Ana's opponent this time was a little shorter than six feet and looked skinny to the point of malnourished. The fancy suit he wore did little to hide his bony limbs, and even if it did, the boy’s sunken cheeks were a dead giveaway.

‘Can he actually fight?’ wondered Ana upon seeing him. Even when her mother’s state was at her worse, she still looked better than this.

“The name’s James Brown.” The stickman introduced himself with a fancy bow. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“Same…” Not wanting to be impolite, Ana returned the gesture. “Do I know you?”

“No,” answered James with a toothy smile. “But, I know you. You see, I know everything there is to know about anyone worth knowing.”

The 17 year old boy seemed to hold great pride in this fact. However, despite the obvious confusion Ana was showing, he did not explain further.

“Ready?” asked a bored Edwin Bell from above. His hope that an interesting duel might occur was lost three matches ago. “Fight!”

When the gong rang, the necklace on James' neck shone before an expensive looking blue staff appeared in his hands. There was a flowing pattern on the shaft similar to a winding river. At the very top, a large blue jewel was emanating a chilling aura.

“So, you’re an ice mage,” concluded Ana after pointing at it.

“Was it that obvious? And, your expertise is earth.” The stickman’s voice was so high pitched that she couldn’t tell if he was excited or just speaking normally.

“Interesting,” Ana continued. “What else do you know about me?”

“Oh, my dear. Information, like everything else, must be earned. I’ll tell you what: If you can land one hit on my fine body, I’ll happily spill the beeans.” That last word was lengthened to an uncomfortable degree.

Since they were going to fight anyway, Ana was more than willing to accept his offer. She kept her mana expenditure to a minimum and raised five boulders out of the ground.

“Ooh, how unusual. I thought for sure you would try to spear me.”

Ignoring the noble’s giggling, Ana threw the boulders towards him. However, James waved his staff, and a 10 inch thick wall of ice appeared in front of him. Ana’s boulders could have broken through it, but she chose to avoid the obstacle instead.

Unfortunately, as soon as her projectiles passed the wall, it split into thousands of pieces which stuck themselves to the rocks. Right after, the girl could feel her control over them dwindling.

“First round goes to me.” The stickman grinned and gave a bow reminiscent of a ballet dancer.

“Not yet.” Ana clenched her fist and the boulders shrunk by an inch. Then, when she opened it, they all blew up like shrapnel grenades. Shards of frozen earth smashed into James pushing his skinny body several feet back.

However, despite the barrage, he was still standing. More so, he did not seem to have received a single scratch.

“My dear Lady,” said James as a thin layer of ice began to crack on his body. “You cannot beat me in a mind game. I am the greatest mind of our generation.”

As if to shut him up, as soon as enough ice fell off of James’ body, some of the boulder’s remains started moving again and shot towards him. He managed to block several of them with some hastily summoned ice, but more than enough pieces went straight through his chest.

While coughing out blood, the stickman’s expression turned slightly sour. “You are no Lady,” he growled while trying to clean the blood off his jacket. Seeing how it was a pointless endeavor, James finally took out a scroll from his dimensional pocket and healed his wounds.

“What else do you know about me?” Having won the bet, Ana brought back her question.

“Fine…” The stickman was obviously displeased. Even so, he forced a creepy looking smile upon his lips. “Where should I begin?” While his hands waved around as if dancing, James began relentlessly spitting out venom.

“Should I start with how you’re a heartless wench who killed dozens of students during the preliminaries? With your hot and steamy relationship with Charles Wilson?” ‘Or with how you and your boyfriend tore down the towers?’

That last part was sent directly into Ana’s mind. Immediately, a sense of dread took over her. Above the bleachers, her friend was closely watching this exchange. Though he couldn’t hear their words, Ethan too could feel something was off.