There once was a baker boy.

When Rhonda’s character was younger and only nine feet tall, she would come down the manor’s hill full-tilt on the days that the baker made fresh loaves, cakes, tarts, and other delectable delights sweetened by honey and pulped juices. The baker’s mill for grinding grain into flour and the oven that cooked it was outside the village’s walls.

So, on the way there, Rhonda always had the opportunity to greet the common-folks that worked Lord Scogof and Lady Scadyia’s lands, especially the children.

It was quite the commotion when Rhonda descended from the hilltop since the children would be let loose from work to play with her. It was a practical decision, for if the young giantess were left to her own devices without a playmate, she would either be lost in the woods napping without an eye to watch her or found chasing after wild foxes, a villager’s dog, or a merchant’s horse that interested her appetite.

Having other children around despite their lesser status kept her occupied, and the Lord and Lady of the land approved of it heartily.

So the tailor’s daughter would come running out with new little dresses that adorned her dolls. The bailiff’s twins sprinted from the far side of the village to intersect with Rhonda’s path, huffing and puffing, as they waved their sticks that they imagined being legendary swords. In came the children of farmers who lived closer to the village, then the hunters' children, and then more after that. Although smaller, many were giants like her, and some were not-so giant or quite miniature⁠—such as the daughter of a halfling tax collector under Scogof’s employment.

But they were all welcomed nonetheless. For Rhonda was taught very well to treat others as she would like to be treated… although she also knew she was special, she adored to push the power of her specialness.

She was a little big rascal.

The village’s wall that protected them from outside threats would stand stalwart above Rhonda after trekking with a procession of children. She had lots of coin in her purse given to her by her father, despite her mother’s insistence that Rhonda should not eat so many sweets. Or else she would grow up to have a belly like her father, which was kind of funny because she could out-eat father!

She could out-eat anyone, and she knew that as a fact. She also knew the bread wouldn’t be enough to satisfy her, but it would be tasty and fun. And she could practice sharing while cultivating favors from her compatriots.

There was also another benefit, and that was the baker’s boy. He was easily the roundest child she had met, and he was also a human, so he was constantly looking up to Rhonda and the other giant children. But unlike the others, he acted quite differently toward her.

So, when Rhonda and her followers arrived outside of the main gate, where traders, farmers, and foreigners came and went, she turned the corner and followed the trail in front of the fifty-foot stone wall. Scogof’s grandfather built the wall after the Second Ultimate War that established Brogheim as the home of giantkin. Her great grandfather had been said to be a giant among giants, a master mason, and a great warrior.

Her noble bloodline ran deep with great giant heroes and heroines, and that alone should earn anyone’s respect. It made the children around her eager to compliment her or do whatever she desired. Yet, when she stomped to a stop outside of the baker’s hut, the baker’s boy looked up at her with annoyance. He was covered in flour while handling loaves of bread meant to be sold in the market… or sold to Rhonda.

“Oh great, you’re here,” snapped the baker’s boy. “I’ve lost good sleep today making more bread than we ought to.”

“You better watch your mouth, little one, or Lady Rhonda’s gonna step on you,” said the tailor’s daughter.

Rhonda tilted her head up and wore her smuggest of smiles.

The baker boy ignored the tailor’s daughter, who was at least two feet taller than him. He glanced up at Rhonda. “You really like surrounding yourself with what my da calls a bunch of bootlickers.”

“My boots are the best to lick,” Rhonda quipped.

“I’ve got the suspicion you would know.” He smirked. “One moment, it’s a merchant’s horse, the next it’s the leather strapped to your stinky feet!”

Rhonda narrowed her eyes as the children around her erupted into laughter. The baker’s boy had an unusual attitude, and if she were to mention it to her parents, she was certain the baker and his family would be taught to heel correctly to Lady Rhonda.

But… she rather liked that the baker’s boy wasn’t so easily cowed. It made it all the greater when she did find the opportunity to dominate him later.

He at least knew better to zip his mouth now that she was scowling at him. He refocused on his task of moving trays of bread and sweets to horse-drawn carts with his father’s apprentices and workers' help.

Unlike the older men, the baker’s boy was still a Lvl 1 Human. At this time, Rhonda was a Lvl 1 Noble Giant Progeny since children couldn’t accrue levels as per the Gods' orders. It wasn’t all for naught if one committed to learning a job such as a trade or a class or both in these early years, then they could level up with the know-how when they come of age.

There were lots of jobs to be had. Rhonda was uncertain what she would learn outside of her current tutoring of general education. Maybe she would become a teacher as well and spread literacy throughout the Giantkin kingdom. It was quite lacking from what she heard. Or maybe she would become a cook to serve herself her own delicious meals.

That was a lot to consider for the future, so she was more than glad when her carts of treats were properly loaded. She paid the baker directly while shooting glares at the baker’s boy. She allowed her followers to taste the goods first, and they knew very well not to take more than one serving because everything else belonged to Rhonda.

Before she could devour all the delicious snacks, the baker’s boy appeared with something in hand. “Made this for you.”

He held it up and revealed a pastry the size of his head covered in red jelly and sprinkles of something white. “That sparkly white stuff is refined sugar. It’s really rare, and my da’s been saving it. Sneak a bit for you to try it out if you will?”

The others cooed, taunted, or made whooping noises.

Rhonda had to put on one of her mother’s cold faces to hide the blush that was creeping up from her neck. Then it only got worse when someone yelled for the baker’s boy to feed it to her. All the children got into it, knowing how dangerous it was to feed Rhonda directly. You might wound up losing an arm.

Before an adult could intervene in their jackassery, Rhonda bent into a crouch.

“Do it,” she said breathlessly. “You’re brave enough, aren’t you?”

“Don’t bite me, okay?” The baker boy thrust his gift toward Rhonda’s mouth. She chomped through half of it in one bite, his fingers brushing against her lips. Then a second later, she had the other half with one of his hands getting slurped along.

She gave him an impish look.

“Oh no you don’t.” He tried to yank free, but she had a good hold.

She slurped some more and pulled back, yanking him forward and into her chest. She smirked at him now that he was in a position that broke decorum with nobility, especially a young giant maiden. He continued his futile resistance until she whipped her head back and lessened the power of her mouth’s hold.

His hand popped free from her mouth. In the wake of his release, a string of gooey saliva tethered between his hand and her glossy lips.

“Ewwwwww!” The baker’s boy stumbled and fell onto his rear, allowing her to loom over him even more. Then he scrambled to his feet and dashed away as everyone laughed. “She nearly took my hand right off, I swear it!”

It was an uproarious occasion. One that had Rhonda holding her belly from the pain of her own boisterous laughter.

Rhonda later got in trouble for what seemed like the near attempt of her eating a human, of course. She received a long scolding from her mother over the matter since only lesser giantkin would resort to such a thing. But she didn’t mind it much.

As long as she antagonized the baker’s boy, nobody would think to fib on him too much for being snappy with her. She did enjoy the presence of bootlickers, but it was refreshing to have someone stand their ground.

After all, he was the first boy that made her feel fluttery and wanting when they were alone together. One day, she couldn’t help but act out. She dragged the baker’s boy out to a knoll outside of the village, which was her favorite spot to relax. It was an easy walk for her, a hard one for him. And while he was a fine complainer during the walk, he was an even funnier joker when they reached their destination. Then he was an even greater talker when he spoke passionately of his dreams to be the best baker of all of Mythokos.

Dreams she adored to listen to as she lounged in a bed of flowers next to him. He made her smile a lot on that knoll. 

“I think it’s time,” she said, batting her eyelashes at him.

He snorted. “To head back? We’ll have to split off just right so there are no suspicions. Lest you want your da to have me on a spit.”

“I meant it’s time for you to do it.” Rhonda strummed her fingers through the flowers around her.

Before he could ask another question, she puckered up and closed her eyes. Her cheeks were burning hot as the seconds passed. Just when she thought the baker’s boy wasn’t going to risk a kiss with a hungry noble giant maiden, she felt his smaller face against hers. There was an electric zing to it that had her heart hammering, and for the briefest of moments, her urge to eat was damped. Her body was flooded with a more burning sensation.

Youthful passion.

Now centuries removed from those memories of her character’s background, Rhonda stood outside the village's collapsed walls. Her walk through the village had triggered her brain to flash a reel of images across her eyes and fill her ears with sounds of the far distant past. She could barely get through the place without being barraged by another flashback followed by another.

She had seen the tailor’s shop, which had been one of the most respectable businesses that had glass windows and wooden figurines to reveal their wear. Rhonda’s character had loved going there for new dresses for herself and her female servants. The tailor’s daughter would be at her beck and call, enjoying the attention of a noble, while Rhonda enjoyed being treated and cared for without having to lift a finger. Now the shop was replaced by a thick, tall tree with roots that had shattered whatever remained of the foundations.

This had befallen many of the buildings in the village. The huts that housed families were buried under tree roots and tall ferns. Those that have survived the takeover of mighty trees were piles of collapsed rubble surrounded by thick foliage. When Rhonda walked down the main thoroughfare, she could still feel what had once been hardpacked dirt that was trampled on by many afoot. But it was now covered by shrubbery, brambles, and detritus.

Then Rhonda had reached the wall. Or where the wall had been. It was gone now. Pieces of what remained of the wall were moss-covered boulders scattered outside and inside the forested village. Something powerful had smashed the wall apart by the look of it, but Rhonda’s attention did not linger on the destroyed creation of her great grandfather for long.

She had arrived where her character would go for her baking delights. She had no forethought of what she expected to see here, but she was still disheartened.

The baker’s shop and the mill were long gone. The structure must’ve been scattered before what remained of its foundations were retaken by the forest.

Stomach growling, a strong urge for sweets that had delighted her character centuries ago overcame Rhonda. She staggered weakly, clenching her hands over her stomach. A low moan escaped her, one that was the ghostly pain of nostalgia mixed with the unyielding flame of hunger. Still, Rhonda loomed over what had been the last important remnant of her past.

She closed her eyes and sunk into the sea of her memories. She remembered the flare of anger roused by an unruly baker’s boy. She remembered how she quickly dissuaded her parents of rumors that the baker’s boy had been out-of-line with their noble daughter. She remembered how she made herself a villain for his sake, brought him to her special place, and slobbered his face with her kisses from spurning a different type of hunger in her.

She even had memories of her secret plans to marry the baker’s boy so he could always feed her sweets as he leveled up into a great baker, remaining as someone by her side who wasn’t another bootlicker. None of that came to fruition, of course, and the times have most certainly changed her⁠—err⁠—her character’s tastes in romance now.

“Mm, is it rather indecisive of me to say that I’ll now prefer bootlickers, or anyone, who’ll do the hard work for me, baker’s boy?” Rhonda asked the ghost of her character’s past.

She waited for a beat as a pine-scented gust blew past.

“I understand why I had the appeal for one who’ll risk notice by going against the grain. I also see what you were doing to win my affection.” She flashed a toothy smile, her fingers combing through the curls behind her ear. “It worked, child. Now you are a quirky memory above many others, and I will carry you and everyone else inside of me wherever I go. Thank you for the bread, and farewell.”

With a deep breath, Rhonda whirled to reface the great forest that now followed the rise of another hill, her dark pelt flailing behind her. She knew the time for bread and sweets were long past her, or perhaps long in the future if she could make it that far. For now, she would have to seek blood and flesh or anything that would feed her monstrous hunger.

“I must hunt,” Rhonda hissed, finding the activity disagreeable. It would require work. Unfortunately, she could not deny her hunger like she could deny the System.

Epikos

This chapter was really fun for me to write. You might've noticed today's chapter is one of the longest chapters while lacking in blue boxes. Going forward they'll be fewer blue boxes unless it's for important updates, gains, or new discoveries. Additionally, I'm starting to hit my stride a little with Rhonda's bizarre misadventures.

I hope you all are enjoying it! Also, please don't forget to leave a comment on your thoughts!