At dusk, Grahlgar looked over to Olivia, who was still perched on his shoulder and asked,

“Olivia, is Bahamut doing okay?”

“Mhm...Recovering...thanks to...Grahl”

Olivia replied with a gentle tone. Bahamut was a Black Dragon that was about the same age as Grahlgar himself. Most of the scars on Grahlgar’s body were caused by him. But Grahl felt that he shouldn’t be blamed; Bahamut was an angry child because he lost his parents. It was a feeling he could understand. Bahamut viciously attacked him and Grahl fought back just as ferociously. Flesh was rent, bones were broken. With both of them too wounded to stand, they probably would have been devoured with naught a bone left before the next day. But fortunately, Sylvia found the both of them and took them to Aqua to be treated.

Needless to say, both of them received a firm reprimand. Although Bahamut was a fierce dragon from a noble lineage, he cowered before the wrath of the undine. In that instant, a bond was forged between Grahl and Bahamut. From that moment forward, if one got into trouble, the other would surely go down with them!

Yet after the stern lecture, Aqua kindly said that no matter if both of their parents had passed or not, their love and desire for their children to live, was something that would stay with them forever. Perhaps it had been the fact that those words struck a chord with Bahamut, but after that, his temper slowly cooled. From that point on, he was put under the care of Olivia. Grahl would visit him daily and while they fought often at first, they soon became best friends. It was odd just how much things could change in a year.

“Bahamut...will wake...soon.”

“Haah, I’m too tired today. He can catch dinner and I’ll make it.”

Sylvia, sat comfortably next to Grahl and said,

“Mmm, I’m hungry too, feed me!”

“Me...too…”

Just as they started to talk about food, the sound of shifting rocks could be heard. From a large cave, a dragon 15 ft tall and 35 ft long, emerged and looked around cautiously. (9.144m tall 10.688m wide) Seeing that there were only friendly presences in the vicinity, he strolled leisurely out of his den. The dragon had two pairs of wings that didn’t seem to fully scale with his body. The same could be said for his horns as well, giving the impression that the dragon would grow much larger. The colof of his eyes were pure black, with the exception of his bright gold irises. As a Black Dragon, Bahamut was vulnerable during the day. His power was limited in comparison to the night, when he could truly summon all of his strength. As a fledgling dragon, he was especially at risk. He would be easy prey if he didn’t have Olivia to protect him until dusk.

“Ahh, look, it’s the pervy ogre who likes pain and beatings! What a terrible sight to see first thing after a nap.”

Bahamut quipped with a sardonic smile as he swaggered over to Grahl. To his rude comment, Sylvia felt a slight inclination to nod. Although she loved Grahl like he was her little brother, she was worried about this tendency of his. Sure enduring pain was a part of training, but enduring the pain with a smile plastered on your face is bound to make you seem eerie. Especially with a face like an ogres.

“Ah, it’s good to see you too.”

Grahlgar replied as if the dragon’s words meant nothing to him. Bahamut’s words and actions could be harsh, but he was already used to it. Somehow, whenever Grahl reacted as such, Bahamut felt a sense of defeat. He would always try to rile Grahl up just to see him get angry. While it may be immature, he felt that it was strange that this herbivore of an ogre never got mad, so he wanted to see what would happen. Alas, he had yet to succeed.

“Aww, how sweet it is to see the two of you getting along so well.”

“I...agree.”

The two spirits responded.

“Yeah, yeah, so annoying. Anyway, I’m hungry. What is there to eat?”

Bahamut was surprisingly shy and tried to hide it with his gruff attitude. It was unfortunate for him that none of his present company believed it. Sylvia and Olivia were both glad that those two could rely on each other. Glancing to Bahamut, Grahl replied,

“Whatever you can catch. If you catch it, I’ll cook it.”

Grahl had already delegated their tasks and Bahamut didn’t seem to mind. He enjoyed a good bit of exercise after waking up. Both Bahamut and Grahl needed to eat a large quantity of food. Grahl could eat gradually throughout the day, but Bahamut couldn’t eat till dusk. Therefore, he usually felt ravenous. Thankfully, one day their urge to eat would lessen as they aged and they would both be able to sustain themselves with mana. If the trend continued where they both had to eat their body weight’s worth of food, the weaker beasts would be culled and the ecosystem would go into disarray.

“Fine. Get everything ready and I’ll be back.”

The dragon replied before his body blended into the shadows and disappeared. Black Dragons had the innate skill, Shadow Mastery, allowing them to manipulate and blend with shadows. At night, such a skill was terrifyingly effective.

Watching Bahamut depart, Grahl turned to look at Sylvia and Olivia.

“Sylvia, can you ask Aqua if she wants to join us for dinner? Olivia, would you mind making some salt and also, the fire pit?”

“Very well. I’ll go check.”

“Don’t mind.”

They both replied and set off to do their own tasks. Grahl on the other hand, made his way into the forest. Just as he stepped foot into the wood, the spirits that followed him earlier all eagerly rushed toward him. Fawningly, they hovered around him and dimly illuminated his surroundings.

“Hello, little spirits. I’m glad you all came to see me again. Want to join me and collect some firewood?”

The spirits grew brighter in response to his question, happy to follow along. Grahlgar walked with them till he reached a tall oak, so tall that the crown of the tree couldn’t be seen from the ground. It was quite an impressive specimen, but there were countless trees, just like this one. Looking up at the massive tree, Grahl called out,

“Excuse me, Mr. Oak, would it be alright for me to have some wood?”

The tree’s branches swayed in response and the feeling that it gave its approval was conveyed. With another shake of its mighty branches, many fallen pieces of oak, twigs, sticks and logs, all gathered in a neat pile beside him. It was certainly a wonderful thing to be so loved by the forest.

“Thank you!”

Grahl expressed his gratitude to the tree and gathered all of the logs and carried them on his shoulder. While he was still a bit tired, he could do at least this much. Following close behind him was the parade of little spirits, each one carrying sticks and twigs. Since he was still within the bounds of Olivia’s domain, there wouldn’t be any beasts or malicious spirits to bother him. Don’t even talk about monsters like goblins, orcs or ogres. They wouldn’t dare to test the patience of a spirit as powerful as her.

It didn’t take long for Grahl and the little spirits to return to Olivia’s place. The fire pit she made was a few feet away from the den that Bahamut slept in and next to it was a stone bowl filled with salt. Grahl quickly layered the firewood neatly and evenly so that it would burn down just the way that he wanted it to. With his kindling and tinder already prepared, he utilized a hand-drill method to create an ember and easily started the fire. Not long after, Bahamut had materialized from the shadows, along with a large carcass..

“Praise me, peon, for I have brought you nourishment.”

Bahamut said haughtily. For a creature just barely half a decade old, he had quite a diverse vocabulary. A shame most of it was composed of insults.

“Good job, Bahamut. You’re awesome.”

The ogre replied with honesty. The look of admiration he had couldn’t be faked. Bahamut had returned with a large War Hog that easily weighed over a ton. It was a fierce beast with bristles like long, sharp skewers, tusks like sabers and a hulking, boulder-like frame. There were no traces of wounds or struggle; it was a clean kill to be proud of.

“Hmph, it was...nothing.”

Bahamut replied with a bit of embarrassment. The dragon brought the carcass close to Grahl and the ogre, with practiced motions, coated his hand in a layer of mana and began to skin and clean their spoils. The thin layer of mana around his hand was like a sharp blade and with astounding speed, he removed the hide, the offals and all of the organs that were not fit for consumption. The intestines were put on the side so that he could thoroughly clean them later in order to make sausages.

Grahl then used Reinforce to enhance his dexterity and speed, quickly breaking down the hog into portions that they would eat now and portions to be preserved. The meat that they would eat now was cut from the loin, shoulder and the belly, about 500 lbs worth. Grahlgar and Bahamut would eat the most of course. Bahamut especially since a young dragon possessed a voracious appetite.

Just as Grahlgar finished dismembering the hog, Sylvia had returned with Aqua in tow. It wasn’t a big deal for her to leave the lake, so long as she remained within the forest. Therefore, when she heard about this family dinner, she was glad to tag along.

“Oooh, Grahl’s skills have improved. I remember when you were too squeamish to even look at this kind of thing.”

The undine said with surprise. The reason being that when Grahl was first transitioned from his diet of mana and beastmilk, Grahl was traumatized at the concept of killing and eating another life form. It wasn’t until he was starved and at death’s door that he was convinced to eat meat. A growing ogre just couldn’t survive on milk and mana.

“Thank you, Aqua. I’m glad you came.”

Grahl said with a cheerful tone. He looked over to Sylvia next to her and thanked her as well. Now that everyone had arrived, they all began to gather around the large fire that Grahlgar had built to help speed along the preparation of dinner. With all the hands on deck, the meat had all been skewered and placed at various distances from the fire based on their thickness and cut.

Out of curiosity, Grahl wondered if he would be able to use his skill to, “Reinforce” the flavor of the meat. He wasn’t sure if it would work or not, but after trying it, everyone was amazed by the results.

“How is this possible?! It’s just salted meat, how can it be so delicious?”

“Mm...tasty..”

“Excellent job Grahl!”

“Hmph, I suppose this meal is up to my standards.”

They all chimed in with their own opinions while greedily devouring every piece of meat that Grahl had cooked. The young ogre could only watch on with a wry smile. But more than anything he was happy. The ones gathered here tonight were his beloved family. While it was somewhat of a motley crew, he loved them dearly. It was thanks to them that he was here, it was thanks to them that he had a place to call home. How wonderful it would be, if these peaceful times could last forever….

“Grahl, the meat is burning!”

“Ahh! I’m sorry!”

And just like that, a long day slowly drew to its’ end