Aurin had ordered Arium to lead the way in the tower and the golden alien did so. He did not want to in the slightest, making a bit of a fuss about it, but it was rare for Minakai to disobey their tamers completely, especially when the tamer is notably more skilled than the Minakai is powerful.

“I think this will be a good way for him to left off some stream,” said Luna, bouncing along the first floor of the tower with Innogon by her side.

“What happened to him being a baby?” asked Aurin.

“I know he’s not a baby,” she said, “but he’s like a baby…or a toddler in the middle of his terrible twos. You get the idea.”

“Your whole theory seemed a lot tighter back at the ranch. You’re just making this all up, aren’t you?”

“I’m reading the situation as I see it.”

A Dripper suddenly bounced around the corner with a big smile on its face. The little water droplet spotted Arium and sped towards him.

“You’re up,” Aurin told his Minakai. “Throw your fist at it.”

Arium shot one of his golden fists at the Dripper using his mind with a blue aura surrounding the flying punch. The Dripper bounced over the attack and shot a jet of water at Arium, who took the attack straight to the face and fell back. He spluttered and cried, but Aurin ordered him to get back on his feet.

“Punch faster!” demanded the tamer. “If you miss, punch again. Be relentless.”

Arium threw another punch, then another, then another, until he finally landed a blow. The Dripper smacked into a wall and recovered quickly, shooting another water jet, knocking one of Arium’s fists out of the air.

“New tactic,” said Aurin, “pick him up.”

His Minakai grabbed the Dripper with one hand and then squeezed tightly as the second hand shook off the water and joined in. The water demon looked like it was going to burst.

“Harder!” demanded Aurin.

Arium let out a cry and squeezed with all his might, crushing the Dripper and banishing it from the tower. He had won his first battle and a look of confusion was drawn upon his face.

“You did it,” said Aurin, crouching down beside him and patting him on the head. “Well done.”

For the first time, Arium gave his tamer a smile. Aurin nodded and pointed towards a room at the end of the corridor and Arium continued forward, much less reluctantly this time.

“Look at that,” said Luna, “all you had to do was get on his level and praise him where it was due.”

Aurin frowned but said nothing as he thought it best not to get into an argument with his newest Minakai’s favourite human when he had finally made some headway with him. “Keep an eye out for traps,” said Aurin as Arium reached the door of the room.

The first floor passed relatively smoothly with Innogon stepping in to help Arium when get got in a tight spot with an enemy he was unprepared for. Not long after, the group ascended all the way up to the fifth floor and Arium was looking exhausted yet pleased with himself.

“I knew you could do it,” said Aurin, holding his hand up for a high five. Arium looked at him in confusion and then punched Aurin’s palm hard. “Alright, we’ll work on that once we’re out of here,” he told his Minakai while wringing his sore hand.

Suddenly, Arium was knocked out by a flying rock thrown by a Pottemp who had just rounded the corner. In a flash of light, the little alien was warped away.

“Inno!” called Luna and the little drake made swift work of the approaching enemy as Aurin summoned Snippet into the tower from where he had been waiting near the base outside.

“Let’s hope Arium isn’t too angry when we get back to the ranch,” sighed Aurin. “Of all the Minakai to get sucker punched, it had to be the one whose entire deal is being a telekinetic with flying fists.”

*

Aurin had just finished consoling Arium when Luna skipped into the ranch with Spritzard by her side. She had a gleeful look on her face as she held a Solar Shard above her head as though it were a trophy.

“You made it out without the orb?” asked Aurin.

“I made it out without your orb and with all of my loot intact,” she said. “You’re alright, aren’t you?”

“The only thing bruised is my ego,” chuckled Aurin. “Well, and Arium, Snippet and Skrow. Are you planning to use that Solar Shard?”

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“Yup,” said Luna giddily.

“Don’t keep me in suspense, who gets to evolve today?”

“I have four options,” said Luna, walking through the ranch towards her team.

“You have five options,” Aurin corrected.

“Inno isn’t an option. It’s Dopefish, Dogember, Feathrus or Spritzard here.”

Luna looked at her team, debating who would get a power up. She carefully considered her options and talked them through with Aurin. Spritzard was the first Minakai she hatched from the tower and Dopefish sorely needed a strength boost if he was to be any real use. Her Dogember had evolved fairly recently and her Feathrus hadn’t been used enough to merit being evolved yet.

“Spritzard,” she said, settling on her final decision.

The jelly-like water demon wiggled her fins and did a mid-air somersault in excitement, emitting an ethereal cheer. Luna approached her Minakai with the rest of her team watching on as she held the Solar Shard to Spritzard’s body.

The water elemental glowed blue as she absorbed the energy of the shard. A tendril grew from the back of her head, merging with her fin as her body elongated and her two stubby arms lengthened. As the light disappeared, the newly evolved Splashard was revealed.

“How do you feel?” Luna asked her.

Splashard did another mid-air somersault, her long body brushing the ground unexpectedly. It would take a little time for her to get used to her new form, but she seemed otherwise happy to have reached her final evolutionary stage.

Luna turned towards Aurin. “Are you up for a battle?” she asked him.

“Already?” He was a little surprised.

“Splashard versus Spikruption,” she replied. “The first Minakai that either of us found in Harmony Tower.”

“Where did Innogon’s egg come from again?” Aurin asked. “Never mind. Yes, let’s battle. You ready, Spike?”

Spikruption leapt over the fence of his pen and stomped over, smoke billowing from his nostrils. He wasn’t just ready, he was itching for a battle. Splashard looked a little intimidated as she examined her hands and body, trying to get a feel for her new form.

The two tamers headed over to Kyle’s battlefield and took their places. Splashard shot a few jets of water to warm up while Spikruption rolled around and spat embers into the sky.

“Are you sure you’re ready to take on a tamer who came in the top sixty four in the country?” asked Aurin.

“It doesn’t sound so impressive when you say it out loud,” replied Luna. “I’m ready to take on a tamer who got knocked out of the tower today when I kept climbing and escaped when I found an orb.”

“Well then it’s a good thing I’m using a Minakai who has been saving his strength and not one of my tower choices from today.”

“Ready?” asked Luna.

“Go!” called Aurin.

Spikruption stomped onto the field as Splashard spun through the air, charging towards the large, red dinosaur. Aurin knew that all this new flash was just for show, Splashard hadn’t yet gotten to grips with—

“Graaagh!” roared Spikruption as he missed his bite and was smacked in the face by Splashard’s tendril.

“She’s much faster now,” said Luna with a knowing smile.

“Alright,” said Aurin. “No holding back, Spikruption!”

Spikruption unleashed a fireball from his mouth, and it collided with an orb of water that Splashard conjured up. The two attacks exploded in a burst of steam and Splashard burst through, aiming straight for Spikruption.

Not allowing himself to be caught with his guard down again, Aurin’s Minakai spun around and slammed its tail into the water demon, knocking her to the ground. He leapt into the air and tried to flatten Splashard with its hefty body. Spikruption only managed to catch the end of her tail, but Splashard was slippery enough to pull free.

“What’s going on?” called Kyle, emerging from the enclosures with Wingbloom flying above him.

“Battling,” replied Aurin. “Don’t break my focus.”

“You evolved your Spritzard?” asked Kyle.

“Kyle, shush!” demanded Luna.

The dinosaur and the demon continued to battle hard, throwing intense flames and waves of water across the field. Neither tamer nor Minakai was willing to back down.

“Choke him!” ordered Luna.

Splashard dodged a fireball and wrapped herself around Spikruption’s neck, tightening hard. Aurin knew that this mistake was the end for her.

“Don’t let Splashard escape,” said Aurin. “Boil her!”

Luna suddenly realised what she had done as Spikruption clamped his jaw around Splashard’s body. The watery Minakai started shaking violently not long after and bubbles began forming throughout her and steam started to rise.

“Stop, you win!” cried Luna, and Spikruption immediately released his opponent.

Aurin walked over to Spikruption and patted him on the side. “Good fight, mate,” he said before approaching Luna who had tears in her eyes.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she sniffled, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper, and giving Aurin a big smile. “I’m being a baby, don’t worry about me.”

“Not a chance,” he said. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

Luna took a deep breath, not wanting her voice to tremble. “Ever since the Hazelton tournament, you’ve been getting stronger and stronger. You’ve dominated most battle, you’ve carried us in the tower. Even in the battle against Tobias in the underground, it was you and Shamtile who were the tougher opponents.”

“And you wanted to beat me to prove something?”

“I don’t know what I wanted to do. I just wanted to feel like I was keeping up and not holding you back.”

“Did you not see that battle?” asked Aurin.

“What do you mean?”

“We were neck and neck pretty much the whole time. It was only a small slip up that cost you the win. In what world aren’t you keeping up?”

Kyle walked over to them. “It looked close to me. You’re being too hard on yourself.”

“Thanks,” said Luna, trying to keep herself composed.

“You’re obviously a strong tamer and you don’t need to be fighting in national tournaments to prove that,” said Aurin. “Look at your team and how loyal they are to you. And do you really think that Shamtile and I wouldn’t have been squashed by Tobias and his Grakadon if you and Innogon hadn’t been there? His earth powers massively outstrip ours.”

“The pair of you stress too much,” laughed Kyle and patted Luna on the shoulder. “If it isn’t Aurin losing focus on what he wants or you feeling inadequate, it would be something else. How about knocking that nonsense off so the pair of you can just enjoy being two talented tamers?”

“I’m fine now,” said Aurin.

“I will be too,” agreed Luna.

“Good,” said Kyle turning towards the enclosures, “because I need you both to sort out that Arium of Aurin’s.”

“What’s he doing?” asked Aurin.

“While you two were so caught up in your battle, he was picking fights with the other Minakai. He seems to think he’s tough as nails now.”

Wingbloom descended and opened his mouth, spitting out two fists onto the ground. Aurin was aghast and pulled Wingbloom’s jaw open fearing that he had swallowed Arium.

“You think I killed him? Don’t be an idiot,” said Kyle, pulling Aurin away from his Minakai. “I just confiscated his fists. Now go sort him out before I kick him out of the ranch.”