“You need to focus on being evasive and knowing how to distract Abysarex if you two want to have a shot at taking down Frederick,” said Kyle to Aurin and Luna as they all stood in the park with a handful of their Minakai each.

“Agreed,” said Aurin, looking to Leonite, Chopchop and Spikruption.

“Yep,” said Luna as her Splashard, Angree and Cephelarock kept close to her.

“You’ve both trained heavily in offense, speed and defence already, but that won’t be enough. You’ll want to pull out tricks that you haven’t even thought of before in order to catch the cosmic off-guard. The teleportation ability is his biggest weakness because it tires him out using it too often.”

“Keep our distance and force him to close the gap,” said Luna.

“Yes, but there’s nothing stopping him from using long-range attacks too. You’ll also want to use attacks that he desperately wants to avoid. Abysarex is surprisingly fast for a bulky Minakai, but he still isn’t as fast many of yours. Now, I have to ask you an important question…”

Aurin and Luna looked to each other, knowing what Kyle was about to ask. The pair had discussed their answers at length already.

“Why did you pick the Minakai that you did?” asked Kyle.

“I’ll go first,” said Aurin, looking to his team. “Leonite is incredibly speedy, arguably my fastest monster after Dolissile, but also much nimbler and more reactive. Chopchop is both a direct striker and good defender. Abysarex is fleshy underneath his fur and Chopchop’s swords are perfect for that. Lastly, Spikruption…well, he insisted that he be the one to take on the next cosmic elemental.”

Spikruption roared loudly and proudly, looking confident that he had what it took to bring down Frederick’s star performer.

“Very well,” said Kyle, frowning at the red dinosaur. “Luna?”

“Splashard’s ability to reform when she’s injured is perfect for if we’re hit by a surprise attack after a teleportation. Angree is ruthless and can easily go toe-to-toe with Abysarex if he isn’t teleporting. Cephelarock is also a dark horse and can manipulate the battlefield effectively.”

“You saw what happened when I tried to manipulate the battlefield, right?” asked Kyle.

“Yes, but I won’t try and load it up all at once. It will be specific and targeted.”

“Good answer,” said Kyle. “You both realise that when one of you fights Frederick, you’ll be using teams of five, don’t you?”

“Yes,” said Aurin, “but if we have to use all five Minakai to take out Abysarex then we’ve already lost because Frederick has a team of strong monsters to rely on. We figured that three was the maximum that we could spare and still have a chance at winning.”

“That makes sense,” said Kyle. “Now, shall we get to work?”

“Bring it on!” said Luna, punching the air wildly. Angree, sensing his tamer’s eagerness, joined in and threw a wild flurry of blows that were so quick the air blew Luna’s hair around.

*

“What took you so long?” asked Hunter as Aurin and Shamtile ran up the street towards him.

“Training…ran…overboard,” panted Aurin, while Shamtile danced a merry jig to show off that he wasn’t tired. “You…weren’t…training,” Aurin told him.

“Come on,” said Hunter, beckoning him inside Professor Socrates’s laboratory.

The two walked up the stairs while Shamtile hopped and skipped ahead, entering through the doors first. Hunter had asked Aurin if he would mind him coming along to see more about the golden egg and Aurin was more than happy to oblige considering all of the help that Hunter had given him over the last couple of years.

“Ah, there you are,” said Professor Socrates from the room with the incubator. “What took you so long?”

Aurin frowned. “Training,” he said bluntly.

“Training isn’t important, boy, not when we’re about to perform a miracle!”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“You have it?” asked Aurin enthusiastically, daring to dream.

Professor Socrates nodded and walked over to his locked cabinet. He took a key out from around his neck and opened a drawer, pulling out a velvet box and passed it to Aurin.

“Go ahead,” said the professor.

Aurin opened the box, revealing a golden band wide enough for him to fit his fist through. It was perfectly smooth and he was unable to leave a single fingerprint on the shining golden ring. It radiated magic and Aurin knew immediately that this was the real deal. It was a Life Ring.

“The owner was willing to part with it?” he asked in awe of the magical band.

“Not at first,” said Socrates tepidly, “but I was persuasive. I didn’t realise that he knew who you were, but upon mentioning your name he softened up.”

“Who?” asked Aurin.

“Does it matter?” asked Hunter, marvelling at the ring.

“Was it you?”

“No,” laughed Hunter. “I like you, Aurin, but I wouldn’t part with that so easily. Especially when I don’t have a Breminia of my own.”

“Shall we proceed with the hatching?” asked the professor with an air of excitement about him.

“Yes,” said Aurin. “What do you reckon, Shamtile? Ready to meet another teammate that you’ll need to keep under control?”

Shamtile, who was jumping up and down, suddenly slumped over and let out an exasperated sigh. As much as Zeera had grown on him, having to constantly keep him in check was tiresome. He hoped that this new Minakai wouldn’t be as troublesome and could behave itself without being threatened.

“What teammate?” asked Hunter.

“Um…Arium was a real brat when he first hatched,” said Aurin, realising he’d almost given away his secret Zeera.

“Fair enough,” said Hunter as Aurin followed Professor Socrates into the incubator room.

The professor opened the door to the incubator where the golden egg was already waiting. He gestured to Aurin, who stepped forward and set the ring on top of the egg before taking a step back. He held his breath as the professor closed the door.

“It’s only right that you do the honours and press the activation button,” said Socrates. “It is your prize after all, young man.”

“Thank you,” said Aurin, stepping forward and reaching out with a trembling hand. He didn’t know why he was so nervous.

With a press of the button, the machine began to stir. It was slow at first, but it started to rumble more vigorously and the Life Ring expanded, sliding down and closing itself around the centre of the egg. The egg started to glow gold before shifting to green and finally setting upon a deep blue.

The glass lifted as the form of a small humanoid Minakai appeared, holding out two arms that were webbed liked wings that spread down to its sides as though it was holding a glider. Around its lower body were three lopsided rings that spun around. Aurin, Shamtile, Hunter and Professor Socrates all watched in awe as the glow started to fade and the golden Breminia revealed itself to the four.

It had a round head with three blue circular gemstones positioned in a triangle formation in the centre of its face. Aurin had been mistaken about its wings, they were not attached to its arms, rather they were attached to its back and its two arms were held up constantly while resting against the wings. The wings themselves were not feathery, but straight-edged and curved.

In the centre of its chest was another, more ovular sapphire that twinkled pleasantly. It had thin blue lines along the sides of its head as well as a thicker blue line running down its chin and to its neck while another ran from its forehead and down the back of its head. It had two more blue lines that ran encircled its wrists and blue markings covering its feet and ending in a point at the top of its shins.

“Breminia,” muttered Aurin, taking a step towards his Minakai who floated in place atop the incubator’s now-open pedestal. “My name is Aurin and I am your tamer.”

The legendary Minakai cocked its head to the side and made an echoing coo as though it were a bird in a cave. It jerked its head back into place and floated towards Aurin, stopping with its face about an inch from his own.

“I have hatched you and released you from the egg. Do you submit yourself to me?”

Breminia moved a few inches backwards and then floated to the ground, lowering its arms and looking around. The three sapphires on its face must have been eyes of some sort. It looked back up at Aurin and nodded, holding up its arms once again.

“That was a yes,” said Professor Socrates with a wide grin. “The exact same thing happened when To—erm, when the last tamer hatched his Breminia.”

Aurin was too distracted by the message and hadn’t caught the professor’s slip. “That’s perfect,” said the young tamer with a satisfied smile.

“Here,” said Hunter, handing Aurin a clear summoning stone. “I thought you might need one of these.”

“Thanks, Hunter,” said Aurin, accepting it graciously and turning back to his new Minakai who was being prodded by Shamtile and showing no reaction. “Breminia, I’m going to attune you to this summoning stone. I will call upon you when needed, but for now, you’ll be kept here with the professor if he'll have you.”

“Gladly!” boomed Socrates. “I would love to run a few tests on her if that’s alright.”

“Her?”

“Yes, I’m ninety-seven percent sure that this one is a female.”

“Luna will be pleased,” said Aurin with a laugh. “She always says that I don’t have enough girls on my team.”

“What are you going to do about Breminia and the tournament?” asked Hunter. “Not that I want you to give away your game plan should we end up battling.”

“No, it’s a fair question,” said Aurin, pondering. “Truth be told, I don’t know. She’s a water elemental and, thankfully, I’ve got that element covered by my Steambot. Not to mention, Breminia is completely untested.”

“Although apparently compliant,” remarked Hunter. “Cosmic and epic Minakai are difficult enough to get under control, so a legendary Minakai like Breminia being obedient is surprising. That said, I haven’t seen anywhere enough case studies on the species to know their initial temperament. In any case, I’m sure this gives you a lot to think about.”

“It does,” agreed, Aurin, looking at Breminia who rotated in place as Shamtile ran circles around her.

Every so often, he would switch directions and she would still follow him perfectly. She was a curious creature and Aurin wasn’t sure what to make of her, but he was determined to find out. The only problem was that with the national championships underway, he did not have the time to do it without jeopardising his training.