Time seemed to slow down as the Thornwolf soared above him.

  Porter was not getting hurt. Not on his watch.

  Please be male.

  Colby’s hand shot up at lightning speed, grabbing the dangling berries overhead. He squeezed with all the strength he could muster. The Thornwolf howled in pain, retracting its claws and thorny fangs, but still crashing into Porter.

  “Port!” Elaine yelled.

  She pushed the Thornwolf off her sword and rushed over Porter. Colby forced himself up, moving towards his fallen friend as well.

  The Thornwolf howled in agony. Its feet writhed in pain with Porter still stuck underneath him.

  Elaine, using both her natural physical prowess and [Strengthen], hauled the Thornwolf off Porter and hurled it at its charging companions.

  “Porter! Are you okay!” Elaine yelled.

  “Yes, Elaine. I’m just a little bit dizzy. It’s no biggie.”

  He shakily stood up, feet wobbling, threatening to give out. Colby reached for the smaller boy’s shoulder, holding him steady.

  “Both of you! Get out of here!” Elaine yelled.

  “What if there are more of them out there, Laine? I can’t protect Port alone.”

  She bit her lip before yelling, “Fine! But stay behind me. And don’t get in my way.”

  “I’ll try to support you.”

  Elaine placed herself in front of them as Colby helped Porter sit down.

  The Thornwolves picked themselves up from the impromptu bowling session, shaking the confusion out of their leafy fur. Deep guttural growls rumbled from their thorniness before they charged at them.

  “Close your eyes!” Elaine yelled.

  She brought her sword to her chest, one hand gripping the handle, the other holding the back of the steel. Pointing the flat of the blade at the Thornwolves, a sparkle of light glimmered along the length of the weapon, before it erupted into a blinding [Flash].

  Having their corneas burned, the Thornwolves howled. They spread out, whether intentionally or not. Some crashed into each other, others disappeared into bushes, or met tree trunks head-on.

  Elaine pressed a leg into the dirt, her calves bunching up in thick muscle before she kicked off. She [Dashed] towards the closest Thornwolf, the muscles in her arm bulging thanks to [Stregthen]. Her sword glimmered once more, but lacked the blinding intensity from earlier.

  It was just like his duel with Helena, where she infused her blade with Fire. Now, Elaine had learnt how to do it with Light.

  She swung her blade, pruning the Thornwolf and allowing it to move on to the next stage in the circle of life.

  If he had fought Elaine in that duel, he would’ve lost in an instant. And she was only a Knight-in-training, not even a full-fledged Knight yet.

  What about Helena?

  Had she gotten stronger? Revenge was a powerful fuel.

  Then again, it didn’t really matter. The only honor Colby cared about was as a cheesemaker, not a fighter.

  Elaine [Dashed] forward in another burst of speed, using that glowing sword of hers to thin out the leaves. If she ever wanted to retire from life as a Knight, she had a great career in gardening—assuming the garden was filled with plant-based monsters.

  The effects of [Flash] finally dissipated. Though dazed, the remaining Thornwolves immediately resumed their charge. Most sprinted towards the menacing Knight-in-training Elaine, while a smaller group broke off, headed toward him and Porter.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Elaine clicked her tongue and held her sword with both hands again. There was a soft glow of light as Colby and Porter shut their eyes. A [Flash] lit up the inside of their eyelids before they opened them.

  This time, the Thornwolves—those that hadn’t become fertilizer yet—hardly reacted to the spell. Their eyes were sealed shut, yet they bolted forward as if they still possessed the gift of vision.

  And that was when Colby noticed their nose constantly twitching.

  These monsters were smart. He’d expect nothing less from a grown-up version of Thornelius.

  “Don’t worry about me, Laine!” Colby yelled. “I can stall them for a bit.”

  Even if Elaine did want to worry about him, it’s not like she could do anything. She was surrounded by the Thornwolves. They pounced on her together as she narrowly blocked claws and thorned fangs with her blade. Before she could launch a counterattack, her sword was already moving to shield against the next wave of plant fury.

  But the truth was, Colby could stall them.

  It was just a matter of either half a second or long enough for Elaine to come save his butt.

  No amount of [Cheese Pillow] armor could help him. He saw the way Thornelius chewed through the fluffy delight. And these beasts had bigger and nastier teeth.

  As they always said, ‘the best defense is a good offense.’

  Colby held out his hand and aimed it right at the incoming Thornwolves. He was really glad that he still had some leftover ginger lying around.

  Balls of ginger-laced mozzarella shot out of his palm. The Thornwolves, with their keen sense of smell and because his cheese was just that succulent, could locate the flying cheese even with their eyes closed. They zigged and zagged, dodging every one of his cheese.

  Annoying, but he could work with this.

  Carefully, Colby aimed at the wolves near the outer part of the group, slowly careening them into a tightly grouped pack. He fired off another volley of [Hard as Cheese] [Cheese Shots], moving from the outside in.

  Overwhelming the Thornwolves with his cheese, they zigged and zagged into each other, creating a pileup of leaves that no child should jump into, no matter how tempting it may seem.

  Balls of mozzarella filled with a disgusting amount of ginger splattered right in its face. They howled in pain as ginger burned their noses and eyes. The Thornwolves pawed away at their faces in a futile attempt to de-cheese themselves.

  Congratulations! [Spice Spice Cheesy] has reached Level 2!

  Unfortunately, not all of the Thornwolves had become one with the cheese. The one at the back of the pileup was cheese-free. It scrambled back onto its paws, barred thorned fangs, before bounding towards him.

  The same trick wouldn’t work twice.

  Also, he was out of ginger.

  Colby held out his palm at the charging Thornwolf, glad that he had made some halloumi in advance.

  Multiple [Cheese Bolas] shot out of his palm. Twin hard balls of halloumi spun around a soft, squishy thread of cheese as the wind blew against the flames.

  That’s right.

  The bolas were on fire.

  Congratulations! [Cheese Bolas] has reached Level 3!

  Congratulations! [Flaming Saganaki] has reached Level 3!

  Thrown off by the spinning flames, the Thornwolf couldn’t completely avoid all of his cheese.

  Flaming bolas wrapped around the leafy wolf. Bushy fur was set alight as the Thornwolf dropped to the ground and rolled, desperately trying to put out the flames.

  Colby had successfully stalled them, but he couldn’t instantly finish them off like Elaine.

  The Knight-in-training panted. Thornwolves no longer surrounded her, only a trail of leaves that would nurture the soil for generations to come.

  “Colby! Porter!” she yelled. “Behind you.”

  Behind?

  Colby turned around just in time to find a Thornwolf leaping out of the bushes.

  There wasn’t enough time to make any mozzarella.

  Moving on pure instinct, the Colby inside of his Core swung open the door to his Inventory and grabbed the half-eaten piece of Gouda. He rushed over and grabbed Curd-Cutter by the blade, channeling the intent to ‘cut the fluff’.

  The Gouda though young, was the toughest cheese he had ever worked with, becoming even harder under his grasp.

  Congratulations! Curd-Cutter has reached Level 13!

  Colby loaded up the extremely hard ball of Gouda into Smart Waiter and slammed the hatch shut.

  In the real world, Colby held up his palm. A ball of mozzarella shot out.

  Congratulations! [Hard as Cheese] has reached Level 12!

  Congratulations! [Cheese Shot] has reached Level 7!

  It struck the Thornwolf in the head. The impact was strong enough to knock the wolf off course, giving Colby the much-needed time to tell his body to grab Porter and get out of the way.

  Dazed and bruised, the Thornwolf slowly got up. Sticky red sap squirted out from the side of its leafy head. It growled, prowling towards him,

  A glowing blade lit up a path to the next life for the Thornwolf.

  Elaine stood in front of him, panting and covered in red sticky sap.

  “Colby! Porter! Are you okay?”

  “I think so.”

  “How did you do that? What spell was that? Since when could you cast something other than cheese—and I’m not talking about that fire?”

  Colby looked up at Elaine, then down at his hand.

  “That was cheese.”