Colby looked at the charging Thornwolf. For something called a wolf, he expected it to be bigger, not a monster that just barely came up to Elaine’s knees.

  He looked to Elaine, hoping that she would give a couple of words of advice or maybe even that sword on her waist. Unfortunately, she didn't. She remained steadfast, arms crossed over her chest as she watched the battle unfold.

  No problem. He’d find a way to defeat that monster weapon or no weapon.

  A low grassy growl reminded him that he, in fact, had spent a bit too much having a monologue in his head. Way too much in a combat situation, but pretty little for a cheesemaking one.

  He was also spending way too much time on the floor for a combat situation.

  Colby scrambled to his feet and shot to the side. The Thornwolf zoomed past him.

  As he dusted the dirt off his shorts, he turned to glare at the Thornwolf.

  It had already recovered from the missed charge. Leaves bristling in the wind as it glared right back at him.

  Honestly, it looked cute—other than the viciousness it exuded. Then it growled, showing off its fangs. Thick brown thorns rowed its gums, instead of pearly whites. No wonder it was called Thornwolf.

  It barked at him before charging once more.

  What was with monsters and only charging in a straight line?

  Not that he was complaining. It made dodging extremely easy.

  Colby jumped out of the way of yet another charge, bringing his hands to the top of his head and pretending to be a bunny just like how Brie did it.

  “What are you doing, Colby?” Elaine yelled.

  “Dodging!” he shouted back. “What? A guy can’t have some fun?”

  “That’s—you know what? Never mind.”

  Now, he just had to figure out a way to actually defeat the Thornwolf. He only had one shot at it. So, what kind of cheese should he make?

  Could wolves eat cheese? Maybe they were lactose intolerant? Though the smell afterwards would not be pleasant, especially if it continued to chase him while releasing its own brown exhaust.

  A nice strong [Hard as Cheese] [Cheese Shot] to the noggin? He didn’t have the aim for that.

  What if…

  Well, here goes nothing.

  Inside his Core, he found his Core Constructs surrounding Smart Waiter. They waved their noodle-like arms about, talking to him and making sure he was okay. Before he could deal with the Thornwolf, some apologies were in order.

  Walking up to Smart Waiter, he placed a hand on the hatch.

  “Are you okay, buddy?” he asked.

  Smart Waiter opened his hatch. A strong scent of smoke from the exploded [Burn] and charred metal within the Core Construct told him all he needed to know. Though the words on his sign helped tremendously.

  “No.”

  “Sorry,” he sighed. “I really thought it would work this time.”

  “I understand, master.”

  “You think you can cast some cheese?”

  “If the situation calls for it, I will deliver your spells outside of the Core to the best of my ability. However, I would prefer it if you gave me some time to rest and recuperate before casting anything major.”

  “It’s just some mozzarella. Nothing more than that. Is that okay with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thanks.”

  Colby prepared mozzarella, all while dodging the single-lined charges of the Thornwolf.

  Seriously, did it only know how to attack in a straight line?

  He split the mozzarella into four, rolling them smooth until they were perfectly spherical.

  Opening the hatch of Smart Waiter, he placed the four balls of mozzarella into it, ignoring the explosive crime scene that had taken place within the Core Construct. After he defeated the Thornwolf, Smart Waiter was in dire need of some tender loving care.

  Closing the hatch, Colby could feel the spell traveling out of his Core to their destination: his hands.

  Four perfectly smooth balls of mozzarella materialized in his palm.

  Congratulations! [Cheesemaking] has reached Level 14!

  Neat. He was one step closer to making the ultimate cheese. Maybe he should’ve done something more with the mozzarella; that way, he could’ve made the most out of his precious cheese allowance stockpile.

  “Colby!” Elaine shouted.

  He snapped out of yet another internal monologue, turning to face Elaine. Her finger was pointed at him. Correction, it was pointing at something behind him, and he was in the way.

  Dodging to the side was overrated; instead, he used his patented technique of flopping to the ground. Bringing the four balls of mozzarella to his chest, he clutched them, making sure they were well protected. The Thornwolf leaped over him, thorny fangs completely missing their mark as Colby got a good look at a couple of berries dangling from the Thornwolf’s leafy body.

  Scrambling back up, Colby held a single ball of mozzarella.

  He made sure that the Thornwolf clearly saw it. He tossed it up in the air and caught it. Another throw, another catch. Colby even waved the delectable ball of mozzarella around.

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  The Thornwolf tilted its head, eyes narrowing before it growled, brown thorny fangs dripping with sticky sap slobber.

  Huh, that was not the intended reaction.

  It charged at him again, all four of its leafy paws crushing the grass underneath it.

  Maybe he needed to make things a bit more obvious for the Thornwolf.

  He brought his arm behind his shoulder and hurled the ball of mozzarella.

  “Fetch!” Colby yelled.

  It flew high over the Thornwolf’s head, its eyes tracking it for a moment before locking back onto Colby.

  Yeah, definitely not what he had expected.

  It was a dog. Part dog? It was close enough to a dog that it shouldn't even matter.

  Why didn’t it fetch the ball? What a waste of perfectly good cheese. Maybe some ants could have it for lunch or something.

  Elaine sighed. She placed a hand over her eyes, and she shook her head.

  No, he was not going to concede defeat. Especially not in front of Elaine.

  Sidestepping yet another charge, Colby looked around the area. Maybe there was something here that could help him.

  Grass, bushes, trees, and leaves that was all that surrounded him. Yeah, there was only one idea he had. Not a very good one, but considering that he had nothing else in mind, it was automatically the best one.

  He rushed forward toward the trail of slobber left behind by the Thornwolf in its attempt to rip his face off. It was sickly sweet and looked disgusting, but most importantly, it was extra sticky.

  Colby grabbed another ball of mozzarella and rolled it all over the trail of sap slobber. Again, super gross, and he was definitely not putting that piece of mozzarella anywhere near his mouth.

  Instead, he dashed over to a nearby bush. It wasn’t hard; he just had to pick a random direction since he was literally surrounded by bushes.

  He started plucking leaves like a madman, pasting them all over the ball of mozzarella. In no time at all, the creamy white deliciousness had been transformed into a gooey, sticky mess of greenery.

  Yeah, he really had no idea what he was doing.

  Colby turned around and faced the Thornwolf. Once more, he waved the sticky ball of green grossness around in the air. This time, the Thornwolf seemed to track it.

  Just to make sure, Colby brought the ball all the way to the top right, even standing on his tippy-toes. The Thornwolf’s head shot up, following it. Then, Colby brought it all the way to the bottom left. Again, the Thornwolf’s head followed.

  Up. Down. Up. Down.

  Before Colby even realized it, he was shaking his behind in rhythm as he moved the green gooey grossness, repeating the motion again and again. He was dancing.

  No wonder this was his father’s favorite dance move. It was really fun. He’d have to apologize for making fun of him. And for running out of the shop all of a sudden. Maybe even a ton of other transgressions that could only be explained away by teenage angst.

  The Thornwolf tracked Colby’s movements. Its head bopped up and down, sending sweet, sappy slobber flinging everywhere.

  Great. This was the reaction he wanted.

  Bringing his hand back, Colby tossed the leafy ball of yuckiness into the forest.

  The Thornwolf’s head tracked it perfectly. It sprinted after it, leaping over a bush and disappearing past the clearing, only to return seconds later. In its mouth was the sticky sphere of sappiness. Drool leaked out, adding even more sticky sap to the ball.

  The Thornwolf bolted towards him.

  This time Colby didn't dodge. He had faith in the great gouda in the sky that things would all work out. He also had faith that Elaine was strong and fast enough to bring him to the nearest Healer in case he had been slacking on his prayers.

  Thankfully, the Thornwolf skidded to a stop right in front of him. It opened its mouth, dropping the now even stickier sphere of sappiness onto the ground. It let out a short little bark, then began to pant, lolling out its tongue and showing off rows of thorned teeth and equally thorny tongue.

  “Good boy,” Colby said, petting the Thornwolf on the head.

  It barked once more.

  “Do you want to play more fetch?”

  It barked again, though it sounded more like a growl.

  “Do you want to eat the ball?”

  Colby was really grasping at straws now—then again, he had been doing that since the start of this really weird fight.

  The Thornwolf let out a sharp bark before it bent down. It sucked the green gooey globule of grossness into its mouth, scarfing it down in one bite.

  The Thornwolf barked again.

  “Do you want more?” he asked.

  It responded with another leafy bark.

  That sounded like a yes—probably.

  Colby bent down and leaned forward, letting the Thornwolf’s sticky, sappy slobber coat the two balls of mozzarella in his hand. Once they were thoroughly covered in grossness, he went over to a nearby bush, plucked their leaves, and wrapped them around the sticky sphere, transforming them into two green, gooey globules of grassy grossness.

  He lowered his hand, offering them to the Thornwolf. The monster snarfed them down in an instant, before letting out another bark.

  “I’m sorry. I’m out.”

  It let out a low whimper and gave one last bark before disappearing deep into the forest.

  That was certainly the oddest customer he’d ever served.

  Turning back to Elaine, he saw that her face was scrunched up into what could only be described as her saying, “What just happened?”

  A second later, Elaine said, “What just happened?”

  He could read her—still got it.

  “I defeated the Thornwolf,” Colby said.

  “I… What? Honestly, I don’t even know how to react.”

  “I defeated the Thornwolf,” he said again, in case she had leaves stuffed in her ears for whatever reason.

  “I heard what you said, but I don’t think that counts as defeating the Thornwolf.”

  “Of course I did. Using the power of cheese, I defeated the Thornwolf.”

  “I’m pretty sure you didn’t.”

  “Do you see the Thornwolf here?”

  “No, but—”

  “Therefore, I have defeated it,” he said, placing his arms on his hips. “Told you I’d be good in combat.”

  Elaine sighed, walking forward and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Look, Colbs. I’m going to be honest with you. What you did was impressive—I think? But just because you impressed me, doesn’t mean you can impress The Arcanum and become an Arcanist using only cheese.”

  “But you told me to prove it. And I did.”

  “I know you did, Colby. It’s just that… I expected you to fail,” she said, looking away from him.”I thought it would be a good reminder about what you are and aren’t capable of.”

  “But I can do it. If you just let me show off to The Arcanum, then maybe they’d accept me. Then, using the power of cheese, we could bring this war to an end.”

  “Colby, please. It’s war. I don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself into. I don’t even know what I’m getting myself into. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt, Colbs,” she said, leaning in for a hug.

  “But, I am hurting. Because of this war, I can’t make my cheese,” he replied. “Without my cheese. I’m nothing .”

  “No, Colby, you’re not. You’re Colby Tyro. My best friend. Please, Colby. I don’t want you to do anything reckless. Especially not running into a battlefield.”

  “But… my cheese,” he said, tears welling up in his eyes.

  “It’s okay, Colby. I’ll help you make cheese. Just wait, I’ll bring this war to a close, then the taxes will be lifted and you can go back to making cheese, okay?”

  “But—”

  “Here, Colbs. The problem is money, right?” Elaine opened up her Inventory, stuck her hand into it, and retrieved a fistful of gold. “Take it. It’s all I have, but I hope this can tide you over for a while.”

  “But, Laine. It’s your hard-earned gold. You need it for your Knight stuff, right?” Colby said. He stared at the shiny metal. Its shimmer was tempting. He wanted to snatch it and run away like a greedy little goblin.

  “Colbs, I can’t work on my Knight stuff if I’m constantly worrying that you’re about to do something stupid. Just take it, okay?”

  “I can’t,” he said, shaking his head. “I just can’t. Not from you.”

  An idea was brewing in his mind, pushing away the dark clouds of despair that Elaine had sown—whether intentionally or not.

  “Not from you,” he repeated.

  “Colbs?” Elaine said.

  He ignored her, too busy ruminating about this brand new plan.

  “Colby?” she repeated again. “What are you doing? I know that look in your eye. What are you planning? Don’t tell me you’re going to resort to stealing. As a future Knight, know that I’d have to take you in.”

  “No, Laine, nothing like that. I have something even better in mind. What if… I become an adventurer?”