Flaround spun around in the air as he leapt forward, flashing forwards like a fiery tornado and consuming Talia’s Bansheet. When the torrent of flames flickered away, the sheet-like ghost was spread across the ground as Luna’s orange hound stood proudly in victory before the crowd.

“And Luna’s Flaround seems to be unstoppable!” cried the announcer. “Luna has four Minakai left while Talia is down to her final one. It had better be a good one folks, I’m telling you.”

Luna and Talia were the first two competitors up in the fourth round, now with the ability to use a team of five. Luna had been expecting a much tougher match, but Talia’s Minakai had fallen quickly and her own Bakugon was only defeated because a water elemental Minasma that left him at a disadvantage.

Talia sighed as she looked at the battlefield. She banished her Bansheet and threw forth a Pyrofly in a flash of red light. The tamer was visibly crestfallen, knowing that she had no realistic path to victory left. She was on the verge of raising her hand to yield when she gritted her teeth and clenched her fist.

“Finish strong!” she called to her Pyrofly, who launched himself into the sky and hurled a storm of embers down at Flaround.

“I’m afraid not,” said Luna confidently.

Flaround took a deep breath and shot a laser-like stream of orange that was surrounded by twirling flames. The heat laser struck Pyrofly’s wing, sending it careening back to the ground while Flaround jumped and rolled around to avoid the embers before finishing with a somersault and a loud bark.

“And Luna is the victor!” called the announcer as the crowd went wild. “She moves onto the fourth round, securing her place in the top sixty-four.”

Aurin, Kyle and Hunter all rose to their feet as they clapped. Kyle put his fingers in his mouth and gave a loud whistle, making Shamtile wince and put his fingers in his ears. He punched Kyle in the shin, but the rancher picked the little lizard up by the scruff of the neck and stared through the holes in Aurin’s Minakai’s mask.

“That wasn’t very polite, was it?” he asked Shamtile, who covered his eyes and squealed apologetically.

“What have I told you about kicking?” Aurin scolded him. “Do you want me to send you back to Sule Scrin?”

Shamtile shook his head fervently and screeched more loudly and even more apologetically.

Luna and Talia parted ways after having shaken hands and made their way back into their tunnels while waving to the crowd. Aurin walked through the tamer box and back into the stadium with Shamtile to look for her. After a couple of minutes, he reached the entrance hall where the large tournament bracket was displayed on a monitor overlooking the room.

“Top thirty-two,” said Aurin, nodding proudly. “You’ve broken my record.”

“Well, you haven’t had your next match yet,” said Luna, not taking her eyes off the screen.

“No, but I lost to Gardner at this point last year,” he said before pointing to his next opponent. “I’ve looked into this Dominic guy and, on paper, I could beat him, but he could have any number of tricks saved for a desperate situation.”

“What’s your team lineup?”

Aurin looked around to make sure nobody was listening in. “Desparee, Skrow, Zenoman, Lycavine and Quetzel.”

“You’re going with two air elementals and two nature elementals?”

“As I said, I’ve looked into him. He has a lot of water and metal elementals, so it seems like a good opportunity to exploit. If he’s been paying attention to me, he won’t know which way to go because my team is so varied.”

Luna pointed to the monitor and started silently mouthing a few words. “Four more rounds until the final,” she said. “Two more rounds for me and three more rounds for you before we’re forced to battle.”

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“Forced? It’s not like we’re being held at gunpoint.”

Luna giggled. “If I were to hold you up at gunpoint, would you surrender and let me walk away with an easy victory?”

Shamtile lifted his leg back to kick Luna for threatening his tamer, but he looked up at Aurin who swiftly shook his head. The little lizard lowered his leg and sighed, taking a few steps back.

“As you can see, my Minakai would defend me if you tried such a thing?”

“Rats,” said Luna, snapping her fingers and frowning before letting out a laugh. “What time is your match tomorrow?”

“Two o’clock,” replied Aurin nonchalantly.

“You aren’t nervous at all?”

“Would you believe that I’m not?”

“Yes, I would believe that. How come?”

“Because I know my strategy and I’ve trained to deal with curveballs. If Dominic pulls out a surprise Minakai then I’ll handle it with what I’ve got. This won’t be like last year with Gardner. I’ve since trained with some of the best tamers in the country, including someone who may just be the best in the country.”

“Well, my love, I’m not nervous for you either,” said Luna, linking arms with him and looking back to the bracket. “You shouldn’t be nervous until the seventh round.”

*

“And Aurin’s Quetzel falls to Dominic’s Cryoth, leaving each of them with a single Minakai remaining,” called the announcer.

Aurin felt the pressure as he banished Quetzel. He was at an elemental disadvantage with his final Minakai, but he had no choice now. It was all or nothing. He held out his hand and focused on the green summoning stone embedded in his glove and summoned Lycavine to the battlefield.

“It’s all on you, my friend,” said Aurin to the terrifying wolf.

He had had an unfortunate run of bad luck during the match as Skrow was immediately sniped out of the air by Dominic’s Gorunze. He had effectively clawed the match back, leaving his opponent with only a Cryoth, but the little blue moth was sneakier than he had given it credit for, managing to freeze Zenoman’s fists in blocks of ice. By the time they he had broken free, the golden alien was too exhausted to put up a further fight back.

Lycavine howled loudly and who whipped his two vines around menacingly. He kept his black and red eyes focused on the Cryoth who was fluttering around at the opposite end of the battlefield, trying to size up the green wolf who so obviously wanted to take a bite out of it.

“He doesn’t stand a chance!” called Dominic arrogantly, pointing towards Lycavine. “Freeze the ground so he can’t even reach you.”

Cryoth did as ordered and the battlefield quickly turned into a large sheet of ice. Aurin knew that Dominic had made a massive mistake coating the entirety of the ground and over-exerting his Minakai, but he said nothing. He maintained a stoic face and ordered Lycavine to charge ahead while using his vines to help steer himself.

Lycavine did as ordered and slid forward, pushing himself with his vines touching the ice. Cryoth launched icicle after icicle at him as he approached, but Lycavine was not having it. He fought back by spitting a barrage of bullet-like nuts that smashed the small spears to pieces. It took little time for him to close the gap and Dominic did not realise the world of pain he had gotten his Minakai into.

“Flower spectre!” ordered Aurin, confusing most of the spectators, including Luna and Kyle.

“What’s that?” Luna asked, eliciting a shrug from Kyle. Hunter, however, nodded slowly and smiled.

As Lycavine howled, he whipped his vines forwards and, from the petals, emerged a sinister purple ray that swirled as it struck Cryoth, making the small Minakai screech and flail in the air. It started fleeing as though being chased by an invisible phantom, giving Lycavine the chance to grab it with his vines on the way past and slam it repeatedly into its own sheet of ice until it lost consciousness.

“And it’s a victory for Aurin, putting him through to the top thirty-two!” called the announcer while being drowned out by the crowd.

“What was that technique?” Luna shouted to Hunter, barely audible, but he understood what she was asking.

“He’s been doing his research,” replied Hunter. “It’s an advanced technique that some of the less natural of nature elementals can use. It tricks the target into thinking it’s being haunted by the ghosts of flower spirits. I wonder where he learned it?”

“From Vai,” chuckled Kyle, shaking his head. “He knows all sorts of tricks like that, but this one is new to me too.”

Aurin shook Dominic’s hand in the centre of the battlefield. “You had me on the ropes from the start,” he said.

“I like to make an impression,” laughed Dominic. “It’s just a shame I couldn’t carry it through to the end. Congratulations, Aurin.”

“Thanks, Dominic.”

The two parted ways and Aurin held up one hand to wave while dismissing Lycavine with the other. He could see Luna and Kyle leaving the box, no doubt coming to meet him. Now that this match was out of the way, it was back to training to prepare for Frederick, who would no doubt be awaiting either Aurin or Luna no more than a few days from now.

The former Zodiac elite had been barrelling through the competition, rarely having to rely on his Abysarex to finish off his opponents. He had gotten stronger in many ways and having a well-trained cosmic Minakai at his beck and call only made him that much more dangerous.