The only way Colby could make harder cheese was by upgrading Curd-Cutter. If the Core Construct was sharper, he’d be able to cut out even more ‘fluff’ than before.

  “Make sure the goat doesn’t go anywhere, Thornelius,” Colby said.

  The Thornwolf barked, moving over to the Skate Goat, who stood on its once again lopsided skateboard. Instead of trembling with fear, it stared down at the bits of broken cheese, slowly kicking its hoof against the ground as if that would magically fix the wheels again.

  Soon, Skate Goat. Soon.

  Colby closed his eyes, honing in on his Core once more.

  Inside, the mobile Core Constructs surrounded the minuscule Cheese Press, comforting him to the best of their abilities. Cheese Press trembled slightly less, but the moment the Core Construct spotted him, he quaked like he was in the epicenter of a continent-destroying earthquake.

  “I’m sorry, Cheese Press,” Colby said. “I’m sorry I did that to you. I didn’t know what else to do. You don’t have to forgive me, but just know that I would never want to hurt you.”

  The mobile Core Constructs turned around and, using their noodle-like limbs, shooed him away.

  “I know. I know,” Colby sighed. “But I need Curd-Cutter for something.”

  The knife waved his noodle arms around, signing to his friends, before nodding at them. They immediately nodded back.

  Curd-Cutter walked away from the circle surrounding Cheese Press and grabbed Colby by his pant leg. He dragged him away from Cheese Press—far away—to the furthest corner of his Core.

  Picking Curd-Cutter up, Colby asked, “How is he?”

  “Bad. Very bad. He’s even worse than when you whey-boarded him.”

  Colby sighed, “I probably should’ve come up with a better idea. I hate myself so much. I’m a horrible person, aren’t I?”

  “No comment,” Curd-Cutter signed.

  “That’s somehow even worse than saying yes.”

  Ignoring Colby's distress, Curd-Cutter asked, “What do you need me to cut?”

  “What makes you think I need something cut?”

  “I am Curd-Cutter, cutting is my purpose—although I prefer to only cut curds. What else would you need me for?”

  “You’re pretty sharp, Curd-Cutter, but not sharp enough.”

  “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  Colby nodded. “You ready to get sharper?”

  Curd-Cutter bent his body up and down furiously. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Upgrade me! Make me sharper!”

  “Just keep still and let me focus, okay?”

  Curd-Cutter stopped moving, becoming as unmoving as a regular knife.

  He focused on the Core Construct in his hand, feeling the wood against his palm as he channeled the intent to upgrade Curd-Cutter.

  The knife glowed. Shimmering ooze poured out of the metallic blade and wooden handle, coating the construct in a pearlescent knife-shape cocoon.

  Just like with Smart Waiter, upgrading a Core Construct was all about further refining the intent that spawned them. Unlike Smart Waiter, Curd-Cutter’s potential avenues were clear-cut. There was only one thing that the knife wanted: to be sharper.

  It’s just that Colby didn’t know how to make Curd-Cutter sharper.

  Smart Waiter was easy. He gave the Core Construct glasses to symbolize that he was smarter—reinforcing the ‘smart’ of Smart Waiter.

  But could he do something similar with Curd-Cutter?

  The obvious answer was a whetstone to sharpen the blade, but that wasn’t upgrading Curd-Cutter. That was creating an entirely new Core Construct.

  Earlier, he had called Curd-Cutter sharp for figuring out that he was needed to cut some stuff. What if he approached it just like Smart Waiter?

  ‘Sharp’ was a synonym for ‘smart’. Therefore, if he gave Curd-Cutter some glasses, it would make him smarter and thus, sharper.

  The shimmering cocoon in his hand shook violently.

  Apparently, Curd-Cutter could hear his internal monologue and did not like the decision he had come up with.

  That’s fair. A pair of glasses on a knife wouldn’t be practical.

  Each time he had to cut curds, the glasses would fog up from all of the heat. Though it would technically make Curd-Cutter sharper, that upgrade was instantly nullified the moment he set out to do what he was constructed for. With blurry glasses, Curd-Cutter wouldn’t be able to see, therefore making him not sharp—’sharp’ as in keen eyesight, which inevitably translated to a duller Core Construct.

  The cocoon in his hand shook even more violently—rivalling Cheese Press.

  Apparently, that wasn’t the reason.

  Curd-Cutter just thought that glasses were lame.

  To each their own.

  Colby had another idea. It was a different angle to make Curd-Cutter sharper, this time without the drawbacks that came with glasses.

  Curd-Cutter sensed his intentions. Surprisingly, he was on board with it.

  Hopefully, this would reinforce the intent of making Curd-Cutter sharper.

  Colby dug a finger into the glistening knife-shaped cocoon, using his nail to carve a pattern into both the handle and the blade. It was a simple design, something even a child could make. Four lines which criss-crossed into a slanted grid pattern. There was a small gap between each symbol, before it repeated.

  By doing so, he was making Curd-Cutter sharper. It was definitely more abstract than glasses, but Colby was confident that this would work.

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  He made Curd-Cutter sharper by etching the musical symbol for sharp, ‘#’, into every conceivable spot on his body.

  Once every single surface had been filled with the symbol, Colby retracted his finger and placed Curd-Cutter on the ground.

  The pearlescent cocoon rippled, and the etched symbols flared to life. Light burst from their lines while the spaces between them dimmed. Slowly, the ooze thinned before disappearing altogether, revealing the wooden handle and metallic luster of the blade.

  A second pulse of light traced the sharp symbols carved into Curd-Cutter before they slowly faded. When the glow died, Curd-Cutter stood tall, basking in sharp and musical glory.

  “How do you feel?” Colby asked, looking down at the blade lying on the floor.

  Limbs sprouted out as Curd-Cutter picked himself up. Either upgrading a Core Construct was more taxing than he realized and his parents had let on, or he had royally screwed up. Curd-Cutter’s limbs looked a bit more string-like rather than noodle-like.

  “I’m feeling good,” Curd-Cutter signed with his string-like arms as a soft hum, almost like a harp, echoed in his Core.

  Maybe he had overdone it with the musical notation. Hopefully, Curd-Cutter was actually sharper and not just musically inclined.

  “You ready to cut some cheese?” Colby

  “You know it,” he signed.

  Colby picked up the newly upgraded Curd-Cutter and inspected the Core Construct as he made his way over back to Cheese Press.

  Curd-Cutter (I):

  Level 10

  A knife that loves to cut things, none more than curds. After an exceptionally musical upgrade, the knife is now many times sharper than before—both physically and musically.

  (Each level makes the construct slightly sharper—yes, even the handle.)

  (Each level minutely increases the construct’s range.)

  Great! Now that Curd-Cutter had been upgraded, he should be sharp enough to cut out as much fluff as possible, creating the hardest wheel of cheese yet.

  But there was one final obstacle.

  Colby looked at Curd-Cutter and said, “I’ll make this quick.”

  The Core Construct nodded, patting him on the wrist.

  Colby took a deep breath and rushed towards Cheese Press. The Core Construct had just started to calm down, but the moment he spotted him, it was shake-city: population 1.

  “Sorry,” Colby muttered as he stepped over the circle of mobile Core Constructs and grabbed the tiny circular cheese mold.

  The mobile Core Constructs assaulted him, slapping his legs as he ran over to Stove and placed the mold down on his top.

  Holding the trembling mold steady, Colby placed the soft and fluffy wheel of mozzarella that he had ‘cut the fluff’ out of earlier under it.

  Aiming Curd-Cutter’s handle downwards, Colby traced around the circular mold while channeling the intent to ‘cut the fluff’.

  Mana poured into the Core Construct as more and more fluffiness was transferred into the outer edges. As Curd-Cutter sliced through the mozzarella, a soft tune filled the area. It was smooth, calming, and almost ethereal—like a glass harp.

  This was it. This was the hardest piece of cheese he could make right now. If this doesn’t work, then he’d have no choice but to use plan E.

  Extortion.

  Repeating the process, Colby created another wheel before placing the trembling mold back into Cheese Press’s frame. The mobile Core Constructs paused their assault on him and leaped toward their shivering friend. They hugged him, whispering sweet pleasantries, comforting him to the best of their ability.

  “I’m sorry,” Colby muttered, feeling even worse.

  Curd-Cutter tapped his hand, asking to be placed down.

  Colby watched the blade walk toward the circle of Core Constructs, their noodle-like arms waving frantically in the air as they tried to cheer Cheese Press up.

  Curd-Cutter, using his new string-like arms, whacked the side of his blade. A massive crash rang out that sounded like a cymbal struck with full force. The sound rippled through the air, and the mobile Core Constructs flinched. They snapped around, limbs at the ready to defend against anyone who dared to harm Cheese Press.

  Curd-Cutter gestured for them to calm down. He was going to handle it.

  Bringing his string-like arms together, he drew them across one another. A soft, soothing melody drifted out from his limbs.

  Slowly, Cheese Press stopped trembling.

  He opened his eyes and watched Curd-Cutter continue to perform that calming lullaby. The music pacified him, helping to take the edge off—as ironic as it was.

  Colby sighed. He really needed to make it up to Cheese Press once things were more settled.

  Placing the two wheels into Smart Waiter, he closed the hatch.

  Returning his senses to the real world, Colby opened his eyes, watching as two [Hard as Cheese] [Wheels of Cheese] materialized in his palm—along with some interesting developments.

  Congratulations! [Hard as Cheese ] has reached level 8!

  Amazing! Curd-Cutter had cut so much fluff that and made the cheese so hard, it had boosted the mastery of the spell by multiple levels.

  Now, if only that could happen to [Cheesemaking].

  Colby rushed over to the broken skateboard, motioning for the Skate Goat to hop off. It ignored him, continuously kicking its hoof against the ground as if the cheese wheels had never crumbled in the first place.

  A low growl from Thornelius was all that was needed.

  The Skate Goat jumped, stepping off the skateboard. It resumed its shivering, fearfully staring at the Thornwolf.

  Poor goat. Don’t worry, everything would be alright soon—unless the wheels broke again. In that case, everything would be alright once your family handed over milk in exchange for your safety.

  Colby slotted the two wheels into place and secured them once more. He gave the wheels one good flick, watching it spin for the third time, before placing it down in front of the Skate Goat.

  It bleated once as if asking if the skateboard was okay.

  Colby nodded, pointing to it once more.

  One hoof. Two hooves. Three hooves. Then four. Once again, it was able to withstand the weight of the Skate Goat.

  Colby nodded again. Using his fingers, he asked the Skate Goat to push off and test the skateboard, then he brought it high into the air and back down, telling it to do a trick.

  The Skate Goat bleated.

  It pushed off with its back hoof, gathering speed. Colby and Thornelius watched as the Skate Goat rode in a circle around them. The Thornwolf’s focus was on the goat, while his was on the spinning wheels of mozzarella.

  He really needed to start making aged cheese. Those types of cheese were naturally hard. If he had them, he wouldn’t have to go through so many hoops just to make a wheel hard and strong enough to withstand the Skate Goat’s weight.

  Just a few more weeks until his Gouda was finished aging. Then, he would start on the Core Construct to help reduce the aging time.

  Returning his focus, Colby watched as the Skate Goat bent down slightly before leaping into the air, bringing the skateboard along for the ride. The wooden board flipped under its hooves, and Colby held his breath.

  The wheels slammed down on the ground.

  There wasn’t a crunch?

  There wasn’t a crunch!

  The Skate Goat was still skating around them, bleating happily before skidding to a stop right in front of him.

  Now for his reward.

  He opened up his Inventory and pulled out an empty glass bottle, pointing at it.

  The Skate Goat bleated once before turning around, its tush now facing him.

  Colby didn’t exactly want to bend down to inspect some goat bits, but then again, what else could the Skate Goat be doing?

  It brought a hoof to the ground and pushed off.

  That’s what it was doing.

  “Hey! Wait! What about my milk?” Colby yelled.

  Colby chased after the Skate Goat, Thornelius running by his side.

  “Go, boy! Take down that goat! But gently. We need it for the milk extortion.”

  The Thornwolf just barked at him, lolling his tongue and wagging his tail.

  Great.

  Now, all of a sudden, Thornelius couldn’t understand him? Just great.

  He had worked so hard to repair that Skate Goat’s skateboard; there was no way he was going to let it get away.

  But at this pace, the Skate Goat was definitely going to get away.

  Curds! If only he could use spells like [Dash].

  Even something like cream cheese [Cheese Boots] would be useful, but those barely worked on the soil.

  Wait. He had wheels now.

  An idea popped into his mind.

  If they were strong enough to support the Skate Goat’s weight, then surely they could hold him up to.

  He closed his eyes, honing in on his Core. There was no way he was letting that Skate Goat get away from him.