A fresh gust of wind blows through a path in a deciduous forest. It is a fair morning, with all sorts of little critters, birds, and insects chirping and humming a natural, peaceful melody all around. Two people walk through a shadowed part of the path, eventually making it where the sunlight can shine on their faces.

“What do you think would happen if everyone in the world could use Emotio energy like us? Or like, if there was a whole continent of Emotio-wielding people?” says a lively scaled young woman who skips alongside the man beside her. Her red-orange hair, evoking a picture of a blazing stream, flows in the wind. She dons a traveling martial artist’s attire; not too armored yet light enough for precise punches or kicks. Her lively movement complements her appearance: she appears to be of a fire-breathing dragon race that looks more humanoid than reptile.

“In both circumstances: the world would instantly implode due to overload of emotions turned into magical energy.” said the man. “I think that’s a good reason not everyone can use it. Those who do however, should be more responsible” he solemnly continues, with emphasis on the responsible part. The man, of a youthful appearance, has a head of dark-blue slightly ruffled hair that complements his long, pointy ears. With eyeglasses and a white robe with black streaks, he appears to be a scholar of sorts. The emblem of the Sentio Knights, clearly printed on his cape, gives a certain gravity of truth to his answer.

“Hey, come on” she replies, noticing that he might have referred to something that happened in the past. “I can control my Iras energy now. Unlike last time. You can count on me, Lunde.” the fiery-haired girl says, smiling awkwardly.

The scholarly Lunde gives a look of disbelief. “I know, I’m kidding” he says. Sighing. A little worried, but taking her word for it nonetheless. “We’re almost there, by the way. Get the lantern ready, Ember.”

A few minutes later, they come across a wall of stone full of foliage. Nothing is out of the ordinary, as there are plenty of other cliffsides with vines and leaves in the forest. However, Lunde stares at it for a good while. “There must be more than meets the eye with this place” he thinks to himself.

A deer comes running by shortly. Much to everyone’ surprise, it runs straight into the leafy wall and goes right past it as if there was nothing there.

The flame-headed Ember is instructed to raise an antique lantern facing the wall. Ember wonders that using a lantern in the middle of the day is strange unless you were indoors in a room with no windows. Her puzzled expression eventually ceases however as Lunde starts chanting an Emotio art.

“By the Order of the Twin Blades and Lone Shield, and with this lantern as my focus, I unlock my mind to seek what is unknown. Curio Art: Secret Revelations”

Within a few seconds, a shimmering sound and a faint glow comes from the unlit lantern.

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“Emotio art of this kind is rare, and you got to be a really seasoned and curious Sentio Knight to master this. Good thing its embedded in a magic object to be used conveniently a few times.” Lunde mentions as his eyes glow with enthusiasm.

“Boys and their toys.” Ember jokes. “You like studying, learning, and all the stuff that makes me feel like I’m chained to my seat. You sure you haven’t mastered it already?”

Lunde shakes his head. “More training is required it seems. I did the tests and they said I’m not ready for that level of magic yet. As Knight Captain Goldrock said, you need absolute focus with an emotion to master a spell or at least to use it properly.”

The spell takes effect, and the foliage dissipates as if it were a trick of the light; a mere illusion. A cave entrance is then revealed, under an arch where intricate and ancient carvings can be seen.

“Wow! Huh. So, this is it. This is what they asked us to find. To be honest, I thought you wanted to climb the wall when I saw you staring at it for a while.” Ember laughingly mentions.

“It sounds like something we would do. You know, as scouts.” Lunde replies. “I’m a little nervous, not going to lie. I’m a little claustrophobic. But, I am quite curious to uncover the next piece of information for our project.”

The entrance to the cave is quite wide, allowing a small group to take their first step inside all at once. The two then slowly make their way in the hole in the wall, constantly scanning the area for dangerous energies and checking for manual traps along the way.

“So, what do you think we’ll find? Aside from what we’re meant to find, I mean. Anything about physical arts and new cool moves I can learn to destroy the Corrupted?” Ember asks with sparks in her eyes, excited to learn new skull-crushing fighting arts.

“Let’s play safe. Get that stone slab and leave. Speaking of Corrupted, be on guard. We might…no, we will encounter them. This place hasn’t been cleared by the Purifiers yet.” Lunde cautiously warns her.

“Relax, Lunde. Iras arts will save the day, always have.” Ember says with such confidence. She takes out a torch from her adventuring pack and breathes fire unto it.

The two then delve into the cave. It gets more damp and colder after every turn and as they descend, but at least they can see where they are going. As they move forth, they come across small rooms after each narrow passageway. On some of the room walls, similar symbols to the arch outside are etched to it. Ancient curves, lines, and breaks; unlike any script they’ve ever seen before. Lunde takes note of the symbols as they move further. As they are about to turn the next corner, they suddenly hear a tearing sound. Ripping and shredding, as well as wild growls.

“Sounds like spikewolves.” Ember says, reading her fists. “Finally, things to pummel to the earth.”

They slowly peek to see what lays beyond, and it is indeed a group of these beasts. Around 3 monstrous wolf-like creatures with unnaturally long, spiky quills on their backs lay head. They gnaw, chew, and fight over the carcass of a deer. Probably the one that made it in the cavern earlier.

“The Corrupted, victims of Emotio Corruption. Once people, now turned into monsters by too much Emotio. Poor things.” Lunde remarks. “There’s always a risk for getting infected with the corruption too. Let’s just sneak around them using some Timoris—”

“They’re long gone now though” Ember says and charges straight at them. “Iras Art: Dragon Buster!”

Streaks of flame are summoned that condense and collect in her fists. She dashes in and directs a punch to the closest spikewolf in her attack range.

“Damnit, Ember!” Lunde exclaims with such concern, chasing after her to aid her in battle.