“Premium potions?” Niala asked as she sat down for dinner.

  The goblin woman grinned, her short legs swinging under the table. “Yes! We need to offer multiple grades of product!”

  Niala frowned. “But why? I already try to make the best potions I can.”

  Linzy shook her head before staring down the catkin. “It's so we can sell them for more, girl! Right now, everyone is used to the guild prices displayed on the wall, so they argue and whine a lot when I upsell them.” She offered a toothy smile. “But if we have premium potions, it just makes sense, right? A top-shelf potion for a top-rank adventurer! It basically sells itself!”

  “I don't want to sell inferior products...” Niala lamented.

  “You don't understand! I'm not asking you to make lower-grade potions, though let me know if you do! I'm saying, we select the... better looking or smelling ones, and we put them in nicer bottles.” Linzy explained.

  Niala looked horrified. “But! But! That's!”

  “Genius? Inspired? Fool-proof?!” The goblin said, leaning in.

  “It's dishonest!”

  Linzy blinked. “What? No it's not! It's premium potions! Add a bit of extra flavour in them, nicer bottles, colourful labels! PREMIUM, not better!”

  Niala's ears flopped down, her eyebrows lowering, as she looked at David, who had remained silent so far, stuffing his face with his girlfriend's food.

  He forced his mouthful down before speaking. “It's a good idea. Makes Linzy's job easier, and nobody is forced to buy the higher-priced ones anyway.” He opined, before bringing another forkful to his mouth.

  Niala alternated looking at both of them before sighing. “I guess it's fine... I guess I can use some fruit water when brewing potions to add a little extra flavour.”

  Linzy snapped her fingers. “Can you add vitamins?”

  Niala's eyes went to Linzy, one eyebrow arched. “Vitamins?”

  Linzy pointed her fork at Niala. “Yeah! Everybody loves vitamins! Makes you healthier! Make a batch with fruit water, a batch with added vitamins, and a batch with both! And make standard ones too!”

  The catkin's shoulders slumped. “So many versions?”

  “Absolutely! We're going to corner the premium potion market!” Linzy grabbed her chin. “Although we'll have to sit down together, so I can understand your brewing better. I need a bit of insight before I can develop new products. Hmm, maybe sweet or sour versions? Ooh, how about locally sourced ingredients labels... Hmmm...”

  As the little entrepreneur mulled potential ideas, mumbling, Niala shot a pleading look at David, who shrugged, his cheeks bulging.

  Niala wondered if what she felt right now was her soul being corrupted a little.

  Someone knocked at the door, startling Linzy. “Oh! That must be the premium bottles and labels delivery!” She said, jumping down.

  Niala blinked. “Wait, what? You just asked me about this right now!”

  “I ordered them two weeks ago!” The retreating goblin threw over her shoulder.

  The catkin looked back at David, distressed. He gave her a thumbs up, chewing another mouthful.

  She planted her face in her hands.

  “You are improving much faster than I expected,” Leandro said, reviewing David's numbers in his notepad.

  “Th-thanks,” He managed between two lungfuls, grabbing a water gourd and a towel, wiping away his sweat. He sat down, taking a swig from the gourd. “Does that mean we can move away from physical training soon?” He asked, hope in his voice.

  Leando guffawed. “Ha ha ha! No, boy! No! The road ahead still needs much travelling!” He approached and landed a painful pat on David's shoulder, grinning. “What it means is that we can proceed to advanced training!”

  That was the most horrifying grin David had ever witnessed.

  At the end of that day, Leandro dropped a limp David at Niala's feet, giving her his best wishes and wishing David a good night's rest, telling him that he'd see him tomorrow morning.

  For the next few days, Leandro made it his mission to annihilate David down to an aching puddle every day. He was very successful.

  But, eventually, David became able to drag himself back to their house before collapsing at Niala's feet, all on his own.

  A few days later, he didn't collapse until he managed to eat dinner, and take a shower and reach the bed.

  And a few days after that, it still hurt everywhere, but he wasn't collapsing anymore.

  One night, as he got ready for bed, he noticed Niala sitting on the bed, staring at him, the tip of her tail twitching, her ears erect.

  “... What is it?” He asked.

  She jolted, turning her head to the side, cheeks flushing red. “No-nothing!”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  He quirked an eyebrow, finished removing his shirt, and walked over, sitting down on the side she had turned her head toward. He cupped her chin in his hand, keeping her from looking away.

  He dipped his head and asked again, softly. “What is it?”

  She stared into his eyes before her gaze drifted down. She brought up a finger to his chest and traced a line down over it. “You... you've gotten bigger.” She murmured, blush intensifying

  Taken aback, he recovered and smirked, moving his hand from her chin to the back of her neck.

  “Happy your boyfriend is turning into eye candy?”

  She jolted, her eyes snapping up to his, before narrowing. “Maybe I am. Maybe having big muscles to squeeze will make up for all your teasing. What do you think, candy-man?”

  “I think you like sweet things.”

  “You're a sour candy. Nothing sweet comes out of your mouth.” She said, pulling out her tongue.

  As she spoke, he gently pulled her back, getting her to lie on the bed. Her eyes were defiant, but her body had surrendered right away.

  “As long as it tastes good.” He countered, bringing his leg over her, and planting his hands on both sides of her head, his body looming over hers.

  “...” She kept her stare on him in silence.

  He smiled, lowering himself halfway to her. “Give it up, you want a taste. Be honest.” He whispered.

  The glint of resistance in her eyes remained as she brought up her arms and locked them behind his neck.

  As he began to move his head down to kiss her, she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling herself up to his body, planting her lips on his.

  The sudden attack distracted him, as she unclasped a leg from his back, using it to push against the bed, and, using her body as a counterweight, tilted David over and onto his back.

  She ended up on top, straddling him, as he blinked and looked up in surprise.

  She smirked, bopping his nose, before leaning back and reaching out to the side table's drawer, retrieving a contraceptive potion and pouring the contents into her mouth, but not drinking it.

  She instead brought her head back to David and kissed him, slowly feeding him the potion instead, a victorious shine in her eyes.

  He put his arms over her back and pulled her body tight against his.

  Once he'd drunk the potion, warmed by his girlfriend's mouth and mixed with her saliva, she pulled back.

  “And how did that taste?” She whispered, grinning.

  “It was a very tasty appetizer.” He said, wiggling his eyebrows.

  Giggling, she kissed him again.

  She tasted so sweet.

  The next day, being one of his light training sessions, David walked back home in time for lunch, using the back door to avoid the few customers coming and going from the shop front. The smell of Niala's cooking, as always, lassoed his nose and kicked his stomach into a grumble.

  As he opened the door, Niala's voice rang out from the kitchen. “David! Is that you?! Welcome home! We have a guest!”

  He smiled. Being welcomed home was... it still felt new to him, but he knew he'd never grow tired of it. Not if it came from her.

  “Hey Niala, it's me. Lunch smells amazing.” He said back as he trundled up to the kitchen, his eyebrows arching as he recognized Karline from the back.

  “And hello to you too, my wayward apprentice. Haven't seen you in a while.”

  The courier woman turned to greet him and froze, eyes wide, as she looked at him from head to toe.

  “Yes, it is me, the stallion.”

  Karline flinched, her body slightly lurching forward as she pinched the bridge of her nose and held up a hand at David. “No, just. No. Stop with that stupid name.”

  “Stallion? You're the one who said it was my nickname.” He countered.

  She held up both hands, palm up. “Nobody calls you that! Maybe just a few fangirls, but that's it! Almost everybody calls you the donkey!” She stood up, facing him. “And what in the saints' name! Why are you getting huge?!”

  Karline turned to Niala, who'd put a hand over her mouth, forcing it shut. “Are you feeding him something?!”

  Niala blinked, resentful at the implication. “What? No! I would never! This is all his hard work! And if you want to know, I think Stallion is a fitting name for him!”

  Karline blinked in surprise. “What? Last time you fell to the floor laughing! What changed?!”

  A goblin's high-pitched voice answered. “That's because she's been ridin-”

  “Because he's good-looking and hard working! Hi Linzy!” Niala interrupted her, forcing a friendly smile on her face.

  Linzy grinned and waved at the trio before stepping to her chair and jumping up on it.

  Karline moved her stare between all three before grunting and sitting back down. “I really don't want to know...” She sighed and looked back at David, who was sitting down for lunch. She cleared her throat before speaking. “I guess it's nice to see you again, David.”

  “Hmm, even nicer to see me now, I was told. Where were you? What brings you back?”

  Karline gave him a side-eye before answering. “There was a posting to go finish a posting for a courier that had an emergency, down in Rockfoot.”

  “Oh? That's pretty far south.”

  “Yeah, and the trip there was a pit!” She palmed her face and dragged her hands down. “Huurgh... just thinking about it... I'll tell you about it some other time. Anyway, as I told Niala, I went because the posting was in fact to bring something back here, to Niala.”

  David quirked an eyebrow and glanced at Niala, who was smiling like a little kid. “Something nice?

  Karline made to speak, then noticed Niala's expression, and motioned for her to go ahead.

  “It's an avilem! The avilem dad said he was going to send me!” She wiggled, her arms folded against her chest. “David! I have my very own mail avilem!”

  Linzy whistled. “A personal avilem? Your dad's loaded! He got any short son looking for an easy wife?”

  Niala froze mid-wiggle. “Wha-? N-no, two daughters.”

  The goblin sighed. “Worth a try.” Linzy then looked at Karline. “Can we see it? I've only ever seen the Royal Mail avilems, and those are all pretty old.”

  Karline looked at Niala, who nodded a few dozen times within a second.

  “Alright then, let's go outside.”

  That got everyone to arch an eyebrow or two. Mail avilems weren't very big, the kitchen table would have been plenty.

  With everyone out in the courtyard, Karline took her biggest cargo cloth, the two metres one, and unrolled it on the ground.

  The image of the thing stored inside barely fit within the red outline of the cargo cloth. Karline triggered the cloth, unpacking the avilem, which rose up to nearly two metres tall.

  It was shaped like a broad-chested falcon, its multi-segmented body coloured titanium grey, its wings and tail feathers made of thin metal wires sewn together, giving them a lifelike suppleness. Faceted amethysts stood in lieu of eyes, and the entirety of its body was engraved with feather patterns, with a subtle variation of hue reinforcing the effect of relief.

  It looked regal, powerful. The large hatch on its back pointed to its role as a cargo avilem, something used by the rulers and ultra-rich to carry time-sensitive goods across vast distances, as fast as possible.

  Apart from Karline, who was revelling at their faces, everyone stood silent, trying to guess just how much this monster had cost.

  Niala murmured, despondent. “Dad... why...”

  Linzy, money glinting in her eyes as she stared at the mechanomagical wonder, spoke up. “Niala, is your sister single? Does she like goblins?”