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Adversities had come, and he overcame them. Whether they were monsters from the forest, or monsters from a tax office, he always came out on top, triumphing alone over his enemies.

Perhaps with a little help, sometimes, but mainly it was his genius making it happen.

He took a long look at the trading post from above, the extension of the floor platform already completed, and the first of four main pillars that would support the roof already placed. It would take several more days, but with the brawn of the golem to do the heavy lifting and the agile fingers and knack for construction of the goblin, Balthazar was confident the undertaking would be finished before the first rains came.

The two hard workers were still out, cutting down more trees for the build, but with the afternoon quickly coming closer to its end, the merchant knew they would be back soon.

Redirecting his gaze down to the center islet, he observed the drake, who was lazily stretching her wings while lying on her cushion.

It was an ongoing frustration for him. No matter what he tried, she would not obey a word of what he said. All the damnable creature did all day was sleep, with the occasional break to fly up and chomp on a bird or two when hungry.

All day, all she did was napping and snapping. That was no life to have.

The crab only wished she would be more willing to cooperate with him. After all, if it wasn’t for him, she might have never even been born. The least she could do was be obedient. Surely that shouldn’t be too much to expect.

Shaking his head with a sigh, the crab made his way down the boulder.

“We crabs have the right idea. Just lay a bunch of eggs and get on with your life. No sticking around waiting for your offspring to disappoint you.”

Walking across his trading post, Balthazar admired the sky over the horizon, its color slowly shifting into a warm orange.

It would soon be dusk, but so far he saw no signs of Bouldy or Druma down the road. No rabbits or other animals, either. All was quiet. Even adventurers were likely already inside the walls of the city, eating and resting for the night, before going out for more meaningless adventuring in the morning.

“No last-minute clients today, it seems.”

Just as soon as the words left the crab’s mouth, a shell-chilling howl echoed around him.

Balthazar’s eye stalks stood up to attention as he saw a lean animal figure stepping out from behind a bush on the side of the road with slow but firm steps.

The canine figure looked directly at him with bright yellow eyes. Its coat of fur was thick and black, its fangs large and sharp, a hungry tongue hanging from its mouth in a quiet panting.

The crab turned to the path he had come from, but he found another wolf stalking its way down the road, cutting him off from the way back to the pond.

The wolves had surrounded him, and he had serious doubts they were there to sell or buy goods.

His heart now racing, Balthazar tried quickly finding a way out.

He could not run back to the pond, he would have to pass through the wolf for that.

He could not run down the road to where his two assistants would come from, as the other wolf also blocked his path.

Heading into the grass of the plains was risky, but he had no other option unless he wished to remain as he was and become easy prey.

Balthazar took one step towards the plains, and his heart sank.

Two more wolves appeared from the grass, both snarling, eyes hungry, fangs bared.

There was nowhere to run.

“No, no, no,” the panicking crab muttered. “There were never wolves around here. This can’t be.”

Caring little for the crab’s arguments against their existence, the four wolves slowly and carefully encircled their prey.

The bigger one, more muscular and imposing than the rest, took the lead. With a wrinkling snout, the black wolf growled as it showed its massive upper fangs, making its intentions very clear.

“Bad dog. Don’t,” the crab nervously pleaded, both claws up, as he stepped back. “Stay down. I’ve got pincers, and I’m not afraid to use them.”

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The wolves seem unconvinced by his weak claim, and did not back down.

Balthazar quickly glanced around at each of the black-furred wolves.

[Level 5 Wild Wolf]

[Level 5 Wild Wolf]

[Level 5 Wild Wolf]

[Level 9 Wild Wolf]

The larger, bulkier wolf was higher level than the others, but despite them all technically being lower levels compared to the crab’s level 11, he somehow found no comfort in that fact.

There were four of them against one of him, and he was hardly built for physical combat.

He was a crab of intellect. Battles of wit against a frail old taxman were more his speed. Hungry wild wolves, not so much.

All the good his Intelligence could do for him in that moment was let him know he stood no chance in that fight.

All the good his Charisma could do would be to allow him to compliment the wolves on their magnificent coat of fur as they tore his legs from his body.

All he had left was a big iron pincer. A capable weapon, but not enough to handle all four attackers at once.

And the wolves seemed to know that. Despite their clear numeric advantage, they were being cautious and slow on their approach. None of them wanted to be the first one to make a move, knowing they would likely be the one to suffer the first snap, while the others took advantage of the distraction.

Holding his right claw in front of himself like a warning, Balthazar slowly backed away as much as he could, but the circle was growing tighter. Soon they would be upon him.

If only the golem and the goblin would show up.

And then a tiny beat of hope hit from his heart. The drake.

“Bluuuuuue! Heeeeelp!” the desperate crab shouted.

He could not see the center of the pond from where he was on the road, so there was no way to know if she had heard his call for help. All Balthazar could do was hope she wasn’t still napping and ignoring his pleas. He did not like his chances on that.

As he screamed for the drake, the wolves surrounding him began howling in turns, snouts pointed to the sky. It was almost as if they were mocking the crab’s cries for help. Or worse, calling more of their kind for the feast.

The despairing crab kept glancing up at the sky, hope quickly fading that help would swoop in from above. The predators continued to circle around him, growling and waiting for the right moment to strike, as the shiny crustacean continued snapping his larger pincer in as threatening of a manner as he could.

Balthazar heard a low growl, different from the ones made by the wolves, and he looked up with a hint of hope, but nothing was there. Instead, a dragged shuffling noise came from the path to the pond.

Blue slowly came walking onto the road, tail lazily dragging behind her, eyes still half closed. She let out a loud yawn as she looked around for the source of the commotion.

The pack of wolves maintained their encirclement of the crab, but stopped pacing around him, each one turning their heads to the drake.

She looked at them with a raised brow, her eyes still lazy.

Despite being only a juvenile drake, she was nearly the same size as the wolves, and they seemed to understand the threat she presented as their growling became more contained. They were no longer threatening to attack, they were making a warning for her to stay away.

“Come on, do something,” Balthazar muttered to her from between the wolves. “Shoot some flames or whatever, but get me out of this!”

Blue seemed to pay no mind to the crab’s words, as her eyes instead focused on the largest of the four wolves, as if sizing him up with a judgmental glare.

The muscular wolf continued baring its fangs, but not with the same confidence as before. It also did not dare step forward towards her.

“Blue, stop playing staring contests and do something, damn it!” the anxious crab pleaded, still firmly stuck between the hungry beasts.

Suddenly, the drake gave an uninterested blink and turned around to leave back the way she came.

“What are you doing? Blue? Blue! Get back here, damn it! For once, listen to me!”

A howl came from behind a nearby treeline. This one deeper and louder, somehow even more intimidating than any of the others.

From the forest, one more wolf came. But this one was different, his fur also black, but with patches of gray, his eyes a more amber color, their gaze much more piercing. He was larger than even the muscular level 9, and he approached the others with commanding confidence.

[Level 15 Alpha Wolf]

“Ah crap, they called their boss.”

Blue stopped and turned back around to look at the arriving leader of the pack.

She stared him down, her eyes no longer looking sleepy. The wolf returned her gaze. Unlike the others, he did not show hesitation or signs of being intimidated. Balthazar could almost swear the drake had smirked for a moment.

She stepped forward towards the pack of wolves again.

“Yes! That’s right! Get in here and get them off my—”

The blue drake opened her wings and with one flap took off from the ground before lunging forward, past the four black wolves surrounding the crab, and aiming straight at the gray pack leader.

“What are you doing?! I’m right here! Help me first!”

As soon as the winged creature passed them and engaged with their leader, the other four turned their attention back to the crab. No longer willing to play games, they resumed their approach.

The level 9 charged in first, going for a bite to the face. Balthazar quickly swiped with his iron claw, trying to grab the snout, but the wolf recoiled and avoided the snap.

With the crab now distracted, the others jumped in from all sides. One grabbed his left pincer with its teeth. They did not penetrate the silver plating, but one of his arms was now immobilized. The smallest wolf jumped on the back of his shell, trying to fit its mouth on his shell for a bite it clearly could not take. And the last one snapped its fangs at the crab’s legs, trying to grab hold of one, as the crustacean desperately tried to kick him away.

Balthazar was quickly being overwhelmed. It was only a matter of time until one of the wolves would find an opening into his soft parts and flipped him over.

In the middle of the struggle, he caught a glimpse of what was happening down the road. Blue was repeatedly swooping down on the alpha wolf, who ferociously snapped at her strikes, trying to grab her.

He was going to be mauled by four hungry wolves, and she was more interested in fighting the higher level one.

All his smarts, all his cunning, all the shrewdness, and his downfall was going to be not a greedy merchant, or taxes, but just the laws of nature.

So much for being a genius.

“Boooooooooss!”

The cobblestones of the road underneath them were rumbling as heavy footsteps stomped closer.

Between the rows of teeth drooling and snapping right next to his face, through the black fur that was quickly surrounding him, Balthazar saw a giant rock charging in with a yelling goblin perched on its shoulder, one hand holding a magical staff, the other keeping his wizard hat in place.