“Greetings, brave adventurer!” said the mert crab, with a cheerful void his shell held high. “It sure is a fine day to travel, wouldn’t you say?”

  The young man stopped dead in his tracks, appearing surprised by the approad looking around for a moment.

  “Uh… hi?” he said sheepishly, before shrugging. “I guess? It’s a day like any other to me.”

  “e now, don’t say that,” Balthazar excimed, moving to the side of the passing traveler and waving a cw towards the sky. “Look at that. Not a cloud in sight all day. Perfect weather for a hike. Shining sun and everything! Maybe that’s the only downside, hah! Makes a traveler sweat like a pig.” He gave the adventurer a pyful wink and added, “A handsome pig, in your case, of course.”

  The young man looked at the crab with a mix of fusion, befuddlement, and pure awkward disfort.

  “I didn’t think crabs could sweat?” Mr. LaTan whispered from his front row spot to the show he cart, despite the fact that the adventurer could hear him just as much as the crab.

  “Shut up, Charles,” Balthazar said between grindih, before turning back to the passerby with a smile. “So, how long have you been out here walking today, young man?”

  “Sihe early m hours,” the traveler answered. “Stopped for a quick lund the going.”

  “Goodness!” the crab excimed with exaggerated fir. “That’s a lot of hours on your feet, walking, uhis scorg hot sun.”

  “It’s the middle of autumn…”

  “Have you been keeping yourself well hydrated?” the mert carried on. “We ot have fine adventurers like yourself falling to the wayside on their journeys because they were so busy w about saving our fair vilges and sying dangerous beasts that they simply fot their most basieeds!”

  The look of utter fusion and bewilderment on the young man’s face kept on growing the more he watched the strange crusta waxing eloquent .

  “I… uh… yes, I think so. I have my waterskin right here,” the traveler said, showing the brown water bdder hanging from the side of his backpack. “Running low, but I’ll be sure to refill it on the river or creek I pass.”

  Balthazar’s eyestalks curved into a deep frown.

  “No, no, that won’t do! I meant real hydration! on water like that is for the on folk. Aspiring adventurers like yourself need something more. Somethier than water.”

  The boy scratched the side of his head, clearly trying to keep up with whatever the talking iebrate had going on. “I’m sorry… I’m not sure if I follow. And who are you anyway?”

  “Ah, my name is Balthazar, and I am a mert,” the titur crab said with a slight bow.

  The peddler behind him took a bow as well. “And I’m Charles La—”

  “Shush, this isn’t about you, Charles,” the real mert quickly said, shaking a cw at him dismissively.

  “Oooh, I think I get it,” said the adventurer. “You’re trying to sell me something.”

  “A sharp one, I see. Qui the uptake! I like that,” Balthazar said with a pump of his pincer. “But not just ‘something’, my young globe-trotter. I have to offer you something you won’t find anywhere else. Something unique and exclusive. Something you need.”

  “And what would that be?” the boy said, raising both eyebrows.

  The crab turned around to give Charles a smirk and a wink, before spinning back to the adventurer with fir, and a shiny gss bottle held in his pincer.

  “This!”

  “What is it?”

  “A precious brew. A co from a far away nd. A secret recipe passed down through the ages. Nearly thought to be a myth. A fottear. It is… a Potion of Hydration.”

  The young man leaned forward, his upper lip pushing up and sg his nose as he squi the transparent vial.

  “That just looks like water!” he said.

  “Not at all!” excimed Balthazar. “This is far more than just water. This is beyond water. This is the step above that on liquid.”

  The adventurer scoffed. “I already get water from any old river, ke, or creek I find on my path. Why would I waste money buying that from you?”

  “Because the water you get from some puddle on the side of the road is improper for ption by someone who seeks to level up like yourself!” expihe crab. “This potiht here, oher pincer, you will find provides the aforementioned hydration, is and devoid of any nasty and incapacitating diseases, not to mention it tains what any hardw voyager such as yourself craves for a day of adventurirolytes.”

  Charles, who was now holding a small notebook and quill, leaned closer to the crab and whispered, “What in tarnation is arolyte?”

  “I have no idea,” Balthazar whispered back.

  “Hmm,” mused the young man, rubbing his as he admired the crystallitle. “What makes your water so special?”

  “Why, the fact that it es directly from my pond, of course!” the mert excimed. “Boulders Point, the most beautiful pond you will ever enter anywhere oha.”

  “Never heard of it.”

  “That’s normal,” the crab said dismissively. “Got to keep such a pce a secret, only to be shared with worthy people, you know, like adventurers such as yourself.”

  Balthazar plucked the cork from the bottle with his pincers.

  “Hmmm, ahhh! Just smell that,” he said after a big sniff. “It’s like I’m bae, blissfully drifting around in those pure, crystal clear waters.”

  Charles leaned ain. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to say you’re selling them your bath water?”

  “ it, LaTan,” the crab grumbled back, while the young man took a tentative sniff at the open bottle. “I know how to work these adventurers.”

  “It does look pretty clear,” the human holding the vial said.

  “Like I told you,” said Balthazar, “after you’ve tried one of these Potions of Hydration, you will never be satisfied with simple ‘water’ anymore. Why don’t you give it a try and find out for yourself?”

  “Fine. How much for one?”

  “Just four coi—” Charles started.

  “Ten s, please,” the mert crab quickly said, stepping in front of the peddler.

  The adventurer raised an eyebrow while reag into his pocket. “A bit expensive for a drink, but you’re lucky I scored a pretty good haul ierday’s dungeon, so I’m in a good mood.”

  He tossed the payment with one hand, while tipping the bottle into his mouth with the other.

  Charles looked on with bated breath, while the crab moved o the buyer with a smile on his face.

  “ you feel it?” said the crusta. “The refreshing breeze flowing through your body? The smoothness caressing your tongue as it desds into your throat? The minty fresh aftertaste? If you close your eyes, it’s almost like sitting by the edge of the pond, enjoying a calm spring m.”

  [The Gift of the Crab: success]

  The adventurer opened his eyes slowly, blinking a few times, as if rebounding from a brief daydream.

  “Woah, it’s… it’s almost like I was there,” he said. “And I don’t even know where there even is!”

  “Hah, told you,” the smug crab said, moving back to the cart. “And I bet you’re not thirsty anymore, are you?”

  “No, not at all!” said the suddeatic young man. “These Potions of Hydration are amazing! And was that a sparkly feeling I noticed there?!”

  “Sure, sure. It was whatever you want to call it,” Balthazar said with a nod.

  The peddler o him scratched his forehead and frowned. “What does he mean, sparkly?”

  “Just roll with it, Charles,” the mert told him. “Just smile and wave. The t is always right, so long as he’s paying.”

  “I must have more of these!” the adventurer excimed, hurriedly pulling a purse from his belt.

  “Certainly,” the crab said. “Charles over here will take care of that for you, won’t you?”

  “Huh? What?” the fused supplier said, lifting his gaze from his quill and notebook. “ht, of course! I got a whole crate of water bott—I mean, Potions of Hydratiht here in the cart.”

  After they cluded the transa and the grinning adventurer moved on, now carrying a dozen bottle of on river water with him, Mr. LaTan turned back to Balthazar.

  “I have to give it to you, that was impressive, how you mao sell not just one, but a whole pallet of just water bottles to him, and at 10 s a piece!”

  “Bottles of premium water, I think you mean,” said the fident crab. “Now, about our deal…”

  “ht, of course,” Charles said, grabbing the satin bag with the Invisible Cloak and it to Balthazar. “Here you go. It was well worth it for the inspiration. The tales really do not do you justice. A true master of the craft. And to think I was sidering myself clever for selling a dining room chair to a traveling adventurer earlier. Hah! Amateur work o you.”

  “Heh, right…” the crusta said awkwardly. “Who would ever buy one of those on the road. Anyway, I must be going now. Say, you wouldn’t happen to know where the own is, would you? Preferably ohat isn’t currently burning down?”

  “Uhm, right, the own…” the man said, thinking. “I believe the closest one would be to the northeast. If you keep heading up this road, you should find a sign pointing the way soon.”

  “Great. Appreciate it. Good luck selling your…” Balthazar g the peddler’s cart full of junk. “…goods.”

  “Mark my words, mert crab,” LaTan said, puffing out his chest and putting on a proud expression. “ime we see each other, I will present you with treasures beyond your wildest dreams. I will bee a worthy supplier of your bazaar!”

  The crab smiled and waved at the peddler.

  I sure hope not. What a chartan…

  After another hour or so of walking, and with sunlight slowly fading as dusk approached, Balthazar and his party arrived at an area where the woods surrounding the road grew denser, letting even less light through.

  Sihey’d no longer be able to see each other, the mert called his drake down from the sky so she’d apany him and the goblin on foot instead.

  “We should find a pake camp soon, Druma,” the crab said.

  As they tinued further into the darkening forest, Balthazar spotted something past a few trees and bushes that made him pause.

  There, just around a thick tree trunk, he could see a pale aura glowing.

  Ever the curious one in matters involving things that shihe crab approached slowly to iigate.

  As he rouhe er, a translut ethereal form turo him, looking surprised by the sudden appearance of the crab,

  “Ahhhh!” they both screamed.

  After jumping back, Balthazar stopped and frowned. “Wait, you’re just a ghost.”

  The pale see-through figure of a man ceased his screaming as well. “And you’re a… crab?!”

  The mert let out a sigh of relief. “Phew! For a moment I thought you were something scary.”

  H ihe spirit looked at him with a fused expression. “Wait, you don’t think a ghost is scary?”

  Balthazar scoffed. “Pfft, of course not. Why would I? You’re just a harmless non-corporeal remnant of a soul drifting around.” He waved a cw through the ghost’s torso, moving it around unimpeded. “You’re not even solid. Why would I be scared of that?”

  “Please don’t do that, it feels very strahe ghostly gentleman said. “But your attitude is quite refreshing. Most advehat cross paths with my current form tend to either run away screaming, or attempt to put their swords through me. You’d think they would grasp the cept of what a ghost is after the first stab attempt or two, but no… they really do like to insist on doing it again and again.”

  Balthazar chuckled. “Hah, sounds abht. Good thing I’m not an advehen!”

  The floating specter eyed the crab for a moment, p.

  “Hmm, in that case, perhaps you’d be the right oo help me with something.”

  The crab raised aalk at the apparition. “Maybe. What do you need help with?”

  The ghost leaned forward. “I need you to kill someone for me.”

  H0st