Alwin left the cafe ignoring the destruction he had wrought during his escape from Uchronia. He didn't expect that after spending so much time and effort running away from her, he'd immediately turn right back around and burn even more energy chasing after her. What a day. And he had only himself to blame.

The sun was setting by the time he returned to the academy. Orange hues dappled the clouds overhead. Students—way older than him—were loitering outside enjoying the cool breeze as they chatted amongst each other about classes and how they were going to be the ones to wipe out humanity once and for all.

Alwin hopped past them and back into the academy. The halls were neat and tidy as if a monster on a bombing spree hadn't flown by earlier in the day. Whatever cleanup crew this school had, they were doing a swell job. Other monster recruits strode about, chatting in the corridors, or hanging out with each other. Normally, his mind wouldn't even register the sight of other students in the academy, but now he found himself observing these random strangers closer than ever before.

The reason? He was worried. Worried that they would find out that he was the culprit who attempted to blow up the city and parts of the academy. It was a dumb reason—one that didn't make much sense to him. Everything had been planned by Milvus, so the chances of any lasting consequences were practically zero.

Yet, there was a lingering doubt in his mind. What was it? The fear of being rejected? Ostracized? Exposed?

Alwin didn't fully understand the emotions he was experiencing, he just knew that it was a consequence of Uchronia's words. He didn't want to be branded as an incompetent fool whose only purpose was to be discarded when whatever slim margin of usefulness had been thoroughly extracted from his useless corpse.

As usual, none of the other monsters in the academy paid him any heed. Still, he was on edge. Eyes darting left, right, and even up from the occasional flying monster. Alwin continued his anxiety-fueled scan till he made his way back to his dorm room.

When he entered the room, he performed one last scan. Some of his classmates were there, presumably relaxing after a hard day of training. The rest were either in the cafeteria or still hard at work honing their skills. No prizes for where Gus was. However, the person he was searching for wasn't there. But, what if she was just in the loo? The chances of her being in the bathroom were low, but never zero. Given what Alwin had gone through today, he knew that pursuing that line of thinking would only grant him more problems.

If Uchronia truly wasn't here and not just in the bathroom or something, then she must've been one of his classmates who were still hard at work. Uchronia, still toiling away in a bid to grow stronger instead of resting. Who would've guessed? Probably Alwin, if his brain was actually working.

Alwin made his way to the Training Grounds Classroom, his eyes working on overdrive as he inspected every monster that crossed his path. It did little to quell his emotions and did even less if any of them actually recognized him for the fool he was. However, the sounds of his arch-foe—the wooden training dummy—being smacked silly acted as a soothing balm to his frayed nerves.

Inside, Uchronia was working up a sweat, honing her Great Thorned Leaf as she swung the giant piece of foliage. Each strike caused the wooden dummy to wobble in protest, but that didn't stop her from wailing on it. Combination attacks were unleashed by the Potted Sprout monster. A sideswipe, followed by a powerful uppercut that sent her airborne. Mid-leap, she performed a forward flip, building momentum to finish with a falling downward slam that shook the blockhead of a dummy to its core.

If Alwin didn't know better, it looked like Uchronia was trying to take his role as the main damage dealer in the squad. Was he truly that useless? Nevertheless, now was his chance to make a difference.

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As he approached the person that he had let down, nerves caused his body to jiggle about. A lump caught in his throat as he attempted to vocalize his thoughts. Forcing them out, a high-pitched voice crack that only served to undermine his sincerity, came along for the ride, "Uchronia..."

She paused her onslaught on the poor wooden dummy and glanced at him—not even giving him the courtesy of turning his way. All he received was a quick side-eye before she continued her training against the dummy.

"I'm sorry, Uchronia. I shouldn't have wasted your and Gus' time with the whole Winal situation. I know I'm not the most serious person, but I'm trying to change. You don't have to forgive me anytime soon… I just hope that you'll give me a chance to prove myself."

An uncomfortable silence punctuated only by the whacks against the wooden dummy filled the air as Uchronia gave Alwin no response. Just as he thought that all hope was lost, she turned around, glaring at him with the fury of a thousand sunflowers.

"I gave you too many chances to count because I thought that even though you're a dunce incarnate, you were still useful in helping me. Today showed me that I was wrong. You think one simple apology is enough?"

"I know it's not enough. That's why I'm trying to change."

"Look, let's face it. You're a good friend to hang around with, but a horrible teammate. Unless you can prove otherwise, it’s just empty words, and there's nothing much to say."

"I know. But, right now the only thing I can do is apologize. And at the very least show you how I became Winal."

Uchronia's eyes perked up for a moment before she resumed the scowl that adorned her face since the start of the conversation. "Fine. Go on."

Alwin nodded and took a hop back. A couple of flashes of light later Alwin the Yin-Yang Slime was no more, replaced with Winal the Fire Soldier Ant.

"It's part of my Core Skill. I can Devolve and try out other Evolutions. It's not much but at least I know what my Core Skill does now and how to use it."

Uchronia clicked her tongue. "Here, I thought it was something I could use. But, I can't believe you didn't tell me something this important. Were you even planning on telling me? Or were you just going to keep it a secret and leave our squad fighting at half-strength?"

"I was going to tell you... eventually," Alwin looked down at the ground to avoid her murderous gaze, but his body could still sense the murderous aura she was putting out.

A frustrated sigh escaped Uchronia's lips as she shook her head. "Alwin, you've got a lot of work ahead of you before you get my forgiveness."

"I know," said Alwin, changing back to his Yin-Yang Slime form, without even realizing it.

"But, I'm glad you're starting to make an effort."

Alwin's head jerked up just in time to catch a sly smile creeping up on her lips. However, it disappeared faster than it showed up, replaced with a frown that would turn many vegetables rotten. "Now, go and rest up. I don't want you sleeping during class tomorrow. Apparently, Mr. Milvus has something big to announce."

Following the orders of his astute squad leader, Alwin turned around and hopped back to the dorms. The urge to scan every single living thing in his vicinity had waned slightly. A small sense of ease flowed within him, but he knew that he couldn't relax just yet. He had earned an estimated 0.01% of Uchronia's forgiveness. As little as it might be, it was still multitudes better than zero.

It was a long day filled with tons of problems—most of it was caused by him. Rather than wasting time reflecting on the day's events, Alwin fell into slumberland, allowing sweet dreams to whisk him away. Dreams filled with lots and lots of cakes and cookies.

Morning arrived. Then Alwin arrived in class. For the first time in forever, he wasn't the last one to show up. In fact, he was the second person to show up. The day Uchronia wasn't the first to show up would be the day that the world was coming to an end. A small smile graced her face when she saw Alwin hop into class, which faded instantaneously the moment Alwin locked eyes with her.

Why did she have to pretend to be mad? If only Alwin had a higher forgiveness percentage, then he could've worked in a joke about how it's okay to be happy that he was making progress.

The rest of the class strolled in and last but not least, Milvus. He stood at the front of the class, waiting for the room to settle down. A single look was all it took before everyone received the memo—even that spineless simpleton, Bion.

Silence fell. Everyone’s focus was on Milvus. What was he about to announce?