With himself surrounded by broken trees, Mater coughed blood as he stood up inside the forest. Mater was wearing a supreme spirit-rank defensive artifact, but it still couldn't completely cancel out the effects of Kate's spell. His orb artifact was covered in a spiderweb of cracks and while it was still functional, it wouldn't be able to provide him with the same boost.
"That damn monster!"
He hated to admit it, but Kate was a genius with talent that surpassed his. If they had been the same age, then he wouldn't have even had the opportunity to compete with her like he did with Pon. But that was even more of a reason he had to eliminate her here.
"It's upsetting that I have to go this far, but I can't give that monster any chance of survival!"
While his hair glowed, Mater summoned a blessed tesora-rank artifact in the form of a trident. It would quickly drain his energy, but his comprehension was high enough to make up for the cultivation he lacked in order to use this artifact properly.
The moment Mater summoned the trident, Kate sensed his growing presence and soon after, she felt something wet her shoulder. The sky had been clear when their fight first started, but now there was a dense gathering of gray clouds above them and they obviously didn't form naturally.
As rain picked up, Mater approached with small steps, but each step moved him ten feet forward.
"This is the ultimate advanced spell taught to manor lord candidates, 'Call the Rain'. There's a test involving it where candidates fight for control over the spell using their comprehension of the natural laws. Would you like to try?"
It was simple for Kate to sense that the rain was a support spell that would increase in strength the longer it continued, so she didn't have room to humour Mater.
"Storm-clad."
Wrapped in dense winds that deflected the incoming raindrops, Kate flew towards Mater and attacked with her right fist. Mater met her fist with the left prong of his trident. At first they were even in power, but in the next moment, Kate discovered herself being pushed back. This repulsive force grew until Kate was finally knocked away.
'What was that?'
Although the resistance she faced grew, it didn't look like Mater was putting any extra strength in his arms. She wasn't sure if it was a spell or some trick, but it wasn't enough to suppress her fighting intent. Kate rushed at Mater several more times, but faced the same outcome. Even if she had the upper-hand at first, his resistance would eventually push her back. Long-range attacks also didn't have much of an effect because of the rain weakening them, but Kate still saw a path to victory.
'If I can't hold my ground, then I'll just have to push through.'
Kate changed the flow of wind around her and focused it on her right hand and an imaginary tail at her back. No longer impeded by the wind, the rain crashed into her body. Each raindrop was like a pebble, but together, the rain had the force of a stone shower. She would have a much easier time if she was outside of the rain, but Mater certainly wouldn't allow that to happen. Her blood soon began mixing with the rain, but Kate didn't even cast a barrier as she focused on controlling the wind. Her tail wind would provide her with a burst of speed while the wind around her hand was refined into a drill that would pierce Mater.
When her blood had dyed the wind drill red, her tail blasted her forward at a speed invisible to the mortal eye. Even Mater could no longer see her, but there was only one path she could take, so he used the rain in front of him to intercept her and took a thrust stance. Kate broke through the rain with virtually no effort, but the water clung to her body and made her figure visible.
"This is the end."
Before Mater thrust his trident, Kate had been confident that she could defeat him, but once she saw it push towards her, she sensed the great power it carried. It was too late to change direction or defend, so she met the trident with her drill of wind, but the trident broke through the wind and pierced her shoulder.
"Kuh!"
With her shoulder stuck on his trident, Mater lifted Kate off the ground.
"I'll give you one more chance to say your last words."
Instead of words, Kate responded by spitting at Mater's face. Though his brows furrowed, Mater didn't bother wiping off the saliva and instead tightened his grip on the trident.
"Very well."
As water gathered above Kate, she could sense the chill of impeding death, but it wasn't a hopeless situation. Using the strength still left in her body, Kate grabbed the shaft of the trident with her left hand and steadied herself enough to look Mater in the eye.
"Shredding Beast Claws, maim."
She then released control of her body and let her instincts combine with the intent of her gloves, which she named the Shredding Beast Claws. Detecting danger, Mater immediately made his move, but Kate was still half a step faster. A burst of wind forced back Mater and his trident along with the surrounding water. As her injuries rapidly healed, an amber aura cloaked her body and faint whiskers appeared on her face.
This differed from the resonance she had shown Shui. Although the Shredding Beast Claws were made from the Red Tiger Paws, she would still need more time to understand the artifact in order to reach that stage. However, thanks to her previous experience and the strong intent inside the gloves, Kate could pull out more power from the artifact by allowing it primary control over her body. To others, this would be an act akin to suicide since it could lead to mental collapse, but Kate was confident that she would regain control once she ran out of energy. However, she would have to leave the rest of the battle to the artifact.
When Kate's transformation was complete, her eyes no longer showed any sign of human intelligence. She was now just a beast trapped in a human body. When alive, this beast would be no threat to Kate or Mater, but in Kate's body, the power it could draw out was astounding.
Mater could tell what Kate had done based on the changes to her body and presence, but it was just a pitiful last resort in his eyes.
"How ridiculous. This will only delay the inevitable."
Mater tried to take control of the rain to attack Kate, but he felt a strong resistance in the process. Confused, he looked up at the sky and noticed that the rain was now falling at irregular angles due to a strong and persistent wind.
"Is this, a domain?! No, it's not at that level but..."
A powerful current of wind flowed around Kate, stopping the rain from touching her and actively pushing the rain away. Like Mater said, it wasn't at the level of a domain, but the region of wind could be considered Kate's territory.
"Rawr!!!"