Rennet lay on the sidelines, bandages covering his torso and his right arm; he held an ice pack, given to him after being treated by Maddeline and her power. He felt pride in knowing he'd beaten her, but even he had to admit it wasn't as easy as he thought. In fact, if she hadn't provoked him verbally, she likely would've won the match. The thought of being healed by his enemy both infuriated him and gained a bit of his gratitude.
"That was tough. Want some candy?" Riko said nonchalantly, holding out one of his favorites. Riko's seemingly mysterious infinite stash of these was starting to be the real mystery for Jetore.
"I'm good," she replied.
"That was a brilliant battle; you should take pride in knowing how it showcased your brains well. However, you've lost and have been tended to… so what are you still doing here?" Albert asked, his tone whispering his suspicion of her so clearly that it was obvious even to Jetore's thick skull.
"W-Well, lay off, will ya? I wanna see how this turns out," she replied, evidently having made up a lie on the spot.
Mei's green kimono, a clothing of her culture from her country of origin, glistened with color. Her whip was tucked behind her as she smiled for a moment, wondering who her matchup would be. Riko hadn't exactly caught her eye—except for when Lady Carmalitta seemed shaken when focusing her power on him—but she was captivated by Albert. No matter how stern she acted, she couldn't deny he seemed both intelligent and physically powerful.
Just then, Jerak did a spinning dance move before smirking at the paper sheet he was reading from and looking up. "Ooookayyy, everybody, that was a pretty wild fight, aye? Next match we got Mei and Albert, so step up!" he exclaimed.
Without a second thought, Albert placed his hands in his pockets as his beautiful silver hair flowed with his coat. He stood with a serious yet seemingly arrogant expression as he walked to the new battle platform.
"Watch your step; that Albert kid's dangerous. I can tell by the look in his eye," Felix warned.
Mei nodded before jumping down to the platform. This time, the platform had shifted into a large, roofless, transparent cuboid filled with water and a few marks of land from rocks. There were ferocious aquatic beasts swimming around, creating an obvious hazard. Mr. Kran stood closer, watching warily, prepared to intervene if something went wrong.
"Now this is just a death wish. Talk about unethical," Felix remarked.
"As you can see, a battleground with many obstacles in the form of these terrifyin' gercoraks, a local beast taken captive from the northern shores. It likes human flesh, by the way. Y'all may begin! But be cautious!" Jerak declared.
"This isn't good. There's little to no architecture here for me to manipulate; my power is virtually useless. It would be better for me to focus on getting closer to her first, even if that kind of fight isn't something I excel at," Albert thought before jumping up over a gercorak attempting to chomp at the piece of land he'd been standing on.
Albert landed near Mei and stared her down.
"Well, that was certainly unexpected, but do you really think you can win like that?" Mei rhetorically asked before unleashing her whip. Albert flipped in the air and dodged the whip as it slashed and created cracks on the small rocky land.
"Well, this isn't good for him. There's not anything Albert can use in the area to manipulate and fight with. He's not terrible at it, but he's not good either with close combat," Riko commented, watching the clash with his blue eyes. He knew from his fight earlier with Albert that he's more of a strategic fighter who relies on his ability to manipulate architecture to transmute his surroundings into traps and attacks. Albert was clearly at a disadvantage, being unable to use his passion mark ability; the fact that Mei hadn't revealed her power made the clash all the more anxious to watch.
"You can thrash as much as you want, but I assure you it won't end well," Albert taunted as he dodged Mei's swings with her whip.
As Mei regained her footing, she spoke: "I'd be more worried about your blind spot," she said.
Albert looked behind him to see a massive gercorak launching out of the water, its razor-sharp teeth looking like a thousand blades, and its seemingly impenetrable scales weren't any encouragement. The gercorak chomped down on the rocks as Albert jumped away.
"Shit!" he shouted, noticing he'd been caught off guard as Mei's whip wrapped around his waist tightly. If he were a regular person, he would be ripped in half.
"It's a shame the battlefield is clearly not ideal for you; I would've loved to see your ability, Architect," Mei said as she swung her whip, causing Albert to be thrown into the water. It was a dangerous and brutal tactic that shocked everyone; even Felix was taken aback, slightly disappointed in her method.
Mr. Kran looked ready to intervene before Albert was harmed but was stopped by Riko.
"Hold it, glass guy! Don't underestimate him; Al's not going down like that," Riko said, nicknaming Albert "Al."
Kran would usually destroy any rookie who spoke to him with disrespect like this, but something about Riko's expression and voice seemed to urge him to believe Riko. Kran stood down, despite easily being able to get past Riko and rescue Albert if he wanted to.
The small waves crashed against each part of the rocks, with Albert being hurdled down through the waters, completely submerged as he struggled against the force. One of the gercoraks saw him and rushed through the waters, cutting through the sea plants that had been set in the artificially sustained habitat below the platform. It rushed to eat Albert whole; however, he remained calm and analyzed the situation in his head. He noticed how the gercoraks seemed to have clearly been raised in rough water environments, as it was able to maneuver easily through the rough currents using its large fins built with resistant natural material.
"I noticed that thing comes out to the surface to try its luck getting one of us. If I manage to hang on to it and cause it to surface, I can escape," he concluded. However, the issue was that the beast had its eyes set on Albert, who was running low on oxygen.
"Fish have gills to breathe by filtering dissolved oxygen from water. That implies that if I mess with its respiration by causing it to suffocate, it'll flail around and probably give me a chance to get off onto the rocks," Albert thought with revelation.
In an instant, Albert dodged the bite from the gercorak by swimming to the side before being pulled by the current. He caught its fin and climbed, using all the air he had been holding his breath with, Albert breathed into its gills, causing fatal damage to the gercorak's delicate gills as they ruptured. The beast suffocated and flailed, launching Albert out of the water, landing on the small rocks beside Mei, to her shock.
Mei smiled as Albert coughed and panted. "So you resorted to animal abuse to save yourself—a detestable but clever plan, given the circumstances," Mei said.
"I had no choice in the matter; I was moments away from losing consciousness, after all," Albert replied before standing up.
"Since you impressed me slightly for a moment, I'll indulge you briefly. Prepare yourself, Albert Erecus," Mei said as she lifted the sleeves of her kimono to reveal a passion mark in the symbol of a small network of branches and leaves in the form of a small tree above her elbow. It glowed a hue of green as the sea plants in the water rose into overgrown vines, shocking the stadium.
"Wow, nasty," Riko remarked, chewing on his chocolate candy. Rennet looked toward him with agreement, despite the notion not returned.
"From a young age, I've loved nature. I've made several gardens, helped save numerous forests, and have had a passion for planting and growing plants, flowers, and trees for a long time. I was blessed with the Mark of the Arborist, which granted me the power to control and grow plants," she stated with a menacing grin.
Albert smirked, trying to hide his concern. "I see. A gracious and elegant power like yours shouldn't be accompanied by such a nasty smile," he said.
The vines unleashed a barrage onto Albert, attempting to entangle him as he jumped and twisted around, dodging them. Parts of his coat were shredded, which annoyed him because of their value. Suddenly, Albert tripped on a piece of rock and lost his footing, giving the vines enough time to wrap around him, binding Albert and lifting him up as he grunted.
"You can't escape me, fool. It's a shame your ability cannot operate here, so know I don't take this as too much of a victory; however, it's necessary for my benefit," Mei said as the vines tightened, causing pain in Albert as he shouted.
Albert's eyes scanned the surroundings as they usually do, looking for something, anything to help. Then he thought: the sea vegetation and rocks of the water were parts of architecture in their own right—a more abstract thing he wasn't used to working with outside of botany decorations he'd designed for homes. *Natural architecture*. If it was a form of architecture, Albert could shift it with his innovative imagination, at least to some sense. Though he wasn't sure, he had no choice.
The passion mark on Albert's cheek, depicting the symbol of a compass, glowed golden as Mei's vines seemed to twist and rearrange, to her shock. They formed a type of pulley holding the stone she was standing on as Albert leapt down.
"W-what?? Impossible! How did you?—" Mei demanded, searching for an answer. To her, it looked like Albert had just stolen her ability.
Albert smirked as the pulley of vines left a bit of sea plants to turn into lightly organic seats for Albert to sit on as he smiled and waved. "It's just natural architecture. Have fun now!" he said.
The pulley of vines acted against Mei's command and flipped the stone, causing her to be thrown out of bounds, defeated in an instant.
Felix wasn't shocked, nor disappointed, but more intrigued.
"Sh-She actually lost?" Rennet said with surprise. Mei immediately looked to him with an annoyed look, knowing he would tease her about it.
"Aye, nice going, Architect," Maddeline said as she sat on the sidelines. Jetore wasn't too surprised; he honestly didn't care for any of the fight except for Albert's struggle against the gercoraks in the water.
Riko smiled. "His power keeps getting weirder and weirder, ha," he said.
"WoooooooWoW, what a freaky-deaky match! Mei's been pushed out of bounds, so Albert wins this one, boys!" Jerak excitedly yelled, trying to be engaging despite his obnoxious voice.
Albert stood, drenched, before speaking: "Do you people happen to have a shower? As well as fine clothes?" he asked, trying to smile despite his irritation from the water.