Pie unhinges his jaw, and Lahar drops to the ground. She gets up and surveys the land.

"There is no point in trying to find them," Arena says.

"Why? They attacked the wisps and tried to kill us. I don't want us to live in fear knowing they are out there."

"First"—Arena holds one finger up— "they are obviously far gone. If they were fast enough to leave in the middle of all that and make it to a point where we can't see them anymore, the only one fast enough to catch them is Pie here," he says, gesturing at Pie.

He now holds two fingers up. "Second, we won't live in fear. In everyday life, we live with the danger of dying in a multitude of ways, but we still keep on moving. Plus, there is already one monster on this island. What are a few more?"

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Well, we can take some precautionary steps, but, besides that, carry on like normal. They won't get close to enough without my noticing. We need to focus on your studies, because you are nowhere near close enough to handle them."

"I think I handled myself pretty well out there just now," Lahar says, feeling insulted.

"You were sloppy, and you know it. Either way, your main focus isn't firing the water gun. It's learning magic, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Lahar says, feeling smaller.

"Plus, my main goal is still getting you home, not hunting down Beasts," he says as he turns around. "Let's head back to the house. There is still plenty to cover." He starts to walk to the house.

"Oh, and as for you three..." he says as he looks over his shoulder at the wisps. They step back and avoid eye contact. "We will have a talk about how you found those things. But your chore for the day is to double the size of the barrier that prevents the threat from coming in. Pie will stay with you to keep guard."

The wisps lower their heads like children being punished. Lahar can tell they don't want to do all that work.

"I'll have something ready for you guys to eat when you get back," Arena says.

They raise their heads, their flames brighter than before.

"I like the excitement. Hurry, so we all can eat together," Lahar says.

The wisps go with Pie to the beach and the edge of the barrier. Lahar walks beside Arena as they head to the house. "We're just going to continue like nothing happened?" Lahar asks.

"Don't worry. After I show you a few things and you start to practice, I'll look into them. Plus, let's take a look at your arm. That cut looks deep," he says.

"Yeah, I let one of them get too close," she says, looking at her cut.

"That big one was trouble, the tree-stump-looking one," he says, rubbing his shoulder.

"It's strange. Out of all those Beasts, those three were the only ones different. How about we name them to make things easier for us?"

"Sure. You have anything in mind?"

Lahar twists bits of her hair around her finger as she thinks. After a few seconds, she proudly says, "Okay, we can name the big one Bark, as in tree bark."

"I like it. Then we can name the small one Branch," Arena says, just as proud.

"Really? I'm not feeling that name."

"I liked it," Arena mumbles to himself. "Well then, is Toothpick better?"

"Way better. Then let's round it out by calling the middle one Statue."

"Why Statue?"

"Well, he just sat there. The way he stared at me...for a moment, that was how he felt—lifeless and blank. Like he wasn't even real." Lahar stares forward, feeling cold, and then snaps back to reality when she notices they've made it back to the house.

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She sits at the kitchen table as Arena grabs a leather bag with wooden handles. The bag resembles an old war medical bag. It has symbols that look like small stars around a pinwheel design, with strange writing between the black and white swirls. Arena opens the bag and grabs ointment, and rubs it on the cut on Lahar's arm.

Lahar flinches as the ointment stings her arm. Arena then grabs a towel out of the bag and starts to clean the bloodstains and excess ointment on her arm. "Now let's see how much you actually paid attention this week."

"What, like a pop quiz?" she says jokingly. She sees a grin stretching from ear to ear appeared on his face. "Oh, wow, you're serious."

"Question one—in what region did the Source originate?"

"Starting off with a trick question. There is no origin date or place. Ju—" Lahar smacks her lips as the stinging sensation of the ointment races through her body. "Just that remnants dating far back can be found everywhere in the world, in a plethora of cultures," Lahar says.

Arena reaches into the bag and pulls out bandages. "Correct. As you know, we use the Source for everything—the force that connects and allows us to use magic. This Source can be found in all things, living and nonliving, organic and inorganic. What are the major ways to use the Source to perform magic?"

"The first is chanting spells. This is where the words hold the power to perform the spell. This may involve physical movements."

"Go on," he says as he finishes bandaging her arm.

"The next is the symbolic spell. This is the use of symbols, drawings, writing, and so on to evoke a spell's power. Next are potions, which use ingredients and materials to make a spell. Lastly are magical items, which, as the name describes, are items that can use a spell and/or magic."

"Spot on," he says as he gets up from the chair. "We will actually be diving a little deeper into one of those today." He starts to walk down the hall, with Lahar following right behind.

"Wait—just like that? No ten-second break? Can't we just watch TV or something?" Lahar whines, feeling her body grow heavy.

"Not when there is so much day left. Plus, I have a feeling you might enjoy this," Arena says as they stand in front of a door. He places his hand on the handle, and a soft glow emits from it. He opens the door to reveal the inside of a glass greenhouse.

On shelves and cabinets throughout the room are a variety of pots with strange plants and even stranger ingredients inside glass jars with labels like Pie's Fur, Wisp Sand, Tuna Droll, and more. The room is large and organized, except for the big wooden table in the middle with candy wrappers, bowls with snacks, and paper thrown on it.

The table also has beakers, test tubes, a Bunsen burner, and a variety of other chemistry equipment. Lahar feels she has stepped into a science lab with the focus slightly shifted toward the magical side. Shining through the glass above are rays of sunshine. There is a beautiful garden with a variety of plants surrounding the outside of the greenhouse, and flowers with unique shapes and vibrant colors.

There is a stone pathway leading around the garden, with a table in the middle for relaxation. Along the path are labels for the different kinds of flowers. The garden is well kept and undisturbed, a hidden paradise untouched by the world. Arena's sanctuary and workshop in one single location.

"Where are we?" Lahar asks.

"Not far from the house, I have a garden where I grow ingredients needed to make potions, elixirs, all that jazz. Plus, it's a good place to escape from reality. Some of these plants can't survive this close to the beach, and this place is too massive to be in my house. So I built this greenhouse slash workshop, planted the garden somewhere else in the field, and I simply connected my house and here through the doors."

Arena turns around to face the door. The round door handle has a symbol of a door and more strange writing on it. "To open the door to the house, let a little of the Source flow to the handle." As he says this, the door handle glows slightly. He opens the door to show the house on the other side of the doorway.

He closes the door and then swings it open again. This time the handle doesn't glow. The house isn't on the other side; instead, it's the garden surrounding the greenhouse. "Then just open the door normally without adding the Source to make it a normal door again," Arena says as he closes the door.

"That is amazing," Lahar says in awe.

"Well, that wasn't exactly what I wanted to show you. You are a college student, correct?" Arena asks.

"Yeah, that's right," she says.

"If I remember correctly, you said you're a chemistry major," Arena says with a sly smile on his face.

"In a broad sense, yes. It's something that's always interested me. Turning one thing into another with a flurry of ingredients and techniques," she says, still in awe at the sights in front of her.

"That's really good to hear. The next thing we will start learning is potions," Arena says, walking up to the table. "I'm going to dive right on in."

"Should I be starting this?" Lahar asks him.

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"Well, just earlier today, you said I shouldn't try any of the hard stuff without getting the easy stuff down. I can't even do one spell." Lahar looks down at her hands as she speaks. Her eyes focus on the cuts. "I agree with what you say. I need to know the fundamentals before I move forward. I need to do this right. I won't get better cutting corners," she says, disappointed in herself.

"You shouldn't sell yourself short. With your background in science, I feel you will excel here better than anywhere else. Besides, I think you got it down. We'll keep working on the fundamentals while progressing. Plus, I think this is enough to say you are ready to move on." Arena reaches into his pocket and tosses something to Lahar.

She catches it with both hands and then looks at what she has caught. She stands in stunned silence. Then a grin appears on her face as she says, "I did this?"

Arena smiles. "Yes, you did, at thevery last moment," he says, turning back to the table. Lahar walks to the table with a big grin on her face, eager to learn, with a blue golf ball in her hand.