Alwin and Niwla exited their Core, eager to see the results of the Devolution Tribulation. When Winal saw them enter their shared mindscape, he got off from the control seat, gesturing towards it with two of his ant legs.

Ever the opportunist, Alwin graciously accepted Winal's offer. He rolled and hopped into the air. His eyes locked onto the seat, growing closer and closer as he fell.

Yet, for some reason, it stopped growing closer. He hadn't landed yet, that much was certain. Alwin looked around, wondering if he somehow unlocked the ability to fly or maybe gravity powers.

Reality was often disappointing.

Gripped around his slimy waist were two legs. One bathed in burning, blazing brilliance, the other sparking with currents of electricity arcing laps around the appendage. Winal shook his head, his mandibles in a downturned frown.

"Yes, daddy," Alwin sighed as he was placed onto the ground.

Niwla, ignoring the scene in front of him, waddled over to the control seat. He placed his round, feathery tush onto the chair, taking control of the main body once more.

Outside was a sea of white.

Not because of the snowstorm. No, that had already passed as the Tribulation had come to an end.

The white was because of them. They were glowing. Pouring out bright white light as their body underwent a transformation.

Their feathers grew shorter, softer. The chill in the air they exuded was reduced, barely enough to make a child shiver. Everything around them seemed to grow bigger, but in truth, it was their body shrinking. Growing much smaller than even Alwin's Dark or Light Slime.

When the light faded, all that remained was darkness. He couldn't see anything. Did something go wrong with his Devolution? Did he lose his eyesight when he Devolved? Did he lose more, or was it just his sight?

First, he took a deep breath. The smell of freshly melted snow filled his nostrils. Okay, he could still smell. Next, he lifted up his wings. They pressed up against something warm and soft; the rustling of feathers was music to his ears. That was touch and sound.

The only one left was taste. Yeah, he wasn't exactly keen on exploring that sense.

Niwla continued to investigate his surroundings, pushing his wings up against that warm and soft thing. It was really soft. Almost like fur. Then realization dawned on him.

The fur coat.

He must've shrunk to the point where it consumed him.

Nilwa walked forward, using his wings to guide him. A crack of light told him he could still see. He was getting closer. That crack evolved into a burst as he finally made his way out of his prison.

Behind him was the orange and white fur coat. It was humungous. Sure, it was big before, but this was ridiculous. Niwla was sure he was small enough to fit inside one of its pockets.

Just how much did he shrink?

Niwla turned his head downward. He was much closer to the ground than before. Small, little blue feathers adorned his not-so-plump body. Weak wings that couldn't even hope to generate enough lift sat by his side.

A hiss of warm air flooded the room as the door slid open. It was Lapis, along with her army of drones. As they drew close, Niwla found himself turning his head, up and up, and up.

Lapis was gigantic. Even the drones, which used to be around the same size as their Slime and Turkey forms, were huge.

"Aww, aren't you the cutest little thing?" Lapis cooed. "How's my little Turkey boy doing? Or should I call you bird boy from now on?"

"Just tell me what I Devolved into," Niwla sighed.

"Easy. You're a Cold Chick," Lapis said. "But, just to be sure. Drones!"

They left Lapis' side and flew towards Niwla. The huge, not-so-mini versions of Lapis hovered around him, shooting blue beams of scanning light as they circled around. Once they had completed their scans, the tips of their heads dimmed. Meanwhile, Lapis' own shone. It was a much deeper blue compared to her drones.

She moved the beam, going from left to right, then right to left. Up and down, down and up. She turned the beam in a circle, clockwise, then did it again in the other direction. Once she had scanned the information out of her drones, she shut off her tip and allowed her drones to exit the room.

"Yup, you're a Cold Chick," Lapis said.

Inside their mind, Alwin, still being held up like a baby by Winal, said, "We're a chick? Wow, we're such beautiful, sexy women."

Niwla simply rolled his eyes and shook his head. How could someone like Alwin be so smart, yet so dumb at the same time?

"And I have some good news," Lapis said. "You're at a hundred percent Ice Essence purity. Yippee!"

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That was good. It meant that Alwin hadn't screwed up when he was refining Ice Essence. In hindsight, either he or Winal should've been supervising the slime, but the desire to improve the spell factory within their Core was too alluring.

"Bird boy, it's time."

Niwla nodded. She knew what Lapis was talking about.

A flash of light later, and he was back to being a Cold Turkey. Boy, was it good to be big again. Well, as big as a Turkey was.

There weren't any drones this time. Lapis took it upon herself to scan him. It was quick. Far quicker than the theatrics she put on when she was receiving the information from her drones. She must really want to know the results if she wasn't fooling around like that.

"Moment of truth, bird boy," Lapis said. "Drumroll, please!"

Niwla sat there in silence, waiting for Lapis to give him the darn news.

"If you want something done, you've got to do it yourself," Lapis sighed.

The ceiling slid open. Dropping out of it was a drumset. It crashed onto the ground, the cymbals clanging and making Niwla wish that one of his senses really did get taken away. A drone dropped down a second later. It pounded its body on the drums, banging out a rocking drum solo. Once it was done, it moved to the side of the set, rolling it out of the door back to Lapis' lab.

"Drumroll and drum roll. Nice."

"Could you just tell me the results, Lapis?"

"Fine. Party pooper. If you really want to know, you're at a 112% Ice Essence purity."

"112%? Are you sure there wasn't an error?"

"I'm super sure. So sure, that even I'm confused how you can be more pure than a hundred percent. It almost makes me wish that my theory was actually wrong so that I don't have to figure out how something like this can happen."

"Should something like this happen?" Niwla asked.

"No idea. But what I do know is that we should test out how your Essence purity affects spells of the same element. We know that when you were a Yin-Yang Slime, it boosted the power of your Yin-Yang Blast, but not individual Dark or Light spell attacks. So, let's see how it works out now that you're a 112% pure Ice Essence."

"Sure thing, Lapis. I'm curious as well. Just give me a while," Niwla said.

"How long is a while?"

"As long as I need it to be."

With that, Niwla ignored any more of Lapis' questions, choosing to close his eyes.

Inside their mind, he looked toward Winal and Alwin who was still being carried.

"Winal, I need your help inside the Core."

The ant nodded.

"What about me?" Alwin asked.

"You're coming along in case you decide to go all vacation mutiny on us."

"Fine." Alwin pouted. "But I'm being carried there."

Niwla rolled his eyes, but flinched when someone touched his shoulder. It was Winal. He nodded. And that was all the reassurance Niwla needed. Together, the three of them—one not by choice—entered their Core.

Winal looked toward the freezing hellscape that was their Core. Snow was being sucked in by the tornado and catapulted into the air. It blanketed everything and anything. Conveyor belts of snow continued to be moved around, wasting mental energy as they were dumped out of the Core, only to disappear before they could breach the threshold. Worse of all, the flames that generated Fire Mana had been put on Ice, literally. Solid frozen fire greeted them. That shouldn't be possible, but this was an Alwin-created snowstorm. Impossibilities became possible, and at the same time, what should've been possible became impossible.

Niwla turned to Winal, whispering, "Sorry. I told him to do it. But I didn't think that even your Fire Mana would be affected."

Mental Hands popped into existence, right above Winal. They shivered. Frozen fingers slicing through the frigid air as they signed for him.

"It's okay. I'm more impressed by how you managed to freeze everything. What did you do?"

"You mean, what did I do?" Alwin interjected.

"Just ignore him," Niwla said, before explaining how he manipulated Alwin into doing his bidding.

"I knew what you were doing," Alwin said. "I just allowed you to do it."

"And what is it exactly that I did?" Niwla asked.

"You got me to create more snowstorms to supercharge the freezing of Mana. Then you got me to create the tornado to make sure that the temperatures get mixed up really well. Specifically, you got me to suck in the cold air from the bottom and shoot it up to the top, because hot air rises, so you're forcing your own convection current, allowing everything to freeze even faster."

"That's… Yeah, that's exactly it. How?"

"A magician never reveals their secrets," Alwin said.

Nilwla knew that pressing the issue would get him nowhere, only fueling Alwin's ego and need for fun. So, he did the next best thing, ignoring him.

"Anyway, Winal, I need your help."

The ant nodded, seemingly already knowing what to do. All around the snowstorm clouds on the ground, large Mental Walls rose up from beneath them. They kept rising and rising, becoming taller than the snow-spewing tornado in the center. Once it exceeded it, the tops of the Mental Walls sprouted their own Wall, forming a roof over the tornado. At the very top of the roof, a small hole, a vent, was extracted. The air coming out of it was slightly warmer than the air at the very bottom.

Niwla placed a hand on the Mental Wall, noting how he couldn't feel any of the cold, leaking out of it. Insulated walls and at such a large scale. Winal really knew what he was doing, well, almost.

"Winal, there's no—"

He held up a third leg, stopping Niwla from speaking.

Immediately after, more Mental Hands materialized around him. Swathed over them were thick Mental Gloves which would protect them from the cold. If they could even get inside.

They swarmed forward toward the wall. A doorknob appeared in front of the lead hand. It pulled on the door. As it swung open, a gust of freezing wind burst forth, causing Alwin to shiver, his teeth clattering and jelly folds jiggling.

The hands entered the storm before immediately shutting the door. The Walls surrounding the door started to expand, going all the way toward the edge of the Core. Deep inside, they could hear the clanging of biological conveyor belts being constructed.

A pair of Mental Hands that hadn't taken part in the expedition signed for Winal.

"I'm currently constructing a conveyor belt system all the way to the edge of the Core. They'll be a bit slower because of the cold. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Niwla said. "You're doing great."

That statement made Winal smile. His mandibles burning with a happy and electrifying warmth.

"The hands will prepare the Ice Arrows using the molds you've provided. Once that's done, they'll be deposited onto the conveyor belt toward the edge of the Core where they'll be ready for launch."

"Perfect. How long till the first Ice Arrow?"

"A few minutes. The hands are setting up the infrastructure within that huge freezer."

"I can't wait," Niwla said.

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