Aurin and Luna had been in the tower for five hours and had reached their newest record of the ninth floor. Aurin was determined to push higher and higher, facing whatever tamers and wild Minakai the tower threw at him. It didn’t hurt that he was earning plenty of silver on the way up.

This run, Aurin had defeated three tamers; in each match he and his competitors had used a single Minakai, and Luna had defeated one tamer. All three of Aurin’s Minakai had won a match, Dolissile winning his first. Shamtile clobbered a Techling, Hornferno scorched a Sproufloat and Dolissile torpedoed a Funglie. Not forgetting Innogon, who shot a tamer’s Peekan out of the sky.

All in all, it had been one of their most successful runs to date, however, in spite of collecting a few useful odds and ends, there were no eggs or shards to be seen today. It wasn’t uncommon to get this far and not see one, as the magic of the tower loved to randomise and those items were among the rarest. It was no wonder that Cedric could charge such a high price for eggs.

Aurin had given a lot of thought to the events of the previous week. He was still embarrassed about how badly Hunter had defeated him, but he took Hunter’s advice on board and had been training every morning. Luna had classes to attend so he had even entered the tower twice by himself, reaching the sixth and seventh floor on each respective run. It was definitely tougher solo, particularly on his Minakai, but he was pleased to know that he was capable by himself.

“The elevator!” called Luna excitedly.

“You know what this means?” smirked Aurin.

“Double-digit floors?”

“Double-digit floors! We’re finally there.”

“Just a few more steps to go, Aurin,” squealed Luna excitedly. “I wonder if the room will look much different?”

Aurin and Luna had often talked about reaching the tenth-floor milestone. Granted, the tower got progressively more difficult as they ascended, but it helped with their confidence to keep pushing forward. Kyle was adamant that the difficulty ramped up considerably on the double-digit floors, with a lot more already-evolved Minakai showing their faces.

If what Kyle said about the second half of the tower was true, floor twenty-five and higher had Minakai that a lot of people back home would never even have heard of. Minakai were a worldwide phenomenon, it was true, but not everybody’s lives revolved around them in the same way most tamer’s lives do.

Aurin and Luna led Shamtile and Innogon to the elevator. The two humans placed their hands on the familiar pedestalled blue stone and willed themselves to the next floor. Aurin had come to enjoy the initially stomach-churning whoosh of travelling between floors. It was a feeling he now associated with success.

“This is an unusually large room,” said Aurin, admiring the white and blue tiles with silvery walls.

“All the better for an ambush, wouldn’t you say?” called a voice from the corner.

Aurin and Luna jolted around to see a pair of Zodiac Squad members, both masked up, hurling orbs of light at them. One member cast a silvery light and a white light, while the other cast two purple lights.

Shamtile and Innogon hurried forward while Aurin and Luna summoned Dolissile and Dripper, respectively, for backup. Shamtile headed for the Techwing while Dolissile confronted a Peekan. Innogon charged at a Litehorn while Dripper hopped towards a Tuptup.

The Zodiac members barked orders at their Minakai, hoping their ambush and rapid attack would give them an edge.

Aurin gave his own orders to his Minakai. “Shamtile, it’s a metal elemental so you have no advantage. It’s fast so make use of your defensive abilities. Dolissile, you outmatch Peekan in both speed and strength. Overwhelm it.”

Shamtile encased its forearms in stone, forming a shield on one arm and a spear on the other. As the large metal bird charged forward, Shamtile tried to ward it off with the spear while keeping his guard up with his shield. Dolissile’s fins glowed bright and the metal dolphin charged forth, homing in on the small bird. The Peekan panicked and flew back and forth speedily, looking to avoid Dolissile.

Meanwhile, Innogon was blasting water at the dark unicorn. Litehorn’s eyes glowed blue and its horn shot electrical blasts towards the dragon. The two were evenly matched, each blocking the other’s attacks. Dripper on the other hand was being chased around the room by the small blue monster. The Tuptup whipped its pointed tail at Dripper and slapped the little jelly into the walls.

As the fight raged on, Shamtile was able to knock the Techwing to the ground. He dispelled his spear and shield, then sent a barrage of heavy rocks from the roof. The Techwing was brutally beaten by the falling rocks and it was ejected from the tower.

Dolissile’s poor steering mid-air was made up for by his persistence and he too defeated his opponent. All it took was one well-placed strike and the Peekan vanished in a ball of white light. With both of his Minakai ejected, the Zodiac member yelled in anger before being booted from the tower himself.

“Litehorn, you’d better not let me down!” growled the other Zodiac member. “That goes for you too, Tuptup.”

“Luna, do you need help?” asked Aurin.

“No, but wait on standby just in case,” said Luna, determined to see the fight through by herself.

Litehorn’s speed was giving it an edge against Innogon and it slowly closed the distance gap as the two continued to throw lightning and water at each other. Luna ordered Innogon to change tactics and the dragon covered the area in mist while dropping to its stomach. He crawled in a zig-zagging motion towards the unicorn while the Litehorn blindly shot more zaps of lightning. Innogon reached his target and shot a heavy jet of water at point-blank range, ejecting Litehorn from the tower.

Dripper was taking a bad beating and Innogon joined the fight against the Tuptup just as Dripper was defeated. The dragon shot the Tuptup from behind, sending it out of the tower seconds after Dripper. The second Zodiac member let out another frustrated yell, mumbled something about the boss killing him, and he was gone seconds later.

Aurin, Luna, Shamtile and Innogon breathed easy, while Dolissile showed little reaction to anything that had just happened.

“They dropped an egg!” exclaimed Luna.

“Maybe that’s why they were more irritable than usual when we defeated them?” pondered Aurin.

“It’s your egg,” said Luna, gesturing towards Aurin.

“Thanks, Luna.”

Aurin walked over and picked it up, along with a nice collection of silver coins. The eggs were sturdy. Even after being dropped to the floor, it didn’t have a scratch on it. Aurin stashed it carefully in his bag, just in case it wasn’t as sturdy as he suspected.

“That was an intense match,” sighed Aurin.

“I’m not ready for the tournament,” muttered Luna, tearing up slightly. “I don’t think I can do it.”

“Why not? Innogon was great just now.”

“He was great, but I don’t think Dripper will stand much chance. She’s not powerful enough and I’m not a good enough tamer to have her ready in time. I haven’t even had the chance to use Spaqua in battle yet. We only have five weeks left. I can’t do it.”

“Ask Kyle to train you. I know he’s busy, but he’ll do it.”

“I don’t know…”

Aurin looked Luna in the eyes and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Trust me. It’s worth it, even though he’s a tough instructor.”

Luna’s face turned red. “Okay…I’ll ask when we get back.”

“Let’s use the orb and get out of here. We’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

“You still have three strong Minakai you can use. Are you sure you want to leave?”

“We got here once; we’ll get here again. Don’t worry about it. It’s been a long trip this time.”

“Thank you, Aurin,” uttered Luna as Aurin retrieved his Orb of Return from his bag.

“I wonder if we’ll have to spend the night in the tower when we reach the tenth floor?”

“Maybe…”

“Perhaps if we’re tough enough we’ll be able to get through the first dozen or two dozen floors with ease…”

Aurin continued talking in a futile attempt to lighten Luna’s mood. She had stopped listening after he began to take the orb from his bag. The young man meant well and Luna truly appreciated the early escape from the tower, but her thoughts of her own competence weighed heavily on her mind.

 

*

 

Luna sat quietly in her room, rubbing Innogon’s head fin. When she previously spoke with her parents about the tournament, she would switch between excitement and anxiety. Today, she had confessed her recent fears to them. She didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of thousands of people, nor did she want to let her Minakai down. Her mother had told her she could still choose not to participate, but her father agreed with Aurin’s advice of asking Kyle to train her.

“What do you think we should do, Inno?” she asked Innogon.

Innogon let out a small roar and smiled.

“You’re right, I did tell Aurin that I would ask Kyle already.”

She knew that it wasn’t what Innogon had said, but let herself believe it anyway.

There was still an hour or two of daylight left, so Luna departed from her home with Innogon. She had decided that running away from her fears wasn’t the right answer. She was going to enter the tournament and she was going to give it her all.

Luna walked along the path out of town with Innogon casually strolling beside her. Every now and then, he would get distracted and watch the people pass or chase a bird along the side of the road. It was a pleasant evening for a walk and Luna could feel her mood lightening already.

Arriving at the ranch, Luna could see Kyle in the fields, dropping scraps of chicken into a trough for the Minakai to eat. It would be gone within ten minutes, easily.

Kyle waved when he spotted Luna. “If you’re here to see your boyfriend, he’s already fast asleep.”

Luna blushed. “We’re just friends.”

“I’m just teasing you,” chuckled Kyle, “but your face is awfully red for someone who claims there’s no interest beyond friendship there.”

Luna ignored Kyle. “What’s he sleeping so early for?”

“He always falls asleep straight after dinner when he’s been in the tower. That’s normal for him these days. He’ll be awake at the crack of dawn and go for a run with his Minakai to start the day. Well, he’ll send Dolissile to swim up and down the river because it’s where he’s most comfortable.”

“I didn’t realise Aurin was as dedicated as that,” admitted Luna.

“Yeah, he’s pretty determined alright. I’d like to think it’s because of my sage wisdom, but I think he’d have eventually come to see it as a good idea on his own. I just gave him a push that helped speed him along.”

“That’s actually what I’m here to see you about,” said Luna timidly.

“What is?” asked Kyle, unsure of what she was getting at.

“You trained Aurin for a week. I want you to train me too. It’s the only way I’ll stand a chance at the tournament.”

“Okay.”

“Okay? You aren’t too busy?”

“Nah, I just told Aurin I had a single week to spare so he felt the urgency to train without my constant help. Be here at six in the morning each day for the next week.”

Luna jumped for joy. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“You’re welcome…now settle down.”

“Alright, sorry.”

“Make sure you wear something you can run in. Your usual skirt and boots won’t cut it. There’s going to be intense work for both you and your Minakai.”

“Yes, Kyle,” nodded Luna.

Luna bade farewell to Kyle and departed from the ranch. She skipped home with Innogon riding on her back; his favourite spot to be on a journey further than a few metres. For the first time in a while, she felt like she had a chance to perform well in the tournament.