Aurin stood on the steps to his arena with his arms folded, watching the path for Rick, Nolan, and Holly’s arrival. A minute ago, Shamtile had been standing beside his tamer with his own arms folded, wanting to look impressive, but he quickly got bored and was now juggling three small stones.

  “We’re here!” panted Rick, leading the way up the path at seven o’clock on the dot. Holly was lagging behind him and Nolan was several metres behind her, struggling the most with the early morning hike to Aurin’s land.

  “Just in time,” said Aurin, giving them a wave. “Although, I’m not sure what I would have done if you’d been late. I probably wouldn’t have sent you away if you were a few minutes out.”

  “We would have been here fifteen minutes ago,” said Rick, “but our humble navigator led us the wrong way.”

  “I’m sorry!” said Nolan, wiping the sweat from his brow as he forced his legs to carry him the rest of the way up the hill. “I was a few degrees off when we started climbing…that’s it!”

  “That few degrees took us much higher up the mountain,” said Holly, shaking her head. “That’s not a fun trek in the dark.”

  Aurin shrugged. “It’s mid-Autumn; the sun doesn’t rise until seven. You’re here at seven and now we’re good to go. If I told you to come at eight, we’d be wasting precious daylight.”

  “Whatever you’ve got in store for us, we’re ready,” said Rick confidently. He rose a hand with his tamer glove. “Anything in particular you want me to summon?”

  “Summon?” asked Aurin. “No, no. We’re not ready for that yet. We’re going to be doing something strength and stamina tests before we kick off.”

  The trio looked at each other. “Strength and stamina tests?” said Holly, daring to ask the question all three had in mind.

  “Of course. Tamers need to be in top shape to be truly in sync with Minakai. How can your monsters respect you without some sort of physical authority? I’m not asking you to lift a car above your head like many Minakai could, but you need to be able to show them that you’re putting in the same hard grind they are. You need to show them that you’re formidable, durable, and in control of your body.”

  “Makes sense to me,” said Rick, nodding fervently. “Trust me, Aurin. I’m in good shape.”

  “Easy for you to say,” muttered Nolan. He was shorter and scrawnier than Rick by no small measure.

  “No talking yourself down,” said Aurin, pointing at Nolan. “You can get stronger if you put the effort in. That will be respect, I promise you. I wasn’t far off your build when I arrived in Hazelton. Check any of the photographs from the first Hazelton Tournament in the stadium and you’ll see.”

  “I’m older than you and not going to get any taller,” remarked Nolan. He sighed. “Sorry, yes. You’re right. No more naysaying.”

  Holly rolled her eyes. “I tell you to stop being so hard on yourself and you give me attitude for it. Aurin tells you and you obey him after ten seconds.”

  “Alright, the three of you. Back down the hill and run back up. Keep going until you’re ready to topple.”

  Rick did what he was told without question. Holly took a deep breath and puffed out her cheeks. “I’m really more of an acrobat, Aurin.” She saw the look in Aurin’s eye and said nothing else, turning and running down the hill.

  Nolan said nothing, wiping his brow once again, and then turning and running. Aurin watched as they three vanished from sight, disappearing down the path. Not longer after, Rick returned, looking barely worse for the wear. As he vanished again, Holly ran up the hill, much more red-faced than she had been earlier. Nolan followed shortly after, easily the slowest of the trio. He reached the arena and then ran down the hill again without a word.

  Aurin had to hand it to all of them, they were doing as he asked. After ten minutes passed, he told them to stop. Rick looked tired, Holly more so, and Nolan looked like he was on the verge of collapse—exactly as Aurin had requested. He thought about what Luna was saying about having servants and had to fight back a chuckle.

  “Shamtile!” said Aurin, startling the little lizard who tumbled from the pillar he was performing a handstand on. The pillar retracted into the ground as Shamtile hit the dirt. “Mate, conjure up some boulders for my friends here. I want to see how strong they are.”

  With a brief dance and a wave of his arms, three heavy stones thudded onto the arena. Aurin gestured towards them and Nolan, Rick, and Holly lifted the stones. Nolan and Holly had similarly sized boulders, while Rick's was unmistakably the heaviest. To Shamtile’s credit, he had gauged the strength of the three well and they were able to pick them up. It was a strain, but not unmanageable.

  “Good,” said Aurin. “Now raise them above their head. Give me five reps and then drop them…but don’t crush your toes.”

  All three struggled, but Nolan's arms were shaking by the end of it. Even still, he did not complain. None of them did. After a short rest, they did another set. And then another. Once five sets were complete, he let them stop.

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  “Test passed,” said Aurin, looking at the three sweat-dripping tamers.

  Nolan heaved, but pulled himself together before vomiting. Aurin felt a twang of guilt. He knew Nolan wasn’t in great shape, but was ten minutes of running and what amounted to five sets of overhead presses enough to make him regurgitate his breakfast? A personal trainer in a gym would put him through something five times more exhausting.

  “Test passed?” asked Rick.

  “Test passed,” repeated Aurin. “You’re doing the work I asked you to without complaint. It’s clear that you’re committed to being better tamers already and you’ve had a good warm-up, but now I want to see your strongest Minakai.”

  Holly tilted her head to the side. “You’ve seen them,” she said. “Yesterday.”

  “Those were your strongest?”

  “We weren’t going to fight you with our weakest.”

  “Alright, show me your best three each. Who would you bring into Harmony Tower?”

  Nolan raised his glove and summoned his Electrout, Techwing, and Dogember. The fish flopped up and down, looking much better after yesterday’s battle. The metal bird’s silvery body caught the early morning sun and its red eyes glowed brightly. Dogember, the orange-furred dog barked and spat sparks from its mouth, eager to show its strength.

  Holly summoned her Cryoth, Doripper, and Metortoise. The blue moth fluttered by her head. The large greyish-blue fish swayed as it hovered above the ground, batting its sides fins and baring its maw of jagged teeth. The Metortoise dragged its front foot across the ground, its shiny green shell glistening. It looked about ready to charge.

  Lastly, Rick summoned his team; Desparee, Frogre, and Totempo. Desparee groaned, dreading whatever task lay ahead. The burly white ogre adjusted the ice crown on its head and punched its glove-clad fists together. Totempo lacked the arms to punch anything, but it wasted no time in stomping its stone feet against the ground. The living statue was raring to go.

  “They look tough,” said Aurin, walking up and down the lineup. “But let’s see how they stack up against each other. Don’t be afraid to your strongest or most unorthodox techniques.”

  Each of the tamers battled in-turn in one-on-one matches. While their Minakai were strong enough to form a cohesive team and probably carry their tamers a few rounds into a local tournament, these were far from championship-worthy teams. Their strongest attacks paled in comparison to something Shamtile, Spikruption, or Dolissile would have been capable of after their first year with Aurin. As for unorthodox techniques and strategies, there were precious few. Everything was kept fairly basic save for the occasional feint and switch-up technique to try and throw an opponent off. The one who impressed Aurin the most was Rick who appeared to have put the most time into hardcore training. Nolan, who apparently considered himself the tactician of the trio, was too rigid in his moves and doubled down rather than adapting. It was Holly who surprised Aurin the most with her Cryoth pulling off a converging hailstorm rather than a typical one that swept the battlefield.

  Once the battles were over, the tamers were more tired than ever, and all but Nolan’s Techwing had fallen. Aurin approached them all and handed out several Healing Herbs Luna had given him. They administered them to their Minakai, who perked up somewhat, and then sent them all away.

  Aurin furrowed his brow as he examined the trio, who were staring at him hopefully. “That wasn’t bad,” he said, not wanting to be too harsh. “But there is definitely room for improvement. Most of your attacks rely on power rather than skill. I don’t mean to downplay strength, but it alone isn’t enough to carry you in a real battle. Rick, it’s obvious you’ve trained hard. Holly, you have a streak of creativity that I think needs refined. Nolan, you need to be more flexible.”

  The three listened intently as Aurin broke down each of their battles and the strengths and weaknesses of the Minakai he’d picked up on. He then talked about what he’d seen from the tamers themselves and, while none of them took offence, Nolanwas much quieter than the other two. It was clear he thought of himself as the one who could use brains over brawn, but it had failed him.

  “Dolissile, Glacibot, Lycavine,” said Aurin, summoning the three from the ranch. “Watch how these three battle against one another. Oftentimes, having to tackle multiple opponents with different abilities can force you to adapt quicker.”

  The three took to the battlefield and Dolissile was immediately zooming around, trying to knock his teammates over the treetops, while Glacibot fought to freeze him and Lycavine sought to ensnare the others in vines. The battle was brutal and filled with no shortage of variety from the trio as they fought for supremacy. It was brought to a brutal end when Dolissile’s shockwave sent Glacibot crashing into Lycavine, and he followed up by embedding the icy robot with a wave of shrapnel.

  “I’ll be sure to try some of that with Techwing,” said Nolan, looking excited. “His flight style is different, but I’m sure I can make a few adjustments, yeah?”

  “I’m sure you can,” said Aurin with a grin. “And that’s what I want to see next time I see you all. Don’t always play it safe because your opponent may have something that throws you off and you need to surprise him right back with your counterattack.”

  “Understood, master!” shouted Holly, bowing before Aurin. “When do you want us back?”

  “Eh?” asked Aurin in surprise. “I think you got the wrong end of the stick, Holly. This was just a one off. I don’t have the time or, frankly, the teaching expertise to take on students. I brought you over here to gauge your strengths and weaknesses to see what helpful advice I could give you.”

  Nolan was visibly crestfallen. “We thought you were taking us under your wing,” he said quietly. “We desperately want to excel past the others in the Underground Dojo. We know we can do it under your tutelage.”

  “Last time I tried to teach someone, it ended badly. Do you remember Conrad, that guy who helped out during the Zeera Crisis?”

  “Vaguely,” said Rick. “He was with the Minakai Guardians, right?”

  “That’s the one. It’s a long story, but he duped me into taking him on so he could spy on me, thinking I was part of the Zodiac Squad. After that, I decided I wouldn’t teach anyone until I was good and ready. If you ever want to spar, feel free to come on over and battle me. No more challenging me to duels in the town square at dawn, alright?”

  “That’s fair,” said Rick with a shrug. “You can’t blame us for trying though, right?”

  “Of course not,” chuckled Aurin.

  “You’ll see how strong we can become,” said Holly with a cat-like smile. “When we next have a serious battle, you won’t know what hit you.”

  “I look forward to it.”

  The trio departed, leaving Aurin with Shamtile and Dolissile. The masked lizard was making a game of trying to land on Dolissile’s back before the cyborg dolphin could jolt away. Shamtile cackled away while Dolissile remained silent, but Aurin could tell the normally-stoic monster was enjoying playing with his teammate.

  “Alright, you pair,” said Aurin, once he’d let them play for another few minutes. “The day is still young and we don’t want to waste it, do we? Let’s bring out Tuptup and Flowl. They’re in need of some attention. They’ve got their first tower run tomorrow.”

  here.

  Aurin's Team:

  Luna's Team: