SYNOPSIS
Lloyd Irving and Colette Brunel had arrived at Iselia, though the two parted ways with Lloyd wanting to pay a visit with Dirk as Colette decided to pay Phaidra a visit. Colette hoped to get answers in regards to rumors that she had been hearing about during her travels with Lloyd. As she wandered the village, she met a young man by the name of Cinkel and Malphas, whom decided to escort Colette.
When Lloyd reached Dirk's house, he encountered another dwarf by the name of Jason Ironheart, whom was looking for directions and hoping to find an honest job. However, Lloyd's visit with Dirk was cut short when he remembered about meeting back up with Colette, and left for Iselia. Afterward, Dirk gave Jason directions on how to get to Iselia and told him that Lloyd was heading there as well.
Lloyd soon returned to the village (with Jason following far behind), and met up with Cinkel and Colette near Phaidra's house. As the group exchanged introductions, they caught glimpse of two cloaked men passing by them. Colette decided to speak with Phiadra in regards to the rumors, then she and the group met a girl by the name of Lelia Riarsila, whom was on a mission to find her missing brother. The group decided to help Lelia and to go to Meltokio to see if Zelos Wilder had more information in regards to Lelia's missing brother. After Lelia had left to stock up on supplies, Jason and Cinkel decided to stay at Phiadra's house for the night while Colette and Lloyd left for Dirk's house.
The cloaked men the group had caught a glimpse of earlier were sparring until they were stopped by an elderly man, whom had told them to quiet down and that the sun had gone down already. The two apologized and decided to train in the forest. Along the way, they ran past Lloyd and Colette, both of whom were also leaving the village. Suspicious that the two might be involved with the rumors, Lloyd made chase after the men along with Colette. Having heard Lloyd's yell, Cinkel and Jason followed as well.
The two men stopped when they heard voices coming from the group and encountered Lelia near the entrance of the village. The group had caught up with the men and questioned them if they had anything to do with the missing people. The two men introduced themselves as Oro Bainco and Schwarz Silber, and told Lloyd and the others that they were looking for new hunting grounds. However, the group's interaction was cut short when Oro had told Schwarz that they to leave immediately. Though it didn't stop the others from following behind.
Meanwhile, in the town of Luin, Emil Castagnier had gone out for a nightly walk, and encountered an elven woman named Cleo. Cleo offered a proposal to Emil: In exchange for her aid to help him investigate the rumors regarding missing people, he will buy her dinner for 3 months. As Cleo begun to head to the town gate, Emil bumped into a half-elf by the name of Zaul Oleander. Cleo hoped that the half-elf wouldn't join up with them, but Emil managed to persuade Zaul to join them. Zaul had also offered to help Emil pay for Cleo's meals.
Over Lake Umacy, a glowing gateway to the spirit world opened up and out dropped two men. The men, Rox and Marv, had sensed familiar traces of energy somewhere else in the world. Deciding to 'warm up', Marv killed the small band of mercenaries that were camping out near the lake as well as having the lakeside in a blaze. Having saw the glow coming from Lake Umacy, Emil, Cleo, and Zaul left Luin to investigate. Once they got there, not only did they see the destruction around the area, but they have encountered the men responsible.
Oro and Schwarz had reached a strait as they were heading in the direction where the light they saw was coming from. Not only was there a body of water troubling Schwarz, but the light they saw was already gone, and that Colette and the others were following them. Oro, despite not wanting to use this technique in front of the group, had an aura of light surround him and started to flare up. He grabbed Schwarz by the collar and took off through the water at a high velocity.
Colette decided to go after Oro and Schwarz on her own since she can travel by air, though Cinkel managed to carry Lelia and Jason across the water by using a technique that had wind wrapped around his body.
At Lake Umacy, after a bit of bickering between Marv and Rox, Rox decided to have his turn to indulge and challenged Emil, Cleo, and Zaul. During their battle, the trio had noticed that there was something very strange about Marv and Rox. Not only that, Oro and Schwarz had managed to appear in the battlefield. The trio aided the two with having Marv and Rox yield, which ended their battle...for now.
Meanwhile, Colette and company had lost track of Oro and Schwarz. However, Cinkel offered to locate the two since one of them was affiliated with an element he knew real well, though it would take him some time, and he also suggested on finding a place to stay. The group decided to head for Hima.
Unfortunately, since Cinkel had carried only two people across the strait, Lloyd was left behind.
Upon reaching Hima, Lelia had went her separate way to continue her search for her brother on her own. Cinkel was a bit disappointed with her departure since he was interested in her inventions, and Colette felt bad with the departure as well. Colette, Jason, and Cinkel arrived in Hima, and made their way to the Inn. There, they met Hinnacle Alseance, a nomadic priestess, and Veig Arelius, a traveling mercenary and bounty hunter. However, Veig didn't seem to trust the trio. They told the two about their encounter with Oro and Schwarz and about how they lost track of them as well as Lloyd getting left behind. After having a room set up, Cinkel had begun to show off a sample of his abilities as he prepared a big meal for the group, which had indeed impressed Hina, Colette, and Jason. Cinkel then left the inn to get what he needed in order to locate Oro and Schwarz.
After Rox and Marv left Lake Umacy, Oro revealed to Zaul that he and Schwarz had entered a battle that was a type of ritual of their people. However, he didn't get into more details, though he had also revealed that Rox and Marv were their mentors.
Emil and Schwarz heard rustling coming from the nearby bushes as well as a familiar voice. To their surprise, it turned out to be Lloyd, who was all wet as well as having bits and pieces of ice on him. The red-clad swordsman explained about his encounter with Oro and Schwarz to when he got left behind at the strait. He also explained that he had met a mage who wanted to try out a teleporting spell, which had him end up at the bottom of the lake.
With Oro injured, the group decided to head back to Luin to rest, though Oro refused to come along. However, Schwarz decided to use some sort of sealing tag on Oro, which had him take the form of a wolf pup and had Cleo reveal her soft spot for cute and cuddly things. Schwarz told the others that they shouldn't reveal what they have seen to anyone. Because of this, the brothers were questioned more about their kind. During the conversation, Lloyd had brought up Yuan Ka-Fai and Kratos Aurion, which had caught Emil's attention, as well as Zaul's. Emil was surprised to learn that Kratos was Lloyd's father, which was making him feel bad for not mentioning his brief encounter with Kratos during his last journey.
After arriving back at Luin, the group met Nepheus Osla, a traveler whom had accidently bumped into Zaul. She wanted to ask the group something, though she gotten into a panic when she found out that she had lost her map. Zaul pulled out his own map, assuming if the girl was going to ask where she was. It turned out that Nepheus was looking for another town to go to, though she wasn't familiar with the area. During the conversation, Cleo left Luin without a word.
