Niwla was ecstatic. The idea of having a Tier 3 Evolution of his own caused him to wiggle his turkey behind in glee. He was finally entering his Alwin era, performing a celebration dance.

Now, all they had to do was refine more Ice Essence. With the Ice Resistance gear Lapis provided and hopefully some Ice Resistance Pills that wouldn't harm him temporarily or even permanently, for that matter, he'd be able to pass the Tribulation even if it was a Tier 3 Tribulation.

They managed to clear one before. It wasn't even a regular Tier 3 Tribulation. It was a supercharged one with two elements mixed in, all while he had to deal with two young masters and a Gary Stew.

Compared to that, this Tribulation was going to be a cinch.

Niwla closed his eyes and entered his Core.

Inside, he found Winal as stoic as ever. Fire and lightning poured out of him. His eyes were fixed on a certain Yin-Yang Slime, tracking his every movement.

Alwin was playing catch with himself—quite literally.

He had a pair of Mental Hands out. They scooped him up and tossed him far into the Core. As Alwin soared through the air, he squealed in delight before squishing onto the ground. Without missing a beat, he rolled himself back to the Mental Hands, which snatched him up and hurled him again.

On his umpteenth round, Alwin spotted Niwla. Instead of rolling back to the hands, he veered sharply to the side, rolling straight toward the Cold Turkey. A huge smile stretched across his face, showing off his black and white teeth.

"So, how were my Ice Needles? Super good, right?"

"Yes, they were Alwin. Yes, they were," Niwla said, patting the slime with one of his wings.

The gelatinous little fellow squealed and jiggled in delight at Niwla's touch. "Of course it was," he shouted. "It's because I, the glorious and magnificent Alwin, created them."

"Well, magnificent Alwin. I have another task for you. Something only you can do."

"Since it's something only I can do, then I guess I would only slightly mind doing it. What is it?"

"Refining Ice Essence."

Alwin's smile turned down, morphing into a frown. "Do I really have to?" he sighed.

"Yes, Alwin. This is something only you can do."

"If it's something only I can do, then I guess I have to do it," he sighed again.

A Mental Snowcoat appeared over him. He looked up at Niwla one more time. His white eye growing wider than the moon, the black one more expansive than the void.

"Do I really have to?" he asked, putting on the biggest pout imaginable.

"Yes, Alwin. You do."

He let out a really long sigh before rolling towards the huge super freezer. Turning around, one more time, he stared at Niwla, letting out a huge sniff in hopes of changing his mind. The Cold Turkey shook his head.

The wall to the huge super freezer opened, and Alwin rolled inside. As the doors closed, he continued to stare at Niwla, hoping—begging through loud and over exaggerated sniffs to change his mind. Niwla simply stared back, with a huge smile on his beak, until the door closed.

Then, he turned to Winal.

"Could you make sure he doesn't do anything funny inside?"

The Mental Hands above him signed for him. "Already taken care of. Alwin knows what will happen if he disobeys direct orders."

"Thanks," he said.

"What about you? What are you going to do while Alwin refines the Ice Essence?"

"More ways to improve the Homing Ice Needles, obviously."

"I can help—I mean, can I help?"

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"Of course, Winal. Your help is always appreciated."

"Thanks." Winal blushed. The Mental Hands joined in as well, turning a slight tomato red.

Niwla brought out his own pair of Mental Hands along with a Mental Whiteboard and marker. The Mental Hands started to draw on the whiteboard. A needle, followed by an arrow that pointed to a question mark.

The Homing Ice Needles were great, able to hone in on the small cracks and crevices—weakpoints of the opponent—but that was because the Stone Training Dummy was a stationary target.

Just like what Alwin had mentioned, the Ice Needles, homing or not, were terrible at maneuvering in the air. Alwin had proposed introducing wings into the needles. It would most likely work, and they could call it a day, but he had plenty of time to think of a better solution, especially with Alwin stuck refining Ice Essence.

How could he make the Ice Needles more maneuverable in the air? Especially with the limited space real estate?

Niwla sat his feathery rump on the ground, ruminating on the best way to do it. The Mental Hands he summoned spun the markers around their fingers in thought.

Turning to face Winal, he asked, "Any ideas?"

"I don't have any. Sorry. I'm sorry for being such a disappointment."

"Don't say that. You're not a disappointment. We all have our own strengths, Winal. I mean, just look at all of this." Niwla lifted his wings into the air and gestured all around him.

The huge super freezer, the lines of insulated Mental Walls filled with horribly mishappened Mental Hands morphed into a caricature of Conveyor Belts, which led to two cannons that propelled the spells out of the Core.

"Never could I have done something like this, Winal. You're not a disappointment. You're amazing!"

That should give him another self-esteem boost.

"Thanks, Niwla. But I'm still sorry that I can't contribute much."

"Your company is more than enough."

The ant smiled, inching closer to the turkey, before sitting down right next to him.

Niwla continued to stare at the board, hearing the low hum of biological motors turning as they deposited freshly created Ice Essence to the edge of the Core. He stared at the board for what felt like days—probably because it had been—as he heard a notification reverberate throughout their Core.

Devolution Meter maxed out. Unable to absorb any more Essence.

Niwla clicked his beak. Had he really spent a few days staring at a whiteboard? Darn it, it shouldn't be this hard. It wasn't rocket magic.

Wait. Rockets?

That could work. Who cared that it was Tribulation time? He was on the cusp of a discovery. This was many times more important than some Tier 3 Tribulation.

The Mental Hands who had been spinning the marker for days let out sighs of relief—which were just them relaxing their fingers—before they uncapped the marker and drew out Niwla's idea. The question mark next to the arrow was erased, instead replaced with another drawing of an Ice Needle, though now little black dots were around its side, with puffs of air shooting out of it.

"Do you think this could work, Winal?"

The ant who had been cozying up to Niwla for the past few days looked up at the drawing. He stared at the puffs of air blasting out from the Ice Needle before turning to face Niwla.

"I think so, but how are you going to do that?"

As if on cue, a hole emerged in the huge super freezer, sending a frigid gust of wind. Alwin slowly hopped out of it before the hole sealed itself again. He was more of an Ice Slime than a Yin-Yang Slime now. Frost covered his entire body, icicles hanging from every ridge created by that layer of ice. Each step sent flakes tumbling to the ground.

"Alwin," Niwla said. "Do you think you can do that?"

The slime didn't even bother to look at what Niwla had been referencing. Through clattering teeth, he mumbled out a frosty, "No," before collapsing to the ground. The Mental Snowcoat that was around him disappeared, replaced with a thick woolly blanket. Mental Hands flew in from the horizon, carrying with them a lit fireplace that they placed right next to him. Alwin let out a nice warm sigh as the heat from the Mental Flames warmed him up.

Alwin probably wasn't going to be much help. This was one of those rare instances where he actually deserved a break. The slime had been refining Ice Essence nonstop for days, even longer than he had done for the earlier Devolutions. A Tier 3 Tribulation required more Essence than a Tier 2 and or even a Tier 1 Tribulation.

So, how could Niwla get his wings on some gas? Something that can help the Ice Needles adjust their course on the fly. He'd need a lot of it, compressed into a small space, to provide enough thrust to maneuver the Ice Needles.

Niwla sat there thinking, though he didn't take a few days to arrive at a conclusion.

Withdrawal!

His Species Skill allowed him to produce an Ice Elemental gas that, when organic beings came into contact with, caused them to experience the effects of a Withdrawal. When inorganic beings were exposed to it, they were slowed down. It was perfect!

If incorporated into the Homing Ice Needles, it'd increase the effectiveness of their attacks while also allowing them to move much better in the air.

It was a two-for-one deal—three-for-one if you considered the fact that he didn't even require Alwin to create the gas. He'd be incorporating a skill into another skill. A four-for-one dea,l as it meant he got to experiment with another brand new method of creating skills, combining two of them to create a brand new one.

Hold on a second. Combining two skills to create a brand new one? That just sounded like Mix. Had he already figured out an easy way to combine them?

Niwla paused, making sure he wasn't overthinking or even underthinking things.

He had performed it outside of his Core, but there was nothing stating that he couldn't do it inside of his Core.

Niwla cracked his neck.

Time to find out.

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