Niwla paused. Alwin… wanted him to take control? No fighting? Something was wrong. He could feel it in his feathers.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Explain yourself. You acted as if you had some big revelation, and now you want to give me control of the main body? What are you scheming?"

"You caught me," Alwin said, frowning. "I thought that the fastest way to go back and have fun would be to just finish whatever we came here to do. And the fastest way to do that was to beat that stone page golem thingy. And the fastest way to beat that stone page golem thingy was using your Cold Turkey form. And I hate to say it, but you're the best Cold Turkey out of all of us. So, take control and go all Turkey on it!"

"You really need some English lessons," Niwla sighed. "You still haven't answered. Why me?"

"Because we need Ice to beat that stone page golem thingy. Try to keep up."

"I can't keep up if you never even started. Explain. Properly."

"Really? Guess the title of smart one still belongs to me. The stone page golem spoke in reverse for a reason. It even attacked in reverse. It's a hint! It's telling us its weakness is the reverse of Fire!"

"So, water?"

"Nope. Ice!" Alwin jiggled his body pretending to shiver. "Fire is hot. The reverse of hot is cold. So, cold now beats the stone paper golem. Which is you."

"That's a pretty wild assumption, but then again, you do tend to be oddly right about these things." Niwla paused. "Fine. Winal, if you please?"

Winal had been in charge the whole time, dodging the errant uppercuts of the stone paper golem by skittering and scuttling to the side.

He slid off the seat, letting Winal sit his plump, feathery tush onto the chair. This time without any interference by a certain no-good slime.

Light consumed their form as the blazing roar of flames and crackling thunder of electricity died down. A cool mist spread across the field. Feathers sprouted. A beak peeked outward. Niwla the Cold Turkey was ready for action.

The stone paper golem's fist was headed towards him. Instead of running to the side like a certain ant, he hopped into the air. Flapping his wings, he generated just enough lift to sail above the punch before it soared upwards, landing on its forearm. As the massive arm swung skyward, Niwla's talons gripped the layered pages of the stone paper, his whole world view turning sideways as the upper part of uppercut carried him along.

At the apex of the punch, Niwla hopped off, flapping his wings to maintain altitude. A multitude of Ice Arrows appeared. They zoomed off, crashing into the stone paper golem's chest. Shards tore loose as chunks of stone ripped free, falling to the ground.

While preparing another barrage of Ice Arrows, a second uppercut headed his way. Niwla flapped harder, moving out of the way of the incoming fist. A gust of wind pushed him off course, and the Ice Arrows scattered wildly. Some entered the white void, disappearing once it got far enough. Others sank into the stone paper golem, knocking loose even more fragments that clattered to the ground.

Niwla landed, analyzing the situation.

"Just pew pew them!" Alwin shouted.

Niwla ignored him. He was in control, not Alwin.

As a Cold Turkey, he lacked the firepower of Alwin's Yin-Yang Blast or the explosive burst of Niwla's suicidal Fire Blast and Spirit Bomb combo. What he needed was something uniquely him.

Niwla launched a myriad of Ice Spies. They appeared on the ground, rolling around. Supporting them, Spirit Hands came into existence. The hands picked up the Ice Spies, slotting them between their fingers, before flying off. As they circled the stone paper golem, more and more information was transferred to them.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Winal, even without being told, knew what to do. He collated all of the visual data being relayed to them. From dozens of angles, he stitched together a complete view of their foe. Its jagged body, the hairline fractures streaking across its stone-paper body.

Niwla looked at the information that Winal had processed, noting the literal chips in the stone paper golem's armor.

With his focus set on them, he fired off a targeted burst of Ice Arrows. They soared through the air, chilling the space around, before striking the stone paper golem. Like before, they pierced through its rocky flesh, but he was off by a bit. It had struck near the critical point but not at it; even more rocks tumbled down than before, but not enough.

This was going to be more difficult than he thought.

Would Withdrawal work? Could it even affect a non-living thing like the stone paper golem?

"Just do it!" Alwin screamed

He hijacked Niwla's control over the Cold Turkey form partially. Ice Mana diffused out of his Core. A cold blue mist swept through the area, circling around the stone paper golem's legs. Almost immediately, its movements stiffened. The swift barrage of uppercuts slowed to a crawl.

Looks like Withdrawal could affect non-living things. Though the effects seemed to center on slowing them down, rather than a cold and painful withdrawal sensation coursing through their body.

Taking advantage of its sudden slowness, Niwla prepared another set of Ice Arrows. He fired them, aiming for its weak points. They lodged into the cracks in its body, driving deeper than any Ice Arrow before.

Niwla ran around the stone paper golem, firing Ice Arrow after Ice Arrow. His attacks were like acupuncture needles, but instead of healing the enemy, they damaged them. Rocks tumbled down like a landslide.

More and more stone paper was ripped away from the golem, crashing onto the floor until only the original stone book, hovering on the pedestal, remained.

Niwla walked up to it, about to shoot an Ice Arrow, when it spoke again.

"Stop!"

Niwla shot.

The Ice Arrow struck the book only to ping off it harmlessly. Did it go back to being weak to Fire? He'd let Winal handle it then.

"I said stop!" the book boomed.

Nilwa stopped.

"You have passed the challenge to move on to the third floor. You have the knowledge to wield such power. You have the power to defend such knowledge."

A portal opened up beneath Niwla's feet. His stomach lurched as gravity lay claim to him, but he resisted. Instinctively, he began to flap his wings. All of a sudden, a stone book crashed onto his cranium, and he fell through.

Niwla screamed only to slam into the ground.

In front of him was the staircase to the third floor. Right beside it, the bookshelf that he had shifted had returned to its original position as if it had never been moved. Scratch marks still mar the floor beneath it.

He walked forward. This time without bumping into an invisible barrier.

Behind him, another student of the academy stepped forward. It was a walking windmill, with mills for legs that spun to move it forward.

It bumped into the barrier. Ripples shimmering as the front and leg blades ground uselessly against it.

Niwla smirked.

"Knowledge is power. Power is knowledge. Do you have the knowledge to wield such power? Do you have the power to defend such knowledge?"

He looked up at him, asking, "Are you the library challenge?"

"You do not possess the knowledge."

"What?"

Niwla waddled up the stairs, leaving the windmill monster alone.

Maybe Alwin was having a bigger influence on him than he thought. Now, he just had to search for the books that Lapis had recommended. The list had conveniently teleported to him the moment he was forcibly removed from the library challenge area.

He looked down, inspecting the first few items of the list.

Spell Crafting For Beginners

Mama's Mana Maxing Manual

Baby's Beginner Baking Booklet

Mostly theory-based books. No Skill Books. And why was there a random book about baking?

Whatever, he'd have to start his search for those books. If only there were a way to look for the books without mindless wandering throughout the library. Almost as if sensing his intentions, the list lit up.

Curious and cautious, Niwla placed a wing on the first item of the list, Spell Crafting For Beginners. The rest of the list dimmed. A small arrow appeared at the top of the sheet. It swivelled left and right whenever he moved, locked onto something—the book presumably.

Niwla followed the arrow, weaving through the bookshelves until he came to a stop. It pointed to the book, except that the book was in the hands of another monster. A certain potted sprout held it in her leaves.

"Uchronia?" Niwla blurted out.

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