The cannons were locked and loaded with the brand-new Ice Arrows. One was significantly larger than the normal Ice Arrow; the other was just a regular Ice Arrow, though now with the ability to spin.

Winal turned to face Niwla, asking through facial alone whether the launch was approved.

Niwla nodded.

A large boom echoed throughout the Core as an icicle was sent flying out of it. The moment it passed the threshold, that familiar tingling in his throat told Niwla that the spell had been successfully cast.

Back in the real world, the Cold Turkey shouted, "Large Ice Arrow."

An icicle many times larger than what he was used to condensed right in front of him. Notably, the time taken to fully materialize was longer as well.

The icicle zoomed forward, flying slower than a regular Ice Arrow, though still plenty fast. It crashed into the Stone Training Dummy. The large icicle shattered into a thousand pieces. Amongst the translucent light blue shards that dropped to the floor, a single rough gray piece stood amongst the rubble.

Static buzzed overhead.

"Congratulations, bird boy apprentice of mine. You've managed to damage the Stone Training Dummy. A lot faster than I expected, too."

"Does that mean I'm free to go?"

"Where you risk the chance of being exposed to Skillbooks? What sort of irresponsible master would I be if I allowed my apprentice to befall such maladies as learning skills from Skillbooks?"

"A good one," Niwla said flatly.

Lapis gasped. "I'm offended. As punishment for that rude little beak of yours, you'll have to completely destroy that Stone Training Dummy."

"But—"

The static buzzed off. There was no point in shouting into the void. Niwla sighed and walked closer to the Stone Training Dummy. He stared at the smooth, gray figure. A single chip near its chest from when the Large Ice Arrow impacted it.

How many more of those Large Ice Arrows was it going to take for him to completely destroy the Stone Training Dummy? He was going to be here for a while. And who knows what sort of weird trick Lapis was going to play on them the moment they destroyed it. Watch her go that they had to destroy the Stone Training Dummy in one fell swoop instead of chip by chip. It was infuriating.

Niwla leaped into the air and performed a spinning kick. His talons striking the Stone Training Dummy. It wobbled side-to-side with nary a scratch. Only Niwla was hurt, his foot aching after kicking solid rock.

"Yes. Feed into the hate. Let it course through you. Empowering you beyond mortal means."

A voice was whispering into his ears. When Niwla turned around, so did a certain no-good slime. The black-and-white ball whistled, eyes darting all over their shared mindscape, pretending that he hadn't just been whispering nonsense into his ear.

"What are you doing, Alwin?" Niwla asked.

"Nothing. It wasn't me whispering into your ear. It was the Stone Training Dummy that did it. The older brother of my mortal enemy, the Wooden Training Dummy. We need to destroy them completely so that they can't harm us in any way, shape, or form."

Niwla sighed and shook his head. He turned to Winal, asking, "Is the other Ice Arrow ready for launch?"

Winal nodded.

"Do it."

A tingling in his throat told him that the spell was successful as well.

Back in the real world, Niwla shouted, "Spiraling Ice Arrow."

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Ice condensed in front of him, taking on the shape of an icicle. Just before it launched, the icicle started to rotate, then zoomed forth at speeds faster than a regular Ice Arrow. It crashed into the Stone Training Dummy, shattering into a hundred pieces, but unlike the Large Ice Arrow, a stone chip didn't fall with it.

"That was disappointing," Niwla said.

"You're telling me," Alwin replied.

Winal just shrugged.

"Adding spin is supposed to add more power," Niwla muttered to himself. "But it barely spun the moment it made contact with the Stone Training Dummy. It just shattered almost instantly."

"Maybe the Ice Arrow wasn't strong enough. It is ice after all," Alwin said.

"You might be right, Alwin."

"I am? I mean, of course I am."

"But still, I think there are some modifications that can be made before we completely rule out the Spiraling Ice Arrow."

"Like what?" Alwin asked.

"Follow me."

The three of them entered their Core, Niwla leading the way. Alwin didn't even have to be carried this time around. Twice in a row. It must be the end times.

"So what's your idea?" Alwin asked.

"Flutes," Niwla replied.

"The instrument? Sure, I can technically play every single instrument in the world. But just not well or sometimes even correctly."

"Not that kind of flute," Niwla said. "You know the spiral things you see on a drill? Those are flutes."

Winal nodded.

"Oh. So we just needed more spirals to make the Spiralling Ice Arrow more spirally and thus better. Well, why didn't you say so?"

"I did. You thought I was talking about instruments for some reason."

"Don't blame me. Blame the person who decided to name the spirals, flutes."

Niwla rolled his eyes and chose to move on from the conversation, lest they waste even more time with Alwin and his shenanigans.

"And one more thing, Winal. When making the Ice Arrow, is it possible to sharpen the tip?"

He nodded. Instead of signing to explain to them, Winal brought the Mental Hands above his head closer to Niwla. They showed off their nails. Specifically, how sharp they were.

"Okay, you'll sharpen them using the nails of the Mental Hands that make up the molds. I'm assuming that's how you'll carve out the flutes into the Ice Arrow?"

Winal nodded again.

Muffled sounds of bones and nails creaking and cracking reverberated through the Core. Then the conveyor belt kicked to life. Biological engines revolving as the Mental Hands morphed into Conveyor Belts transported the new and improved—again—Spiralling Ice Arrows to the edge of the Core. The cannons were locked, loaded, and launched.

There was an itch in his throat before Niwla shouted, "Spiralling Ice Arrow!"

The air in front of him cooled down several degrees as an icicle condensed. Just like a drill, spiralling curves were carved into the ice. Light bounced off the tip of the icicle, showing that Winal indeed had sharpened it.

This wouldn't have been possible without that ant. He truly was a blessing. And he'd have to tell him that pronto.

The Spiralling Ice Arrow zoomed off, spinning through the air. When it struck the Stone Training Dummy, Niwla held his breath. It didn't shatter immediately; that was a good sign. Small flakes of gray were peeling off the attack, falling to the ground. The flutes were working their magic.

Niwla's theory had been right: without those channels to allow the drilled-up debris to be freed, it caused the first iteration of the Spiralling Ice Arrow was jammed, shattering when the debris struck the arrow.

Eventually, the Spiralling Ice Arrow lost all of its momentum, coming to a halt. It crashed to the ground, shattering into a hundred pieces—something he was quite accustomed to.

Niwla moved closer to inspect the damage done to the Stone Training Dummy. A small hole had been drilled into it. Spirals decorated the hole it made into the dummy, a contrast to the rough chip caused by the Large Ice Arrow.

It was certainly progress. Though instead of an upgrade, it was more of a sidegrade.

He needed something to destroy the Stone Training Dummy in one fell swoop, something that would shut Lapis up. But what?

Even without consulting his other selves, Niwla already knew what Alwin was thinking.

Why not combine the Large Ice Arrow with the Spiralling Ice Arrow to create a Large Spiralling Ice Arrow?

Sure, it was possible. And it would definitely be more powerful with both spells combined. But something about that methodology felt very… Alwin.

He loved the guy as much as he annoyed him. Without Alwin, he wouldn't have existed. Alwin was the first of them, with him and Winal splitting off somewhere along the way. And Alwin was one of the halves, which made performing different Elemental Spells possible—the second half being Winal.

All he was good at was coming up with concepts of a plan and dishing out orders. It was Alwin and Winal who were able to make those ideas come to life.

He needed to come up with something that was uniquely Niwla—just like when they tackled the Stone Paper Golem.

Back then, he employed a targeted volley of Ice Arrows that aimed at its weak spots to destroy it.

An idea sprang into his mind.

Like how Alwin was the opposite of Niwla, so too would his idea be.

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