Elaine’s sword began to glow, light running along the blade, shining bright within the dim cavern. She stepped forward and brought it down hard at the thick curtain of mold blocking their escape. The blade sliced through the green mass, only for new tendrils to creep in from the sides, stitching themselves together until the gap closed.

  Slash after slash after slash. No matter how fast or hard she swung, mold continued to block their path.

  She swore under her breath, chest rising and falling as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

  The Knights and Arcanists of Endruma staggered their way towards them, their steps uneven and jerky. With stiff and awkward motions, the Knights reached for the swords by their hip, fingers twitching before finally wrapping around the handle. The Arcanists lifted their hands, shoulders jerking with every forced movement.

  As the rest stumbled forward, a single Arcanist remained stationed near the Myconet. She was the one providing light. In her grip was a gnarled wooden staff with a small green gem at its tip. It glowed faintly beneath a crown of leaves. Rather than a staff, it looked like she was holding a miniature tree.

  “Elaine,” Porter muttered. “What do we do?”

  “Stay behind me. Keep trying to cut your way through.”

  She stepped in front of them, hands tightening around the hilt of her sword, as she watched the puppeted group advance.

  But if even Elaine couldn’t cut through the mold, then what good could he and Porter do? She was the big, strong Knight-in-training, Porter was a Supply Runner with nowhere to run, and he was a guy who made cheese for a living.

  Still, it was better to do something than nothing.

  Congratulations! [Cheese With An Edge] has reached Level 6!

  Materializing in Colby’s palm were two small daggers carved out of aged cheddar. He handed one to Porter and gave a nod.

  The little Supply Runner started to stab the curtain of mold with all of the strength he could muster. But between the duller than a rusted-over dagger made out of cheese and the lack of technique, all he managed to do was scrape off the thin layer of slimy gunk that coated the mold curtain.

  Thornelius hopped out of the [Cheese Pouch] along with the ginger-cheese men of [The Ricotta Army] who had hitched a ride after the successful Farmer Hound operation. They too attacked the curtain covering their escape.

  Not even Thornelius, with his thorny claws and fangs, could cut through the mold—much less the ginger-cheese men and their toothpick-sized cheddar blades.

  The Knights began to move faster, their jerky strides stretching into an awkward sprint. Their limbs moved out of sync with each other, torsos twisting at wrong angles.

  Despite the unnatural motion, Colby had seen Porter run enough times to know that they were using [Dash], albeit poorly.

  Without taking her eyes off them, Elaine began to shift to the side, pulling the group away from Colby and Porter.

  They raised their swords with an exaggerated motion and brought them down with a stiff, almost mechanical force. Elaine dodged out of the way of the obvious attacks. Taking advantage of the opening, she stepped in to counter. She started a horizontal slash at the closest Knight.

  Her arm froze mid-swing.

  Elaine twisted her body and leapt back as multiple boulders soared past the Knights. Stone smashed into the moldy cavern wall, exploding into a shower of rocky fragments.

  The two boys flinched. Porter threw his arms up to shield his face, while Colby dove for Thornelius, curling his body around the bestest boy in the whole wide world as stone shrapnel peppered them.

  “Are you guys okay?” Elaine yelled.

  “No, I’m—”

  Colby couldn’t even finish his sentence. Elaine was already back on the defensive, luring the group even further away from them.

  As she desperately fought against the group of Knights and Arcanists, Colby decided to whip out an old reliable: [Flaming Saganaki].

  It had worked against the Myconet during their first encounter. It should work on the second.

  A torch of flaming halloumi appeared in his hand. He motioned for Thornelius, Porter, and the brave troops of [The Ricotta Army] to stand back.

  Colby leaned forward, angling the flames towards the spot where everybody had been attacking, the patch where the slick layer of slimy enzyme had been scraped thin.

  Flames licked at the curtain of mold. The last fragile membrane of slime blistered and shrank under the heat, finally exposing the monster to one of humanity's greatest masteries: fire.

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  The dark green beneath was becoming more dark than green. Smoke curled up into the air, filling the cavern with the bitter acrid smell of burnt vegetables.

  Fire inside a cave was not the smartest move in the world. But what other options did they have?

  This was the only way they could reliably destroy the mold without relying on Elaine levels of strength. But it wasn’t burning fast enough.

  If one torch of [Flaming Saganaki] wasn’t enough, he’d just have to—

  “Watch out!” Porter cried out.

  The Supply Runner slammed into Colby, knocking the torch out of his hand and pushing him away. As Colby watched his precious cheese tumble to the ground, a smear of gray zoomed past.

  A giant boulder, far larger than the ones hurled at Elaine, slammed into the curtain of mold, crushing the halloumi into dust. And unlike the previous boulders, this one didn’t explode into a shower of rocky shrapnel. It was stuck fast in the curtain of mold, blocking their one chance of escape even further.

  “Thanks, Port,” Colby said, before he whipped his head to the side.

  Curds! Was Elaine okay?

  To say the least, she was struggling. To say the most, she was currently engaged in a one against eight—three Knights and five Arcanists. The only saving grace was that the group from Endruma weren’t fighting at their full potential. But still, Elaine was only one Knight-in-training.

  Colby got out another [Flaming Saganaki], only for him to get pushed to the ground once more as another massive boulder crashed into it.

  The culprit was none other than the Arcanist with a mini-tree for a staff.

  While the other Arcanists seemed to be backing up their Knights, this one had its eyes locked onto them. The green gem, glowing with power, waiting to end them should another fire emerge. Why she didn’t just eliminate them immediately was anybody’s guess.

  However, that did confirm Colby’s suspicions. Fire really was the Myconet’s weakness.

  Though with that Arcanist in the way, he couldn’t do anything without being continuously pushed out of the way by Porter.

  As inexperienced as he was, even Colby could tell that that Arcanist was strong—far stronger than the others. And that was something Colby couldn’t deal with. It wasn’t the same as Farmer Hound or the Lobster Mobster; there wasn’t any way he could think of to cheese them.

  He had no choice but to sit tight and hope Elaine could pull through.

  Though as the seconds ticked by, he was starting to get doubtful.

  It was as if the Myconet was starting to get the hang of its unwilling puppets. The Knights swung faster, stronger, and sharper. Elaine sidestepped out of the way of a slash, preparing to launch a counterattack of her own, only for the metal to bend. The blade curved like a snake towards her, striking across her forearms. The metal sliced through her armor, leaving a shallow cut.

  Behind the Knights, the Arcanists started to utilize spells that weren’t just hurling chunks of stone of various sizes in her direction.

  A pillar of sharp, mold-covered stalagmites erupted from the ground like a wave, racing towards Elaine. She darted aside, using the surging pillar to put some distance between herself and a Knight, only for a blade to curve around the stone. It stretched forward, metal shrieking against metal as she just barely brought her sword up to block it in time. The surprise attack and unsteady footing sent her stumbling off balance.

  Elaine didn’t even have time to catch her breath.

  The ground trembled beneath her.

  Elaine threw herself into a roll as a massive mold-covered stone fist punched through the ground, only to fall back when it realized it had missed its target.

  Another Knight rushed in for a swing. She attempted to leap back, only to find herself unable to move her feet.

  The mold-covered ground beneath her had softened into something like quicksand. She jerked her leg, but the earth held fast—giving her a taste of what it was like to be a tree.

  The blade came down, and she blocked it with her own.

  With one hand, she grabbed the Knight’s shoulder, the other still blocking the blade. Elaine yelled, rivalling that of Colby’s mother when she was mad at him for forgetting to put down the toilet seat.

  Using an ungodly amount of strength, she pushed down on the Knight and tore one leg free. Then the other. She ripped herself out of the ground, just in time to use the Knight as a stepping stone to vault over another slash.

  The ceiling bulged. A stone fist punched down.

  Stuck mid-air, Elaine placed her blade in front of her body. The metal absorbed some of the force, but not all. She was sent plummeting onto the ground, skidding across the—thankfully soft mold—as dust and pebbles settled around her.

  At this rate, Elaine was going to lose.

  And after her, it was them.

  How could he help? Could he even help?

  Of course, he could. A couple of cheeses sent their way was better help than nothing. Colby raised his palm and shut one eye as he lined up his shot.

  It was hopeless.

  Aim wasn’t what he was known for. If a shot went rogue and flew towards Elaine, it might spell the end of her.

  So what could he do? What could he use to improve his aim?

  This was going to be stupid.

  Colby closed his fingers, turning his open palm into a finger pistol. He lined up his thumb towards the Knights, except that there was no way this would work. Should his thumb be fully straight? Slightly bent? Was it too far to the right or too far to the left?

  He sighed. This was going to be even stupider.

  Colby pulled out the cool-looking stick that looked like a gun from his Inventory. Closing his eye, he lined up along where the sights would be if it were actually a gun and not a cool-looking stick that looked like one.

  Except, it would still never be accurate. Cheese would be fired from his palm. It’d just knock the cool-looking stick out of his hand. Even if he got Smart Waiter to deliver the cheese from his finger, things still wouldn’t line up.

  What if…

  Colby had seen others channel their spells through swords. What if he did the same? It was worth a shot, except he sucked at anything that wasn’t remotely related to cheese.

  But if it were related to cheese…

  Colby tossed the stick into his Inventory and brought it into his Core. With the help of his Core Constructs, he produced one of the oddest-shaped cheeses in his life.

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