The courtyard in front of the stadium was packed to the brim on the sunny Tuesday morning as excited spectators gathered to take their seats. The second batch of eight of the top thirty-two matches were scheduled for today and four had already taken place.

Aurin’s match was the first of the day and he, Luna and Shamtile were relaxing by the riverside while Innogon splashed around, enjoying himself thoroughly. Luna was sitting with her feet in the water, kicking at Innogon who splashed back, soaking Shamtile and irritating him greatly.

“How are you so calm?” asked Luna.

“I’m shaking on the inside,” joked Aurin, looking forward to his match.

“I would be shaking on the outside.”

“It’s funny. Sometimes I start feeling nervous, but then it sinks in that I enjoy battling far too much to get sunk by the pressure.”

“If I could get over my fears that easily, maybe this would be our match?”

Aurin laughed. “Maybe it would be, but then I’d have to comfort you when you cry after such a devastating loss.”

Luna giggled. “You think I don’t have surprises too? If you want to beat me, you have to earn it.”

Shamtile started throwing rocks at Innogon who thought it would be fun to spit water at him. Aurin pulled Shamtile back as Innogon swam away with a wide grin on his scaly face.

“You two used to be such good friends,” said Luna, shaking her head. “Now all you do is bicker.”

“Maybe that’s why they’re such good friends,” suggested Aurin. “Shamtile can bash Innogon over the head with a boulder and there’s no hard feelings afterwards.”

“Sometimes I’d like to bash Kyle over the head with a boulder,” laughed Luna.

“Me too,” said Aurin.

“I was joking.”

Aurin didn’t say a word, he simply laughed, causing Luna to give him an uneasy look before laughing too.

“Do you think I’ll win today?” Aurin asked her.

“Of course. I’ve watched some of the other competitors and you’re better than all of them.”

*

Spikruption fell to the ground, blasted with filthy water from Heidi’s Minasma. The brown oozing Minakai had a cheerful smile stretched across its bubbling face.

“Heidi has just evened the playing field again,” said the announcer. “Each tamer now has two Minakai remaining.”

Aurin’s Spikruption had made shockingly quick work of her Wingbloom, aided by his fire elemental advantage over the air elemental. Heidi’s Minasma, however, was powerful and slick. It had avoided every attempt by Spikruption to burn it to cinders.

“Shamtile, you’re up!” said Aurin, summoning the masked lizard from the tunnel behind him. He rematerialised on the battlefield ready to face his opponent.

“Is Aurin sure this is a good idea?” asked the announcer. “Minasma has an elemental advantage against the earth aligned Shamtile.”

Aurin knew it was a risky move, but he was hoping that Heidi would lower her guard. He had to save the ace up his sleeve for last if she was saving her own strongest Minakai too.

Shamtile scurried forwards on all fours, dodging spurts of filth being spat at him by Minasma. He reached his opponent and burrowed underground, bursting through the earth underneath it and sending it flying through the air.

Heidi’s Minakai landed, but broke its fall by spreading its fluid body out to increase its surface area. It converged again, resuming its viscous state. Shamtile waved his arms in the air and fired a barrage of rocks at its opponent, but a wave of water cast them aside easily.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Minasma breathed deep and shot a jet of water at Shamtile, hitting him square in the chest. He was knocked back, used to this sort of attack from training with Innogon, but what he wasn’t expecting was the stench from the filthy Minakai’s attack to permeate the air, even creeping under his wooden mask.

Shamtile tried to catch his breath, not noticing that Minasma was upon him. It spread itself out and closed him within its body, where he struggled to breathe further. He was flailing about, unsure of what to do.

Aurin signalled to his Minakai, thrusting one arm upwards. Shamtile understood and conjured a stalagmite that pierced the Minasma’s body. Shamtile clung onto the stone protrusion, and it carried him up and out of his foe.

“You’re going to need to make it splat,” called Aurin.

Shamtile gave a nod and stood back. He focused all of his might and threw his arms up high, pulling a large chunk of ground from the battlefield. The crowd were amazed that such a small Minakai was able to hold such a heavy weight, even with its magical power.

“How’s he holding that up?” cried the announcer. “What a feat of strength.”

Minasma assaulted him with jet after jet, but he stood firm. He thrust his arms forward and the earth rushed through the air. Minasma tried to slide away, but was too slow. It was hit with the full weight of Shamtile’s attack and was buried under the large pile of soil and rocks.

Heidi waited, but Minasma didn’t emerge even after thirty seconds. Aurin couldn’t help himself and gave a small fist pump. Heidi sighed and used a summoning stone to banish her Minakai from wherever it lay beneath the dirt, then summoned her final Minakai.

“Would you look at that!” cried the announcer. “A Rabbafat. It’s a lot slower than Aurin’s Shamtile, but the poor little guy looks spent.”

It was true. Shamtile had used up most of his energy on his last attack and his chest was heaving as he weakly walked forwards. He didn’t have the strength left to even raise his arms.

The Rabbafat had a big grin on his face as he hurried towards Shamtile, who slowly lumbered away for a short ways before getting caught. Rabbafat picked him up and gave him a tight bear hug, then tossed him aside. It could see that there was no point exerting more effort than necessary and lay down on the ground to rest after its victory.

Aurin banished Shamtile, but he was glad that he had guessed that Heidi had saved her toughest Minakai for last. After the trouble he had in the tower with a Rabbafat previously, he knew this was his chance to take a symbolic revenge. The young tamer focused his summoning stone and a blue light appeared on the torn-up battlefield, revealing Steambot.

“Pressure cannon!” ordered Aurin, pointing towards Heidi’s Rabbafat.

Steambot shot a pressured stream of water that struck Rabbafat in the side, sending the fat rabbit rolling across the grass. It sat up with a smile on its face, no worse for the wear from the intense blast, while the crowd all cheered at the resilience of the Minakai. Luna of course refused to clap, looking worried in the crowd. She remembered how much trouble the Rabbafat of the tower had given them too.

“If the water isn’t going to work, then you’ll need to go hand to hand,” said Aurin.

Steambot ran towards his opponent, his metal arms raised. Rabbafat slowly forced himself to stand up, and raised its own hands. The two grappled and brawled, Steambot unable to damage the neutral elemental through its thick fat, while Rabbafat wasn’t strong enough to damage Steambot’s metallic body.

“They’re at a stalemate,” said the announcer. “Who’s going to break through first?”

The two Minakai continued to pummel and wrestle with each other, neither gaining an inch. With each punch Steambot threw, Rabbafat absorbed it. When Rabbafat flung Steambot onto the ground, he used a water cannon to burst right back onto his feet.

Rabbafat let out a big yawn as Steambot charged at him. Aurin suddenly had an idea. “Pressure cannon into its mouth!” he ordered.

Steambot reacted immediately to the order and a jet of water struck Rabbafat in the back of the throat, causing him to choke and splutter. Steambot used the distraction to knock his opponent to the ground. While Rabbafat was coughing, he shot more water into its mouth. Heidi’s Minakai started to bloat even larger, half the water going into its stomach and the other half blocking its airway.

“Back off and body slam!” ordered Aurin.

Rabbafat was desperately trying to breathe, unable to right himself, while Steambot shot himself into the air like a rocket. He flipped round and the fell, elbow-first, onto Rabbafat’s stomach. The large rabbit spat out a couple of gallons of water, then fell unconscious…or was he just asleep? It was hard to tell.

Heidi looked distraught and held her head in her hands while the crowd cheered for Aurin. Luna was first to her feet, jumping and clapping in the crowd while Innogon was dancing on his tamer’s chair.

“Aurin has won and will advance to the top sixteen!” called the announcer. “I’ve just received word that he has broken his record from the previous year, so let’s all give him an extra round of applause. What a performance.”

Aurin and Heidi congratulated each other on a match well-fought and departed. Luna rushed to meet Aurin in the lobby.

“Why be nervous?” Aurin asked her with a smile.

“I knew you could do it,” she said as Steambot picked up Innogon and set him on his broad shoulders. “Did you have to nearly drown the Rabbafat?”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

“I suppose so,” laughed Luna. “At least we know what to do next time we find one in the tower.”

“You’ve got no shortage of water Minakai to try that strategy out with.”

Luna looked thoughtful, then sighed. “I feel like battling now.

Aurin gave her a prod in her shoulder. “I knew you would regret not entering the tournament.”

“No,” said Luna, shaking her head. “Now that a few of your best Minakai are out for the count, I want to wipe the floor with you.”