Aurin, his parents, and Shamtile stepped off the train and onto the platform on a fine day in early summer. But it was not any old day; it was the day of the opening ceremony of the second-ever qualifier tournament in Hazelton. It was this qualifier that Aurin was going to use to propel himself into the National Championships. The young man was excited for his first match to kick off and was already letting tournament spirit take over as he jittered giddily while waiting for Luna.
“It feels like I’ve been gone forever,” said Aurin, while Shamtile nodded his head in agreement.
“Don’t be silly,” said Aurin’s mother, Alice. “You’ve been away for three days and that wasn’t nearly long enough.”
“He’s hard at work here,” said his dad, Edwin. “Can’t blame the boy for wanting to get back here and back to work now, can we?” Aurin and Edwin chuckled while his mother clicked her tongue.
Just then, a red-haired girl ran up to them with a blue drake clinging to her back. “I’m here! I’m on time!” said Luna.
“Not quite, but close enough,” said Aurin with a grin. “What have I missed?”
“Zodiac attacked the town hall and kidnapped the mayor,” said Luna snarkily.
Aurin held his index finger and thumb to his chin. “That would be a way to liven things up, I suppose. If only it hadn't happened while there was a tournament about to start.”
“You two shouldn’t joke about these things,” said Alice. “The last time you had any dealings with them, you both nearly got killed and Kyle had his lovely ranch burned down. I suggest you take them a lot more seriously considering they’re still at large.”
“We’re still here, mum. We weren’t ready to take on the whole organisation before, but now we have a fighting chance. Besides, we’ve been without a confirmed sighting of our masked friends for months.”
“Let’s hope it stays that way,” said Edwin. “I know you two can handle yourselves against a couple of those goons, but the less trouble you find yourselves in the better. What do you suppose would happen if fifty of them swarmed you at once when you were walking back to the ranch?”
“Cheer up, everyone,” said Luna brightly. “It’s opening ceremony day! It’s a day for happiness and no worries…except for whoever Aurin’s first opponent is. They should be gravely concerned.”
Shamtile clutched his mask and screeched, desperately hoping the first match wasn’t against Hunter.
Everyone was gathering in Hazelton today and the streets were as crowded as could be. Unlike Edwin and Alice, many tourists were hoping for a resurgence of the Zodiac Squad to make the tournament even more interesting, but the residents of the normally peaceful town weren’t so keen on the idea. They were worried they would have their Minakai stolen, or this year’s prized egg wouldn’t be reclaimed should there be another incident.
The stadium loomed overhead and the front courtyard by the waterfront was packed with tamers and their Minakai who were ready to finalise their registration. Aurin double-checked he still had the registration pass he obtained last week. Once he found it in his bag, he summoned his team. Shamtile bounced around excitedly with Steambot, while Spikruption, Dolissile, Leonite, Chull and Gorungol stood or hovered more seriously. True to form, Desparee wept wildly—and it wasn’t from nerves.
“We’ll see you inside,” said Luna. “If you don’t wave at us, I’ll be very upset.”
“Your decision not to enter is final then?” asked Hunter, walking up with his Flambot beside him.
Luna jumped a mile. “Hi Hunter,” she said upon realising who had snuck up. “I didn’t register for my pass last week. No going back now.”
“That’s a real shame,” he lamented, shaking his head. “Perhaps we can do a friendly battle instead? You had a lot of raw talent.”
“I’ll battle you if I can use three Minakai against one of yours,” Luna joked.
“I’ll have to think about whether or not I can win that,” laughed Hunter.
Luna, Edwin, and Alice all said farewell and headed inside to take their seats, leaving Aurin and Hunter at the back of the queue. Aurin kept looking around to see who else he knew who was participating this time around. He spotted Jimmy, a tamer he fought in the previous tournament, and he could see Eclare, a tamer he met in the tower, standing a few spots ahead.
“There are a few faces from last year,” said Hunter, also scanning the lined-up tamers, “but there seems to be a lot of new folks too. I wonder if the big boom in publicity from the first tournament drove the floor entry requirement up considerably.”
Aurin suddenly thought of something. “I’m curious, Hunter. What’s the highest floor you’ve ever reached in a tower?”
“Thirty-nine,” he said. “Ludonia Tower on the second of March this year. Flambot here was with me too, isn’t that right? You were my last monster standing, my friend.”
Flambot tensed his arms and let a roaring flame burst out from behind him, almost scorching Gardner who had just joined the line.
“Careful!” cried the plant and nature elemental enthusiast. “I want to be able to fight, not spend the next month in a hospital bed.”
“My apologies,” said Hunter, then turning to Aurin. “How about you? What is your highest floor?”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Harmony Tower, floor twenty-one. About two weeks ago, but I couldn’t tell you the exact date. It was with my Dolissile, Leonite and Steambot. Shamtile decided to take the day off.”
Shamtile waved his arms in protest, but Aurin assured his Minakai that he was joking.
“Floor sixteen for me,” said Gardner, “but in my defence, I go solo…well, as a solo human with three monsters.”
Aurin was quietly satisfied that he too had reached floor sixteen alone one day when Luna was spending time with her former schoolmates; Emily and Hannah. She had invited Aurin to meet with them, but he declined. He later realised it was quite rude of him to do so, but Luna said not to worry about it.
The line moved forward at a decent pace and the three tamers eventually made it inside the stadium. They each went through their verification and assessments with an invigilator. Aurin put forward his Minakai one by one, then returned them to the ranch via summoning stone. By the end, only Shamtile remained by his side.
He looked around the assessment hall to see if he could spot an unmasked Leo lurking around. It didn’t feel that long since he stood here before and the Zodiac member was introducing himself to Aurin as Frederick. In hindsight, it was a bold move, but Aurin winced every time he thought about how he didn’t realise Frederick’s true identity sooner.
“Shall we?” asked Gardner as he and Hunter walked over with Desparee and Flambot by their respective sides.
The three tamers walked through the corridor and emerged into the box set aside for competitors. Aurin looked higher into the stands and spotted Luna sitting with his parents. She was talking with his mother, and they were giggling away about something. Whatever it was, it had better not have been about him. He had no shortage of embarrassing childhood stories he would have preferred his mother kept quiet about.
“I’m hyped to see what Minakai they use for the ceremony this year,” said Gardner, the excitement bursting from him as he shook up and down.
“Let’s hope it isn’t a recycled performance then,” remarked Hunter. That thought made Gardner’s smile waver.
Fifteen minutes later, the stadium was filled with the sound of drums and trumpets as the marching band entered. Gardner’s fear of a repeat show was squashed as a pair of blade-armed Chopchop duelled.
The two insectoid Minakai slashed and blocked, ducked and dived, parried and countered. It was a wild battle with the crowd holding their breath throughout. Aurin was impressed but cynically thought that it was a scripted duel until one of the Chopchop delivered a deep cut into the other’s arm. Everyone was on the edge of their seat, and the battle got bloodier and more brutal with each passing second. It wasn’t long before a tournament official ran onto the field with two Frogre that he used to pull the two duellists apart.
“Is this part of the show or did things get out of hand?” asked Gardner.
“I’m…not sure,” said Aurin.
Next, the light show began. A team of Thundarun burst onto the field and galloped in formation, shooting lightning into the sky in dazzling arcs and forks. A golden bird flew overhead dodging the attacks and shooting its own lightning to the ground, burning vivid patterns into the grass.
The bird, a Wunder, then soared high into the sky and rained lightning down upon the unicorns, who absorbed it with their horns and held onto the built-up energy. Suddenly, they released it into the sky where it illuminated the entire stadium before disappearing into the atmosphere.
Everyone applauded at the spectacle—Gardner was notably on his feet. Once the noise had subsided, Mayor Boren emerged and walked towards a podium that had been carried out especially for him. He waved to the crowd, who were all eager to see what he had to say. They began murmuring as a pedestal covered by a red sheet was placed beside him by an official.
Mayor Boren cleared his throat. “Fine people of Hazelton and all of our treasured and esteemed guests. Allow me to have the honour of welcoming you all to the second-ever Hazelton qualifying tournament organised by the Bretonian Tournament League.”
Everyone clapped and cheered, still reeling from the thrill of the opening show.
The mayor continued. “Tamers from all over the country have gathered here in our quaint, but wonderful, town. Each of them shares two common aims, to reach the top four to qualify for the National Championships, and to achieve total victory so they can get their hands on…this.”
The mayor pulled the sheet away from the pedestal, revealing an egg. All eyes focused on the egg, each person in the crowd wondering what this year’s prize would be. How rare of a creature was hiding within?
“Last year, we had…well, a little incident. The prized egg was stolen by heinous criminals. It was recovered by the efforts of one of our competitors at the time who is competing here again this year. Please give a hand to Aurin.”
Aurin appeared on the large stadium screen as the crowd praised him, while his face turned red with embarrassment. He waved to the crowd as Gardner elbowed him in the ribs encouragingly. Shamtile hopped on top of Aurin’s lap, waving his arms and making the crowd burst into laughter with one of his erratic dances.
“I would like to assure you all that both the Hazelton Police Department and the Bretonian Tournament League are doubling up on our security so that no further incidents will occur. As exciting as it was, we would prefer to keep things under tighter control.
“Lastly, I would like to encourage you all to get involved. Our town has much to offer, from the beautiful outlying scenery to many local businesses, and let’s not forget our wondrous monster tower. And with that, I will see you all tomorrow for the first of our many matches. Let the tournament begin!”
The crowd dispersed, all excited for what was to come. The tamers in their seats all leapt to their feet faster than anyone and rushed to check their matchups so they could start preparing. Aurin pushed his way to the front of the crowd to see the screen where the two hundred and fifty-six names were listed.
He ran his eyes up and down, trying to find his name and picture. “There,” he muttered. Beside his listing, he saw a tamer who looked about the same age as he did named Conrad. He glanced around, spotting the same chestnut-haired young man in the crowd. Conrad glanced over at Aurin, looking nervous; presumably, this was his first tournament.
“If we win each of our matches,” said Hunter to Aurin, “we’ll have to wait until the semi-finals to battle.”
“So we both have a shot at the National Championships even if one of us knocks the other out,” said Aurin. “Where are you, Gardner?”
“Yes!” he exclaimed, finding his listing. “I’m at the other side of the bracket. All three of us can go to Ludonia if we do well enough.”
Aurin laughed. “Let’s be realistic, Hunter will make it with ease and we’ll have to fight much harder for it.”
“Expect the unexpected,” said Hunter, being modest.
Shortly after, Aurin said farewell to his two friends and left to find Luna and his parents. He hoisted Shamtile onto his shoulders so he could see over the crowds of people swarming the courtyard. There they were, standing by the riverside.
“Confident?” asked Luna with a wink as Aurin approached.
He said nothing, giving a simple smile as a response.
“You’re just trying to be like Hunter,” laughed Luna. “You should give it up; he plays it cool so much better than you do.”
Luna took Aurin’s parents to get a late breakfast, and Innogon his favourite milkshake, while Aurin headed back to the ranch with a jealous Shamtile. There was no time to waste, he had to train his three combatants for tomorrow’s match. This time, he was determined the prized egg would be his without charity, even if that meant the toughest battle of his life against the formidable Hunter.
Aurin's Team:
Luna's Team:
