“Easy there, Aurin,” said Clarke as the older man stepped into the clearing where Aurin and his Minakai were braced in the middle of the fairy ring. “I’m not some trickster who jumps youngsters and beats them to a pulp, alright?”

“Fair enough,” said Aurin as he and his team relaxed.

Clarke was accompanied by his three Minakai. The first was the purple and blue avian that was Rainbird. Second was the pale white bat, Sanguice. Lastly was a long golden serpent with sharp fangs, pale feathery wings and a tuft of feathers sprouting from its tale. Atop its head were slicked back red feathers. It bore three red rings around its tail and another red ring around its neck. Aurin had never seen this Minakai before, but he deduced that it was an evolved Quetzel.

“Quetzalia,” said Clarke, noticing Aurin’s gaze lingering upon his sky serpent far longer than it did on the others.

“Ah,” said Aurin, committing the name to memory. “How’s the tournament been going for you, Clarke?”

“Eh, so so,” shrugged Clarke. “I’ve defeated one tamer so far and found a couple of items here and there, but nothing useful. Quetzalia spied this egg from the sky, but you got here barely a minute before me. I should have ordered her to retrieve rather than come here myself so I’m the fool for that.”

“Do you want to know what’s inside?” asked Aurin.

“Nah, I’d rather not know what I missed out on,” laughed Clarke, straightening his tie. “Honestly, I’m glad to have run into you so early. I’ve heard a fair bit about you from my friend Tobias. He speaks quite highly of you.”

“Tobias?” asked Aurin. “The Tobias?”

“Do you know any other people called Tobias?”

“No.”

“Then it is indeed the Tobias,” said Clarke. “We’ve been friends for many years, even though I’ve got at least ten years on him. I suppose it’s like you and that rancher, but he’s got a good twenty years on you. It’s nice to have friends from different generations of taming, you can learn a lot from each other.”

“It is,” said Aurin. “I wouldn’t be half the tamer if it weren’t for Kyle. He’s guided me from start to finish and still helps me to this day.”

“That’s good,” said Clarke. “It doesn’t detract from your own efforts, but it’s good that you appreciate those who help you along the way. That’s to be respected.”

“What did Tobias say about me?” asked Aurin, curious as to why the most renowned tamer in all of Bretonia was speaking about him. He had a lot of respect for the national champion.

“He said you’re a young tamer with a lot of potential. He’s got good judgement, so I trust that, but I’m curious about your strength myself. If you’re up for it, I would like a one on one battle.”

“Only one on one?” asked Aurin.

“Yes. There’s no sense in us eliminating each other this early on, but it would be good to pit two Minakai against each other before they’re fatigued from too many battles. What do you say?”

“I’m all for it,” said Aurin. “Shamtile, are you?”

Shamtile waved his arms in the air and emitted a warbled growl.

“I take it that that’s a yes?” asked Clarke.

“That’s a yes alright.”

“Excellent,” said Clarke, looking at Quetzalia and nodding his head.

Aurin, Gorunze and Snippet stepped back from the fairy ring as Quetzalia moved forwards to meet Shamtile, who leapt back to the edge of the ring. The two were no more than fifteen feet apart. If Quetzalia was anything like its previous evolution, it would be quick off the mark. Shamtile would have to act quickly in case of a pre-emptive strike.

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“Fight!” barked Clarke.

“Wall!” ordered Aurin.

Quetzalia burst forward and had to veer out of the way as Shamtile’s rocky wall erupted from the ground. Aurin had guessed right and Clarke was going for a swift finish if he could manage it, but Aurin would not allow that.

The sky serpent moved around the rock wall and Shamtile erupted more and more until Quetzalia was forced to attack from above. As Clarke’s Minakai charged inside the column, Shamtile shot out from the top, having thrown himself upwards with a pillar. His fists were coated in stone and he smashed straight into Quetzalia’s jaw.

“That is impressive,” said Clarke with a satisfied smile. “Quetzalia, don’t let him get back to the ground.”

Shamtile was suddenly wrapped up tightly in Quetzalia’s tail as the serpent flapped its wings and soared higher and higher into the sky. Shamtile forced one of his hands free and started beating his opponent’s tail with his rock-encrusted hands. With each punch, more of the stone broke off and left him with a weaker punch.

“He doesn’t need the ground,” said Aurin. “He’s a magic class Minakai.”

As Shamtile realised his punches were getting less and less effective, he raised his free hand and summoned a large stone spear. Rather than aim for his opponent, he grabbed hold of it and used its reach to clobber Quetzalia on the back of the head as though it was a club. The serpent turned around angrily and made to bite the lizard on the arm, only to find herself biting into the club that Shamtile shoved in her mouth.

Shamtile waved his arm and summoned a barrage of town that pummelled his opponent’s wings, making her lose balance. She plummeted downwards, releasing Shamtile in order to right herself. Not wanting to slam into the ground, Shamtile conjured up and earth pillar for himself to land on. He lowered it more slowly to the ground, where the tamers and their other Minakai stood.

“He’s very resourceful, isn’t he?” asked Clarke.

“Incredibly,” said Aurin.

“Quetzalia!” called Clarke as his Minakai flew down. “Nightmare wing attack.”

Quetzalia’s wings suddenly turned black and became engulfed in a wispy smoke, as did her eyes. She spun around as she hurtled towards Shamtile who tried to leap out of the way, but had tired himself during the aerial battle. Quetzalia collided with him and sent him flying through the air and into the trees.

Aurin had never seen that air attack before and was stunned that it had thrown Shamtile backwards so easily. Aurin turned to try and find his Minakai, but Shamtile must have been thrown back so far that he was lost amongst the leaves.

As Quetzalia flew forwards, a rocky bullet in a wooden mask shot through the air and knocked the serpent to the ground. It was Shamtile encased in his stone armour. Clarke’s mouth hung open for a second.

“Quetzalia, up,” he said, but his Minakai didn’t move. “Come on now.”

“It looks like we win,” said Aurin as Shamtile threw off his jagged armour and started poking the unconscious Quetzalia. She spasmed and Shamtile leapt out of the way in shock, but she remained on the ground.

“Well how about that,” chuckled Clarke. “I’ve never seen anyone stand up to Quetzalia’s nightmare wing like that. Your Shamtile seems a little bruised, but that’s about it. Very impressive.”

“It was a powerful move,” said Aurin as Shamtile climbed up him and sat atop his tamer’s head as Snippet danced around and cut at the air. Gorunze, meanwhile, remained stoic. “Where did you learn that one?”

“There’s a world of great tamers out there, all with secrets of Minakai to share if you only ask them to. Competitions are only scratching the surface.”

“How can I find these tamers?” asked Aurin, curious about how they could help him become a stronger tamer.

“When you’re ready to venture beyond the monster towers, you’ll find a way,” said Clarke, making little sense to Aurin. “In the meantime, I think you have a good chance to win this entire battle royale if your Minakai continue to fight like that.”

“They’re a good team,” said Aurin, tapping his fist on Gorunze’s metal frame. “I’m proud of them.”

“If these other two fight half as well as Shamtile, you shouldn’t have a problem. That said, there are a few here who should not be underestimated.”

Suddenly Lord Kensington’s voice rang out. “Tamer forty-nine, Master Benjamin, eliminated by tamer seven, Master Frederick.”

Aurin laughed dryly. “That’s one of them,” he said. “He can be a nasty piece of work if you make him angry and even nastier if you catch him when he’s calm and calculated.”

“Maybe I’ll see if I can find him next,” said Clarke, turning to leave.

“Clarke,” said Aurin.

“Yes?”

“Do you still compete competitively?”

“No,” he said, “but I made an exception for an oddity like this. I spend most of my time seeking out the hidden secrets of Minakai. There are thousands of these creatures out there and I still don’t know everything there is to know about the ones found in Bretonian towers.”

“What about the cosmic elementals, have you ever seen them?”

“All three of the local ones, yes,” said Clarke, continuing to walk away. “I’m sure I’ll see you again soon, Aurin. Good luck.”

“You too, Clarke,” said Aurin as Clarke and his remaining two Minakai departed from the clearing.

Shamtile jumped off Aurin’s head and snatched the egg from his tamer, giving it a little shake.

“Careful with that!” scolded Aurin, taking it back from the rambunctious little Minakai. “Shall we find out what’s inside?”

His three Minakai all made varied noises of agreement as Aurin pulled out the Identifying Glass. He held it up to the egg and looked at it, seeing an image of a small, green wolf in his mind. Suddenly, the lens shattered, leaving the Identifying Glass useless. It didn’t matter, it had done what it needed to do.

“If we can find an incubator, we’ll have ourselves a Petalcub on the team,” he told his Minakai. “Let’s get moving again, shall we?”