Lahar steps right in front of the tree and presses her hands against the smooth wood. The water flows from her arm and seeps into the tree. Her mind fills with information. Some basic, such as the height of the tree and how thick it is, and some more complex, such as what type of energy it's emitting and the length of the roots.

Lahar flinches when she finds something disturbing.

"What did you find?"

Lahar starts to speak as her mind rushes with new information. "Well...it's strange. Nothing about this tree is average. If you ignore the size, you can still find a hundred more strange things. First, the roots are spread all over the place—from the deepest part of the field to the bottom of the ocean. Every part of this tree is oozing the purest Source I can feel."

"But what is the oddest thing to you?" Arena asks, already knowing the answer.

"When you factor the size of the tree and how far the roots have spread, you would think it would be ancient, one of the first things here." She pauses a moment. She needs to make sure what she is about to say is right. Even though she's a novice, she knows the information is correct.

"This tree is barely a year old," Lahar says, not believing her own words.

"Ding, ding, correct!" Arena says enthusiastically. "This is an extremely young tree." The gold continues to sliver on the branch as he speaks.

"I first thought the reason it grew so quickly was that it was stealing energy from the land around, like a parasite." As Arena says this, the gold streams spread to the leaves. The leaves give off a faint glow once touched.

Each time a leaf glows, Arena feels more energized. "They're doing the opposite. The roots are supplying the land with added nutrients and a boost of energy. Like veins pumping blood through a body."

Arena takes his hands off the tree. Lahar looks over to him to see a worried expression on his face. "Wait; there is something wrong," Arena says. He starts to walk around to the other side of the tree. He finds King there with Pie, sniffing the base of the tree. Lahar follows.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Arena kneels down and touches the base of the tree. His hand lowers to a patch of dirt. "Someone dug here and covered the hole," Arena says out loud. Golden squid tentacles form from his arm. The tentacles start to dig up the patch of dirt, each tentacle wrapping around a clump of dirt and placing it to the side.

Under the dirt is a shriveled-up root. The root has drastically shrunk in size compared to the others. The tentacles lift the root, revealing it has been sloppily cut in half. The edges are rough and uneven, like one of Pie's treats bitten in half. The tentacles find a hole in the center of the cut root.

The hole isn't deep—more of a pocket, really. "Something small was in here," Arena says to Lahar. "We were not the first ones here."

Her hand moves to the grip of her water gun. Anxiety fills her, as she can't shake the feeling she is being watched. "Something came here and took a piece of the root. Well, it kind of makes sense," Lahar says.

"How so?" Arena says.

"Think about it. We felt the massive amount of energy in this tree. It's basically feeding everything with good energy and good vibes. The piece that was taken could power a city for ten years."

"I guess you have an idea who did it," Arena says, already knowing the name she will say next.

"Void. It's the only logical suspect. There is no one else on the island except you, the wisps, Pie, and me. The question is, how is he doing all this trapped below?" Lahar says with her hand on her forehead. Then she feels it—eyes watching her from all angles.

"Don't strain yourself too hard. We will find out," Arena says.

His words fall on deaf ears. Lahar turns around quickly, scouring the field for any sign of the person—or things—watching them.

Pie lowers his body and begins to growl deeply. His pupils shrink. King's flame intensifies. Arena stares at everyone, uncertain about what's happening. "What is with everyone?" he asks.

Then it hits him. He doesn't know whether he is proud of the fact that Lahar felt it before he did or frustrated that it took him so long. The sky darkens as clouds block the sun. "I want you to get away, Lahar," Arena whispers.

"I'm not leaving. What was the point of training me if you're going to tell me to leave?" Lahar whispers.

Arena and Lahar grow louder with every sentence, still thinking they're whispering. "You are still learning," he says.

"Well, I can't tell what it is, but it's directly behind you under the ground!"

As Lahar says these words, a furry creature erupts from the ground and lunges at Arena. Before it can get close, something wraps around its body. A large squid tentacle made of the dirt and grass below crushes the body of the Beast.

"See, I had it!" Arena says confidently.

They both look at the mask that falls to the ground. They recognize it as one of the Beasts that attacked the wisps. They both realize that means there are more around them. Bursting from the ground, surrounding all of them, are the masked Beasts. The field is filled with their harmonic, bloodlust-filled growls.