——— Minho ———
Mira and I were lucky to have a break the day after the fight with T-Rex, thanks to Tanaka's anaconda-centipede getting killed by Ella's monster. That would have been our third match scheduled for the second day, so the monster's unintended sacrifice was well appreciated - R.I.P.
This gave us time to observe the fight between another student from another class, who was going to be our next opponent based on the seedings, should he emerge victorious in this battle.
"Wait, Mira. Why is that kid wearing a blindfold?"
"This is not good news for us, Minho. Especially for us."
"Why's that?"
"I heard from other guys that Sevasti's monster is a Petrocanavar."
"What the hell is… Petro… what?"
"You didn't have them in your world?" Mira asked, surprised.
"No. Nothing like that."
In truth, there really weren't any 'monsters' in my world. Or perhaps every creature was a monster to those who hadn't encountered it before, just like how some students of this world had summoned creatures like elephants and tigers and called them 'monsters'.
"It's a monster that has petrification power."
"Sounds vaguely familiar."
"If it looks into your eyes, you will turn into a stone."
"Oh-, like Medusa!"
"What in the world is that?"
"It's from Greek mythology in my world. She has the same ability of turning creatures into stones."
"I see."
"And she has snakes for hair."
"Gross."
Just as we were saying this, Sir Tel, a teacher of another class, announced the match's start.
Sevasti, a tall and slim girl with pale skin and haunting grey eyes that looked like SHE could turn people into stone, unveiled her monster, and this 'Petrocanavar' emerged.
Unlike Medusa though, this petrification monster looked like a literal stone, or more like a big boulder with protruding eyes and weirdly long and skinny four legs that didn't fit with its bulky lumpy body, almost like a giraffe with no neck.
"Isn't it dangerous if having eye contact with it can turn people into rocks?"
"Yeah, they are the bane of many adventurers that brave the mountain region on the north side of the Empire. They lay low and look almost indistinguishable from other rocks, and when you get near them they suddenly get up and pop out their eyes. If your eyes meet its eyes you will turn to stone on the spot. Apparently, they then absorb their catch into their body and that's how they grow."
"Fascinating, and… horrifying."
"This is bad. If I have to blindfold my eyes…"
I could understand why Mira was worried. Without being able to see, she'd have trouble - if it's possible at all - projecting the illusions. It was important to watch this fight and try to figure out a strategy. We only had this one fight to observe and had to think of ways to defeat it tomorrow.
"But don't worry. The magic barrier for the battlefield should make it safe for the spectators."
"I see."
The blindfolded kid was noticeably smaller compared to Sevasti, but his monster looked fierce. It looked very much like a bear but much, much taller. Although it wasn't as big as King Kong that I had to fight, I'd say it stood at least 4 meters tall. But as expected considering the nature of a petrification monster, the 'bear' stood facing the other way, probably under some sort of control by the boy.
"Who's that boy?"
"No idea."
The Petrocanavar was slow as expected. It approached the giant bear slowly. The bear could sense it coming and started to growl aggressively, but the boy was controlling him well and kept it in its place.
"What are they going to do?"
"They need to find a way to blind it. Or…"
"Or what?"
"Hm, if I were the boy, and with your ability… maybe erect a water wall to reflect the gaze? I think that might turn the monster into stone if it sees its own eyes."
"Mira."
"It's a good idea, eh?"
"It is already a stone."
"Dang…"
But it seemed this was what the boy thought he could get away with, and he skilfully erected a water wall that was very reflective, almost like a small pond that stood vertically.
As I expected though, the stone monster didn't seem to give a damn. It just walked right through the water wall and kept on approaching the bear. The boy couldn't see what was going on but he seemed to have noticed it was getting nearer, so it commanded the bear to slowly walk away.
"Say, even if they could somehow avoid meeting its eyes, how's that bear going to hurt a big lump of rock?"
"I don't know. I haven't heard of anyone being able to break that creature. The best option is to run probably."
"But we can't run. Our match is a knock-out stage match. We can't play for a draw."
Mira looked like she was literally shrinking with her diminishing confidence.
At that moment, just as the Petro monster got close enough, the boy shouted.
"FIRE!"
With that, he conjured up a massive ball of fire right in front of the petrification monster. It had to be massive as the boy couldn't really see exactly where its eyes were, but the fire was big enough to block its view completely, albeit only for a moment.
The bear didn't miss the chance and leaped high into the air, defying its size and weight, and dropping straight down seemingly aiming for its eyes.
"That's it! You don't need to break its body. If you can damage its eyes it will be incapable of fighting anymore!" Mira yelled in excitement but…
Oh frigging well.
The Petrocanavar managed to divert its protruding eyes quickly and looked up as the bear descended, and turned it into a giant rock mid-air.
I thought it might crush the monster itself if it landed on its head, but to my surprise, as soon as the stone bear landed on the stone monster's head it seemed to get absorbed and the monster grew in size - considerably.
"The winner is, Svetani!"
Sir Tel announced the victor and the victorious girl concealed her monster again. The boy took out his blindfolds and sighed, resigned to accepting what he knew was always going to be a defeat.
It was a pretty anticlimactic event and a very short-lived battle, but I knew we had a lot of thinking to do to find a new strategy.