Uchronia turned around. She looked the Cold Turkey up and down before saying, "Alwin?"

Technically, he was Niwla right now, but it'd be easier to just say that he was Alwin. Having to explain their multiple personality issues was something he felt they should steer clear of. It would only cause more headaches for him, especially since he would be the one doing most of the explaining.

"Hi, Uchronia," Niwla said, waving a wing, talons rasping against the floor as he shifted from one clawed foot to the other. "Fancy meeting you here."

"I should be saying that to you. Since when do you frequent the library? Why are you a Turkey again? And where have you been?"

Alwin chimed in, "Exactly! We shouldn't be here. We should be outside having fun."

Niwla ignored him.

"I'm here to become the best version of myself. This form just so happens to be the best way to do so." He swept his wings down the length of his body. "And I've just been busy improving myself."

Uchronia raised a grassy eyebrow. She looked down, noting the list in his wing and the glowing arrow that hovered over it. The arrow was locked onto the book in her leaf, following it whenever she moved it around.

"You're here for a copy of Spell Crafting For Beginners?" she asked.

"Amongst other things, yes."

Her eyes grew beady, narrowing into a thin slit. "What are you scheming, Alwin?"

"I'm trying to become a better monster. That's what I'm scheming."

"Fine," she spat. "I think."

"You think?"

"I just don't know what to think anymore, okay. I don't know if what you're doing is all part of Mr. Milvus' plan. I don't even know if my actions or thoughts are my own. How far can he see? To what extent is he manipulating us? I just… I just don't know anymore, okay. My goals. My ambitions. Are they really all mine? Or were they implanted by Mr. Milvus? Worse, was it part of the information download?"

Inside their mind, all three of them drew a blank stare—but to be fair, that was Winal's default appearance. Niwla and Alwin looked at each other, dumbfounded. That was a whole can of worms that they did not in any way, shape, or form expect to come out of her mouth. This all started because they both happened to want the same book.

Niwla, in a surprising turn of events, hopped off the control seat. He waddled over to Alwin, picked him up, and plopped him down on the chair.

"I have no idea what to do in this situation."

"Well, neither do I!" Alwin cried out.

"Yeah, but you get to be in control."

"Okay, fair."

A flash of blinding light later, and Alwin the Yin-Yang Slime was back. Without any hands, the slip of paper fluttered to the ground, the arrow tracking the book as it swayed.

"What was that for?" Uchronia cried out. "I'm here pouring my heart out to you, and you go and blind me?"

"Sorry," Alwin muttered. "There were some technical difficulties. But about your concerns, whether your actions are truly yours or not, does it really matter?"

"Of course it does!" she yelled. "If not, then who am I really? Uchronia or a puppet?"

"Why not both?" Alwin said. "I don't think there's anything wrong with being told what to do. I'm lazy like that. Plus, it's not like Milvus is planning for us to go and die or anything bad. Didn't he say that our class is the hope of Monsterkind or something along those lines?—Honestly, I wasn't paying attention. So, in other words, yay?"

"What? I don't understand your rambling."

"Well, neither did I. But basically, Milvus is grooming us to be super-strong monster heroes. All you have to do is ride that wave until you become even stronger than Milvus, and then he can't manipulate you anymore. Easy peasy lemon squeezy."

"You're technically right, but why would Milvus ever want something like that to happen?"

"Well, someone must've injured him and forced him to be a school teacher for the rest of his life. So, that someone must be even stronger than him. Wouldn't he want to make someone even stronger than the someone who disabled him? And why would he stop at just one someone? It'd be better to create a whole class of those someones!"

"That… surprisingly makes sense."

"It does? I mean, it does, doesn't it?"

"I don't know if it's you or Mr. Milvus talking, but thanks, Alwin. Here." She shoved the book into his jelly folds, sinking into his black-and-white face. Everything went dark. "You can have this book as thanks. But I still haven't forgiven you or Mr. Milvus for hurting Bion like that."

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Noted," Alwin's voice came out all muffled thanks to a literal book in his face. "And what are you going to do?"

"A bit more reflection about what you've said. He probably already knew what the outcome of this conversation was going to be," Uchronia said. "It might be better for me to take advantage of Mr. Milvus' ways till I surpass him. Even if it means being manipulated the entire time."

"That's the spirit, I think?"

"Yes, it is. And, Alwin. Please don't waste the remaining vacation on goofing off. I'll definitely need your help in taking down Mr. Milvus. Okay?"

"Sure," he said.

The pitter-patter of roots on the library floor softened until it was out of earshot. Uchronia had left. Well, that was something. A huge sidetrack on what was supposed to be a simple library run, but definitely something.

Who knew that their last conversation on Milvus had been weighing so heavily on her psyche? Definitely not him, Winal, or Niwla. They had all conveniently forgotten about it, moving on with more pressing matters.

A fire had been relit in Uchronia's eyes. Another mountain of a goal was added. First, Valedictorian. Then, Minister. Now, taking down the hero of Monsteria.

Another fire had been relit, too. Winal burned with a fiery passion. The flames of his ant form blazed, heating up the entirety of their mind, causing all of them to sweat..

He growled, "We. Study. Now."

Alwin nodded, too afraid to say no to the newly reinvigorated Winal. Spirit Hands materialized. They shifted forward, peeling the book off his face. Turning the cover, Alwin braced himself to be bombarded by a fierce white glow as he was transported away to a void-like place, just to determine whether he was worthy enough to read the knowledge contained within the book. Instead, his eyes were pierced with something far worse.

Words!

A lot of them. So many words. Oh, the horrors.

Alwin closed his eyes. It was just too much for him to bear. There were too many words. Too many hard and complicated words that he didn't understand, nor did he want to try and understand.

Inside their mind, Winal stomped forward. Leaning over the control panels, he hijacked the main body's eyes.

"No!" Alwin screamed.

Niwla waddled forward, a cold fury radiating out of him.

He took control of the Spirit Hands that Alwin had manifested. Under their new directives, they flipped past the first page, the very page that Alwin had been screaming about. On that page were just the words: 'Spell Crafting For Beginners.' Alwin, as per usual, had been overreacting.

Together, Niwla and Winal read through the contents of the book. They blitzed through the pages, absorbing the contents about the basics of spell crafting. It was incredibly insightful, Niwla and Winal forming ideas about how to revamp the spell factory within their Core to be more efficient.

Alwin, on the other hand, had slumped away from the control seat. He sought to do something more his speed. Inside their Core, he released the Ice Spies that Niwla had pre-prepared.

They appeared in the library, thumping onto the ground. Too engrossed by the book, Niwla and Winal hadn't even realized what had happened. Next, Alwin got out more Spirit Hands. Taking a page from Niwla's book—yay puns—they grabbed onto the Ice Spies and flew off between the shelves.

The Ice Spies were on a search. A search for greatness. For glory. For fun books for him to read!

Monitoring their every move through the display that Winal had set up, Alwin filtered out the books into different categories: boring, meh, lame, nappy time, etc. There was only one category that he had his eyes set on: fun.

Only a select few books within the library's vast collection met his strict criteria. The Spirit Hands grabbed these coveted books and ferried them back to the main body, plopping them onto the ground.

Niwla and Winal had finally finished their first read of Spell Crafting For Beginners. The Spirit Hands under Niwla's control placed the book down. Noticing an assortment of books that had suddenly appeared next to them, Niwla ordered them to grab the top copy. It read, How To Be A Hero 101: The Definitely, One-Hundred Percent True Tale of The Greatest Hero That Ever Lived.

He sighed.

Niwla entered the Core and stomped over to Alwin. There he sat, in front of the display, laughing his head off.

"And what are you doing?" Niwla asked.

Alwin turned around. "Oh, Niwla. I'm just reading."

Niwla took a peek at the monitor. On it, apart from the multitude of Ice Spies searching for more books to add to his collection, were the pages of another book. Alwin was actually reading? Without anyone forcing him to?

He leaned in closer, inspecting the contents that had managed to grip the book-allergic Alwin.

Chapter Two: The Pun-ks Way Of Making An Unforgettable Entry.

Here are some basic phrases to use when introducing yourself in a fight. Feel free to modify them to suit your needs.

"I'm a bad boy who likes to make puns, that's why I'm called a pun-k."

"The jokes are a distraction. From. My. Pun-ch!"

"Fear my wea-puns of mass destruction."

Note: Remember to emphasize 'pun' for maximum psychological damage.

Niwla sighed and shook his head. "This is what you've been reading?"

"Yeah, pretty good, right?"

"Not at all. It's a huge waste of time. But this…" his eyes moved over the Ice Spies hunting for books. "This is actually really useful."

Taking over control of the Ice Spies and the Spirit Hands, he ordered them to seek out the books that Lapis had recommended. Within the next few minutes, a pile of books—actually useful books—was right in front of them.

Niwla left the Core, giving back the Ice Spies and the Spirit Hands to the pouting Alwin.

With a Spirit Hand each and control over a single eyeball of the main body, Niwla and Winal doubled their reading time. Each eye trained on a single book, the Spirit Hands flipping the pages for them.

Alwin, not wanting to be outdone, took full advantage of the Ice Spies and Spirit Hands that were finally back in his possession. On the display, multiple books were opened. He read them all at the same time, his eyes jumping between the various screens, absorbing even more information than both Niwla and Winal combined.

He was the ultimate reading machine!

The moment Niwla and Winal had finished reading the last book on Lapis' list, a huge white glow consumed them. They all screamed, unprepared for the eye-destroying glare.

When their vision returned, including the multiple Ice Spies, they found themselves in a white room.

A floating diamond monster was in front of them, flanked by pedestals stacked with gear and rows of red and blue vials.

"You done reading? Yes, you are. I was monitoring you. So, you can't say no. It's experiment time!"

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