Niwla continued to flap his wings as he slowly descended into the darkness.

"Here, let me help," Uchronia said.

She started chanting, shaping the Mana within her Core using incantations before finally saying the name of the spell, "Glow."

A small ball of light emerged from her leaves, illuminating the area around them.

It was useless.

It wasn't a case of Uchronia's spell lacking strength. There was just nothing around them. They were slowly descending down a dark, featureless vertical corridor.

"Do you see anything, Alwin?" Uchronia asked.

"I see what I believe to be the floor, but nothing else of note."

Uchronia looked down, squinting her eyes, but all she could see was darkness.

Niwla, as a MODOC, had better vision than the Potted Sprout. He could see the slightest makings of a flat surface, growing brighter with every second of descent. By all accounts, that had to be the floor.

Uchronia was the first to touch down, her little root-like legs bending slightly. Once Niwla was confident that she had found her footing, he released his grip on her pot and landed beside her. The pair of Spirit Hands that gripped the vial of Healing Pills floating right next to him.

"Where are we?" Uchronia asked.

"I am unable to determine that."

"What do you think's going to happen to us?"

"Again, I am unable to determine such a question. The MOP's characteristics are foreign to me."

There was a single flash at the far end of the chamber, then another beside it, and another still. One by one, lights flashed on until the entire room was filled with unbearably blinding brightness.

Blinking through the light, the pair took in their surroundings. They were stuck within an unusually shaped room. Rather than four perfectly straight walls, perpendicular to each other, it was a single curved wall that encompassed the circular floor they stood on.

Niwla tapped his talons against the surface, the low clink of metal echoing out.

Given his limited knowledge about the MOP, they had to be in some sort of large cauldron. The air felt thicker. The temperature was rising. He glanced over at Uchronia, small droplets of sweat dripping down the curve of her bulb. His naturally cool body helped to abate the heat, but he couldn't hold on forever—not as a MODOC at least.

"Alwin," Uchronia said, wiping away the sweat that dripped into her eye. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. The greenhouse was obviously the wrong choice."

"As I mentioned before, Uchronia, no one is always correct. Everyone makes mistakes. It is how one confronts these errors that defines them. Now, I advise you to direct your efforts into learning from your mistakes."

It didn't take a genius to realize what the intent of this 'punishment' was.

"Right," she said, preparing for what's to come.

Above them, the rows upon rows of potted plants descended from the black abyss. The effects of the strange liquid that the crystal had sprayed out were gone. They had reverted into ordinary plants, no longer intent on hurting them.

Rather than dropping all the way down into the cauldron, they stopped at the rim, peering over the edge.

Niwla and Uchronia weren't preparing for them—they were the spectators. Instead, the real threat came from beneath.

The floor beneath them groaned. Segments of metal peeled away, bending and reshaping themselves into smaller cauldrons with four short, stubby legs. Within each mini-cauldron were various tools: a mop, spoons, and stirring rods.

Light poured out from the gap in the floor. Little balls of flames—red, yellow, blue, green, and more—bounced across the chamber, filling it with even more vexing light and heat.

This was the MOP's way of reinforcing that everything about Pill Refining was important, not just the ingredients.

"What is it with this Academy and proving one's worth by fighting?" Uchronia grumbled.

"Do you require an answer?" Niwla asked.

She sighed and shook her head, beads of sweat splashing to the ground. "It's just another way to make us combat-ready. A very annoying one."

Niwla nodded. "And how would you like me to assist you?"

"Just support me."

"Understood."

Niwla spread his wings and said, "Brainfreeze."

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A tiny amount of light blue mist appeared in front of him. With a gentle flap, he pushed it towards Uchronia, shrouding her.

"What are you doing!" she shouted. "Alwin! I knew I shouldn't have—wait, this is actually really nice."

Niwla hadn't planned to hurt or sabotage his friend; instead, he was helping her. He had released a small amount of Brainfreeze gas and coated her with it. The cooling effect of the gas was just enough to abate the rising temperatures of the cauldron, but not enough to send her into frozen-induced agony.

"And as a precaution, I advise you to take these back."

A Spirit Hand floated towards Uchronia, handing her a vial of Healing Pills.

"Thanks," she said, grabbing the vial and stuffing it within her soil.

"You know, Alwin. Over the holidays, I was actually preparing to spar with that Fire ant form of yours and not you as a MODOC."

Niwla nodded. Any other form of acknowledgement would come off as rude, disrupting Uchronia's much-needed flow.

She began chanting, a soft glow around her body, before she said, "Leaves of Dew."

Multiple additional leaves sprouted around her plant bulb body. These leaves were different from the slender ones she used as hands. They were thicker, broader, with something that seemed to slosh around with every move.

Extrapolating from what he knew, Niwla deduced that this spell Uchronia had learned increased her Fire Resistance by surrounding herself in leaves that contained a high level of moisture content.

Uchronia chanted once more before saying, "Overbark."

Growing upon the multiple dew-filled leaves that had sprouted across her body were multiple layers of bark. They piled upon each other, growing harder and thicker, further boosting Uchronia's Fire Resistance.

Though impressive, he knew that it was moot for Winal and his Crimson Gold King Ant form.

With her preparations complete, Uchronia dashed forward. She leaped into the air and shouted, "Great Thorned Leaf!"

A giant leaf sprouted at the top of her bulb, bristling with sharp thorns. Around it, the thick layer of Overbark formed a hardened shell.

She spun in the air, crashing down onto the hopping balls of flames below. Her swipe snuffed out several instantly, while the gust generated from her leaf blew the rest backward in a wave of sparks. As the smoke cleared, the giant leaf furled inwards, shrinking back into her Sprout body.

Before she could catch her breath, a mini cauldron descended upon her. It reared up on its back legs, tilting forward to stomp her flat. The stirrer within it clattering widely, eager to strike.

"Alternate History!" she shouted.

A second Uchronia appeared right next to her. Though this one wasn't surrounded by a shroud of dew-filled leaves encased within multiple layers of bark. She let out a quick chant, the tips of her leaves glowing before she touched the original Uchronia.

"Greater Haste."

The original Uchronia sped up and grabbed her alternate form. In a blur, she dragged her away from the impending cauldron's path. They shared a brief nod and both Uchronia's started up their own sets of chants.

"Boingweed. Overbark," the alternate Uchronia said.

A thick tangle of stems and twigs bound into a crooked sphere surrounded the alternate Uchronia. Enshrouding that springy layer of defense were the multiple layers of bark that could resist the Fire, yet still flexible enough to bounce.

The original Uchronia glowed slightly before she said, "Greater Haste." She touched the counterpart with her leaf, imbuing the spell into her.

They shared one more nod before the original yelled out, "Great Thorned Leaf!"

The giant leaf erupted once more, and with all of her might, she slammed it into the alternate one. The alternate Uchronia rocketed forth and crashed into the mini-cauldron, smashing it into the curved wall of the giant cauldron. The impact dented the surface, causing the curved wall to gain another set of curvature.

But she didn't stop there. The alternate Uchronia had ricocheted off the mini-cauldron, bouncing wildly around the cauldron, striking other mini-cauldrons while avoiding the balls of flames.

That was left for the original.

She leapt into the air once more and, using her enhanced speed, spun even faster before slamming down her giant leaf onto even more unsuspecting little flamelings, snuffing them out.

Uchronia wanted to fight her way through the problem. And as she requested, he would support her in this cause.

"Brainfreeze. Withdrawal."

Blue mist seeped out of his body, cooling his body—it was paramount that his head did not overheat. With control flaps of his wings, he allowed a thin layer to surround him while evenly dispersing the remaining mist around him.

The little hopping teardrop-shaped flames that came into contact with the mist immediately shrank. They sputtered out until they were extinguished out of existence.

While for the mini-cauldrons, he employed a tried-and-true tactic.

"Withdrawal. Mix. Homing Ice Needles."

A bundle of needles condensed in front of him before they zoomed off. They crashed into the walking mini-cauldrons, piercing through the weak points and releasing a flood of Withdrawal gas. The metal shattered into pieces, frozen shards scattering across the ground.

The tools within weren't spared. Ice Needles sank into them, releasing chilled gas that splintered them into tiny pieces, joining the fragments on the floor.

Multiple mini-cauldrons, tools, and little flamelings lay in ruins, but their numbers didn't seem to diminish. More metal curled around them, replacing the destroyed mini-cauldrons and tools, while little flamelings hopped out from the openings formed.

"When is this going to end?" Uchronia panted. "They just don't stop coming."

"Do you require an answer?" Niwla asked.

"Only if you know how to end this."

"As you have most likely surmised, the only way this trial ends is when you learn the lesson that the MOP has set out to teach."

"I know that! She's trying to teach us that it's not only ingredients that are important when it comes to Pill Refining, but all the other stuff is important too. She's literally trying to beat the lesson into us."

"Yes, you are correct. That is most likely the answer to this predicament."

"So why isn't it ending? I already know that what you cook the Pills in, the tools you use, and even the flames are important when it comes to refining Pills. Is there some special way I need to show how important they are?"

"Do you require an answer?"

"Yes!" she shouted, "You don't always need to ask."

"I apologize, Uchronia. I merely do it so as not to reveal the solution, as it may stunt your learning. I am here to support you, not hand you the answer."

"What?" she said. "Are you saying there's still something I'm missing?"

"Affirmative."

"What else could I—oh. That."

"It seems you have finally realized the final component of this trial."

"Yeah, yeah…patience."

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