto the road so he could greet them and make his inquiry.

  “Well? e on then, hurry, you’re falling behind,” the girl said to the other adventurer, with a hint of smugo it.

  “Greetings!” the gilded crab excimed, waving a pincer as he approached them.

  “Oh, hey, look, it’s that talking crab,” she said. “What was his name? Balthazar, right?”

  The young man mumbled something unintelligible as he finally caught up to his partner, both now stopped in front of the crab.

  Balthazar gave them a closer look.

  [Level 14 Fighter]

  [Level 15 Swordsman]

  “Hey, I remember you two!” the crab said, pointing his silver pi the pair.

  “Looks like he even remembers us now,” the fighter said to the swordsman. “Maybe he’s learo be a nicer crab.”

  “Your names were… James and Lih, that was it!” the mert said, looking proud of himself for recalling the names of two adventurers.

  “Aaaaand never mind, I take that back,” she said, rolling her eyes. “No, crab, he’s Jack, and I’m Leah. But points f, at least.”

  “Ah, well, potato, tomato, who cares? Let’s not allow those little details to get in the way,” the mert said.

  Balthazar g the other adventurer, who was oddly quiet, given his usual boastful nature the previous times. He was slightly hunched over, with both hands on his knees, breathing like he had just gotten there sprinting.

  As the crab observed him, he realized the swordsman wasn’t even wearing any armor like the other times they’d met. Instead, all he had on was a light tunic shirt, some cloth pants, and simple shoes. Aside from that, the only other thing he carried on his person was his on.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Balthazar asked.

  “Ah, nothing, don’t worry,” said Leah. “He’s just tired from being overburdened.”

  “Overburdened?” the crab repeated, even more curious now. “But he’s not even carrying anything.”

  “He is. That stupid sword on his back.”

  “This sword,” the young man said, finally breaking his sileween light panting, “has saved our hides multiple times, Leah. You should show a little more appreciation.”

  “Maybe so, but so could a lot of other swords, if you had switched by now,” the other adventurer said, looking a her panion, before turning to the crab again. “I don’t know why he insists on still using that thing. It’s like it’s cursed, but he refuses to get a new one.”

  “Because, Leah, this will be my on of legend,” said Jack, making an effort to stand straight again. “It has grown in power with me, and the more I use it, the more powerful it bees. Something like that is a on a lifetime find. I wouldn’t trade it in for sur steel poker now.”

  “e on, Jack. I know that thing is very strong and you’re all emotionally attached to it, but look at the state you’re in. You barely carry it!”

  “A true hero does not back down in the face of adversity,” the swordsman said, trying to strike a stoic pose with a hand in front of his infted chest but giving up halfway. “Besides, you know damn well we wouldn’t have made it yesterday if it wasn’t for this sword.”

  “What happened yesterday?” Balthazar asked, growing curious about the sword he oraded for his first slice of pie.

  “A bear,” Leah said.

  “Not just any bear,” Jack corrected. “It was a massive beast of a bear. Around level 50, or something.”

  “It was level 39,” his partner said. “But yes, even then, an enemy like that, at our levels, deep within the forest? I thought we were done for.”

  “Exactly!” the young man excimed. “And how did we make it out of that situation? This very sword, as usual.”

  Leah sighed. “Please don’t start doing another one of your dramatic tales.”

  “We were deep within the depths of the forest.” Jack tried hopping on a stone by the edge of the road, but gave up and sat on it instead, rubbing his lower back. “You know what? I’ll let Leah take over on this one. She… she do the expining.”

  She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

  “So, how did you two get away from the bear?” Balthazar asked.

  “Get away?” the girl said. “No, no, we killed the beast.”

  “I—” Jack started.

  “You killed it with your sword,” Leah quickly said. “Yes, I know.”

  “With that big of a level differehe skeptical crab said. “Just with an ented sword?”

  Leah shrugged. “Don’t ask me. Fact is, once Jack finally mao lift the damn bde and I pyed bait t the bear close enough, the sword cut through it like butter. Ehe beast irike.”

  Balthazar’s curiosity had enough of being piqued.

  “Hmm, mind showihat sword?” he said to the adventurer sitting oone.

  “Sure, but you’re not thinking I’ll sell it back to you, I hope?” Jack said, standing up with difficulty and bringing a hand over his shoulder and to the hilt of the sword.

  “Don’t worry, I have no use for swords. I’ll gdly stick to pies. I just want to examine your… marvelous on. I never really had a ce to, before.”

  Straining to uhe it, the swordsman brought the bde over his shoulder as tip drop to the ground, both of his hands firmly ed around the grip, struggling to keep that end from falling too.

  “I didn’t have a proper breakfast this m, is all. I swing it just fine if you give me a moment.”

  Adjusting his Monocle of Examination with his pihe crab took a good look at the on.

  [Sword of Heavy Might]

  [+1 to damage a per enemy sin]

  “Uh… any idea how many enemies you’ve taken out with this sword?” Balthazar asked, gng over the mo the young man.

  “I don’t know. Dozens? Probably hundreds, if I t every single kill.”

  “Oh… wow… how are you even still using this thing?” the mert asked. “It must be encumbering you like crazy.”

  “A real hero does not let the burden of his destiny stop him from carrying on!” Jack said, trying to raise a ched fist, but quickly regretting that choid bringing it back to hold the sword.

  “You don’t even wear armor anymore because of the weight, you fool!” Leah excimed, dropping both of her bags on the floor and throwing her hands up in frustration. “I have to carry everything now, because you’re no help at all. You o get rid of that thing before you get yourself killed!”

  “And give up all this damage?!” He turned back to the crab. “She keeps trying to get me to ge on, but why should I, when this sword do this…”

  Taking a deep breath, the swordsman buckled his knees and made an effort to raise the bde from the ground.

  With his teeth ched and face turning red, Jack slowly brought the sword up in front of himself and took a trembling step forward.

  Balthazar skittered out of his way quickly, worried the overburdened adventurer might suddenly drop the bde on him.

  “Jack, yoing to hurt yourself if you keep doing that! Just stop!” Leah pleaded.

  Ign her, he sloroached one of the rge boulders between the road and the pond. With sweat rolling down his face, he grunted and lifted the sword above the rock that stood nearly as tall as him.

  Letting out a yell of both pain and relief, he brought the bde down, cutting through the stoh a thunderous crash.

  Panting and stumbling, he turo the other two. “See? I told you. I ’t just give this up.”

  He colpsed to the ground, arms and legs sprawled, sword lyio him.

  “Just going to take a moment here. Don’t mind me.”

  “Very, uh… impressive,” Balthazar said, looking at the exhausted adventurer with an awkward expression. “Assuming your oppo is immobile and uo strike you back while you try to raise your sword.”

  “It’s no use,” said Leah, bringing her palm to her face. “He’s just too stubborn and won’t liste into his head that sword is some kind of destined artifact of legend that he o keep using in order to bee the big hero of these nds, or some nonsense like that. Sometimes he’s so childish I just want to leave him on the side of the road and carry on alone. But then I know I’d feel bad and go back, so what’s the point?”

  A rge, rocky face peeked over the er from the path leading down to the pond.

  “Friend?”

  “Oh,” said Balthazar.

  Bouldy walked around the wall of boulders and approached them, his ed eyes going from the crab to the shattered pieces of stohe sword had just cut through.

  “Sorry, buddy,” Jack said, sitting up. “I hope that wasn’t a cousin of yours?”

  “Friend…” the golem meilting his head as he looked at the remains of the boulder with sadness.

  “Either way,” said Balthazar, “you’re still going to have to pay for that. It rivate property.”

  The adventurer groaned a his torso fall back down to the ground.

  “Don’t mind him,” the other human said. “We don’t really have much on hand right now, but hopefully this will cover it.”

  She opened one of her bags and pulled a rge, thick piece of bck fur from it. “It’s the pelt from the bear. You have it. I’d rather be rid of it and just get to the inn quick. My feet are killing me and looking at it just brings me bad memories of how close we were to dying.”

  “Hey, I was going to have a ade from it!” Jack protested as he stood back up to a sitting position.

  “And how are you going to wear it with that thing taking up all your carrying capacity?” Leah retorted, with the tone of a mother admonishing her child. “If I ’t rid us of that cursed sword, I at least get rid of this stupidly heavy pelt. I don’t want to carry this reminder of our near deaths a minute longer.”

  The young man crossed his arms but did not pin further.

  “Sure, I don’t mind taking that off your hands,” Balthazar said. “But I’d also like something else from you. Information.”

  “Oh? Mister mert needs information from us, ignorant adventurers?” the girl said, raising her eyebrows.

  “Precisely. It has to do with igno… with adventurers. That’s why I’m asking you. I ’t really go up into town and visit yuild myself, on at of… all the work I have to do here and all, but if I o have a message reyed to one of your fellow adventurers, is that something they could do there?”

  “Sure,” Leah responded. “Most of us move around all the time, traveliween cities across the whole ti. It’s on for the guild to save and deliver messages to its members whehey stop by.”

  “Great!” the crab said with enthusiasm. “Think you could take a message from me up there?”

  “I guess? We are going there either way. It won’t hurt to do you that favor after the big hero over there just rudely broke a piece of your property for no damn reason!” she said, raising her voice towards the end of the sentend gring at her partner, who was still lying on the ground with his arms crossed. “Who do you want to send a message to?”

  “I’m looking to send word out to a certain adventurer. Her name is Ruby...”

  H0st