Colby closed his eyes, honing in on his Core.

  His father had made a huge [Cheese Pillow] using mozzarella, only for his mother to slice it up with some sort of spell that he didn’t know the name of.

  Again, mozzarella was such a versatile cheese!

  He grabbed a freshly made piece of mozzarella that Bowl-lander had just finished kneading to the best of their ability. It was soft and squishy in his hands, though nowhere near the softness of his father’s.

  How could he make his cheese softer? Fluffier?

  Crafting spells was all about intention. Now, unless you had the gouda-given talent to manipulate Mana to your heart’s desire, you had to rely on Core Constructs. They helped to channel one’s intent, shaping the Mana in their Core.

  So, how could he create a really soft and fluffy cheese using the Core Constructs available to him? It’s not like he could create a brand new Core Construct just for making cheese softer and fluffier since he was at maximum capacity. And even if he could, it’d take up a lot of time, intention, and Mana. Something he didn’t have the luxury of, unless he wanted to be cemented as short.

  Stove was out of the question. He was more defiant than a cat when it was bathtime. So was Pottingham. He could bring the flavors out of milk, but not the fluffiness.

  What about Bowl-lander? Could they make the mozzarella extra fluffy when they kneaded the curds? Possible.

  He walked up to them, watching as they pounded out another soon-to-be ball of mozzarella. The plastic and glass noodle-like limbs crashed into the white curds. They bashed, smashed, and crashed it like the curds had insulted them and their whole family.

  Okay, maybe they weren’t the best choice.

  Temp-tation? Colby had a feeling that the sultry thermometer Core Construct would cause the mozzarella to be the opposite of soft and fluffy.

  That left Curd-Cutter.

  Colby had an idea. A pretty stupid idea. But it was miles better than crashing onto sand.

  He picked up the knife that had just finished cutting the curds inside Pottingham.

  After retrieving the ball of mozzarella that Bowl-lander had absolutely pulverized and tenderized, he angled the handle of Curd-Cutter toward it. It was just like how he made the milk bottles lighter.

  Instead of ‘cutting weight,’ he’d be ‘cutting the fluff.’

  Though he doubted this was what that saying meant.

  Mana poured into Curd-Cutter as he channeled that intent. Colby dug the handle into the mozzarella, slicing the ball of cheese. As he did, he felt the left side soften beneath his grip, becoming fluffier. Meanwhile, the other side hardened. The once-elastic piece of mozzarella stiffened, losing its soft and glossy shine.

  Yes, it was working!

  He continued to slice through the mozzarella, feeling the piece in his hand become softer, only to come to a sudden halt. He was only a quarter way through the piece of mozzarella. Gritting his teeth, Colby pressed harder, forcing Curd-Cutter down.

  A sting shot through his fingers. The knife’s noodle-like limbs slapped his hand. It shook his head—his blade—telling him that it was impossible.

  Curds! Curd-Cutter wasn’t sharp enough.

  If he couldn’t dig into it anymore, how was he supposed to separate the fluffy parts from the rock-hard ones?

  Colby looked at Curd-Cutter, hoping he had a solution. The knife shrugged his thin arms and shook his head—which was a bit hard to understand at first because he was upside down.

  The answer was that he couldn’t.

  Colby stored the weird piece of mozzarella inside of The Cheesetastic Fridge. That would be a problem for future him.

  Grabbing another ball of mozzarella from Bowl-lander, he took careful consideration to angle Curd-Cutter more appropriately. Instead of cutting straight down the middle, he brought the handle down the side, splitting the cheese into one-quarter and three-quarters, rather than in half.

  As he sliced through the cheese, the quarter-side that he grasped grew even softer and fluffier, while the other three-quarters side turned rock solid. Finally, he managed to cut off the piece.

  In his hand was the softest and most fluffiest piece of cheese he had ever created. About half as soft as what his father could make. And nowhere near the same size.

  It would have to do.

  Colby stuffed his creation into Smart Waiter, setting it to come out of his hands. The remaining hard piece was shoved into The Cheesetastic Fridge. Again, that would be a problem for future him.

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  After he closed the hatch, the [Cheese Pillow] materialized in his hand.

  Congratulations! You have learned a new spell, [Cheese Pillow]!

  Cheese Pillow:

  Level 1

  A piece of cheese created with the intention to be as soft and fluffy as a pillow.

  (Each level slightly increases the softness and fluffiness of the cheese.)

  Colby pressed the piece of cheese together, feeling it squish between his hands.

  He tossed it, watching it land on the soft sand and kicking up some dust upon landing. Unless he was an expert at choosing where to land, that one small little piece of mozzarella wasn’t going to cut it.

  So, he kept making more and more, dumping the hard parts into The Cheesetastic Fridge and the soft ones into Smart Waiter. They materialized in his hand only to be tossed onto the soft, but not soft enough, sand.

  “What are you doing?” a voice shouted from below.

  Colby looked down. It was Elaine, down where she belonged.

  She was running back towards him. Looks like he had taken a bit too much time with that brand new spell.

  “What does it look like I’m doing?” he asked, tossing his final [Cheese Pillow].

  “Something stupid.”

  “I actually think it’s pretty smart.”

  Colby jumped off the roof.

  “No! You idiot!”

  In retrospect, this was a terrible idea. He should’ve just climbed down instead of risking a pair of broken legs just to save a couple of seconds.

  Whatever. When there's a will, there’s a whey.

  He crashed into the pile of [Cheese Pillows], sinking into their softness, as they cushioned his fall.

  “Colby!” Elaine shouted.

  She rushed forward, pushing apart his [Cheese Pillows] as if she were swimming through them, until she was finally right in front of him. Elaine gently picked him up as if he weighed nothing, shoved aside the rest of the cheese surrounding them, before placing him down on the soft sand.

  “Colby!” she shouted. “Colby! Are you okay? Say something!”

  He kept silent, ignoring her shouts and pleas. As much as it pained his heart to trick her, he had to do it. If Elaine was still the same Elaine as he always knew—minus being taller, more muscular, and even more skilled—he knew what she would do.

  Through the tiniest slit of his barely opened eyes, he watched as she inspected his body, starting from the top of his head. His black hair was slick and full of sweat from what he supposed was a month’s worth of exercise done in a couple of minutes. Her gaze drifted down his body, stopping at the bottom of his shoes where some cream cheese residue clung to his soles.

  Elaine leaned in close. He could feel her head on his chest as she presumably checked to see if his heart was still beating. Or maybe to see if he was breathing? First aid was not on the list of skills he had acquired. Though now that he thought about it—because what else can you do when pretending to be injured—he really should pick it up. What if Brie got into a cheesemaking accident?

  “Dammit,” Elaine said, though whether or not through gritted teeth was another story—because he didn’t have a good view of her mouth.

  A thud resounded right next to him. She had punched the ground in anger. Or maybe stomped? He couldn’t tell from this angle. Whatever the case, he needed to keep his ears open for more sound cues.

  Sand bunched up right next to him. That was Elaine. Each time before she sprinted, she’d press her feet against the ground, preparing to kick off.

  Time to execute his plan!

  Colby’s eyes shot open.

  Elaine tensed her calves, ready to run. Just before she dashed off, Colby pushed himself off the ground and hopped onto Elaine’s broad back. [Cheese Boots] or no, there was no way he’d be able to outrun her. That’s why she’d let her outrun herself, if that even made any sense.

  Forward his trusty steed!

  Elaine didn’t take a single step forward.

  “Colby? You’re okay?” she said, concern dripping out of her voice. Only to immediately shift gears.

  “You’re okay!” she roared. “What is wrong with you, Colby? Why were you ignoring me?”

  This was not part of the plan.

  “Um,” he muttered. “I was trying to trick you?”

  “Trick me? By jumping off a roof into a bunch of cheese, then pretending to be hurt, just so you can jump onto my back? And for what? To get me to bring you to our spot?”

  “Yes,” he said, voice rising in pitch.

  Yeah, this really wasn’t going according to plan.

  “You want me to bring you to our spot? Oh, I’ll bring you to our spot, alright. I don’t even care about that stupid shortest thing.”

  “Thanks?”

  Elaine started to run. Even on sand, she was still plenty fast. However, just like sand, the ride was coarse, rough, and he was being thrown everywhere.

  Colby screamed, hanging on for dear life. His fingers gripped her shoulders, but they were slipping. Even his feet that were wrapped around her waist were slowly coming loose.

  There’s no way he’d let himself fall off. She'd probably trample him to death.

  Colby closed his eyes again, honing in on his Core. He scrambled up to Bowl-lander, yoinking the ball of mozzarella before it could be thoroughly kneaded and stretched.

  He tore it into four pieces and let it roast over the open flames of Stove.

  Once it was droopy, gooey, and extra sticky, Colby rushed over to Smart Waiter. This was going to be tricky. He didn’t have enough cheese to make a full set of [Cheese Boots] and [Cheese Gloves]; he had to be creative.

  Colby snatched the models of his feet and hands that appeared within Smart Waiter.

  For his hands, the cheese was plastered on his fingertips. As for his legs, it was just the back of his heel. He tossed the model into the Core Construct, slamming the hatch shut.

  Smart Waiter shuddered and shook, tiny wisps of smoke lifted out of it as it struggled to cast the spells.

  C'mon, Smart Waiter, c'mon. You can do it.

  The hiss grew louder. Thick plumes of smoke seeped out from within the construct. A sharp crack rang out as if something inside had broken before the spell finally materialized.

  [Stickious Cheesious] [Cheese Boots] appeared at the back of his heel, while a pair of [Stickious Cheesious] [Cheese Gloves] coated his fingertips.

  Congratulations! [Cheese Gloves] has reached Level 2!

  Congratulations! [Stickious Cheesious] has reached Level 3!

  Yes! His cheese was even stickier now.

  The mozzarella helped him find the grip that he was lacking. He clung to her broad and muscular back as she continued to thrash about, trying to kick him off.

  They continued to move closer to their spot, a little cove by the shore right below the lighthouse. The calming sound of the waves contrasted greatly with Colby’s turkey-like screams of terror and Elaine's annoyed grunts.

  A fourth sound suddenly joined in.

  “Help! Colby! Elaine!”

  Porter's voice echoed from that little cove. As expected, he was the first to arrive and had been waiting for them.

  “Elaine!”

  “Colby!”

  They shouted at the same time. Elaine turned her head, met his eyes, and nodded. He nodded back.

  No one was hurting Porter. Not on their watch.