228 Dueling Minh

After Macha talked with everyone, they all agreed to go into the lava pit. As a thank you, she bought everybody talismans that would help them deal with the extreme heat that the pit would give off. In this country, the talismans were affordable since many residents worked jobs which required them to be near the hot crater.

As she was purchasing the talismans, Castel approached her. He had been talking with some of the citizens while he waited. "Apparently there was a guardian owl elemental that lived in the lava pit until recently. It used to prey on the bats but has flown off."

Macha smiled and accepted the talismans from the cashier. Handing Castel his talisman, she tilted her head, "That is probably why the bat population needs a culling. I wonder why the owl left."

Palila held up a sapphire-colored tunic, "Look what I just bought! It matches my eyes," she beamed proudly.

"Oh, that's a beautiful color! Is that the crimson silk?" Macha asked, reaching out to touch the vibrantly dyed fabric.

"Mmmhmm. A few of the shops across the street have brighter colors than the name-brand ones that use natural dyes," she explained.

After doing some shopping, the group went to drop off their souvenirs at the hotel. It was dinnertime, so they agreed to head out in the morning to deal with the bats.

Minh grabbed a flatbread and dipped it into her curry. She did not appreciate Macha continually picking up the tab for them because it made her feel like the small woman was flaunting her wealth.

She bent her leg and rested it on her seat, "You don't gotta pay for everything you know."

"I know, but I figured I'm forcing you all out here with me, so I just want to thank everyone," Macha replied.

Throughout this trip, her teammate continually found fault in everything she did. The chip on Minh's shoulder began wearing away Macha's patience.

Aierim realized Minh was in one of those moods again. Since she could not rely on Ziam, she spoke up, "Minh, just enjoy the free meal. I'm glad to be on this trip, I would never have seen such a beautiful country if it wasn't for this mission. Besides, she is our employer, so it is only natural for her to pay."

Ripping her bread in half, Minh narrowed her eyes at her white-haired friend. "I'm just pointing out that we can pay for our own meals. It ain't like we aren't getting paid well for this mission. Also, she ain't our employer. The Captain is."

Zian did not appreciate the clipped tone that Minh used with Aierim. He decided to end the topic, "Who cares. It isn't like she's poor. If she wants to treat us, let her."

He gave his girlfriend a sideways glance to see if he did the right thing.

Now it felt like everyone was ganging up on her. Minh tossed her bread onto her plate and chugged her ale.

She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and explained, "That's exactly it." She pointed at Macha, "I don't like you coming in and flaunting your gold in front of us. We all work hard you know!"

Throughout their history, the tension between the two women was always high. The other members remained silent, not wanting to take sides. They were all friends here and did not want to cause the rift to become worse.

Macha stood up and slammed her hands down on the table. "Listen here, I'm not flaunting anything in front of you. I'm genuinely thankful for your help. I know Tyr was being overly protective asking you all to come here with me, but I saw this as a fun mission we could all enjoy."

She gave a huff, "Besides, if you got a problem, just challenge me to a duel. I don't know why you're being so hostile to me on this trip. I thought we were past that shit."

The two of them started off in a rocky relationship, but after years of traveling together, she thought their friendship found a good balance.

"You know what, fine. I want to challenge you to a duel. If I win, you stop treating us to food or talismans!" This was a good opportunity for her to get Macha to stop.

A shiver of anger went up Macha's spine. "Fine. Since you're challenging me, I say it's hand to hand combat, no armor. First one to land a punch wins. If I'm victorious, you cut this crap out. We can take turns buying meals from now on, but I don't want you having pent-up resentment towards me. Just tell me whenever something pisses you off."

After stating her terms, she slapped some gold onto the table and sat down.

She dunked her bread into her curry and took a bite. She tilted her chin up defiantly, "But let me finish eating first. I like this."

****

The group cleared the large living room in their hotel suite so the two women could do their duel. Since they were in a different country, they were unsure what the customs for duels were like here. They decided to keep their fight private and away from the eyes of the authorities.

Aeson ruffled his blonde hair nervously. He did not like how matters escalated. "You two sure you have to duel over this? I mean, it's just some food."

He felt the women had been overly touchy about this subject and did not understand why things got to this point.

Their heads jerked in his direction. Macha narrowed her eyes, warning him to be quiet, while Minh yelled, "Shut up."

He raised his hands, "Fine, do whatever you want. I'm just going to wait over there. Go ahead and start whenever. Shesh."

This was why he preferred traveling with the guys for missions. They never had dramatic outbursts like this.

Macha bowed to signal she was ready. For the duel, she stripped down to a black catsuit that she sometimes wore beneath her armor.

"Ready."

Minh sparred with Macha many times. She knew it advantageous for her to let the small woman attack her.

"Come at me," she growled while lifting a hand and beckoning the short woman to come with her fingers.

"As you wish," Macha replied.

She shuffled forward and feigned a few quick jabs to test Minh's speed. It had been months since she sparred with the woman and she wanted to make sure she was still faster.

The punches came fast and Minh moved backward. After months of training, she learned how to wrap a small amount of magical wind around her fists. She activated this energy so at least her hands could move faster in this fight.

Seeing small gusts of wind form around Minh's hands made the corner's of Macha's mouth turn down. Tyr still did not allow her to learn fighting magic. This forced her to reassess Minh's capabilities.

She sidestepped and shot a fist out to hit Minh in the chest, but her opponent's left hand grabbed her wrist. Minh then stepped back and flew her right fist up towards Macha's jaw.

Macha leaned backward and wisps of cool air caused her hair to tickle her cheek.

Minh's side was unguarded from this attack and Macha jumped up to kick her in her side. Minh lifted her knee and the force of the blow was stopped. In a split second, Macha raised her other foot and used Minh's knee as a springboard to rip herself free.

This fight infuriated Minh. The small woman still did not use magic, yet she could keep up with her.

"Damnit! Why?" she yelled as she charged at Macha.

Macha lay on the ground after breaking free from the hold. She rolled on the ground, trying to find time to stand up, but Minh pressed her attack.

As she rolled on the floor in a circle, she yelled, "Why what?"

"Stop dodging. Why aren't you using magic? You think that little of me?" she said through gritted teeth. With that, her knuckles hit the floor and cracked the tile.

Macha grabbed Minh's arm and spun around, knocking the woman off her feet. She then jumped on Minh and pinned her down onto the ground. Her face was close to Minh's, "I can't use magic yet!"

With that, she lightly bopped her friend on the nose. She got up and extended her hand to help Minh up. It hung there for a few moments before the woman took it.

As their hands touched, Macha explained, "I respect you and think you're amazing. Whenever we spar or duel, I always go all out to win."

Minh's pride was hurt that she lost, but it had been a fair fight. Macha had even won using the fighting style that she specialized in, instead of using her daggers. Thinking back to the comment about not using magic, she asked, "What do you mean you can't use magic?"

This was a sore spot for Macha. Tyr still refused to teach her beyond the fire enchantment. He claimed she was not good enough yet.

Her voice came out gruff. "Tyr said I'm not strong enough yet. My fundaments are too weak and it will only inhibit me in the long run."

The others thought this was odd. All of their trainers had shown them at least the rudiments of magical attacks. Minh frowned, "So you don't know any enhancement spell?"

Macha snorted, "I learned one recently, but I'm still practicing it. I really haven't grasped it well enough to even use it yet." Not wanting to talk about her difficulties with spell casting, she walked to her room. "I'm going to go wash up and sleep. Night."