Colby sprinted as fast as he could—which was to say not very fast. The dull duo and single dagger girl had abandoned the See-Star. The purple monster slowly crawled its way through the sand, inching towards the ocean.

  Well, technically, he had saved the See-Star. That meant he was liable for more compensation!

  That was the one silver lining in this escalating situation.

  Running in sand was tough, stamina-draining work. An aspect of himself that he always complained about but never made the effort to improve on. Something that the trio of adventurers seemingly didn’t slack on.

  Single dagger girl was catching up with him.

  He liked to think that it was because he had lessened her weight by stealing that dagger of hers, which ultimately made him heavier and thus slower. In reality, it was mainly because physical fitness wasn’t exactly a core part of making cheese. Or maybe it was the fact that she knew [Dash] and he didn’t.

  He, on the other hand, knew of something superior. [Cheese Boots] made out of cream cheese. Unfortunately, he was out of cream cheese. There was also the fact that it wouldn’t really work on sand.

  And now, single dagger girl had caught up with him. She grabbed him by the back of his shirt and yanked him to the ground. Good thing the soft sand cushioned his landing. Bad thing, there was now a dagger to his neck, again.

  She straddled him, knees pinning down both of his hands as she brought her single dagger way too close to his throat.

  The dull duo had finally caught up. They glared down at him, while he got a perfect view of their nostrils. For the most part, they looked identical: huge, bald, and dull. But the one on the right had a booger in his nose that shifted back and forth with every breath.

  Oh, Gouda, please don’t let it land on me.

  “Give me back my dagger,” single dagger girl shrieked.

  “What’s the magic word?”

  “Now, or you die!”

  “That’s more of a phrase, but I’ll accept it.”

  Colby summoned his Inventory. The screen popped out right next to him.

  “You know I can’t exactly grab anything without my hands.”

  Single dagger girl snarled. Reluctantly, she unpinned one of his hands.

  Colby wiggled his fingers about, making sure that they still had that fingery feeling to them. Then, he stretched for the screen, but it was too far away—not that his arms were too short.

  “You know, I can’t exactly reach my Inventory.”

  “Then bring it closer,” she growled.

  “You can do that?” he asked. “Normally I just call it out, and wherever it appears, it appears.”

  “Stop playing around and give me back my dagger. And while you’re at it, all of your gold too.”

  “Seriously. I didn’t know you could choose where the Inventory pops up.”

  “Are you dumb?”

  “No, I’m Colby,” he giggled, only to immediately regret it.

  Telling a person who tried to rob you twice your name was not the smartest play.

  “I don’t care who you are,” she said, pressing the blade even closer against his neck. The cold metal dug into his skin.

  You know. Maybe he really was dumb. He had not realised the severity of the situation until she was literally drawing blood.

  “Just close your Inventory and think about opening it near your hand.”

  “Okay. Okay. Just please don’t hurt me.”

  Colby closed his Inventory and focused on his hand, just like what single dagger girl said.

  This time, the screen appeared closer to his hand, though not directly in front of him like what he was hoping for. No time for arguing. He stretched, muscles straining, and by some miracle actually managed to stick his hand inside the screen.

  Returning the dagger was simple. Trying to explain that he had spent what little gold he had on salt was a whole other problem.

  It pained him to do this, but this was the best idea he could come up with given the circumstances.

  “Here,” he said.

  Single dagger girl’s gaze snapped toward his hand as it slowly emerged from his Inventory. In one sudden and quick motion, he yanked his hand out of the screen and threw citric acid powder right into her eyes.

  She screamed, bringing her hands to her face and the dagger away from his neck. The dull duo raised their large dull swords into the air, ready to cleave him in two. Righty and lefty huffed.

  Colby watched as the booger shot out of righty’s nostril on a collision course with his body.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Not going to let that happen.

  Colby shoved single dagger girl off him and scrambled up to his feet. The dull duo paused mid-swing, unless they wanted to turn single dagger girl into two.

  Just before he ran off, he dug his shoe deep into the sand and kicked up a cloud straight into their faces. They flinched, bringing their hands to their faces. Unlike single dagger girl, they dropped their weapons. The large dull swords slammed into her, transforming her from single-dagger girl into multiple-bruises girl.

  Colby ran, sprinting as fast as his exercise-deficient legs could push him.

  “Give me back my dagger!” multiple-bruises girl roared.

  He glanced back—something which he vehemently regretted. Red-eyed and full of fury, multiple-bruises girl chased after him, moving even faster than before.

  Curds! Did her [Dash] level up?

  She lunged at him, but Colby performed a secret technique called stepping to the side. Multiple bruises girl ate sand, only to immediately get up and chase after him again.

  He knew he was attractive, but this was getting ridiculous.

  While he was busy thinking about how attractive he was, multiple-bruises girl had managed to catch up with him. She pinned him to the cliffside, jagged rocks dug into his back, and a dagger was once again pressed against his throat.

  Seething with anger, she roared, “Give me back my dagger!”

  “Okay. Okay,” he said, raising his hands in surrender.

  Colby opened up his Inventory, reaching into it. This time, she held onto his hand with a death grip.

  Curds! Why did she have the ability to learn?

  If throwing powder didn’t work, then he’d have to come up with something else to throw at her.

  Colby closed one eye, honing in on his Core.

  “Are you winking at me?” she shrieked again.

  He hadn’t exactly intended to get a reaction out of her, but he’d make it work.

  “Of course,” he said, flashing a smile. “You’re so dazzling and radiant that I’m going blind. This way, I get a few extra seconds to stare at your brilliance before I go completely blind.”

  “Dagger! Now!”

  That went about as well as he expected.

  While he was busy working his Colby charm, he had been preparing a special gift for—just in case her love language was gift giving and not words of affirmation.

  He roasted those four balls of mozzarella that he had previously failed to bribe the salt farmer with, using Stove’s flames. Turns out you could make modifications to a piece of cheese that had already been cast—unless it was dirty and your Core Constructs refused to work with a contaminated product.

  Instead of a light roast, he turned the heat up. Not high enough that the cheese would burn, but just enough to turn it into a goopy, gross sludge—another abomination that was a stain to his reputation as a cheesemaker.

  Congratulations! Stove has reached Level 4!

  It was about time Stove levelled up. That Core Construct had been stuck at Level 3 for the longest time. But enough about him, there were more important things to worry about.

  Colby couldn’t launch his cheese out of his hands; she was prepared for that. So, he set Smart Waiter to deliver it in the most unconventional way yet.

  Just as his hand emerged from his Inventory screen, holding onto her dagger, Colby opened his mouth. A sludge of sticky, goopy mozzarella shot out, right into multiple-bruises girl’s face.

  Turns out that wasn’t unique enough to be considered a brand new spell. Then again, the only difference was that the melted mozzarella came out of his mouth instead of his hands. Really thought it would’ve qualified as some sort of cheese vomit spell or something along those lines.

  Like with the citric acid powder, she panicked. Single-dagger girl released his hands and brought hers to her face, clawing away the hot, sticky, white mess.

  Maybe he should’ve prepped something else, like a [Cheese Bola] to delay or even restrain her, but too late. Colby resorted to the next best thing.

  Dropping to the ground, he untied her shoes. And just for good measure, he pushed her to the ground.

  Ahh, nothing like good old kindergarten love tactics.

  Colby shot up to his feet and continued his sprint. The dull duo were still far behind, slowly charging their way towards him.

  Even without looking, he could tell that multiple bruises girl was already getting back up. The scrapes and shifts of sand behind him made it painfully clear.

  He sprinted full tilt towards the see-salt farmers.

  “Come back here!” she yelled.

  “I can't! I’m playing hard to get!”

  Rather than words, she just roared. He, on the other hand, screamed so high-pitched, people would’ve assumed that it was a terrified little girl being attacked rather than an adolescent boy.

  “Mister farmer! Mister farmer!” Colby screamed. “Help me. I’m being chased.”

  The see-salt farmers inside the pen turned towards him. Even the See-Stars shifted themselves to see what the commotion was about.

  The old farmer—the one with the widest-brimmed hat, the same one who had sold him a bag of salt—was on his way back after delivering another batch of See-Star tears to the warehouse.

  Colby ran up to him, wheezing and gasping.

  “Help me! I’m being chased by a crazy girl and her two followers.”

  “Get lost already, kid,” he said in that gruff voice of his. “Don’t get me involved in your lover’s spat.”

  Wait, what? He had heard that?

  “That’s not it. That was a joke to try and confuse her,” he said. “I caught them abusing a See-Star to forcefully get its tears, but they caught me catching them. I managed to un-catch myself and run all the way here to warn you about See-Star abusers in the area.”

  “They what?” he roared.

  The farmer began to sniff the air, eyes locked onto multiple-bruises girl and the dull duo lagging behind. He growled—or was it a snarl? Either way, he made a noise so menacing no human could have made it.

  He dropped the bucket of empty tears before he himself dropped onto the ground on all fours. Hair started to sprout over his hands and head—and presumably all over his body, but he was covered, so Colby couldn't comment on that.

  Sharp canines slid past his lips, growing into large fangs. His fingers curled, nails lengthening into his own set of menacing daggers. His nose snapped forward as his face reshaped itself into some less human and more dog-like.

  Multiple-bruises girl—now back to double dagger girl—stopped in her tracks. She immediately turned tail, yelling at the dull duo who were still charging at full speed to run away.

  Speaking of tails, the farmer now had a tail of his own. A big bushy, brown tail. He had turned into some sort of werewolf. Were-hound? Wait. Those fangs. That hairiness. The nightmare inducing features.

  Farmer Hound? Didn’t he tend to Daisy Cows, and not See-Stars?

  Farmer Hound chased after them on all fours, sand exploding beneath with each mighty leap of his paws.

  The other See-Star farmers dropped their buckets of tears, vaulted over the glass pens and sprinted after him.

  “Code Hound! Code Hound!” they screamed.

  Looks like they really hated See-Star abusers, too. Farmer Hound had taught them well. Or maybe they just had basic morals.

  Either way, Colby couldn’t wait to see what Farmer Hound did to double dagger girl and the dull duo.