“Tobias!” cheered the Briarwood townsfolk as the adored champion walked into the pub with Aurin and Shamtile.

“Evening, folks,” said Tobias before turning to the barmaid. “Two shepherd’s pies, please Leanne, and three hot chocolates with it.”

“I didn’t know you were back in town, hun,” said Leanne cheerily. She was a tall woman with curly red hair and a bright smile. She must have been in her early twenties, likely no more than five years older than Aurin.

“Got some training to do,” replied Tobias, slapping Aurin on the back. “This is Aurin. He’s a tamer too.”

“He any good?” asked Leanne, raising an eyebrow.

“Good enough that I know I won’t be wasting my time.”

“You must be good then,” said Leanne, holding out her hand to Aurin. “Welcome to Briarwood, Aurin.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Aurin, shaking her hand.

Shamtile started tugging on his master’s sleeve, getting impatient at the lack of hot chocolate. He began grunting and groaning, causing a few of the townsfolk to turn and stare.

“Calm yourself down,” Aurin warned him. “We’re guests here and you’re not going to make a scene over a drink.”

Tobias laughed. “For your ace Minakai, he’s sure got a sweet tooth. I wonder how strong he would be if he cut the sugar out.”

“He’d probably be too low on energy to fight,” remarked Aurin as Shamtile sighed and slumped his shoulders.

“That’s one way to look at it,” said Tobias mildly amused as he glanced around the pub and spotted an empty booth to the side. “Come on and sit down.”

The two walked over to the booth and sat down while Shamtile slowly dragged himself along to join them, his head hung in shame.

“This is a good spot,” said Tobais. “I don’t even bother to buy food when I’m in town. They do everything from fried breakfasts to late night oats. Leanne’s family have run this place since I was Shamtile’s height.”

“Is this your hometown?” asked Aurin.

“Nah,” said Tobias, “I was born and raised in Ludonia. Briarwood was my grandmother’s hometown and that house we were in used to belong to both of them, God rest their souls. When they passed away, I decided this would be my retreat. If I ever wanted to go somewhere quiet, it would be here. I could train in peace and quiet out in the mountains without a care in the world.”

“Is it true that you don’t like the spotlight?” Aurin asked.

“It depends on my mood. I don’t like to do advertisements because I believe that I shouldn’t be used to sell products to people who look up to me. I like to focus on battling and being a good representative of our nation. If I can give a good battle or give a good show, I’m happy with that. Whenever I’m not needed, it’s nice to have alone time to train and study.”

“Is that the only reason we’re out here?” asked Aurin. “The quiet?”

Tobias smiled. “There’s more to this place than meets the eye, Aurin. All in due time.”

At that moment, Leanne brought over the hot chocolates and Shamtile jumped up for joy.

*

It was the crack of dawn and the temperature in Briarwood was below freezing. Aurin stood shivering in the pine forest along with his team, most of whom shivered along with him, as they awaited Tobias. Spikruption tried to ease the cold by blowing small puffs of flame around, but stopped when he accidentally set Desparee’s tail on fire prompting the nature elemental to burst into more tears than usual.

Tobias finally arrived without any Minakai of his own. “Ready to start?” he asked Aurin.

“S-start w-what?” replied Aurin, still freezing.

“Training.”

“I k-know you m-mean training, but w-what training are w-we doing?”

“To start with, a run through the snow to get you all warmed up. Those who can’t run, can fly or float. Let’s get moving.”

Tobias started to jog along the snow-covered road with his boots crunching against the white powder. Aurin looked around at his team and started jogging after Tobias, his team followed obediently. Shamtile thought he would be clever and try to cling to Leonite’s side, but Aurin yanked him away and through him up in front so that he could keep an eye on his sneaky companion.

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They ran and they ran with the cold biting Aurin so hard that his ears and teeth ached, but Tobias kept going and so did he. Even though some of the Minakai fell behind, Aurin dropped back to help them forwards. Arium and Microbot had a particularly tough time of it, but Aurin ordered the golden alien to use his fists to carry him along and told Microbot to run after Spikruption who was heating the path with his feet and melting away parts of the snow.

The run continued for over an hour and without even realising it, Aurin had stopped feeling the cold. He was so busy trying to keep up with the Bretonian champion while keeping his Minakai together that he didn’t have time to think about the weather. At last, Tobias came to a stop once they looped back to his house.

“Very good,” said Tobias, counting Aurin’s Minakai. “You kept everyone in line. Not a single Minakai left behind, even the small ones are all here.”

“Of course,” said Aurin, “I wouldn’t just leave my team members floundering.”

Tobias smiled.

“That’s what you were testing, wasn’t it?”

“A good leader has to be able to cover all bases, Aurin. Your Minakai are different sizes, elements, types, and so many other things. You would be surprised how many tamers would abandon their smallest and weakest Minakai.”

“That’s not what I would do.”

“And this proves that, but it also shows that there are a few of your team members who need to get up to scratch. We’re going to start with the four that I noted to be struggling the most. Can you guess which?”

Aurin felt bad admitting it, but he knew right off the bat who was lagging behind the rest of the team in almost all areas. “Arium, Sunny, Microbot, and Petalcub.”

“Indeed,” agreed Tobias. “That’s why your other Minakai can do another loop while you and these four train against me.”

“Against you.”

“Against me,” said Tobias, holding out a clear summoning stone. He focused on it and it began to glow, sending a flash of light before the masterful tamer and bringing forth one of his Minakai; a Zenoman.

The four-handed golden alien—and the evolved form of Arium—stood there impressively, its four large fists floating around it while coated in a hue of telekinetic energy. The Minakai looked formidable and Aurin knew that this one Minakai could take out the four of his that had been selected for training with ease.

“Back to running, hovering and flying, you lot,” said Aurin to Shamtile, Spikruption, Dolissile, Leonite, Desparee Steambot, Skrow, Gorunze and Chopchop. Shamtile threw his hands up in the air in frustration, but ran off first to lead the rest of the group.

“All four of you will battle my Zenoman,” said Tobias to Aurin’s four remaining Minakai. “You battle together, Zenoman battles alone. Understood?”

The four yapped and buzzed in agreement, while Aurin kept a careful eye on Zenoman. He had fought the species before and owning an Arium gave him insight into its powers, but no doubt Tobias’s specific Zenoman was a level beyond what Aurin had seen to date.

“Aurin, are you ready?”

“Ready,” said Aurin.

“Then let’s begin,” said Tobias.

He walked backwards and giving his Zenoman plenty of space to battle.

“There are four of you, take a hand each,” ordered Aurin, sending his Minakai into battle.

The four Minakai spread out and Zenoman hurled his fists at them, keeping his body well out of their reach. Arium tried to block heft punches with his own two hands and kept up well for a short while before the Zenoman’s punches made contact over and over, exhausting him.

Petalcub used his vines to restrain the fist and throw it aside, but Zenoman’s control was so strong that any attempts to divert attacks were immediately turned back. Microbot used his tail to prod and shock Zenoman, but it was more of an annoyance than anything else.

Sunny on the other hand fared the worst as she was not a Minakai suited for combat. She desperately weaved past attacks and tumbled through the air, but it was fruitless as a single attack knocked her to the ground.

Tobias stared at Aurin, waiting for him to do something, but Aurin was still trying to work out a new strategy to fight back. To do more of the same was to lose and no doubt fail Tobias’s test. He watched as his Minakai took more and more attacks, getting beaten up badly. They would be in no condition to fight if this continued for another minute.

“That’s it,” muttered Aurin. “Sunny, hang back, everyone else form a wall and defend her.”

Tobias gave a small involuntary nod of approval, but managed to otherwise remain stoic.

Zenoman’s fists converged and the three Minakai blocked as best they could, keeping the attacks away from Sunny. When Zenoman tried to swerve past them with his fists, Petalcub and Arium used their own powers to pull them away.

“Sunny, heal everyone now!”

Sunny squealed excitedly and glowed warmly as she unleashed her magic. Arium, Microbot and Petalcub’s cuts, bruises and scratches all mended on the spot. With renewed energy, the three battling Minakai banded together and beat back Zenoman’s attacks while Sunny took the time to heal herself.

“Arium and Petalcub, hold back Zenoman! Microbot, get up close.”

Arium threw out his hands and grabbed the thumbs of two of Zenoman’s hands, twisting them to distract him. Petalcub restrained the other two hands with his vines, holding as tight as he could while Microbot dashed forward to Zenoman’s body. Tobias’s golden alien sidestepped and dodged, playing with the tiny construct, but a lucky whip from Microbot’s tail struck him on the leg and jolted him.

Angered, Zenoman summoned his strength and his hands broke free of the restraints. He sent them soaring through the sky, each fist striking one of Aurin’s Minakai and knocking them out almost instantly.

Aurin was flabbergasted, not quite realising just how much Tobias had been holding back. “That was something else,” he said, marvelled.

“He can have a bit of a temper,” chuckled Tobias. “Your Minakai will be fine.”

“I just wish I could have done more damage before losing.”

“I wanted to see you think strategically against an opponent with an ability outside of the standard elemental conventions. Neutral Minakai can be the most dangerous because you don’t know what to expect. Many think they rely solely on melee combat, but Arium, Zenoman and Sunny are all prime examples of them being more capable than that.”

“I think I’ve taken Sunny for granted,” said Aurin, a little embarrassed to admit it. “I know healing is a great power, but I haven’t given her proper attention otherwise.”

“You’ve proven you can work in synergy. Now it’s just a matter of harnessing the full potential of each of your monsters. I would say you’re well on your way.”

Aurin thanked Tobias, but being here also showed Aurin how much he still had to learn.