Aurin and Dolissile stepped inside the swirling vortex and the doors of Harmony Tower closed behind them. Aurin had come prepared today with a couple of healing items and orbs that would let him ascend as high as he could. With only a week left to go before going to Ludonia, this would likely be his final tower run before the national championships were underway.

“If we can reach floor thirty, we’ve done very well,” he said to Dolissile. “Conserve your strength until you really need it.”

The cybernetic dolphin let out an echoey clicking sound and tilted forward into a nod as he hovered alongside his tamer. Aurin walked along the white and black tiles, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings. Even the lower floors could be dangerous if you weren’t on the lookout for traps or surprises around the corners.

“Let’s go,” said Aurin, leading the way.

Within a minute, a brown Driftseed was hopping along towards him with the leaf sticking out from its head flopping away. This creature was no threat and Aurin opted to take the Virgo approach. He took out a Fire Crystal and shot a fireball at the smiling monster, wiping the smile from its face and banishing it from the tower.

This run, Aurin wanted to work in perfect synergy with his Minakai. He would cover their backs while they would cover his. He knew this would prove much more difficult as he ascended through the floors, but the less tired his monsters were, the higher they would reach. If he was exhausted before they were then that’s when he would make them pick up the slack.

As they passed through each room, Aurin kept a careful eye out for traps and any worthwhile treasure. He chose to ignore the silver, tempting as the twinkling coins were, and picked up any herbs, orbs and crystals he could find along the way. On the first floor, this didn’t amount to much, but he successfully reached the elevator without Dolissile making a single attack.

The second and third floors were similarly successful with Aurin’s spell crystals shattering only to be replaced with others. Dolissile finally stepped in on the fourth floor and was doing the bulk of the work by the time the duo reached the tenth floor. Even still, having reached the tenth floor with Dolissile in good condition was a positive. Aurin was still able to provide support by checking for traps, healing his monster and using spell crystals to attack and distract the wild Minakai that roamed the corridors and rooms.

The first major problem of the run came on the seventeenth floor when the pair encountered a sneaky Budescent used his vines to whip Dolissile off course, sending him rushing towards the ceiling where he damaged his casing and threw off his typical pinpoint accuracy when shooting for a target.

“Knock him down with a pulse!” ordered Aurin and the Budescent was thrown into the wall moments later.

Dolissile charged after his opponent, crushing it against the wall and banishing it from the tower. Aurin, however, was out of healing items and unable to do anything to realign the cybernetic dolphin’s skewed snout. He was tempted to substitute Dolissile for one of his other two Minakai, but he elected to see how he could continue with Dolissile rather than actively striving for the fiftieth floor. It would be good preparation for the dolphin in the tournament should he suffer a battle injury and need to adapt and overcome.

On the twentieth floor and after at least five hours in the tower, Aurin was alarmed to find himself up to his waist in water. Dolissile, however, found this most pleasant and could swim through the water, something he much preferred to hovering.

“Do I detect a smile?” he asked the dolphin, whose faint mouth appeared to have a slight curve.

Ignoring his tamer, Dolissile propelled himself through the water and led the way as Aurin waded after him, laughing.

“Use your sonar and make sure that there’s nothing lurking underneath,” said Aurin, remembering the time a Seawub was giving Shamtile trouble in a waterlogged floor. “The less nasty surprises, the better.”

Dolissile suddenly torpedoed down the corridor, barrelling through five Minakai which were flipped out of the water. Each of them hit the walls and were banished before splashing back down. Aurin’s Minakai turned to him and let out a small call.

“Who needs to go bowling when I can just bring you into the tower, eh?” chortled Aurin, hurrying to catch up while fighting against the water.

The two continued through the floor, going from room to room. After sticking his arm under the water to pull up a healing herb that fixed Dolissile’s armour, Aurin decided to ignore the items hidden under the water, resolute that he was already soaked enough. Upon spying an egg submerged in the corner, he was incredibly tempted to pick it up, but that was not the reason he was here and carrying the egg in his bag would mean he couldn’t carry as much other items to help him climb. With a heavy heart, he sighed and walked away from it.

“That better not have been a cosmic Minakai,” he said to Dolissile as the two continued through the water. “I suppose I’ll never know.”

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Upon stepping into the next corridor, a water jet struck Dolissile, rolling him over. He spun around and charged towards a wild Innogon who was laughing at the dolphin. Upon seeing the speed at which Dolissile was approaching him, the Innogon squealed and dove underneath the water, but that didn’t stop him being bashed in the stomach by Dolissile.

“Wait!” called a voice from the shadowed end of the hallway.

“Dolissile, stop!” ordered Aurin.

A girl in a soaking school uniform sloshed through the water and picked up her Innogon. “I’m sorry!” she said as she walked towards Aurin. “I didn’t realise he was a tamer’s Minakai.”

“Accidents happen,” said Aurin, tapping Dolissile’s back with his knuckles. “I hope he didn’t hurt your Innogon too much.”

“She’ll be fine,” said the girl, holding out her hand. “We weren’t introduced properly last time. I’m Tilda.”

“Last time?” asked a confused Aurin, shaking her hand anyway.

“Yes, you told me and my friend Chelsea that you hoped we would make it past floor one.”

“I don’t remember…wait, were you one of the two girls that laughed at me after getting knocked out of the last national championships.”

“Guilty,” giggled Tilda uneasily. “I’m very sorry about that. I’ve since realised just how difficult taming Minakai is.”

“The twentieth floor is no small feat.”

“Well, there was two of us and my Innogon is my last Minakai. I doubt we’ll get much higher. How many Minakai do you have left, Aurin?”

“I still have my whole team.”

Tilda’s jaw dropped. “That’s….that’s…very good! Do you think you’ll make it all the way to the top again?”

Aurin laughed. “That’s always the goal, but who knows? I’m running solo today so even if I can get close to the top, I don’t know if I’ll stand much of a chance against the tower guardian.”

“I’m sure you’ll find a way,” said Tilda brightly, pulling out an Orb of Return. “Well, I think I might cut my losses and get out of here.”

“Wait!” said Aurin before she used the orb. “There’s an egg in that room I just came from if you want it. Better with you than letting it go to waste, right?”

“Oh?” asked Tilda, looking both surprised and grateful. “Thank you…I hope you go all the way in the tower and in the national championships. I know that the rancher, Kyle, won the Hazelton tournament, but we’re all rooting for you to dethrone Tobias.”

“Thanks, Tilda,” said Aurin with a smile as the schoolgirl wandered off the pick up the egg. “Let’s go, Dolissile.”

Much to Aurin’s relief, he ascended to a dry twenty-first floor. He tried wringing out his clothes, but he knew that they wouldn’t be drying anytime soon. At the very least, they wouldn’t get any wetter. Had it been Shamtile with him, the magical lizard would have laughed at him, but he was glad that Dolissile rarely showed much in the way of emotion.

The next few floors passed without a hitch, although it was clear that Dolissile was starting to tire. For that matter, so was Aurin. It must have been almost time for dinner outside and his stomach was growling ferociously. So much so that Dolissile had spun around to investigate before realising it was his tamer.

Ascending to the twenty-sixth floor, the duo was incredibly fatigued and Dolissile was quite beat up, but they were determined to keep pushing. Aurin hadn’t found any herbs on the last couple of floors and he feared that another tough enemy or two would be the end of the run for Dolissile. All the same, clearing half of the floors with a single Minakai was no small feat and he was feeling good.

After twenty minutes on the floor, an incredibly angry Chopchop sprinted towards the pair with its blades raised. Dolissile shoved Aurin out of the way and took a heavy hit to the side. His tamer expected him to vanish in a flash of light, but Dolissile was still holding on. With a pulse, he knocked the Chopchop back and a fusion fin attack cut straight through the insect’s armour, banishing it instead.

“Are you alright, mate?” Aurin asked, rushing over to his Minakai and inspecting the large wound on Dolissile’s side where blood was starting to pour from between the metal.

Not one to make a fuss, Dolissile let out a short groan and starting hovering on down the corridor again. Despite Aurin’s attempts to convince him to take a break, the cybernetic Minakai wanted to keep going. Even the healing herb that Aurin found was not enough to fully mend Dolissile’s wound, but at the very least it was able to stem the blood and close over a small portion of his casing.

Forcing their way to the thirtieth floor, Dolissile endured his injuries for another hour before finally dropping to the ground to take a rest. His metal plates swelled and contracted as his breathing grew heavier. Aurin brought out a couple of spell crystals that he had picked up along the way to cover his Minakai for a few minutes while he caught his breath.

“And nothing I can say will convince you to call it quits?” he asked the Minakai while looking up and down the corridor.

Dolissile groaned in denial, wanting to keep proving his already-proven worth.

“Caaaaw!” squealed a Peekawe as it soared down the corridor, aiming for Aurin.

“Agh!” yelled the tamer, throwing himself flat against the ground as the Peekawe flew past.

Aurin stood up and held both a Fire and Metal Crystal in his hands. As the Peekawe turned around, it charged towards him once again. Aurin held out the steel-coloured Metal Crystal, unleashing an iron spike that pierced the Peekawe’s leg. It veered down a fork in the path, but Aurin could hear its beating wings as it lurked just out of sight.

It burst from its path, sending a gust of wind at Aurin, throwing the two crystals from his hand and knocked him to the ground. The Peekawe cawed loudly as it sped towards him and Aurin closed his eyes. There was a sudden crash and Peekawe was slammed against the wall with Dolissile continuing to force himself into the turquoise bird.

Aurin rushed to retrieve the two crystals and send a fireball and iron spike straight towards Peekawe’s chest. The combined efforts of Dolissile pinning it and the two spells finished the Peekawe off, banishing it from the tower. Once it disappeared, Dolissile let out a mechanical groan and disappeared in a flash of steely-grey light too.

“You did well, mate,” Aurin said proudly. “I couldn’t have asked more of you.”

The tamer held out his tamer glove and summoned his next Minakai into the tower. Shamtile jumped up and down excitedly, having eagerly been awaiting his turn. He hadn’t expected it to take the entire day, but he was raring to go all the same.

“Floor thirty, Sham,” said Aurin with a faint laugh, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Let’s make it at least another ten.”