“Bring it on,” said Aurin, his hunger for a challenge ignited. He knew nothing about this unusual Sir Mask fellow, but he was going to make sure that his misplaced confidence in himself would be his downfall.

“And how about you?” Sir Mask asked Luna.

“You’re going to lose,” she said confidently, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

“Well, aren’t we bold?” Sir Mask gestured towards the wide open section of the platform within the circle. “Step into my office. Are any of those your chosen Minakai?”

“No,” said Aurin, banishing Gorunze and summoning Leonite in two flashes of light.

“Just one of them,” said Luna as she sent Rabbacat back to Hazelton. Innogon hopped off her back and waddled forwards.

“Now what shall Sir Mask pick as his Minakai?” he asked.

The crowd shouted out a number of suggestions, clearly knowing Sir Mask and his team well. There were plenty of Minakai Aurin had heard of, and a few that he had not. The man was clearly experienced and Aurin was starting to doubt that he would be as easily defeated as Aurin had first suspected.

“Grakadon!” called Hendrix, presumably sore after Aurin decimated his Arium so thoroughly.

“Grakadon?” asked Sir Mask. “He’s a fantastic suggestion. It will even give the pretty girl’s Innogon a fighting chance. A little water elemental advantage over my earth elemental, eh?”

“Take your positions,” said Kev, finally breaking up the theatrics.

Aurin, Luna, Leonite and Innogon stood ready, while Sir Mask raised a hand and summoned his mighty brown dragon. The burly Minakai roared loudly into the air causing small pebbles to rain down.

“And fight!” called Kev.

Grakadon punched the ground, shattering tiles and sending a shockwave towards his opponents. Innogon shot a jet of water, blasting himself into the air, while Leonite nimbly leapt over the shockwave. The lion charged forwards to take a swipe at the dragon, but Grakadon met Leonite’s claw with his own and swept him aside.

“Flank him,” ordered Aurin.

Leonite pounced back onto his feet and circled around Grakadon while Innogon got into position. Leonite dashed to his opponent again, while Innogon summoned a with a wave of water. Grakadon spun around and grabbed Leonite in his mighty hands, while shielding himself from the wave by wrapping his wings around himself.

“Follow through,” said Luna.

Innogon blasted himself into the air and inhaled deeply, then spat a powerful jet at the back of Grakadon’s head as he was crushing Leonite between his hands. The Grakadon fell forwards, surprising Sir Mask, and Leonite was released.

The blue lion clamped his jaw around Grakadon’s tail, causing it to roar in pain. The roar was so loud that it felt as though the entire tunnel was shaking. Grakadon whipped his tail, bashing Leonite against the platform, but he held on and dug his front claws into the dragon’s back.

Innogon jumped between Grakadon’s legs and rolled around, landing with his face looking up at Sir Mask’s Minakai. Grakadon was so distracted by Leonite that Innogon’s water jet hit him directly on the chin, and he was thrown to the ground once more.

“Enough games,” said Sir Mask.

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Grakadon furiously grabbed Innogon with one hand, covering the drake’s mouth. He beat his wings and flew towards the ceiling, flicking his tail upwards and bashing the clawing Leonite into the bricks. Leonite finally lost his hold and fell to the ground. Grakadon dropped on top of Leonite, crushing him beneath his immense weight. He finished the battle by lifting Innogon up high and tossing him headfirst onto the floor; the heavy blow knocked Innogon out immediately.

The crowd all cheered for Sir Mask, while Aurin and Luna rushed over to their Minakai. Luna tried to force feed Innogon a few berries, while Aurin checked over Leonite to see where his injuries were worst.

“They’ll be fine,” said Sir Mask, approaching them. He held out his hand and accepted fifty silvers from each of them. “The usual charity,” he said to Kev, tossing the money to the announcer.

Aurin and Luna sent their Minakai back to Kyle’s ranch, where they knew their monsters would be well cared for. They walked over to a bench and sat down.

“That was brutal,” said Aurin.

“Yup,” said Luna with a sigh.

“I’ve delivered far worse beatings,” said Sir Mask, sitting down with them. “That was one of the better fights I’ve had here, would you believe? Granted, it was a two on one battle, but your Leonite and Innogon are clearly well-trained. I respect that.”

“Thank you,” said Luna.

“What’s with the mask?” asked Aurin rather bluntly, prompting a nudge from Luna.

Sir Mask guffawed. “It’s part of the theatre,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt that it hides my identity. I get recognised in public all the time, so it’s nice to be able to do some battling a bit more privately.”

“You’re a professional tamer?” asked Luna.

“Tamer, businessman, trainer. I’m involved in many different fields, but it doesn’t leave me with an awful lot of time to do things for the sake of my own enjoyment.”

“That makes sense,” said Aurin. “I’ve been a tamer for almost two years now, but I would imagine that it gets tiring if it becomes a full-time job with commitments. Part of what I like about going into monster towers is the freedom of being able to do what I love on my own terms.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” said Sir Mask. “My line of work is a lot of fun, but it’s just nice to have a breather; to have some freedom, like you say.”

The three sat in silence for a moment. It was not an awkward silence, but a small window of peace, particularly for Sir Mask.

“I hope to see the pair of you at the national championships,” he said.

“You’re competing?” asked Aurin.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said Sir Mask. “I take it that’s a yes for you?”

“It’s a yes alright.

Luna shook her head. “Not from me,” she said.

Sir Mask seemed surprised even from behind his mask. “Ah, did you not make it far enough in your regional qualifier? A few of those can be quite tough.”

“I decided not to enter a qualifier this year. I was in a bit of a funk for a while where I didn’t want to take part in any more professional battles, but I think I’m over that now. A friend helped me realise that I can battle, and it’ll help me with what I want to do with my life at the same time.”

“Next year then?” asked Sir Mask.

“I hope so,” said Luna.

“Perhaps this will help you along the way,” he said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out an Astral Shard. “I saw your Rabbacat fight earlier, and you can use this to evolve it. No pressure as to when, but the option is there.”

Luna held out her hand to take the shard but hesitated. “You’re sure?”

“Of course, I’m sure,” laughed Sir Mask. “I’ve got dozens of each of the evolutionary shards. I can’t get rid of them fast enough, to be honest.”

“Thank you,” said Luna sincerely. She held out her hand and summoned Rabbacat back onto the platform.

“So fast?” asked Aurin.

“I think she’s ready,” said Luna, smiling brightly.

She held the Astral Shard up to Rabbacat who was hopping merrily on the spot. The rabbit began to glow a pale light and her body began expanding. The light faded, and she was no longer hopping. She was sitting on the ground, struggling to move her heavy body. She had become a Rabbafat.

“Can you not stand?” asked Luna in shock.

Aurin grabbed Rabbafat’s hand and tried to pull the heavy rabbit up. She stood up with his assistance, but once he let go, she slumped forwards and rolled onto her stomach.

“You’re going to need some training,” said Luna.

“She’ll be fine,” said Aurin. “She’s just not used to the new weight. We’ve seen Rabbafat’s before who are able to pick up a bit more speed.”

Luna looked around. “Where did Sir Mask go?”

“I’m not sure,” said Aurin, looking over to the crowd. “He must have slipped away when we were watching Rabbacat’s evolution.”

“He seemed like a nice guy.”

“Yeah, I liked him,” said Aurin, “but I don’t think Leonite and Innogon would say the same.”

Luna laughed. “Inno will be fine. His injuries weren’t serious, and he’ll be fully recovered by tomorrow considering how fast Minakai heal.”

“That’s true,” said Aurin. “Shall we watch a few more fights before we move along?”

“Let’s!” shouted Luna enthusiastically as the two walked back towards the circle.