The journey across Bretonia was long and cold as Aurin and Skrow flew through the skies behind Tobias and his Grakadon. The black bird’s size and strength could not compare to that of the brown dragon, yet he forced himself to keep up as they flew over the plains, forests, towns and even the smaller mountains that dotted Bretonia’s vast and varied landscape.

“We’re almost there,” Tobias called from up ahead, pointing towards a large snow-capped mountain.

Aurin willed Skrow to catch up to the Bretonian national champion. “Are we going to be living out in the wilderness?” Aurin asked Tobias.

Tobias chuckled and shook his head. “No, not at all. Not unless you want to?”

“No, I’m good.”

It wasn’t long before a small cluster of houses made from red wood and grey stone. They were situated amongst the pine trees of the mountain and nestled just comfortably away from any steep drops. Aurin’s eyes ran from the town down to the base of the mountain and he could see the thin road that could take the villagers to and from their isolated homes.

Tobias and Aurin descended upon their Minakai and Aurin took more and more of the town in as they approached. There couldn’t have been more than three dozen buildings here in total. Aurin’s hometown of Greystone was a small place, much smaller than Harmony, but this town was as quiet as could be.

Grakadon landed on the snow-sprinkled cobblestones with a thud and Tobias hopped off. Skrow landed more gracefully and lowered himself onto the ground too, but he had to be careful not to lose his balance on the black ice.

“Welcome to Briarwood,” said Tobias, stretching out his arms and surveying the small town.

“It’s nice,” said Aurin. “Cozy.”

“And it’s your home for the next month. We’re going to be working hard and you’re going to fill your brain with things that you didn’t even think you needed to know. Are you ready for that?”

“Absolutely,” said Aurin, the nerves he had on the journey dissipating and being replaced by excitement.

“Excellent,” said Tobias, beckoning Aurin forward. “Grakadon will show your Skrow where he can get some rest while you and I get settled in. You don’t need to send him back to Kyle’s ranch. In fact, you’ll probably summon the rest of your team here soon and we’ll keep them here unless we’ve got a good reason to send them away.”

Grakadon and Skrow took to the skies and flew past the trees as Tobias led Aurin to the back of the town where a small house sat. The path up to the front door was laden with snow, something it did not share with the other houses which had all been cleared as recently as this morning.

Tobias pulled a small Fire Crystal out and held it tightly in his hand. He harnessed its energy and blasted the snow away from the path, giving the two a much easier route to the front door. He did this twice more until the entire walkway was clear and the snow piled in front of the door was gone. Tobias pulled out a key from his jacket and turned it in the lock, then opened the door and gestured for Aurin to go inside.

Aurin wasn’t sure what he expected, but it wasn’t this. The house was filled to the brim with filled bookshelves, paintings of Minakai and towers, and there were artifacts aplenty in various cases and cabinets. The furnishings and decorations were almost museum-like, but it was clear to Aurin that this was no museum.

“Sorry about the mess,” said Tobias, “I spend most of my time in Ludonia.”

“This is amazing,” said Aurin, walking up to a map of Bretonia lain out on the table with various red and green pins piercing it. “Are these the current open and closed towers across the country?”

“Yep,” said Tobias, “or rather it was a couple of months ago. It’s like I said, I’m not here often enough to keep it current. The burdens of being the national champion, I suppose, but it’s nice to have some free time now until after Christmas. Late spring and early summer is always the busiest period for me with the different tournaments and national championships occurring.”

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“What’s this?” asked Aurin, rushing over to a sparkling shard of a pearlescent stone.

“Take a guess.”

“It looks like an evolution shard, but it isn’t any of the ones I’m familiar with.”

“You’re so close.”

“Is it…does this…evolve cosmic Minakai?”

“Nail on the head,” said Tobias with a laugh. “It’s a Cosmic Shard and they’re among the rarest items in the tower. So rare in fact that very few people even know of their existence.”

“Can this evolve a Microbot into its cosmic evolution?”

“Microbot and other Minakai, yes. I’ve never used one, it feels too precious to use on anything but the strongest of Minakai. I could end up going to my grave saying that, never daring to take the leap. Funny how the mind works sometimes, not wanting to risk wasting something so incredibly rare even for its intended purpose.”

Aurin marvelled at a few other items that Tobias had stashed here as Tobias watched the young man examining them in awe. After a while Tobias cleared his throat.

“Oh yes,” said Aurin, pulling himself away from a bookshelf filled with books talking about various myths and legends. “You said we were going to talk about the game plan.”

“Indeed,” said Tobias. “We’re going to train you up and educate you more about Minakai. So where should we start with that?”

“My team?” asked Aurin.

“Is that a question?”

“My team,” said Aurin more defiantly.

“Precisely,” said Tobias.

Tobias walked to the back door and opened it up, accidentally bringing a pile of snow down onto his floor. He kicked it aside and walked outside with Aurin following him. They stopped in the middle of the back yard and Tobias held out his hand.

“Summon them,” he said.

“All of them?” asked Aurin.

“All of them.”

Aurin held out his tamer glove and summoned Shamtile, who leapt up and down excitedly until he realised how cold it was. He conjured stone armour that he fitted extra tight to keep himself covered. Spikruption appeared and stood proudly, puffing smoke from his nostrils. Dolissile meanwhile floated with his usual blank expression.

Next up, was Desparee who broke into tears upon feeling the cold. Upon seeing his breath, he was on the verge of curling up on the ground before realising that it would have been even colder. Steambot huffed and puffed, his metal body barely phased by the cold while Skrow came flying past him from where Grakadon had perched. Gorunze was as unphased as Steambot, but he stood much more still.

Chopchop looked ready for a fight, slashing his blades through the air while Arium sat upon his own floating hands to keep his tiny feet from touching the snow. Sunny floated around with her usual smile while Microbot clung to her with his tail cord. Lastly, there was Aurin’s latest addition to his team, his Petalcub who bounced around excitedly.

Tobias walked up and down Aurin’s line-up, looking at each of his Minakai intensely for a few seconds before moving onto the next. Aurin wasn’t sure what the esteemed tamer was looking for, but he had no doubt that he was seeing plenty.

“What do you notice about your coverage?” Tobias asked Aurin.

Aurin looked across his team of Minakai. “I’m missing three elements,” he said. “I don’t have an ice elemental, a lightning elemental or a cosmic elemental.”

“Don’t worry about the cosmic elemental. That’s a long shot at the best of times, but you’re right about the other two. I’m not going to give you any new Minakai, but it’s something you need to keep in mind going forward. There’s a gap that you may want to fill rather than loading up on more of the same elemental types. I know that’s easier said than done with the luck of the draw in the tower, but you can’t forget about buying eggs or split evolutions should you need them.”

Tobias continued to walk up and down, stopping before Shamtile. “He can be faster.”

Before Spikruption. “Overconfident.”

Dolissile. “His left fin is a half inch short. It’ll affect his turning.”

Leonite. “Short for his species. He needs to work on his speed to compensate.”

Desparee. “He needs to focus. The nature of your species can only be excused so much.”

Steambot. “He’s too stiff. His joints need to be more flexible.”

Skrow. “He should have been able to keep up with Grakadon more easily. Work on that stamina.”

Gorunze. “Those nails need sharpened.”

Chopchop. “Hasn’t settled into his evolution yet.”

Arium. “Worse emotional control than Desparee.”

Sunny. “She looks like she’s barely been tested.”

Microbot. “Same as your Sunny.”

Petalcub. “This one, we’ll see his flaws soon enough. Evidently a hatchling.”

Tobias finally stopped examining the Minakai and turned to Aurin. “Have you got any questions about anything I just said?” he asked.

“No,” said Aurin. “Actually, just one. How could you tell which Minakai had been used more than others?”

“They don’t have the look.”

“The look?”

“The look of a monster who has been in the thrill of battle. The look of a monster who has taken beating after beating and had to get up and keep going. The look of a monster who has had a taste of victory. It’s an instinct I have and one day you’ll have it too.”

Aurin could hear the passion in Tobias’s voice. This was truly a man who loved to fight. He needed to take this opportunity and be a sponge; absorb everything that he was shown and told.

“When do we start?” asked Aurin.

Tobias looked at his watch. “It’s about five o’clock right now so we’ll be losing light soon. That’s all well and good a week or two from now, but we’ll give ourselves a chance to rest for now. It’s been a long journey. Fancy some shepherd’s pie and a hot chocolate?”

Shamtile jumped up and down excitedly upon hearing this.

“Sounds good,” said Aurin. “Where can we get that here?”

“I know a place,” said Tobias slyly. “I’m sure you’ll get to know it all too well by the time we’re done.”