As his body reconstructed itself under the power of Evolution, the mind beings that controlled Alwin's personality had organized a meeting.

"I have a proposal to make," said Niwla.

"Sorry, not interested in getting married," said Alwin.

"Not that kind of proposal you dingus. What I am suggesting is that we abandon this farce of only one of us being in charge. Obviously, I thought I could handle everything, but today reflects that I was wrong. However, that doesn't mean that either one of you are right. You remember all of the trouble you caused us when you went on that bombing spree right, Alwin?"

"Actually, that was more of Winal. I just gave a couple of suggestions and he went along with it. The whole blowing things up was his idea."

Alwin and Niwla both turned to look at Winal. All that came out was a single word, "Bright."

"What's wrong with him?" asked Niwla.

"No idea." Alwin shrugged. "Best guess? The trauma of Uchronia being disappointed kind of broke him. He’s pretty much the reason why we ended up in jail. Now, he's pretty much just operating on instinct. Makes a good lookout, though."

"Weren't you responsible too?" asked Niwla.

"Partially responsible. I only suggested stuff. He had the controls."

"Whatever," huffed Niwla. "What I am proposing is that we each take turns being in charge. Of course, those not in charge can still influence the main Alwin's decision, but to a lesser degree."

"But what about our deal?" whined Alwin. "You said I got to be in charge forever."

"I just said that I would consider it. Think about it for a second. The main Alwin can't always be making a joke out of everything, there needs to be a balance. This system is the best way to address that."

"Fine, meanie." Alwin pouted. "So who gets to go first."

"There comes the second part of my proposal. There's three of us and there's also three forms, see where I'm going with this?"

"Oh, I get it. I get to be Alwin the Yin-Yang Slime, Winal gets to be the Fire Soldier Ant, and you get to be whatever the main body is about to turn into."

"So, you can be smart when you want to," said Niwla.

"I'm always smart. I was the one who got us out after all. Plus, I think this will be fun. What do you think, Winal?"

"Bright."

"I think he thinks it's a bright idea," said Alwin.

"Great!" cheered Niwla.

"The Evolution is about to finish, I can see the light fading away," said Alwin. "Have fun, but no hogging. I want to play too."

"Sure thing." Niwla smiled. "Don't worry. You can have your fun after I fix everything and make us a Minister."

Niwla assumed control of the main Alwin's body. Who in this case would be called the main Niwla.

Soon the light faded away. Niwla looked down, inspecting his new form. No gooey slimy body, nor an exoskeleton shrouded in flames. Instead, he had feathers. Not ordinary feathers, but ones as cool as ice. He had evolved into some sort of ice bird. No point speculating what he had become, a simple status check would reveal everything.

Name: Niwla (Alwin)

Species: Cold Turkey (Tier 2)

Core Skill: Devolution (F)

Species Skills: Withdrawal (F)

Skills: Spirit Hands (S), Spirit Barrier (F), Spirit Blast (S), Spirit Scatter Blast (S), Spirit Burst Blast (S), Spirit Feet (S), Refinement (D), Spirit Bomb (A), Mix (E), Fire Blast (A)

Evolution: 0/500

Devolution: 0/100

Buffs: +5% Damage Boost to Ice Elemental Attacks

A Cold Turkey? He had turned into a Cold Turkey? That was... lame. Whatever. He would make it work somehow. Plus, the additional damage bonus to Ice attacks this form granted him was welcomed.

However, why wasn't Alwin's Yin-Yang Slime form granted such a buff, but this Cold Turkey form and Winal's Fire Soldier Ant form did? Niwla's best guess? The Dark and Light side canceled each other out. He'd need to find someone knowledgeable to confirm this theory.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Another question arose from all surveying his status. What exactly was the Devolution Meter? Filling up the Evolution Meter meant that he would Evolve upon passing a Tribulation, so would filling his Devolution Meter mean he would Devolve into another Tier 1 monster? Questions, questions, questions. So many questions, so little time. After wasting so much time with Lapis, these questions could be answered at a future date.

For now, he'd need to get accustomed to this Cold Turkey form of his and at the very least register Ice Arrow into his System. If there was enough time, he could work in some coordination practice, given the new arrangements of his mental state.

Niwla walked over to the control panel to reset the room. The ceiling closed, while the various cupboards and shelves resurfaced from the safety of below ground. After that, he performed a final inspection of the area. All of the ice that had covered every inch and surface of the interior had vanished. Not melted. It had disappeared the moment his Ice Tribulation came to an end. Unexpected, but that meant less time wasted on cleaning up. Even more unexpected was a note left where the bottle of Ice Resistance Pills had been dropped during the earlier scuffle.

Confiscating these just cause

-Ice

That was annoying. They could've come in useful in the future, but alas. After the final exam, he could use the time to learn how to refine such pills. Emphasis on after the final exam.

Niwla walked out of the Evolution Chamber, straight to his classroom. Current plan? Become familiar with his new body. During the stroll, he took the liberty of performing a visual assessment of his new form.

As the name of his species suggested he resembled a turkey. However, that was where the resemblance ended. The feathers that covered his body were various shades of bluish-white rather than the brown or black of a regular turkey. Unfortunately, they weren't made out of ice. They did, however, effuse coldness. Thus, addressing the cold part of his species name. In fact, his whole body radiated such a chill. The strongest points being his beak and talons—most likely to inflict even more damage when clawing and biting prey. If that were the case, perhaps more melee-oriented skills could be added to his repertoire to take advantage of such a boon.

That was the brief overview of his exterior. Just in time too, for Niwla had arrived at his classroom. It was set to Training Grounds mode, so that meant it was already afternoon. His sense of time had been skewed due to all of his time spent with Lapis. How many days had he spent refining Essence? How many classes had he missed? Milvus was going to be upset. Rightfully so, because Niwla was peeved as well.

Inside, his classmates were hard at work honing their abilities for the upcoming final exam. Although the door to the sparring room was shut, the sounds of combat leaked out, blending into the cacophony of skills being thrown about everywhere around him. Even Bion was there. That shameful Shadow Jellyfish, utilizing his natural ability to send his tentacles through the shadows to catch foes off guard—well as off guard as a stationary wooden training dummy could ever be.

Niwla would have to work harder lest the difference between them widened. Unlike Bion, he had to focus on multiple factors, splitting his attention. What's worse, Niwla had just attained this new form. Whether it would be combat-ready by the time of his final exam would be a question only Cor herself could know.

Rather than spending time praying that everything would work out, it'd be much more practical to use it for training. As Niwla walked toward an empty training dummy, one by one his classmates turned to face him. Murmurs spilled out between them.

"Who's that?" whispered Flintlock

"Why's that person waltzing in here like he owns the place?" asked Bion, at a not-so-quiet level.

Learning from Winal's mistakes, Niwla decided that the best option would be to come clean. The mind Alwin objected, but he had little say here. Running around creating a snowstorm as he evaded his rampaging classmates would only waste more time—something that he had been repeating non-stop and couldn't afford at this current juncture.

"May I have your attention please, fellow classmates," announced Niwla, raising up a wing.

His classmates stopped what they were doing, looking at the weird bird monster who had suddenly shown up unannounced. Their stares questioned if they should listen to Niwla, chase him out, or straight up ignore him. When the mind Alwin noticed Uchronia was in the crowd, he resigned and accepted that this was the best choice—for once.

"I'll be brief. I am not some intruder, I am actually your classmate, Alwin. Although I look different from what most of you remember me by, the explanation is simple. My current form is due to my Core Skill. With that, the conclusion is cleared up. That is all. You may go back to training." Although right now, it was Niwla in charge, to not confuse his classmates, it was better to refer to himself as Alwin.

Niwla had turned his attention toward the vacant wooden dummy in front of him, ready to put his new body to the test. When a voice called out from behind him.

"From an Al-loser to a birdbrain? That's hilarious!" laughed Bion the Shadow Jellyfish.

"Uchronia, your squad really is in shambles. There's no harm in ditching them and joining my squad.” He shot her a wink. “I promise to treat you right."

Uchronia had gone back to smacking the wooden dummy, practicing combo moves with her Great Thorned Leaf, ignoring Bion completely. Even though her back was turned, Niwla could tell that she was rolling her eyes at Bion's comment.

Dealing with Bion wasn't even worth the effort spent. Niwla returned his focus toward the wooden training dummy, performing light hops on his new set of feet. His clawed limbs clacked against the floor with every jump, as he familiarized himself with his new body.

"Too scared to even say anything? Looking at you now I can see why. You must be part chicken!" laughed Bion.

Only Brie, the Metal Ball monster infatuated with Bion, laughed at his joke. Bion frowned upon hearing her voice. His expression saying 'Leave me alone.'

Perhaps it might be faster to deal with him than let this farce drag on.

"Spineless," Niwla said.

"What?" said Bion, scrunching his face in confusion.

"I said spineless. You know, that's actually the reason you evolved into a jellyfish. Because Cor knows you're just a spineless monster. I bet your next evolution would involve a wooden dog of some kind, seeing as how you're more bark than bite."

The entire class erupted with a collective 'oooh' in response to Niwla’s remark.

Bion looked around the room, realizing that his classmates had joined in on the mocking spree—all except for Brie. His normally dark jellyfish cap face gained a shade of bright red.

"You—you—you!" stammered Bion, growing redder.

"Forgot how to speak? I'm not surprised. It's no wonder you ended up as a jellyfish. You're brainless as well," said Niwla in a calm and cool manner.

"I'll kill you!" screamed Bion, lunging at Niwla.

"And I'll let you live," said Niwla, preparing to fight.