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Chapter 193: Pebbles

  “Bouldy!” excimed Balthazar, beaming with a smile despite being held down by twuardians.

  o 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 sehat were not holding the intruders down turo the golem with their ons at the ready, clearly viewing him as ahreat to engage.

  With a siep, Bouldy cleared the ridge of the fe, remnants of va falling off his body as he exited the smelter and marched toward his rades in peril.

  “Friends!” he called, a determione 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 fuardians look like childreo him.

  The two se the front charged at the golem, oh a bronze-colored spear, the other a longsword.

  Before their ons could even reach him, Bouldy used his long arm to swat the other structs 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.

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

  The golem reached for the closest oh his massive hand, grasping its helmet-like head and effortlessly tossing him toward a sed 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 t him down.

  To Balthazar’s surprise—and perhaps even the guardians’, if they had been capable of expressing aion—their bronze ons shattered upoing 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 ected, which quickly faded after a sed.

  “Sturdy!” the crab ented, still being held down by one of the statues, but having somewhat fotten about that fact while watg his friend in a.

  With an impressively swift turn for something his size, Bouldy faced his assaints with a disapproving scowl and kicked one away with his tree trunk-like leg. The statue collided against one of the hall’s pilrs 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 struct, 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 dires as the guardian was smashed uhe golem’s massive strength, leaving just a pair of bronze legs standing in its pce.

  Seeing how dangerous the cobalt-infused struct 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 unwaveriermination to reach his buddies.

  Pung, kig, and smashing, the t golem dispatched every fuardian that attempted to stop him, their attacks uo harm or slow him in any way.

  [Fuardiaed x12. Shared experience gained.]

  In disbelief at how easily his golem friend was fighting off the other structs, Balthazar flicked his eyes through the system s t up his party’s s, whiow included Bouldy again.

  [Name: Bouldy]

  [Race: Golem]

  [Level: 40]

  [Css: 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.]

  [Draic F]

  [This golem’s body has been fed in draic fire, granting the struct +80 magical defense.]

  [Skills:]

  [None]

  The mert 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 falleries behind him.

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

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

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

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

  The goblin lu the living boulder, tg on to his stony arm while holding the wizard hat ih 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 ba return as he watched Blue approag 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 vey her feelings just fio the golem, who used his massive fio 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 ter,” the crab said with a loud sniff. “We o get out of here now. There are probably hundreds more of those guardians in this pce, and it sounds like they’re all ing for us. As strong as you seem, Bouldy, I don’t really want to find out how much it will take to crack your cai’s bail!”

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

  “Good job, Druma. Hopefully we 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 pany hurried to the side tuhe crab gng back at the rge corridor the group had arrived from as rge shadows began to loom from around the distant er before the ste room.

  The party reached the tunnel and the mert found another runed pque on the wall.

  [Surface deliveries access]

  [Authorized personnel only]

  [Safety hard helmets required]

  “To hell with yns!”

  With the marg 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 er and had to skid to a sudden stop.

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

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

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

  “Friend…” Bouldy murmured, staring up i 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 fe halls, telling them that the reinforts were hot orail.

  “I don’t suppose you could tell yirlfrieo 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 o get through! Or else we will be stuck between a rod a… bunch of other murderous rocks!”

  “Friend!” Bouldy excimed, 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 crusta.

  The struct 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, scratg the top of his shell, which had shed its silver imbuement auro normal.

  The golem roared, and his feet sank into the crag stone floor beh, 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 struct released the other stoh an expression of relief, but as he did, Balthazar heard a small crack of stone.

  “Bouldy! Are you alright?” the ed 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 uhe pressure of an avanche.

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

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

  Bouldy brought his hand down from his chest, showing his palm to the mert. 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 fe, his most precious pebble from his childhood colle. With one key differehe roow 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 excimed 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 bad forth between the golem and his pebble.

  Bouldy nodded and smiled. “Friend.”

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

  The golem shrugged sheepishly. “Friend…”

  “Is boss unow?!” Druma excimed.

  “What?!” the flummoxed crusta 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 ted, doing a little dan pce.

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

  It was just like he used to imagi when he was a little crab. A pet rock. A tiny panion he used to take by his side in his childhood adventures, when he was away from the much rger boulder that one day would bee the golem, expl 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 turo look at the assistant. “What?! I was never great at naming things!”

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

  The mert’s golden monocle picked up oiny pebble’s presend attempted to exami.

  [Examining item…]

  [Failure]

  [Unknowype]

  [Examining party member…]

  [Failure]

  [Unknowy]

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

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

  [Fe Scout - Level 26]

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

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

  The golem smiled at him. “Friend.”

  “What do you mean yoing 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 onball, leaving a fading “Weeeee!” as it flew off.

  It hit the bronze struct right in the helmet, pierg 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!]

  [Fe 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, pletely undamaged.

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

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

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

  [Skills:]

  [Pebble Toss]

  [Cost: 25 Stamina]

  [The golem takes aim and throiece of itself at a target, dealing an amount of pierg damage based oerial of the projectile and the thrower’s Strength.]

  The stomping of dozens of fuardians 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.

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

  With the sentries hot oracks, the group tinued running up to the surfatil they finally saw the gate meant for outside deliveries.

  Naturally, that was sealed shut too.

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

  The mert looked to the side of the giant door.

  “There! This one has the same meism from the ste room.”

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

  “Damn it, now what?” he said, gng baervously as the sound of the marg sentries tio grow. “Bouldy, e here! I need you to grab both ends of this and pull them together.”

  “Friend!” the golem said with a nod.

  Stepping forward, the crab’s bodyguard ed his giant stotens around ead of the broken 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 tainst the tunnel walls as the ining statues caught up to the fugitives, making the crab gulp nervously.

  It sounded like the ey of the fe’s forces had e for them, however many dozens—if not huhat was. Even with a refed Bouldy by their side, Balthazar had no wish to risk su unfair match.

  “Blue, squeeze through first, make sure it’s safe oher side.”

  The drake folded her wings and crawled through the gap betweee and the dusty ground as Bouldy tiraining to slowly bring the s together and raise it further.

  “Boss go !” 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 fe!” said the fident 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.

  Deg that there was no time tue against peak goblin theory, the mert started squeezing his way uhe moving gate.

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

  Blue was already waiting oher side, sing the dark passage with her bright yellow eyes. Up ahead eck of light—the outside.

  Druma’s spark of inspiration was actually w. ks of the ceiling were colpsing, blog 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 uhe opening.

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

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

  “Don’t let go yet!” the crab said.

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

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

  “Hurry, Druma!”

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

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

  “Boss!” the scared assistant called, reag his hand for the crab’s cw 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 ing 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 mao catch was a white blur shooting through the guardian’s chest in a fsh, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

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

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

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