Reunion with Kate

After hearing about the Spirit Hunt from Kasia, Shui asked her for Kate's location. In addition to giving it to him, she also offered to have one of her maids show him the way, but he refused and left by himself.

After he was gone, the closest maid by her right spoke what the others were thinking.

"Mistress, was it necessary to show such courtesy to such a man?"

"Hmm, he was cute wasn't he?"

"Yes...but, are we not good enough?"

Following the maid's question, pouting expressions from all over the room were directed at Kasia. This would surely bring any man to his knees but Kasia remained calm before their combined cuteness.

"You girls are flowers for me to admire. But, I'm interested in getting a cute toy to play with."

Her maids expressed joy and switched their sad pouts for bright smiles. A maid then asked, "Then, was it okay to let him go?"

Once they were assured that they were worth more to her, they lost all negative emotions towards Shui and started thinking of ways to make him into their mistress' obedient pet.

"No, that kind of man won't kneel easily. I expect disciplining him will take some time."

Unaware of the conversation Kasia and her maids were having, Shui made his way to where Kate was. Since he could sense the Red Tiger Paws he gave her, he knew that he was heading in the right location but it was only when he was within fifty cales of her, that he was sure of her location.

'I wonder who made the array that's here.'

Shui had no problem capturing the entire Storm Court in his mind, but there were some places that he could only vaguely sense. Shui deduced that this was due to some sort of detection-blocking array. He didn't know why such an array was around her residence, but he could just ask so he hastened his footsteps.

'Finally.'

As he made it past the array's border, the anticipation and excitement in his heart spiked. Though he knew that she was in the Malirin Forest, this would be the first time he would see her since the end of the Heaven clan. As the one he considered his closest friend besides Cin, he couldn't wait to meet Kate again. However, he also remembered the kiss she gave him when she was recruited and his thoughts froze for a moment.

'No, she didn't bring it up after that so it was probably nothing major. It's embarrassing if I get bothered by something like that after all this time.'

Shui quickly shook his head to get rid of such thoughts and sent part of his mind into his storage ring to find the new spirit-rank artifact that he made for her. He used the beast cores of two high beasts in order to make it so its power would stand out even among supreme spirit-rank artifact. However, this would also make it harder to control even though it was also part of the resonance series. Still, he was sure that she would be able to master it.

The house that came into view was the same as Shui's, but he could sense the nature energy that was concentrated here was less than at Kasia's residence, but still much more than at his. Once he was this close, even without using his spiritual sense, he could tell where Kate was with just his hearing.

Near her house was a small forest that she normally used to train. On this day, Kate started training a little earlier than normal because he felt strangely jumpy. She felt anxious as if she knew something important was going to happen, but she didn't know if this thing would be good or bad. So she endured an odd tension until a familiar voice called her name.

"Kate!"

At first, she was surprised that she could only sense him when he spoke, but once she saw him she stopped thinking for a moment. She was frozen and speechless as Shui came closer to her with a bright smile. And she remained like this until he stopped in front of her. His happy expression as if he was waiting for her to react to his appearance, would warm the hearts of many regardless of gender, but after rushing through several emotions the one she stopped on was not joy, relief or sadness.

"Shui..."

"Yeah, it's been a while hasn't it."

Kate was now a sophisticated beauty, but unlike Kasia she was more withdrawn and stoic. However, as she lowered her head and her shoulders trembled, that stoic side seemed to be breaking.

"Shui."

"Yes."

Right after Shui responded, Kate suddenly shifted her right foot back and looked up at him. At that moment, Shui twitched and hastily raised his hands to block the rage-infused fist that slammed into him.

"Shui!!!"

Most would be reeling from the pain of colliding with Shui's tough body, but Kate easily took a another step. Right as Shui managed to stop being pushed back by the force Kate used, she came at him again, this time with her red gloves equipped.

"Wait wait wait wait!"

Shui tried to stop her with words but it was obvious that she wouldn't listen to him. This time, Shui dodged her fist by leaning his head to the right, however she then grabbed his shoulder and swung her left leg at him. Shui defended by blocking with his right knee and then forced her away from him.

"Wait, can you at least tell me why you're so angry?"

"After making me worry for so long, you dare ask me that?! Just stand there and grit your teeth!"

"I guess that's kind of my fault but do you have to be so violent?!"

Before waiting for Shui to come up with a way to settle this peacefully, Kate achieved the resonant state with her gloves and pounced at Shui while covered in a savage red aura. The red marks on her face made her anger even more apparent as she jumped and swung down her leg on Shui's head. Since his body was enough, Shui relied on it to face Kate in her resonant state.

He caught her leg as it came down and tried to fling her to the ground, but she shot wind from her palm that pushed him away and allowed her to escape his grasp. Then, from a position of having all four limbs on the ground, Kate shifted her body so that she could throw her foot at Shui's face. Shui managed to dodge this kick, but he had to block the one that followed up and came for his chin. Once he was forced to block her attack, Kate got back on two legs and rushed in to continue her offense.

'This is just like back then.'

As he engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Kate, Shui couldn't help but remember when they sparred as children. The difference in true strengths was much greater now, but Kate was definitely a match for him if one looked at just their skills.

'Tch, it's as if that incident never happened.'

Shui wasn't the only one who remembered those days. As she fought Shui, Kate thought back to their spars, as well as Shui's condition after returning from the ancestral lands. Back then, a part of her felt lonely knowing that she could no longer use him as a clear goal, but her desire to protect him grew even stronger. When she heard that he was missing after the destruction of her clan, she felt lost, but ironically it was because she still trusted his strength despite his disability, that kept her from falling into complete despair.

'He's always like this. Making people worry and then making it seem like all of that worrying was, worthless!'

After a strong clash between their fists, distance was created between the two, but this time Kate did not rush in. She instead took a steady stance with her left palm facing right and her right fist at her waist. Sensing the surrounding wind and mist gather around her, Shui also prepared himself.

Once a small tornado wrapped around her right arm, Kate stomped with her left foot and pounced at Shui.

"Fierce Cyclone Fist."

Kate tried to reach Shui with her fist, but once she was a few feet away, he struck her with a short column of earth that rose from the ground. This shook her focus and allowed him to get close while counteracting her cyclone with a wind current created with the Four Element Technique, going in the opposite direction. At the same time as her spell was interrupted, he grabbed her wrist and her shirt and flipped her over.

With a quick spell, Kate was able to break out of the throw, but after she landed she came out of her resonant state and stopped attacking. With a calm expression as if nothing happened, Kate spoke.

"I suppose I'll stop here this time."