A bright flash of light later and Niwla found the cage that imprisoned him, nothing but a distant memory. As the overwhelming whiteness subsided, he discovered something substantially weirder than anticipated.

  Next to him were entities that he would’ve never imagined he’d encounter: a flaming ant and a slime who couldn't decide if he wanted to be black or white. Winal and Alwin were actually there with him. Not in the sharing of mind and body sense, but that they were actually right next to him kind of sense.

  As the light continued to fade and more of the surroundings came into view, Niwla identified even more peculiarities. In front of them were several monsters of all shapes, sizes, colors, smells—basically, the only thing common was that they were all different—lined up in an orderly manner. This line would occasionally move, forcing all three of them to shuffle up to close the gap. For some reason, Niwla, Alwin, and Winal were in a queue.

  There were even more strange creatures outside the queue. However, for some reason, Niwla had the feeling that they weren't monsters. They were something different. As if they transcended Monsterity (humanity but for monsters) into something greater.

  Yet, their physical appearances implied otherwise. They were diminutive in size, like a couple of tiny dolls. Their bodies were eerily similar to certain beings that Niwla had the misfortune of encountering. With bodies made out of different elements—earth, metal, and air—they looked like the Tribulation Beings who had invaded their tribulations. They looked like Fire, Dark, and Ice, except they felt much weaker.

  These beings wore a single article of clothing to denote their various roles. Those made out of earth and metal wore hats that made them look like security guards, while those made out of air had ties around their necks, which, even though they had a swirling tornado for a head, somehow never caused the tie to flip around.

  Despite their size, they commanded a great authority over all of the monsters in the queue. The other monsters dared not even glance their way, all except for Niwla, Alwin, and Winal—but mostly Alwin.

  The security guard elemental beings stood at various points in the room. Each guard focused on a singular monster. That meant there were 6 pairs of eyes honed in on Niwla, since Alwin and Winal had somehow tagged along for the ride.

  Attached to the ceiling were multiple crystals. Half of them emitted light, while the other half—deep black hemispherical crystals—seemed to absorb light, acting like some sort of magical security camera.

  At the far end of the queue, the air elemental beings manned counters that the monsters were slowly inching toward. Despite no observable barriers, Niwla couldn't hear any conversation taking place that might clue him in to where exactly they ended up. There must've been some sort of sound-absorbing protection that prevented anyone from eavesdropping.

  He knew that he ended up in some place called RISS. But why? And where exactly was that?

  The only other object of interest was a bulletin board that had a single poster pinned right at its center.

  Petition to rename Registry of Intellectual Skills and Spells (RISS) to Registry of Intellectual Skillz and Spellz (RIZZ).

  RIZZ it up! RIZZ it up!

  92867 verified signatures.

  That information was useless.

  "Where are we?" Alwin asked, his eyes lighting up similarly to his black and white body. One spelled out confusion, the other screamed, 'I want to run around and explore the place.'

  "We're at a place called RISS, apparently," Niwla said. "After we activated that new scouting skill, a message popped up, and then we were suddenly transported here. What I don't understand is why all three of us are here in three separate bodies. We're all essentially the same person."

  "Don't know, don't care. What I do care about is signing that petition," Alwin said.

  Before Niwla even had a chance to protest, Alwin zipped off toward the bulletin board. To his dismay, Niwla and Winal found themselves being dragged along as well, like there was an invisible tether that bound all three of them together.

  "What are you doing, Alwin? Stop!" Niwla scolded.

  However, Alwin's urge to RIZZ it up was too strong, not even feeling the weight of Niwla and Winal. He halted right in front of the bulletin board, sending Niwla and Winal crashing face-first into the wall.

  With no obvious way to sign the petition, Alwin did what any nonsensical person would do. He jumped, smacked the poster with his face, and shouted out, “Sign!”

  Signature verified. Thank you for contributing to a meaningful change.

  "Okay, I'm done," Alwin said, turning around.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  He finally noticed Niwla and Winal, who had been forcibly dragged here against their will. They were still crumpled atop each other, dazed from hitting the wall.

  "Because of a certain somebody," Niwla said, pushing himself upright and shooting Alwin a glare,

  Winal, as always, wore his signature blank look.

  But, then that blank canvas twitched, showing ever the slightest hint of fear. Niwla and Alwin both turned around. What could possibly make even Winal scared?

  The elemental beings—two metal and one earth—tasked with keeping watch on them, had silently surrounded them. Displeasure was forged onto the metallic faces, while disgruntlement had been carved on the rocky one.

  "This is your last warning. Stay in line or deal with the consequences," all three of them said.

  Niwla, Alwin, and Winal suddenly found themselves back in the queue. Both Niwla and Alwin looked around, shocked. How had they gone from the bulletin board to back in the queue in an instant? Was it teleportation? Maybe, but that was normally accompanied by a blinding flash of light, which was absent. Or maybe—

  "They just moved too fast for you to comprehend," the monster in front of them said.

  Niwla and Alwin both looked up from their stupor to find a giant floating crystal speaking to them. How had they not noticed her sooner?

  "Hey there, slime boy student apprentice of mine," the crystal said.

  It was Lapis.

  "Lapis!" Alwin cheered. "What are you doing here? Also, where is here?"

  "It's good to see you, too. It's also good to finally see the beings that possessed your body. An ant and a turkey? Begone demons. Shoo. Shoo."

  "We're not demons," Niwla said. "We're a part of Alwin, just like how Alwin is a part of us."

  "Classic demon possession propaganda speech," Lapis said. "Don’t worry, when I get back to my cafe, I'll get the drones to prepare some extra-extra-extra virgin holy water just for you."

  "Whatever." Niwla rolled his eyes. "Now, could you please answer Alwin's question. Where are we? And why are you here with us?"

  "Yeah, Lapis. Please?" Alwin fluttered his eyes and pouted.

  "Anything for my apprentice. Now my student, be prepared for an information dump that may or may not come out on the quiz that I may or may not prepare later," Lapis said.

  "Yes, boss!" Alwin said.

  "We're currently at the Registry of Intellectual Spells and Skills. It’s where all spells and skills are officially recognized by the System. They also manage, monitor, and handle all the stuff that appears in someone’s status."

  "What do you mean by that?" Niwla asked.

  "Oh, they track what spells and skills an individual obtains, their proficiencies in them, and ensure the appropriate Species boosting properties are properly applied. Why else do you think you have to shout out a skill each time you want to use it? It makes tracking things that much easier."

  "Species boosting properties? You mean how, when I'm in my Cold Turkey form, I get a boost to Ice Elemental Spells?" Niwla asked.

  "Yup."

  "I guess that kind of makes sense? But why are we here?" Niwla asked.

  "Oh. That's because you've probably invented a brand new skill. Congratulations, my apprentice and the demons possessing him."

  "We did?" Niwla and Alwin asked at the same time.

  "Yup. Probably. Unless those bureaucrats think it's too similar to an existing skill, then too bad."

  "So, since we created a brand new spell, we got transported here because it has to be officially registered in the System?"

  "Yup, again. You can't track something that doesn't officially exist. Also, bye now. It's my turn."

  The trio watched as Lapis turned around and floated to a vacant counter.

  Before long, it was their turn.

  They approached a newly vacant counter, where an air elemental lady was sorting out some paperwork. Despite the swirling breeze accompanying her, neither her tie nor the stacks of paper seemed to be affected.

  "So,” she said, glancing at a document in her hand. “It says here, you’ve created a new Ice Elemental Spell that makes dozens of small spherical drones to scout an area. Is that correct?"

  "Yes," Niwla replied.

  "Okay. Please just give me a moment. I need to run a plagiarism analysis."

  Plagiarism? There was no way they could've plagiarized it, right? They literally made it in a cage full of hay scraps.

  A second later, the air elemental lady had completed the plagiarism check.

  "The analysis is complete. The structural form of the spell has a 95% similarity to existing spells. However, the logic behind how the drones interact with each other and the environment is unique enough to warrant labelling it a brand new skill," the air lady said. "What would you like to name this new spell or skill?"

  "Since they're made out of Ice and help to scout the area. What about Ice Scouts?" Niwla suggested.

  "Sorry, that name is already taken."

  "Niwla, Niwla, Niwla. Your naming sense is terrible." Alwin shook his head. "Let me show you how it's really done."

  Alwin cleared his throat before speaking again. "I propose the name Ice Spies, which is short for Ice Spies With My Little Eye."

  "That's a terrible name," Niwla said.

  "What do you mean? It's brilliant. We have little eyes made out of ice that spy—Ice Spies with My Little Eye. It describes the spell perfectly. It rhymes. And it’s a pun. What do you say, air lady?"

  "That name has not been taken. Registration completed.”

  A soft chime rang out as the spell was officially logged.

  “As part of the Spell Creation Promotion sponsored by Mother Cor, you will receive a 20% Mana Cost Reduction when casting ‘Ice Spies With My Little Eye’. Congratulations on your amazing achievement and contribution to the System. Goodbye."

  Another flash of light enshrouded their vision, and next thing they knew, they were back in the cage. More importantly, they were all inside the same body again.

  Why couldn't they have been teleported back home instead?

  However, instead of dwelling on that unfortunate detail and Alwin’s horrible names, Niwla chose to focus on the good news.

  The little Ice Spies were working.

  They had successfully mapped out a large chunk of the area. Although some of them had been caught, run out of Mana, or fallen into a drain, most of them were still up and scouting out the rest of the sect. That was really great news.

  Soon, it would be breakout time. But first, it was time to get stronger.