"Now the moment you all have been waiting for, the first match of this round is Kat F. Nerdy versus Shiro Arai."
After the announcement, the two of them slowly walked up to the stage from the waiting area opposite to each other.
A loud cheer echoed throughout the arena as the two took their positions. But compared to Kat, who evidently dominated the preliminary round, Shiro's name could be heard louder. This situation was evidence of the fact that the louder you are, the more significant impact you make on the crowd.
Even though Shiro was just a wildcard, he had remarkable close-quarters combat skills. He was fast, and his ability to quickly assess the surrounding and opponent's movements was what got him this far.
"Now, you will only have 30 minutes to make your opponent surrender or unable to continue. You may already be familiar with the rest of the rules, so without further ado, let the countdown begin."
Shiro prepared to charge in while Kat just stood there looking as slothful as ever. By the looks alone, there was a significant difference in how seriously the two participants were taking this match.
"Three, two, one, let the battle begin!"
Without wasting time, Shiro charged forward. He clearly knew that the closer he could be, the more advantage he would get in this battle.
Though there was also a possibility that he couldn't ignore — he knew that in this case, the opponent was smart and could easily figure out the moves he was trying to make. But for that, he had already prepared a precautionary measure.
"Forest of Ead."
He knew that the stage floor wasn't suitable for his plant magic, but the ground between the stage and the audience had precisely the kind of soil that he needed.
He threw the seeds that he had his hands towards the ground, and from there, several large vines emerged and attacked Kat.
"No man zone."
When Kat said that, several invisible walls appeared around Kat and blocked the vines. And when he snapped his fingers, the vines were pushed back.
While Kat was doing that, Shiro reached right in front of him. As far as he knew, Kat wasn't good at close-quarters combat, so he was at a serious advantage at this point.
He used grade 2 physical enhancement, which could enhance both physical capacities and defense, and attacked kat with a high kick.
"No man zone."
Kat ducked and dodged the attack as if he could see it coming from a mile away. He then used No man zone to push Shiro backward.
Shiro had already thought of this probability and had prepared countermeasures in this case.
Controlling the vines while still using physical enhancement wasn't something he could do for a long time. So, without wasting a second, he dashed towards Kat again.
But despite his speed and accuracy, Kat easily dodged his attacks while still pushing the vines backward. It was like he could see every move that Shiro was about to make before he could actually make it.
"Damn! How is that possible?"
It was at that moment he noticed that both of Kat's eyes were shining. As far as he knew, those gear-shaped eyes could scan any mechanical equipment. And based on that, he could use his telekinetic abilities to manipulate those mechanical parts. This, as a whole, was a discipline of magic known as Technopathy.
But even with that, Kat shouldn't have been able to predict his movements because his MM was designed to prevent interference using technopathic abilities. Or at least that is what his analysis showed.
This time, he stepped back himself to come up with a new plan of attack. He disabled the vines behind him since they were useless and only consuming a lot of his mana.
"Heh! This isn't the first time someone thought my abilities are purely magical."
"Are you trying to tell me that there is more to it than your magic? Because, based on what I found out, you have always been completely reliant on magic. And never once have you trained yourself in any physical art."
"Yeah, that sounds alright. But do you think you would be able to analyze everything just by looking at a blueprint? Or assemble and disassemble something with hundreds and thousands of parts by looking at its parts once?"
Shiro's eyes widened. He was so focused on preparing a counter against Kat's magical abilities that he completely forgot about his analytical skills.
All his life, Kat had prepared himself to be able to use his magical abilities to the fullest. And the path up to now wasn't easy as it came with a hefty price.
To sharpen his concentration to the point where he could analyze things to every detail, he had to sacrifice his activeness. And to do that in a blink of an eye, he had to sacrifice his liveliness.
As they say, greater power comes at a higher price, and if it doesn't, it will have limitations.
"...anyways, I guess I will end this here. This whole thing is tiring, and I need a nap."
"No, I won't let you"—He threw several seeds towards the ground on both sides— "Garden of Fiends!"
Several vicious-looking carnivorous plants appeared from the ground and attacked Kat from all three sides.
"No man zone."
Kat used the spell again to defend himself. He then lifted his right hand to the level of his shoulder and spun his index finger.
As he did that, eight cement blocks from the stage floated in the air and started revolving around the two of them.
"Well, this spell is still a general class spell, but I can control 8 of them at once. It is within the rules, but its effect can be deadly."
Kat walked forward, and as he did, the circular path in which the blocks were revolving got smaller and smaller.
"As far as I know, you are at a serious disadvantage here. You can't grow any plants here, and I can repel the ones you grow in the ground using my spell. I suggest you give up before it gets painful. Though…"
Kat looked up towards the judges who were discussing something. After Naoki and Tadashi nodded, the old man signaled the announcer."
"Stop!"—all the screens around the stage turned red— "Judges have decided to stop the match here before anyone gets injured. The winner is Kat Nerdy."