Mara and Icarus woke up the next morning and put on their regular clothes. The grandmother opened the door and noticed the two gathering their belongings.

"Oh," the grandmother asked, "are you leaving already?"

"We have a long day ahead of us," Mara answered.

"Well, you should at least eat some breakfast," the grandmother stated. "After all, you can't fight on an empty stomach."

Mara and Icarus nodded in agreement as they followed the grandmother down the stairs into the dining area, where Icarus's sister and her children had already prepared to eat.

"Ah, good morning, you two," the mother cheered as she noticed Mara and Icarus approaching the table. Mara then noticed the table filled with several plates containing steamed catfish and pieces of bread on the side.

"Wow!" Mara chirped. "That's quite a breakfast."

"Well, we must get our nutrients one way or another," the mother replied.

"And we helped mama catch all the fish!" the children added.

"I told you I had such a good family," Icarus chuckled as he began to eat his breakfast.

Mara began eating as well and was once again pleased by the quality of the ingredients. She was purely amazed by the fish and the bread, both of which were fluffy and rich in flavor. After breakfast, Mara and Icarus gathered their belongings and prepared to head out.

"We'll miss you, Uncle Icky!" the children cried as they hugged their uncle.

"Don't worry," Icarus cheered. "I'll be back again one of these days."

Mara and Icarus waved goodbye as they walked out the door. As they left Bell Village, Mara had thought about what Icarus said to her the night before. Why would he think that about Castlians? She wondered. Did he have a bad experience with them?

"Is something on your mind?" Icarus asked as he noticed Mara lost in thought.

"It's nothing," she answered in an attempt to brush it off.

Mara's been acting strange this morning, Icarus thought. I may want to look into this sooner or later.

The two had remained mostly silent as they continued into Whispering Forest. Their silence was broken when they were suddenly ambushed by another group of baddies. There were three bandits this time; one with a dagger, one with a spear, and one with a bow made from tree branches.

"How would you two like to meet your maker?" one bandit grunted.

"I hope you don't mind giving up that armor," another bandit taunted as she eyed the armor that Mara was wearing.

The two bandits lunged at Mara and Icarus with their weapons gripped tightly, but the two heroes made quick work of the two baddies. Then, they noticed that the third one was nowhere to be seen. Had they run away with their tail tucked between their legs? No! From the sky rained a flurry of arrows in an attempt to eliminate the heroes. Mara quickly noticed one of the trees rustling and casted her Aqua Shot spell, resulting in the bandit falling from the tree and getting knocked out.

"You have quite an eye," Icarus chanted in amazement.

"All that training has been paying off," Mara replied with a smirk.

The two continued through Whispering Forest in high spirits when they suddenly encountered an opening. They followed the opening and found themselves in a large field filled with yellow grass as far as the eye could see.

"We made it to Bronze Grasslands," Mara sighed as Icarus looked on with wide eyes. "Now we need to find that dark wizard."