“Please, giant one, don’t come any closer,” squeaked a nasal voice with a strange accent.

I halted, surprised by the goblin’s request and her dialect. The way she spoke Universal was strange. Universal was the language that incorporated many words and phrases adopted from the any tongues spoken around the continent of Mysteria. I thought I knew most versions of Universal, but the goblin’s version was new to me.

“Why should I not come closer?” I asked.

“You’re a giant. And giants have eaten goblins.” She raised her hands and started motioning them. Red sparks flew, insinuating the conjuration of a new explosive fireball.

I frowned over the slander and the threat of an attack on my person. But that wasn’t my complete focus.

Her use of Universal sounded wooden. More… human? Oh, Titaness, would my linguistic studies be brought to question here?

“Shouldn’t my identity say, noble giantess?” I waved a hand over my head. I presumed I had some sort of colorful scripture hovering over me for the goblin to identify. “You must be thinking of our lesser kin. Ogres and trolls. I, a noble giantess, would do no such thing.”

Besides, I would only eat her if she proved to be an enemy. Mother had taught me to be a bloody savage that guarded against threats to giants. I would only become an unthinking murderess when I was confident of the danger. However, Mother had also told me to kill goblins without hesitation. I supposed I had veered from Mother’s training already.

The goblin leaned over the battlements and peered closely at me. “I can’t view your identity. Your star tag is gold, which means you’re an Epic creature. My [Indentification] perk is only a Tier 1, which is too low for you, giant one. All I can see is golden question marks above your head.”

Oh, drat. I had no idea what that truly meant but I felt annoyed by the nuisance of this strange star magic. I should feel proud at being called Epic, it really did sound flattering, but I wanted to prove a point with the little goblin.

Thankfully, the strange magic that kept writing to me intervened.

[]

Do you want to allow the [35 ★ Goblin Wizard] to identify you?

[]

“Yes!”

“Ah! I can identify you now, I see. You’re a [45 ★ Giantess Ranger]. It doesn’t include the noble part. But be that you’re Epic, you must be a noble of old.”

I raised my head proudly, basking in her amazement. I should move on to finding the whereabouts of my kin, but I liked to soak in these moments. What good was being special if you didn’t flaunt it?

“That doesn’t make sense,” the goblin said.

“Why is that?” I blinked.

“All the noble giants⁠—”

She was speaking. But I couldn’t hear her. She was saying something strange. What was she saying?

“Say again?” I asked.

The goblin repeated herself. But it was the same result. She was saying something that made no sense. It was so illogical I couldn’t understand it.

I rubbed my fingers into my ears. My hearing continued to work just fine. Yet, I was still having a hard time understanding her. Even with the trouble I had with her new Universal dialect, numerals were the easiest to translate and understand. We were speaking a similar dialect, after all. Even if the phrases and the way she sounded was off to my ears. So, there was no reason for me to misunderstand her.

Yet, I did.

“Please, one more time. Say again?” I asked slowly.

The goblin’s face darkened. “I’m extremely disturbed by this situation, giant one. I do not know if I should repeat myself a third time. Your reaction frightens me.”

She spun her fireball into completion, threatening me fully. I didn’t react to that kindly, or with patience.

I charged the tower and threw all my weight and might into the base. It was meant for a giant to climb up to get a view that was twice their height. It was old, and the foundations were blasted by one of the goblin’s fireballs. I figured I could shake the goblin loose.

I met the wall and caved it inward. The tower trembled violently. It was already missing stones, its structure now on the verge of collapse. Of course, I didn’t stop there. I couldn’t if I wanted to avoid retaliation. I redirected myself after the impact to move around the tower.

Moments later, the fireball that would’ve burned me considerably struck the ground. I couldn’t avoid it entirely. The whooping blast shook me hard. Wrathful flames licked over my arm and part of my side as I moved around the tilting tower. Part of me smoldered, but I gritted my teeth and thanked my father for his fire resistance.

Once in position, I waited. The tower’s crumbling walls rained blocks over the flaming grounds. Before the window to escape was lost, the goblin hurled herself off the tower to avoid a crushing complication. Of course, she threw herself right into my waiting arms.

Her panicked face froze over. Then it sagged a little, resigning. She dropped into my arms without a fuss. A little book rattled against her leather-strapped thighs. With a closer look, I saw how she wore the leather armor tightly around her body. It looked flexible, lighter than I had ever seen before, and malleable to her form. It looked like the perfect wrapping to a meal.

[Small Leather Body Armor (Common)], I identified. Hm, how novel. I could inform myself of others equipment. That sort of knowledge was powerful.

Once the world settled down after the tower’s complete destruction, I transferred the goblin to one hand. I held her by her torso with my arm locked out in front of me. I studied her green face, long pointy ears and snout, little sharp teeth, and yellow eyes. She showed no fear. She almost looked bored, as if her incoming death was a mere inconvenience.

That did depend on if I wanted to kill her. Again, I could imagine Mother hissing into my ear to do it. Father, on the other hand, would give me the space to decide. The goblin’s open hostility toward me after I had helped her was very unwelcoming. I attacked first because there was no telling if she could unravel that explosive fireball and not hurt me.

It would be gratifying to kill my first goblin. It would be easy. I could feel her heart thumping under my thumb. One little press and I could cave in her sternum and squeeze her lungs out of her mouth. For a lesser being to threaten me like this, I more than deserved retribution. And I had room for more bloodlust to honor my homecoming.

If Mother was here, she would be pleased if I carried out this goblin’s death. To her chagrin, I was also my father’s daughter.

“What if I don’t kill you?” I asked, veering off course from what Mother would want.

The goblin blinked at me slowly. Her little ears tilted at different angles, one up, one down. I could see her mind whirring behind her eyes.

“Well, what if I let you live?” I continued.

“I’m pressed to ask what you would want from me?”

“Nothing difficult.”

The goblin squinted.

I flashed a grin. “I’m feeling rather savage. And your life is in my hands. Should you really squint at me like I’m a common trickster?”

“My kind tend to be trapped into unfavorable positions throughout the ages,” she droned. “It’s easier to accept death.”

I sighed. I was hoping this would be a rewarding interaction. I wanted that more now since the ranger supplies were under rock and fire that I didn’t want to dig through.

My thumb started to press down to cave in her chest.

The goblin squirmed. Then she loosened a cry and said, “Wait!”

I eased off the pressure, saving her from a gruesome death. A giantess shouldn’t be so merciful. One trained by an accomplished ranger especially.

But my time spent with Logotha might had influenced me to be a little more merciful. And Father had taught me to think… alternatively.

I tried not to let my interest show on my face. What the goblin would see was the visage of a cold, cruel, and alluring giantess. I added alluring in there because I figured that would invite a need in the little creature to please me.

That was probably idiotic, and if Logotha was here she would say so, but I was lacking someone who could prune the edges of my ego.

I doubted the goblin girl could. But I gave her one last chance to make something of herself or I would let my cruelty take her.

“Please don’t make me a slave or your toy,” the goblin asked slowly. “Or your food provision.”

“Very well.”

I lowered her down and planted her gently on her feet. Now that I heard her fears, I was in a better position to negotiate with her. If she had kept tightlipped, then she wouldn’t be someone I could convey myself to reasonably.

I already had issues with her dialect which took me time to parse out. I couldn’t work with a creature that was frightful enough to threaten me and dumb enough to not barter for her life. At that point, Mother’s way would be the more enjoyable and easier route.

The goblin girl stared up at me awestruck. I leaned forward and loomed over her, smiling. I was accurate with my assessment of her size. If she stood behind me, the top of her head would reach up to the bottom of my calf. She had to be 3 feet tall at most. How puny!

I could continue our conversation from here, lording my size and superiority over her, but that was not what Father and his scholars had taught me. This was supposed to be a friendly situation, so I brought myself down closer to her.

I knelt.

“I am Rhonda the Realmshaker,” I introduced, offering a hand. It was a human gesture I had learned from Father from when he dealt with important humans. I imagined it could still work here.

The goblin examined my hand. She reached forward tentatively and grasped a finger. I motioned my hand only a little bit, then I gently pulled away.

“And your name?” I asked, leading the conversation.

“Moffee.” She rubbed the side of her nose. “Moffee Booknose.”

I glanced at the book strapped in a leather harness to her side. When I identified it, I received a blue [???] and nothing more. Interesting.

“Your name is lovely,” I complimented.

“Oh, uh, thank you. I was given it as a joke.”

“Because you love to read?”

“Yes. Exactly, that.”

“I read a lot, too.” I had to, but Moffee didn’t need to know that. “Is reading niche in goblin cultures?”

“It’s very much so. The human printers made it available only among the members of the noblity or accomplished adventurers.” She rubbed at her nose again, a small smile forming. “When I was a child, a passing adventurer dropped a book in the city. A friend of my mama was learned enough to teach me to read. I kept searching for more. I’m surprised I wasn’t called Bookeater.”

I chuckled, finding the turn in the conversation charming. I was still aware of what I wanted, but I gave room for Moffee to talk about herself. I knew a lot more about her now than moments prior.

Father had taught me it was important to know as much as I could about every person in a relationship I wanted to form. Listening, understanding, and reacting expressively to show the talker I was following along went a long way.

There was a pause now. I watched Moffee start to look at me as more than a monster. Despite the blood and gore coating me.

“Moffee,” I started, “I’m pleased to meet you. I do not wish to kill or harm you. When I entered that battle with the dogs, I truly wanted to help you. But I will be honest when I say I need help as well.”

Moffee nodded, her ears tilting down. A darker shade of green was creeping up her neck. She was embarrassed by the prior altercation between us, I imagined.

D’aw. She was so cute. She wasn’t the warty, disgusting thing I had been told.

I reached forward slowly and patted my fingers on her shoulder. “It’s okay. Misunderstandings happen. You were scared. I was an unknown. With that said, please humor me and repeat what you said about the noble giants.”

Moffee gulped. She did what I told her. She told me the noble giants were all killed 500 years ago. There was no slight translation error. She wasn’t lying, either, from what I saw. Her expression told me she believed in what she said. It was the truth. My people were all dead.

…

My people… were all dead.