“You’ve done well to hang onto three Minakai for the entire tournament,” said Hunter, looking impressed as he surveyed Aurin’s team.

“I had my Gorunze with me,” said Aurin, his expression turning into a frown, “but he was defeated by a cheap trickster using dirty tactics. I found Petalcub’s egg in the forest and was lucky enough to find an incubator in the tunnels.”

Hunter laughed and shook his head. “I wouldn’t call that luck.”

“No?”

“You were searching for it, right? I heard the announcements. You eliminated your fair share of tamers along the way, so you weren’t hiding while you looked for the items. You had to fight your way through and this was your reward for your repeated victories, is that not the case?”

“Yes, it is.”

He was right, of course. Aurin hadn’t been playing it safe this entire time. He had battled many other tamers while playing the game and hunting for items. He had been successful and it had paid off for him. To have strolled around the palace in a constant loop, inviting tamer and after to challenge him would have simply been foolish. He knew that.

Hunter nodded knowingly. “Selling yourself short by calling it luck isn’t acceptable to me. You underplay your achievements as much as Luna does hers.”

“Am I that bad?” asked Aurin.

“Sometimes,” laughed Hunter. “You just disguise it better. I think the national championships knocked you back a bit, if anything.”

“When I first arrived in Hazelton, I was an unfortunate mix of confident and naïve even though I had very little experience with Minakai. I thought I knew a lot more than I did and when push came to shove, I fell short. It was thanks to people like Luna, Kyle and yourself that I was able to learn quickly and push myself to reach the point that I’m at today.”

“There you go, you’re doing it again. You may have had people help you and push you, but you’re ultimately the one that put in the work and did the training. You’ve been in the tower fighting endlessly, you’ve faced countless tamers and defeated most of them. Even the ones you haven’t defeated or you’ve struggled against? You’ve learned something from. Every action you’ve taken has led you up to this point and to continue doing so will be what takes you to the next level.”

“You do the same, don’t you?” asked Aurin.

“I’ve been in the game a lot longer than you have and the speed at which you’ve caught up to me has been nothing short of astounding. You possess an affinity for Minakai that’s very rare and you bring out the best in each of your monsters. I have no doubt that in five years from now, you’ll be in a different league than the rest of us.”

Aurin’s eyes narrowed. “This isn’t you bigging me up just so I get overconfident in our battle, is it?”

Hunter laughed. “No,” he said, “but that would have been a smooth little trick, wouldn’t it? I mean what I’m saying, as I always do.”

“Thank you, Hunter,” said Aurin, “I appreciate it a lot.”

“You’re most welcome. I only ask that when you’re fighting amongst the best of them, that you stop by for a battle every once in a while. Don’t let me get complacent.”

“Of course,” said Aurin.

“I’ll be sure to hold you to that.”

The two stood quietly as tensioned filled the air around them. Neither wanted to fight, yet they wanted it more than anything. Aurin saw Hunter as a tamer to aspire to reach, whereas Hunter saw Aurin as someone constantly snapping at his heels. He knew it was only a matter of time before the young man took an entire leg.

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“Shall we get on with it then?” asked Aurin.

“Yes, I think we should,” said Hunter, looking around the grasslands. “There’s another player out there who I’m sure isn’t too far away. If he’s riding one of his Leonite, he’ll be here in no more than a minute or two. With only three of us left, I can’t see him waiting to let us enjoy our battle peacefully.”

“Likewise,” said Aurin, looking around to see if there was any sign of Frederick.

“Then, let us begin.”

“Shamtile, you’re up.”

Shamtile began to step forwards, but Chopchop put a blade out to stop him. The armoured insect shook his head and turned to his tamer with a look of determination on his face.

“You’re sure?” asked Aurin. “Shamtile’s in better shape than you are right now.”

Chopchop clicked and nodded, certain that he wanted to fight. It may have been that he wanted to prove how useful he was or perhaps he wanted to test his might now that he had evolved, but the soldier ant looked confident.

“Alright,” said Aurin. “Your call.”

“A one-on-one fight it is then,” said Hunter. “I doubt your Chopchop will accept any of his teammates stepping in to help him.”

“It seems that way,” said Aurin, giving a nod to Shamtile and Petalcub, who both moved behind their tamer to stay out of the way.

“Ready?” asked Hunter.

“Ready,” confirmed Aurin.

“Begin!”

Shockbot waited patiently in a readied stance as Chopchop ran forwards with his blades swept out behind him. Once Chopchop was close, Shockbot let loose a lightning bolt, but the armoured insect leapt over it and rolled forward, swinging his two blades together like a pair of guillotines. The lightning robot jumped to avoid the attack and delivering a kick from his rubbery foot to Chopchop’s head, but Chopchop’s helmet took the brunt of the kick and it merely knocked him back.

Chopchop moved forwards and swung his arms precisely, while Shockbot nimbly avoided each of the swings with his surprisingly quick movements. Compared to his bulkier counterparts like Flambot and Steambot, he was agile. As Chopchop’s movements slowed from the strain of his relentless assault, Shockbot punched him in the face once more and knocked him to the ground.

Shockbot whipped his tail around and zapped the prone Chopchop with it as though it was a cattle prod. The bladed insect writhed in pain, but found the strength to throw himself further along the grass. He climbed to his feet and turned to face Shockbot once more, his blades raised and ready.

“Don’t hold back,” said Aurin, knowing that Hunter had a lot more in him.

“Likewise,” said Hunter.

Shockbot burst forward in a flash of lightning, but Chopchop blocked him with one of his arms. He swung with his other and it collided with Shockbot’s metal body. Chopchop felt a surge of electricity run through him and recoiled backwards.

“Go for the arms and the legs,” ordered Aurin.

Shockbot shot lightning strike after lightning strike as Chopchop who weaved out of the way. He was forced to block a couple with his arms, taking some pain as he did so, but he powered through. Once the robot was forced to gather his energy again, Chopchop’s arms swung wildly as he forced Shockbot backwards. He attacked and attacked until Shockbot moved just a little too slowly and Chopchop cut into the robot’s rubbery leg, making it drop into a kneel.

Chopchop raised his blade to make a final strike, but Shockbot grabbed onto Chopchop’s legs and sent a wave of electricity through the insect. Shockbot stood up, ignoring the pain in his leg and flung Chopchop aside.

The lightning elemental gathered his remaining strength and summoned a mighty lightning strike from the sky that struck Chopchop. The insect spasmed violently, collapsed to the ground and then stopped moving. He had given it is all, but he was defeated by Hunter’s powerful Minakai.

“That was a valiant effort, Chopchop,” said Aurin, raising his glove and banishing his Minakai back to the ranch. “Sunny will take care of you until we’re home.”

“Who’s next?” asked Hunter, looking very proud of his Shockbot. “We’ve still got some left in the tank.”

“Shamt—”

Shockbot was suddenly pounced upon from the side by a dark lion, masked by the cloak of night. The Leonite sank his teeth deep inside Shockbot’s metal body and tore chunks of his plating up. It was over in seconds, but the damage was immense and Shockbot wouldn’t be able to continue.

“Tamer one, Master Hunter, eliminated by tamer seven, Master Frederick,” announced Lord Kensington.

“Whoops,” said Frederick, approaching the other two tamers. “Where you in the middle of something?”

“What do you think you’re doing?” asked Aurin, furiously.

“It’s a battle royale, Aurin,” said Frederick. “You may not like it, but this is perfectly within the rules. Now that leaves me with two mighty Minakai and you with one Minakai and a weak little hatchling. I like my chances, I have to say.”

“Two Minakai?” asked Hunter, the anger in his voice barely controlled.

“Two Minakai,” said Frederick. He gave a whistle. “Leofang!”

A lion, notably larger than his Leonite emerged. The red-maned Leofang with its sharp teeth and burly body approached. Aurin and Hunter’s jaws dropped as the mighty lion approached them. The mighty lion that was thought to have gone extinct a long time ago.