The creature paced along the edge of the enclosure, its silhouette passing through the shimmering layers of wards.
Every now and then, faint strands of dark miasma leaked from its body, curling through the air before dissolving against the reinforced spells.
Professor Lin clasped his hands behind his back.
"As you are aware," he continued calmly, "corrupted beasts are appearing with increasing frequency.
Yesterday's incident near the academy was… an unfortunate reminder."
His eyes moved slowly across the group.
"You cannot rely on senior students or professors to handle every manifestation. Therefore, today's exercise will test your ability to react independently."
A faint pulse ran through the containment barrier as the creature inside struck one of the inner wards.
Professor Lin didn't even glance at it.
"You will face the beast one at a time."
A pause followed.
"Your goal is not to destroy it."
That caught my attention immediately.
Instead, Professor Lin gestured toward several glowing talismans floating near the barrier.
"Your objective is containment."
Liang Yu pushed himself off the pillar slightly.
"Capture it?" he asked.
Professor Lin nodded, "Yes."
He walked a few steps toward the barrier, the hem of his robe brushing softly against the stone floor.
"In real situations, killing corrupted creatures is sometimes necessary.
However, if the corruption is still reversible, capture becomes far more valuable."
His hand lifted slightly toward the barrier.
Behind the barrier, the beast slammed into one of the inner seals again with a distorted snarl.
The wards flared bright silver before settling.
Professor Lin continued as if nothing had happened.
"This manifestation has been partially stabilized. Its corruption is contained within a reversible threshold."
He raised one finger.
"If you fail to capture it within three minutes…"
The faintest hint of amusement touched his voice, "…the next student will take over."
Yung Yu crossed his arms.
"And if we get injured?"
"Then we stop the exercise…" Professor Lin replied calmly, "…But I would prefer that you avoid that outcome."
He turned toward the group again.
"Who will go first?"
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Dawei Chen stepped forward,
"I will."
The containment field opened with a soft ripple.
The moment Dawei stepped inside, the atmosphere shifted.
The beast reacted instantly,
it spun toward him with a guttural snarl, its distorted limbs tensing as dark miasma rolled across its fur.
Up close, it looked even worse than yesterday's creature.
Its frame resembled something between a wolf and a large lynx, but the proportions were wrong.
So…so wrong.
The joints flexed with a strange elasticity as it crouched low.
Dawei rested one hand lightly on the hilt of his sword.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then the beast lunged,it crossed the distance in a blur of twisted muscle and corrupted energy.
Dawei moved just as fast.
His sword flashed out of its sheath in a controlled arc, blood magic flaring along the blade as he redirected the creature's momentum instead of striking directly.
The beast slammed into the ground beside him with a heavy thud.
But the creature recovered instantly and leapt again.
This time Dawei Chen didn't draw blood.
Instead, crimson threads of blood magic flickered into existence around the creature's limbs.
He was trying to bind it.
The beast snarled violently and dark miasma pulsed outward.
For a brief second, the blood threads tightened….
But then snapped
The creature surged forward again.
Dawei Chen stepped back smoothly, blade raised defensively.
Outside the barrier, Professor Lin spoke calmly.
"One minute."
Dawei's expression sharpened and he tried again.
This time the blood magic formed a larger circle around the beast's body.
For a moment it worked.
The creature staggered…
But then its corrupted mana flared violently.
The magic shattered, the beast tore free and lunged straight for his throat.
Dawei twisted aside just in time, the claws grazing his shoulder before he slid backward across the ground.
Outside the barrier, Liang Yu whistled softly.
"Fast."
Dawei Chen's jaw tightened.
But the timer ended before he could attempt another capture.
Professor Lin raised a hand.
"That is enough."
The beast was forced back toward the center of the enclosure as the wards activated.
Dawei Chen stepped out of the field.
A faint scratch marked his shoulder, but nothing serious.
Yung Yu gave him a sideways glance.
"You hesitated."
Dawei wiped the blade of his sword calmly.
"It's faster than it looks."
Professor Lin nodded slightly.
"Next."
Yung Yu stepped forward without another word.
The barrier opened again.
The moment he entered, dark mana flooded outward from his body like liquid shadow.
The beast paused, just for a second,
then it attacked again.
But this time the ground itself seemed to thicken around it.
Yung Yu's dark magic compressed the surrounding air, forcing the creature's movements to slow.
For a moment, it almost worked.
The beast staggered as invisible pressure pushed against its limbs.
But the corrupted mana reacted violently.
Dark miasma burst outward in a chaotic wave and the pressure field shattered instantly.
The creature lunged again.
Yung Yu barely avoided the claws as they tore through the space where he had stood.
"Two minutes" Professor Lin announced.
Yung Yu's eyes narrowed.
His dark mana surged again, trying to compress the creature from multiple angles.
But the beast twisted through the pressure fields with alarming agility.
Three minutes passed quickly.
Yung Yu stepped out, irritation flickering briefly across his expression.
Liang Yu laughed quietly.
"Looks like it's my turn."
He entered the barrier with far less tension.
Several small summoned creatures appeared around him instantly.
Tiny floating constructs of light and wind.
The beast growled.
Liang Yu didn't attack directly.
Instead, his summons moved in a coordinated pattern, circling the creature like a living trap.
For a moment, it looked promising.
The summons darted closer.
But the corrupted beast reacted unpredictably.
It leapt straight through one of them, tearing it apart with a burst of miasma.
Another vanished seconds later.
Liang Yu tried adjusting the formation.
But the creature simply moved too fast.
Three minutes passed.
Barrier reset.
Liang Yu walked out with a thoughtful expression.
"Well," he said lightly, "that's inconvenient."
Professor Lin's gaze shifted.
"Next."
Sheng Rui stepped forward.
The moment he entered the barrier, soft golden light spread outward from his hands.
Unlike the others, he didn't attack.
He simply stood there.
Calm.
The beast snarled again.
But when it lunged, the light flared.
The corrupted mana around its body shuddered slightly as Sheng Rui's magic pushed back against it.
This is interesting.
Very interesting.
So light magic really has a direct affect on infernal miasma…
For a moment, the creature actually slowed.
Its movements grew slightly less erratic as the light suppressed the miasma around it.
But suppression wasn't containment.
The beast eventually forced its way through the light and attacked again.
Sheng Rui dodged gracefully, the golden aura shielding him from the worst of the corruption.
But after three minutes, even he hadn't managed to bind it.
The barrier reset once more.
Sheng Rui stepped out, brushing a strand of hair from his face.
Then Professor Lins gaze landed on me.
"Your turn."
I stepped forward slowly.
Behind me, I could feel the attention of the others shifting.
Not hostile…
Just… curious.
I glanced back.
Sheng Ruis eyes held mine for a moment.
Then he smiled slightly.
"You don't have to stay in the background all the time."
I looked toward the containment barrier.
Inside it, the corrupted beast paced restlessly again.
Dark miasma curled through the air around its body like smoke.
Three minutes….
Three minutes to capture.
The barrier opened and I stepped inside.
The moment my foot touched the ground, the beast's head snapped toward me.
Its crimson eyes burned with feral intelligence.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then it lunged.
Fast. So, so fast.
Much faster than it had looked from outside.
But I didn't move.
Instead thin threads of space unfolded silently around me.
Invisible to the eye.
The creature crossed half the distance and suddenly stumbled.
Just slightly.
Its movement hit something it couldn't see.
I smirked slighty. This could work…
The beast snarled and lunged again, this time harder.
My space threads trembled as the miasma pushed against them.
I extended another thread and then another.
Behind the barrier, Professor Lin watched carefully.
The beast lunged again.
Its claws tore through the air and one of my spatial threads snapped.
Ah.I tilted my head slightly.
So brute force won't work, good to know.
Then the creature vanished from my immediate perception and reappeared right in front of me.
Oh.That's… faster than expected.
My threads flared instinctively.
Space bent.
The claws stopped, only a hair's breadth from my face.
For a moment, the beast seemed confused.
Its claws trembled against the invisible shift in space.
Outside the barrier, nobody spoke.
Professor Lin's eyes had narrowed slightly.