I could understand their passion as it was the semi-finals. People who could get into the finals were generally strong, and it seemed that we were going to have full blast of it…wait, Kamiki was just going to say something.

“Didn’t you want to say something?”

“Um…” Kamiki shook her hand and sat back.

Since Kamiki said that she had nothing to say, I did not ask any further. Kitashima was going to be the one to fight, so I had to watch carefully how he’d do.

“Both sides of the competition, Kitashima Daigo from class A against Yuki Arouchi from class B.”

As the contestants’ names were announced, I saw immediately the face of that douchebag Kitashima. He smiled at the camera and there was immediately a screaming sound of the girls in the auditorium…then, it showed Yuki Arouchi from class B.

I didn’t remember Yuki Arouchi from class B well. He had a flat head and a pair of hanging eyes, he looked a bit aggressive and he was almost at the same height of Kitashima, around 1.78m…No girls cheered for him, but he didn’t look unhappy.

“Contestants may choose his arena now.”

When they both approached the referee, the disgusting guy Kitashima reached out his hand and he was going to shake hands with the guy with a flat head.

Yuki Arouchi gave a disdainful look and shook his hands with Kitashima casually before quickly withdrawing it.

“What kind of attitude is this…he’s so impolite. Also, Kitashima is such a nice and handsome guy.”

“That’s right.”

The unpleasant complaints of the girls sitting in front of me did not really catch my attention. What caught my attention was the change of smile of Kitashima after he shook his hands…just when that guy with a flat head shook hands with Kitashima, I saw that the arc of corner of Kitashima’s mouth slightly raised…he might have done this as he wanted the girls to think that he’s handsome, but I was sure that he was thinking about some trick…the only question was…what was he going to do or what had he done?

When I was thinking about this, they’d already chosen the arena. It was an abandoned land…

They were going to fight on a wasteland without any vegetation, and it would undoubtedly help Kitashima…since he’s an earth-type mage. Why would he choose a wasteland among so many types of arenas? Could this be his trick? The arena was chosen randomly, he shouldn’t have any ways to interfere with it. So, what was it about his smile just now? Was that just my illusion?

When Kitashima and Yuki Arouchi stood back to the designated position, the system made an announcement robotically, “ok, the competition will start.”

After it started, everyone immediately became quiet. As there was nothing to block their vision, Kitashima and Yuki Arouchi were staring at each other openly.

Suddenly, there’s a black thing coming out of the foot of Kitashima, and it’d entangled his feet. Could they be vines? Could Yuki Arouchi be a wood-type mage? Apparently, he didn’t use a stick, or does it mean that he could already release magic without using one?

Kitashima, after being entangled in vines, smiled and took out a titanium sword from the back of his waist. He easily cut off the vines.

“Hey, hey, Jinnai, aren’t you too cunning? You should have let the wood-type spirit attach to you.”

As this was the semi-finals, the mini cameras in the arena had all turned on the recording function. We could all hear the unpleasant voice of Kitashima. Of course, it’s disgusting only for me…

“What’s the matter? Aren’t you just the same? First, you should attach the earth-type spirit to your body.”

“Oh? So you knew about it also? Great, Jinnai of the fifth grade.”

“No more bullshit, today I will definitely defeat you. For today, I have been practicing combat skills for three years. I had always been weaker than you during the three years in junior high school! Now, I will use the combat skills that you’re good at to defeat you.” The flat-headed guy said. Then, something like roots came out of the mud and wrapped around his hands, forming a knife.

“Oh, really?” Kitashima smiled. He wiped the blade with his palm and rushed towards the flat-headed guy.

The flat-headed guy shouted and ran towards Kitashima. Soon, the two started a fierce fight.

The “wooden” knife in the flat-headed man’s hand was like a part of his body. He was swinging it smoothly and attacking Kitashima like a machine gun.

Kitashima was acting fast. He had basically blocked all the attempts to attack of the flat-headed guy. The branches wrapping around the flat-headed guy gradually fell down because it could not withstand the sharp blade of the titanium alloy.

Kitashima smiled, turned a magic wand in his left hand, read a spell and drew in the air.

The flat-headed guy saw something wrong with his feet and jumped away quickly. There was a half-meter-long soil thorn came out from where he stood. If the flat-headed man did not dodge, he might experience a terrifying pain although with the protection of the barrier.

After the flat-headed guy escaped the attack of the soil thorn, he immediately rushed to the Kitashima, waved the wooden knife in his hand, and again used a machine gun-style to attack Kitashima frantically.

Of course, Kitashima had blocked the attack of the flat-headed guy, and half of his hands which had been entangled with the branches were now exposed. He couldn’t attack any further.

Just when I thought that flat-headed guy would lose, something unexpected happened. The branches that fell near them quickly flew to Kitashima, as if he was a magnet, and they were iron filings. Kitashima’s hands and feet were entangled, and the titanium sword in his hand fell into the ground with a clatter. It was now clear who’d won and who’d lost…

“Kitashima, have you seen it? I won, I won! You are no longer stronger than me. From now on, you’re a defeated guy!” The flat-headed guy cheered.

“Huh…” Kitashima smiled disdainfully, “Jinnai, what if you turn yourself into a stone?”

Afterwards, the expression of the flat-headed guy froze. He slowly looked down at his feet and found that they were now turning into stones at a speed visible to the naked eye, and they were slowly spreading upward…he could only react until the bottom half of his body had become stone. He started begging, “Kitashima…Kitashima. Okay, I’ve lost! I surrender!”

“Well, this is difficult for me. If you start to get petrified, this can’t be stopped. Don’t worry, my power is quite low and you’ll only be a stone for 20 minutes.” Kitashima lightly swayed himself and all of the branches on his body fell off, leaving only the flat-headed guy who’s slowing turning into a stone.

After hearing what Kitashima said, the flat-headed guy looked sad. But there’s nothing else he could do, he stared at Kitashima furiously and waited to become a statue…

“Bi…the competition is over. The winner is Kitashima Daigo from class A!”

“Wow!!!”

The classmates all stood up and cheered along with the announcement. The girl sitting in front of me yelled, “Kitashima! I love you!”

Kamiki turned away her head after seeing Kitashima win. She didn’t comment.

So that’s the spell of petrification…after seeing Kitashima’s magic, I had to admit that I was shocked…

If he could make a person petrified and lose his combat power, does it also mean that no one else can beat him? Imagine if I fight with him and I’m also petrified, then what will happen to me? And what will the admirers of Kitashima do to me? It looks like that I didn’t stand a chance to win…