Baxter Park was as busy as ever while the tournament was at its height. The first round was over and Aurin, Gardner and Hunter had all won their first battles. It was a cause for celebration but with his second battle fast-approaching, Aurin was keen to cram in whatever training her could manage in a quiet corner of the park.

“You see how he did it during the battle, you try and replicate it,” he told his Steambot, who had not seen the battle Aurin was talking about. He stood there confused while Shamtile waved his hands wildly trying to explain. He held his hands out trying to mimic Hunter’s Steambot’s hover technique he had used to lower himself gently.

“I’ll be happy to teach you,” said Hunter standing beside his Flambot, Steambot and Treebot.

“After we battle?” asked Aurin.

“After we battle,” confirmed Hunter with a sly chuckle. “I’m a nice guy but I can’t give away all my best moves too soon. Besides, you wouldn’t have time to perfect it.”

“Only one way to find out if we have what it takes to master it in a few days.”

Hunter laughed him off, but Aurin suspected the skilled tamer was slightly apprehensive about the possibility of Aurin and his own Steambot’s capabilities.

While Spikruption and Flambot had a fiery battle—one that Spikruption took more seriously than Flambot—Dolissile took on Hunter’s Steambot and the metallic Gorunze fought the walking tank that was Treebot. At the same time, Shamtile and Steambot were switching it up between chasing each other around and practising their counters.

“I take it you’ve settled on your team for the next match?” Hunter asked after a while, nodding towards the three Aurin was using against his robotic army.

“I may substitute Shamtile or Steambot in,” replied Aurin. “I’m up against that girl, Vera. She makes me nervous than some tamers because in her last battle she doesn’t have a set type or a theme. With you, you vary the elements, but you’re a fan of the Microbot family.”

“Was I too obvious?” joked Hunter.

“Gardner favours nature elementals or plant types, Bentley from the Hazelton tournament likes to use metal elementals, and so on.”

“And wildcards, much like yourself, give you more trouble because of the wide range of potential team members. Particularly at this level where you’re not dealing with tamers who only possess a small handful of Minakai.”

Aurin nodded. He was glad he had Hunter to talk to about this. The only other person who truly understood was Kyle, having been here before himself. Luna got it on paper but putting it into practice was another story.

“How many matches until I get my rematch against this wildcard?” asked Hunter, gesturing towards Aurin.

“Fifth round,” said Aurin. “It’ll be versus Gardner if he can win his next two matches, then the winner of that will be up against you.”

“Ah, that’ll be the second round in a row where the format switches to five versus five.”

“That’s right. I’m very glad that I’ve got a sizable enough team to keep people guessing.”

“Keep us guessing, eh?” asked Hunter rhetorically. “It’s funny that you think eight Minakai is a big team.”

“Nine if you count Snippet,” Aurin reminded him.

“You can’t count Snippet if he hasn’t been registered…or trained. With eight usable Minakai, that means anyone can take an educated guess about who you’ll use.”

“Oh yeah? Who do you think I would use?”

Hunter rubbed his chin, thinking intently for a while. “You would use Spikruption to begin with as he’s got the power and intimidation factors going for him. Shamtile would be in there somewhere too because there’s no way he’d sit out a fight when you might need a nimble monster. Dolissile and Steambot are two of your powerhouses that you’ve started to over rely on. That leaves me with…”

“Leonite, Skrow, Desparee and Gorunze.”

Hunter furrowed his brow, trying to transform his thoughts into a comprehensible sentence. “I think this last one depends on how you faced previously and who you’re about to face. If you were going against me, it wouldn’t be Skrow because you’d be worried about Flambot’s elemental advantage. I’m going to say either Leonite or Gorunze would be your last Minakai.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“You’ve not got that many options left for the last one. You’re probably as close to right as you can be.”

Hunter smiled and nodded, waiting for Aurin to catch on. Finally, it dawned on Aurin what Hunter’s point was. “Ah,” he said.

“More Minakai will come as you explore the towers and build up your team,” said Hunter. “That’ll allow you much more variation in strategy should you desire it.”

“What about you?”

“I have my Microbot family, that is true, but you have seen me use my other Minakai.”

“I know. What I’m asking is how many different Minakai you have?”

“Thirty-nine,” said Hunter nonchalantly.

Aurin’s mouth hit the floor. “Thirty-nine?” he yelled out.

“Why is that so surprising? I would say it’s quite low for someone who has been a tamer as long as I have. You’ve been in the game for, what, almost two years? You’re nearly a quarter of the way to catching up to me.”

“I’ve lost my fair share of eggs in the tower,” said Aurin, looking glum.

“Don’t worry about that, we all have. I stopped counting at around the thirtieth egg and that was many years ago now. It doesn’t matter what could have been unless you use the thought of it as a lesson. Dwelling on things needlessly is just a recipe for unneeded stress.”

“I think you’re right,” said Aurin.

“Of course!” chortled Hunter.

“Wind in that ego, would you?” yelled Aurin with raucous laughter.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out. “Trust you to be making a ruckus at the park.”

Aurin glanced over his shoulder and spied Elton walking along with a Pyrofly and Cryoth hovering along beside him. The orange insect was using a flaming jet from its tail to keep aloft and its wings to keep itself steady. The small blue however was buzzing around much more elegantly than its counterpart.

“It’s a public park and we’re joking around,” said Aurin. “I’m allowed to make noise. We’re training here like a lot of others are, so what exactly is your issue?”

Elton shook his head and strolled on past with his two Minakai following him obediently.

“Who was that?” asked Hunter.

“He’s my next opponent if we both win our upcoming matches,” said Aurin as he watched Elton wander over a small hill and disappear into the trees. “It’s not just you I’m looking forward to beating.”

“Then let’s get you prepared for Vera,” said Hunter, turning back towards their Minakai. “That snide attitude won’t do him any good once you’ve ground him into dust.”

*

“Oh no!” cried Luna in the stands as Innogon clung to her leg. “Can he get up?”

Gorunze shook off the icicle spear that had injured his front leg. Vera’s Sanguice was proving to be a tough opponent, particularly with its elemental advantage against the bronze golem.

“It’s an aerial opponent,” said Aurin. “Laser beam!”

Gorunze’s topaz eyes glowed and a beam of light burst from them towards Sanguice. The icy bat swooped down and out of the way as Gorunze fired again. With each attack it dodged, it became clear to everyone that Vera was toying with Aurin.

Aurin glanced at his summoning stones, tempted to switch Minakai mid-battle. It wasn’t against the rules but he didn’t want to rob Gorunze of even the slimmest chance of victory. He raised his hand very slightly before forcing it back down.

“Would you look at that!” cried the announcer as Sanguice screeched and spun out of control.

As if by some miracle, Gorunze had clipped its wing. He charged forward and leapt into the air, ready to body slam his opponent, but the Sanguice conjured a wall of ice and Gorunze crashed headfirst into it. With a swish of its good wing, the ice wall came tumbling down on the metal Minakai and finished him off.

Aurin knew he shouldn’t have hesitated. For all the damage Gorunze had done, once of his strongest Minakai was now out for the count. The only thing for it was to use something even stronger. He raised his fist and summoned Spikruption to the field. The large red dinosaur roared mightily, shaking the stands.

“Finish it off!” called Aurin.

Spikruption breathed deep and unleashed a mighty wave of flame that brought down the remainder of the ice wall and reached the downed Sanguice. Burned until it was black, the Minakai was done for, so Vera recalled it.

“You think you’re going to win, do ya?” she called to Aurin.

“I know I am,” he said.

“While our two contenders hurl some friendly banter, I’m wondering what Vera will use next,” pondered the announcer to the crowd.

“How’s this?” she asked Aurin, hurling an orb of brown light onto the field. As it faded, Aurin was taken aback. It was a Shamasaur, the evolved form of Shamtile. The large bipedal dinosaur was about seven feet tall and much bulkier than its younger form. On top of that, it was much spikier too, with a sharp protrusion erupting from its thick tail and two more from its lower jaw.

Vera had to have used this to throw Aurin off his game. She must have known how close he was to his Shamtile. No…that was silly. How could she have known that? Aurin shook his head and tried to focus. Her plan was obvious, but it was working.

“He doesn’t look so good, Inno,” said Luna, at which Innogon nodded fervently. Watching her best friend on the large monitor above the stadium, it was evident that Aurin was off his game. He had tried to keep it quiet, but she knew that he didn’t take the close call at the end of his last match well.

Aurin ordered Spikruption forward and the two dinosaurs charged at each other, Spikruption with a mouth full of fire and Shamasaur with a conjured jagged armour of stone. Spikruption spat his flames as they closed in on each other while Shamasaur brushed them off. They engaged in an even match with rocks blowing up from flames and bites being countered with a stony punch to the jaw. The two large dinosaurs were relentless in their assault on each other and both refused to back off.

Perhaps that’s what Aurin should do? Yes, he had hesitated on a good idea with Gorunze but not this time.

“Stand back and use your flame jet!” ordered Spikruption. The dinosaur hesitated momentarily, knowing he’d be left open. “Now!”

Aurin’s Minakai complied, knowing he was bound to his master’s will. Spikruption retreated while breathing in deep once more and unleashed an intense burst of flame as the Shamasaur conjured a barrage of boulders that it flung threw the air at the dinosaur.