Dolissile collided with Brody’s Guilgon, forcing the water jet it had prepared out of its mouth. The blue dragon’s eyes were wide as it fell backwards and sprawled across the grass, all the while Dolissile backed up and was ready to strike again should his opponent dare stand up.

“And Aurin has won his second match of the tournament!” called the announcer as Aurin pumped his fist.

He had a much easier time of it in this battle than he had in his battle against Moon and her Ethruki. He had almost cleared Brody’s entire team with Spikruption, but Guilgon had managed to take him out after a tough battle. Dolissile made very quick work of the dragon that had already been tired out, leaving Aurin with Lycavine resting in his reserves.

“Good battle,” said Aurin as Brody avoided eye contact while looking despondent.

“Yeah,” he mumbled as he shook Aurin’s hand before walking away.

Aurin waved to the roaring crowd as they chanted his name. He was feeling good and every match brought him one step closer to the opponent’s he truly wanted to face. Nothing was going to slow him down this year and he was more prepared and more skilled than ever.

*

“There you go,” said Luna, passing Hunter’s son, Saxon, a hot dog on a paper plate.

“Thank you,” said Saxon graciously and ran over to the picnic table.

“Walk!” called his mother, Petunia, while holding her heavily pregnant belly. She tutted. “That boy, he’s gotten so active lately.”

“Easy on him,” chuckled Hunter, plating another few hot dogs and passing them to Jimmy’s Zenoman who took one plate in each hand. “He’s always eager to go, just like his dad.”

“Mmm!” squealed Emily as Zenoman placed a plate in front of her, Jimmy, Gardner and Aurin, who were all sitting at the same large picnic table as Saxon.

“Should we eat before everyone sits down?” asked Jimmy uncertainly, looking around, but Gardner was slathering his with mustard while Aurin had already taken a large bite out of his.

“Mmf…oops,” said Aurin, gulping it down. “Ah well, no going back now.”

“You’re such a glutton,” called Kyle as he walked over with his own plate. “You couldn’t wait thirty seconds, could you?”

“Better to eat it before it gets cold,” shrugged Hunter as he turned a few more sausages over on the barbeque he had set up on his balcony.

Having never been to Hunter’s house before, Aurin was marvelled when he laid eyes on it. It was a beautiful townhouse, four storeys tall and with a small garden out the back, but the balcony that took up half the fourth floor was the crowning jewel. Hunter hat planted grass and a few trees here, turning it into a second garden with a much better view than the first one. Aurin could see over half the houses in the neighbourhood and most of the major landmarks of the city were visible, cropping out in the distance, including the stadium.

“Kyle,” said Emily, as Kyle sat down. “How does it feel to have gone toe-to-toe with a cosmic Minakai? Was it nerve-racking? Terrifying? Were you calm? I need to know!”

“Calm down,” laughed Kyle. “It was…exactly what I expected it to be. Difficult.”

“You should learn from the master,” said Aurin, standing up proudly and holding his hand to his heart.

“You got lucky going up against a newly hatched Ethruki and a tamer that’s less skilled than Frederick,” scoffed Kyle, rolling his eyes.

“All the same,” said Luna, walking over with Innogon and Shamtile bouncing along behind her. “There’s no denying it’s the most powerful element, even when it hasn’t been harnessed fully.”

“Yeah, fine,” said Kyle. “You did well, Aurin. Now sit down and stop making a spectacle of yourself.”

“I’m just joking around,” said Aurin. “In all seriousness, I need your help to get up to scratch before battling Frederick.”

“Before battling Frederick?” asked Luna, nudging him in the ribs. “What makes you so sure you’ll defeat me and get that chance?”

“Well, um…” muttered Aurin, making everyone laugh.

“Put your foot in it there, mate,” said Gardner, slapping him on the back.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Train both of us to fight Abysarex,” said Aurin, ignoring the last few moments of conversation. “We need to be prepared for him. It’s one thing watching the battle and it’s another being trained by the one who was in the battle.”

Kyle nodded. “Already written up my post-battle notes and we’ll be going over them in Baxter Park tomorrow.”

“You make post-battle notes?” asked Emily, squinting at Kyle. “Does anybody else do that?”

“No,” said Aurin, Luna, Gardner and Jimmy in unison and then exchanging glances.

“This man right here does,” said Petunia, patting her husband on the arm. “He writes up all of his major battles, reviews footage if there’s any available and will spend hours in his study trying to finetune where he went wrong and where he went right.”

“You’ve spoiled my strategy, honey,” said Hunter with a dry laugh. “But yes, she’s right. I do that too.”

“Now I can’t help but feel as though I should be doing that too,” said Aurin, looking at Shamtile who had torn up his bun and was juggling it for the amusement of the other Minakai—Innogon, Jimmy’s Zenoman, Gardner’s Frilleaf, Emily’s Petalcub and Hunter’s latest Microbot.

“Good juggler,” write it down, said Luna with a giggle. “You’ve never used that skill in battle before.”

“And never will I,” said Aurin.

“Aurin, you’re finished?” asked Hunter, tossing the tongs over to Gardner who almost fumbled them.

“Yes, why?” replied Aurin.

“Got something to show you that may come in useful,” said Hunter before looking to Gardner. “Don’t let these burn, I haven’t eaten.”

“On it, boss,” said Gardner, standing up and getting hit on the side of the head by a piece of bread that Innogon had blasted out of Shamtile’s hand.

Aurin followed Hunter downstairs and into a large room with red walls and lined with a dozen pine bookshelves. At the back of the room sat a large desk with a few stacked books and a dusty computer that didn’t look like it got much used half as much as the books. Aurin drew his eyes across Hunter’s study, trying to take in all of the texts, tomes and manuals, but there were hundreds of them. So many that even Tobias would have been envious.

“What are these?” asked Aurin, walking up to a glass cabinet and peering inside. “I recognise the Cosmic Shard, but not the others.”

“Ah,” said Hunter, stepping up beside him. “Most of these don’t apply to Bretonian Minakai or at the very least only apply to those who can evolve to forms not found in Bretonian monster towers.”

“Like my Lycavine. I needed a Full Moon Gem to evolve him from Budescent otherwise he’d have become a Vinewolf.”

“Exactly. The evolutions can be complicated, crossing between regions. Although I shouldn’t need to tell you that seeing as you have a Glacibot now.”

“And what about you and that Cosmic Shard?” asked Aurin, nodding towards the glistening pearlescent stone. “How long have you had that?”

Hunter smiled and closed his eyes. “I’ve had it for a year, but it’s going to remain in that cabinet until I can confidently say that I’ve mastered the other nine Microbot evolutions. Once I’ve done that, only then will I use it to evolve a Microbot into an Etherbot.”

“You don’t make things easy for yourself, do you?” chuckled Aurin.

“Perhaps not, but I want to make sure that I can handle the power of mighty Minakai. You should know how that feels, right?”

Aurin was taken aback. How could Hunter have known about Zeera? Had Kyle run his mouth?

“It’s alright, I can keep a secret,” said Hunter. “Besides, it’s a long shot to get it hatched and ready for a tournament battle considering the tournament is already underway.”

It hit Aurin what Hunter was talking about. “How did you find out about the golden egg?” he asked.

“I go and meet with Professor Socrates often to run ideas past him,” said Hunter before holding out his hand. “Let me congratulate you on reaching the top of one of the monster towers. It’s a feat that I have yet to achieve.”

“Thank you, Hunter,” said Aurin, accepting the handshake graciously. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t think I would make it to the top. I scraped by the final battle by the skin of my teeth…well, the metal of Steambot’s casing.”

“It doesn’t matter how close of a call it was. It should be a close call otherwise it’s not a true challenge and test of your abilities. The highest floor I have reached is forty-seven…twice now.”

Aurin wanted to say something encouraging, but couldn’t think of a way to not come across as condescending so he nodded and said nothing.

“Anyway,” said Hunter, waving his hand through the air. “I said I had a gift for you.”

He walked over to his study table, pulled out the top drawer and lifted out a large book. He walked over to Aurin and handed it over.

“The Towers of Bretonia,” said Aurin, reading aloud. “What’s it about?” he joked.

Hunter let out a chuckle. “Give it a read and maybe you’ll find something useful. You’ve been to, what, three monster towers? There are many others in Bretonia and I think you’ll find that the others present some unique challenges. Many things from different Minakai spawn rates, different difficulty levels, different anomalies like the wide-open floors, and so on. They towers have been studied extensively and the author has compiled together a lot of the most pertinent information.”

“Thank you. It may take until after the tournament for me to start reading it properly.”

“I expected as much. My thoughts were that you have a lot of time between this tournament and the next, no matter how the national championships turn out. Perhaps exploring Bretonia and seeing what else our beautiful nation has to offer you would be beneficial to you in the long run.”

“I think you’re right,” said Aurin, looking at the book cover again. “I’ve been a tamer for three years and I still feel like I’m barely scratching the surface, even after everything I’ve done.”

“You and me both, Aurin,” said Hunter, shaking his head. “I could reach the top of every tower in the country and still feel incomplete. We’re chasing unattainable goals that we will never see through, no matter what we do. As long as we enjoy the ride and can leave something useful behind for those that follow, then we’ve done what we need to do.”

“I agree.”

“Shall we head back outside?” asked Hunter. “I want to make sure Gardner didn’t burn the sausages.”

Aurin and Hunter walked back upstairs and out onto the balcony. For the rest of the gathering, all Aurin could think about was what he wanted to do after the tournament. Whatever it was, he knew now that he would need to venture beyond Hazelton and see what else was out there for him. It may have been secret places of great significance like Sule Scrin where his Zeera was waiting for him or it may have been Minakai that had yet to be discovered.