43: Yeb and Esther

Work, earn money, pay the toll. Work, earn money, find a teacher. Work, earn money, train hard. Work, earn money, train more, show Seng that she doesn't need him

Airys' plan revolved around those premises, always focused on her current goal of becoming independent and demonstrating her superiority to her terrible and hateful ex-guardian. A perfect display of intellect, meditation and planning without fail.

Nothing was going to get in the way of success, well, nothing but reality.

"What?! Rejected?!" Airys let out a classic, deafening squeak of discontent.

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It was around five in the afternoon, she along with Layd, Natsume, Gregory and his nieces on the way to the girls' house, took a detour after chatting a bit about their plans in the city.

"I have to pay the debt and wait for Trekaeps to come back" Was what Layd said. "A-and I don't want to be a bother, so I want a well-paid job" he complemented upon receiving the dark reminder from Natsume's aura.

"I guess I'll be staying here with Layd for a while" Natsume said, without much interest in dedicating herself to work.

With Layd's comment in mind, Gregory had already planned places with realistic job opportunities for them, however, it was Airys' words that ended up clearly indicating the best place.

"I would like to pay the debt quickly and find a teacher to train my soul…" she expressed doubtfully.

And so Gregory changed course, they made almost a 180 degree turn and instead of moving away from the areas of the walls they went to a building adjacent to them.

"If what you want is good money on a steady basis and a teacher, this is the only place that owns both!" exclaimed Gregory proudly.

In front of them, signaled by Gregory's arms and excited spirit, was a large building of about three stories, alongside a vast field with trimmed grass, an obstacle course, and a fenced-in circle that looked like an arena. Half a dozen men and women were in the middle of a training session, some jogging, others barbells, and two women practicing sword attacks.

"Hey!" Gregory caught the attention of runners. "Can you bring Mr. Yeb?!"

One of the boys raised his thumb and broke away from the group to go to the building. After a few minutes the boy fled to regroup while the others laughed to for some reason. Behind that boy, a man in his fifties, tall like Padd, sturdy like nobody else, with a shiny brown bald head and a faded brown shirt and long, torn and worn black pants that almost did not fray, approached them as he adjusted the bandages on his hands.

"Boy! What brings you here?!" The old man's tremendous tone of voice bore witness to his experience speaking to many people in the open.

"I've got a couple of guards candidates," Gregory said.

"What happened to his beard sir?" Melody asked as soon as Yeb leaned back in the fence.

"I remembered that I have a razor" Melody ran to the fence and got on it to check his chin. "Don't tell me you're coming to leave this sweetie with me?" he didn't seem to mind that the girl reached over and patted his jaw.

"No, no, I mean these three/" Natsume backed away. "Two, Layd and Airys" Gregory said.

Yeb gave both of them a not-so-subtle look.

"Resonances?" he asked without further ado.

"Eh? Ah, it's complicated, no wait, not so much… I control the earth, but it takes me time to do it, and also the amount, well yes it's complicated" Layd stammered scratching the back of his neck.

"I-I don't have; I haven't developed any yet…" Airys confessed lack of courage.

The old Yeb grunted for a few seconds, as if analyzing the situation, and Melody enjoyed that time touching his cheek to change the tone of the noise and laugh. Yeb's eyes met Layd's and he didn't know how to react so he scratched his neck, when the same thing happened Airys didn't look away, but remained determined and a slight silver flash covered her eyes for a second fraction.

"The boy can stay, the girl cannot."

"Huh?! Why?!" screeched Airys.

"You don't have what it takes."

From the blunt and honest way Yeb said it, Airys's bruised, dying confidence and emotions were drowned in a deep sea of ​​sorrow and contempt. It must be a joke, the first thing they tell her the very afternoon that she decided to overcome her weakness is that she has no use.

Gregory felt a pressure in his chest, he did not suppose this was going to happen. Congratulations, he won the worst host in Dingars tittle in record time. Natsume frowned and focused his attention on the man.

"What did you say?" Inside Natsume there was no idea that Airys was seen as a good-for-nothing in fights.

"C-come on Mr. Yeb, don't say that" Uncomfortable and moved by the potential tears of Airys, Gregory together palms imploring an opportunity.

"It's okay Gregory…" Airys held back the tears, enough was enough. "I appreciate the gesture, but I will deal with this on my own."

Yeb raised an eyebrow, from the expressions of the others, he swore that the girl was going to go through some kind of unexpected tantrum from some ridiculous childhood trauma, glad that she didn't. Now regarding her attitude...

"Put me to the test! I assure you that I am not weak and that I can become even stronger!"

It was exactly the kind of "ego" he expected from her.

"Esther! Come here!" he screamed and one of the girls who ran stopped and after receiving the laughter of the others, she sighed and approached them.

"How can I help you?" she said agitated.

Esther was a young girl about 167 centimeters tall who appeared to be almost in her twenties, with brown hair in a ponytail hairstyle, brown eyes, and skin dyed by the sun in person. The clothes that she had were simple, a yellow tank top, brown pants with dark patches on the knees and bandages on her left hand. And boy was she drenched in sweat.

"We have an applicant and I want you to prove her worth," Yeb explained as he turned around to the ring.

"Am I going to be her opponent?" Esther expressed confused, but for Natsume and Gregory that confusion didn't sound like that of a girl with insecurities.

"Yes, open the fence for them."

"Ah, Imma do it! Hehe…"

Several of the recruits stopped their practices to come to watch the match. Esther entered the ring jumping over the fences, Airys, moved by the desire to impress, did the same; but instead of just stepping over it, she lifted her body much higher than necessary and fell deep into the sand.

"The rules are simple, hitting sensitive areas is prohibited and the first to surrender loses!" Yeb declared with his arms crossed.

"Eh? Only that?" was the thought that ran through the minds of Airys, Layd and Natsume.

"Get started!" Yeb stretched out his arms in an open salute as a sign.

"Go and win, celeste girl!" Melody roared and Samantha pulled her down from the fence before she got into trouble.

Hearing the signal, Esther both Airys lowered their postures and stood firm. The first to make an aggressive move was Airys, she ran to eliminate the distance between them, staying away was an obvious waste of time and giving up the initiative was not going to show what she wanted.

Being in range, she retracted her arm to give her a severe left blow, in the path of her knuckles she was surprised that the girl only closed her guard, that made her angry.

"Block this." She clenched her fist tighter and put every ounce of her body in that movement.

Airys expected a painful and noisy impact on Esther's forearms, so when she felt nothing she was alarmed, not to mention when she felt a hand pushing her face and an annoying heel kick in hers that lifted her into the air of suddenly.

Of the audience members, the visitors were the ones who shared the astonished face. It was visually appealing as the young lady faded and came to life as an illusion or afterimage. One of them, Gregory, didn't direct his surprise into the fight.

"Mister Yeb?" he hesitated within himself.

Airys fell to the ground on her back and had time to look up at the sky for a second before Esther's kind and concerned face.

"Are you okay?"

Airys closed her eyes without meaning to reply and stood up, Esther took a couple of steps back with a pitying face.

"Keep going" Yeb ordered. "Of course resonances are allowed" sputtered upon noticing Airys's furious, murderous gaze on him.

Airys decided to ignore that guy's ugly face and resume her fight. If Esther's plan was to be on the defensive to use her resonance it means that a hasty attack would end the same as before. This time, she chose to calmly move forward, trying to think of what the hell Esther did and how the hell to counter it.

"When I hit her I didn't feel and nothing... and suddenly she appeared to my left... so she will be..." She took the last step to be in range and tried to land a blow. "On my right!" she screamed internally as she launched the blow and noticed how Esther's figure was manifested in that place.

She wanted to stop her punch to turn it into an elbow or at least a block, but for the second time in a row, Esther cheated on her. Her silhouette to her right never took on definition and that movement and change of perspective left her open to receiving three quick succession hooks on her nose.

"A-are you okay?" Esther asked sincerely as she saw blood gush from Airys's lip.

"I-it was just luck."

"I told you, you don't have what it takes," Yeb emphasized when he saw Airys go back weak, rubbing her chin. "Give it up already."

Airys didn't listen to the foolish words of that man and continued with the fight.

"I don't understand, even I would have lost to that" Natsume thought angrily. "That girl has the advantage to be able to dedicate herself only to the counterattack with that resonance, to face her I would have to use my resonance, it is obvious that Airys cannot"

Natsume's eyes widened, she fell into a realization that disgusted and embarrassed her; How could she believe herself to be Airys's friend by thinking of something so insensitive and crude?

She saw Airys fall to the floor for the second time, this time because Esther confused her again, she caught her arm and knocked her over using her shoulder. Airys recovered and attacked Esther.

Natsume covered her mouth, closed her eyes, and turned her face away from her.

"No, it's just my ideas, it's not true" she repeated herself to give herself a false hope.

It is understandable, she didn't want to accept the reality. The sweat that Esther had at the beginning of the fight from exercising, dried completely a while ago.