Back safe from the academy's training camp, Zelos and his proteges finally have a moment to rest. But it doesn't last long: Zelos-never the type to sit around idle-gets right back to working on a taboo magic experiment, and the academy's beset by shenanigans of all sorts.

Meanwhile, Iris, having been made keenly aware of her weaknesses during her fight against a faerie rose, has taken to training her hand-to-hand combat skills with Zelos's flock of battle-obsessed coccos. She's not the only one sparring with the birds either: The kids from Luceris's orphanage have been there too, honing their skills every single day.

Knowing they'll have to make their own way in the world before long, the orphans want to go out hunting for the first time-but they can't strike out alone, of course. And so off sets Zelos again, this time with Luceris and a group of unruly orphan kids...