Gregory lived on a big ranch, in a big house, and had big parents. His mother was a tall well-built woman who fussed over him constantly. She had been heaping praise upon him since he walked in the door and showed her his new guild token.

“I’m so proud of you, son! What did I always say. Never give up! With hard work and determination, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to,” Helena said.

Gregory’s father, Burtrum, just beamed at him and gave him a solid hug when he heard the news. Gregory wasn’t a small man, but his father dwarfed him. He was like a walking talking wall of muscle.

“Soon you’ll be the one fighting off wyrms and protecting the family. Good job, son.”

“Mr. Fezzic, Mr. Olivander, will you be joining us for dinner? It’s the least we can do for helping out our Gregory,” Helena said.

Olivander had been drifting in his own thoughts, not really paying attention as the two parents congratulated their son. The mention of food perked him up quickly.

“I would not refuse an offer of a home cooked meal, Helena,” Olivander said with a slight bow.

“Uh, sure,” Fezzic said, hesitantly.

Goblins and humans typically got along pretty well. But getting along wasn’t the same as having integrated communities. Fezzic had only met a handful of humans outside the traders that had regularly visited his village, and this was his first time in a human home. He expected there would be the odd difference in custom. He wasn’t sure whose lead to follow. This was Gregory’s home, so he probably did what he wanted, and Olivander only seemed to do what he wanted.

When Helena left the room to prepare more food than what she had working, Fezzic gave Olivander’s robe a tug, pulling him off into a side room.

“Is there something I can help you with, Fezzic? You know, I only have one good robe. And in this case, good is really stretching the limits of my imagination.”

“Sorry. Do you know a lot about goblins?”

“Yes, I have dealt with your kind extensively, and spent a fair amount of time studying with the shamans in the great goblin city of Rezimz.”

“So, you shared meals with goblins?”

“Yes…Oh, I see. You’re worried about offending these fine people in their home.”

“Exactly! Gregory said I could stay here for a while, and I don’t want to bungle it up by doing something that might offend a human.”

“I doubt these two are easily offended. But I do recall a few things to keep an eye out for. First off, bones.”

“Bones?”

“Yes, humans don’t eat them, you should just set them aside.”

“You’re kidding, right? Bones are the best part.”

“I’m quite serious.”

“Can I tuck them into my pocket for later?”

“Probably not a great idea.”

“Ok, I guess I can manage that.”

“Next, humans always belch loudly to show their appreciation for a meal.”

“That’s a little gross. But if you’re sure.”

“Quite. You should belch early and often, lest you offend.”

Fezzic nodded. “Anything else?”

“That just about covers it. Oh, if any live animals happen to get on the table, they are not part of the meal. That one disturbed even me.”

“I think that’s just a shaman thing.”

“Well then, pardon me.”

The two returned to the living area, where Gregory and Burtrum quickly moved their conversation from Gregory’s time fighting goblins to talking about the ranch.

“Our family has been on this land for generations,” Burtrum said. “My great-great grandfather settled down here, helping drive out the wyrms that lived in the area.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“He must have been a powerful man, I’ve been told that the wild desert wyrms are no joke,” Olivander said.

“That he was, and thank you for saying so, Mr. Olivander. Occasionally we get a wyrm that comes back and tries to take up residence. I’m not sure why. A particularly nasty one just set up in the hills near the back of the property. Normally, my brother and I would drive it off. We’re both gold ranked guild members, but he’s traveling with his side of the family for a few months. Even if he were here, I’m not sure we’d take on this one by ourselves. I exchanged a few blows when it first showed up. I did not come out of the exchange feeling great.”

“So you ceded the land to the wyrm? It will consider that land fairly conquered after having fought you for it,” Olivander said.

“That’s exactly right, Mr. Olivander. You seem to know your facts about wyrms.”

“I spent a few years as a...scholar. I studied wyrms, dragons, hydra, and all manner of other magical creatures.”

Well, he had mostly studied their corpses, but he picked up a thing or two while clearing them out for the better part of a year.

“That would be very interesting. You are correct. The wyrm now considers part of our land its territory, and it won’t be possible to just push it away. It’ll have to be killed. I put in a request at the guild, and they issued a hefty contract to get a group of gold rankers out here to take care of the wyrm.”

“Have there been any takers on the contract yet?”

“Not yet, but we just had it posted a handful of days ago. With the reward, we’ll get guild members from some of the bigger branches coming in soon enough.”

Olivander hadn’t considered that. Contracts of that size and nature weren’t so uncommon in Castleton, where the magical creatures were stronger and the people generally had more money to throw at problems. He would very much like to be out of town before those gold rankers arrived.

They continued talking. The wyrm had been eating some of the herd animals, but it wasn’t so bad that they couldn’t wait for help to arrive. Trying to pull the animals away from the wyrm would likely antagonize it anyway. The topic swung around to Gregory asking Fezzic about his home.

The goblin was still hurting, but he seemed to enjoy sharing stories about his home and remembering the good times he had there. They all laughed with him as he recounted stories of childhood antics.

Soon, Helena emerged from the kitchen, joined by another man whom Olivander hadn’t met yet. He was clearly related, having the same height as his parents and brother, but he wasn’t quite as wide as the other two men. He looked older than Gregory by a few years.

“Mr. Olivander, Mr. Fezzic, this is Gregory’s brother, Timothy.”

They made a quick introduction and then sat around a large dining table.

A steaming roast and a bounty of sides were spread over the table. Helena insisted there wasn’t a need for formality, and they all dug in.

“Yep, Gregory is my little brother,” Timothy was telling Olivander. “He always wanted to follow in dad’s footsteps. He’s got the build for it at least. I was always more like my mom. Awakened a non-combat class first, lesser cook! Mom was thrilled. I’ve been helping her out in the kitchen ever since. I just unlocked the advanced cook class last year, which has been a big help.”

Olivander struggled to swallow the giant bite of roast he had just taken, so he could ask another question. He held up a finger for a moment longer.

“It seems your hard work is paying off, Timothy,” Burtrum said. “Mr. Olivander can hardly stop himself from eating long enough to ask you a question!”

“Mmmhmm. Us vury goob,” Olivander said, mouth still full.

After a few more moments, he finally managed to swallow.

“Sorry. It’s all quite good. Are you hoping to specialize? I admit, I’ve never had a knack for cooking, or known many cooks. I don’t know what any of the specialized classes are.”

“I am! I have a few options. Artisan Baker, Chef, Butcher—”

“Butcher is a specialized class?” Olivander interrupted.

“It is, not every butcher has the butcher class, but those with it are unparalleled. Have you ever had a dry-aged steak, Mr. Olivander?”

“I don’t even know what that means.”

“It’s a process where you allow the meat to age in a dry environment. It loses moisture and naturally tenderizes, becoming just decadent. It’s amazing, but it requires a very specific environment, time, and there is a fair amount of waste involved. But with the butcher class? There’s an ability that will let you dry age a steak in minutes.”

“That sounds very useful. Especially given your family's trade in herd animals.”

“I’ve definitely been pushing him towards it,” Burtrum said. “Mostly just so he can feed me these steaks he keeps raving about.”

“It would be boon for the family, you’re right about that,” Timothy said. “It’s high on my list, but I need to put in the requisite time on honing my skills to unlock it. It requires outrageously high knife skills, plus there’s a strength requirement, which is unusual for a non-combat class. Especially one that’s cooking related.”

He paused to take a bite of his own food, washing it down with some spiced wine.

“I’ve been leaning that way, but I’m also interested in the catering specialty class. Just imagine being able to feed a hundred people with the same quality and speed of feeding a few. That’ll be my choice if I want to start my own business.”

“Is there a lot of demand for that kind of thing in Demering?”

“Not here, no, but some of the nearby cities host large events regularly. There would be a bit of travel, but it would definitely be worth it.”

“It sounds like you have a lot of options in front of you. What of the rest of the family. I’m quite curious about —”

Olivander was cut off suddenly by a huge belch from Fezzic.

Everyone just stared at him for a moment. Then Gregory, not wanting to let the goblin be embarrassed, let loose one of his own. Soon the entire family was belching.

They quickly fell into raucous laughter. Gregory wiped tears from his eyes, and Helena covered her face with a napkin, amused and embarrassed.

Fezzic leaned into Olivander. “I don’t think I can do that again, it’s disgusting. I might be sick.”

Olivander agreed, but he was the one who had set up Fezzic. He had no choice but to commit to the bit.

He responded to Fezzic with a burp.