The corrupted beast snarled, its breath hot and foul as it pressed against the invisible distortion between us. Its claws scraped through the air again, testing the strange resistance where space no longer behaved normally.
I held the spatial tension steady.
But the experience from before told me, that this wouldn't hold long.
I had to think of something else…
To the creature, the space between us was slightly longer than it should have been. Every time it tried to close the gap, its movements stumbled against that distortion.
But it didn't take long for the beast to react.
Dark miasma surged violently from its body.
The pressure against my threads increased immediately.
One snapped, then another.
I stepped lightly to the side as the creature lunged again, letting the warped space guide its momentum past me instead of meeting it directly.
Its claws slammed into the ground where I had stood a moment before.
Dust scattered.
The beast twisted around with terrifying speed, crimson eyes blazing.
Outside the barrier, I could feel the others watching now.
I extended another thread carefully.
Not toward the beast, but toward the miasma around it.
Infernal mana didn't behave like normal mana. It churned chaotically, pressing outward, trying to contaminate everything nearby.
When my thread brushed it, the reaction was immediate.
The miasma shuddered.
The beast lunged again.
I stepped back, letting the spatial distortion shift its trajectory just enough that its claws sliced through empty air.
My threads trembled again under the pressure of the corruption.
Brute force containment wasn't going to work.
The others had already proven that…my try ealier had proven that.
Blood magic snapped.
Dark compression shattered.
Summons were torn apart.
Even light magic could only suppress it for a moment.
So brute force wasn't the answer.
I exhaled slowly.
Then changed tactics.
Instead of forming thicker threads…
I made them thinner, far thinner.
Dozens of nearly invisible strands unfolded quietly around the creature.
Not tight enough to restrain it and
not strong enough to hold it.
Just… present.
The beast lunged again.
This time it ran straight through several of them.
For a moment nothing happened.
Then its movement faltered again.
Not because it was trapped, but because the space around it had changed.
Each thread subtly altered the geometry of the area, the distance stretched and angles shifted.
The creature snarled, confused.
Outside the barrier, Liang Yu spoke quietly.
"…What is she doing?"
Professor Lin didn't answer.
Inside the enclosure, I continued adjusting the threads.
More. I need much more. And thinner, I need to be more precise.
The beast attacked again, but this time its leap fell short.
Just enough that its claws scraped across the ground instead of reaching my throat.
I felt a small smile tug at the corner of my mouth.
Yes.That was better.
The creature twisted again, trying to correct its trajectory.
But every step it took pushed against another distortion.
Tiny shifts in space stacked on top of each other.
This is not a cage…
More like… uneven ground.
Invisible, shifting terrain.
Its movements grew clumsier, more erractic.
Dark miasma surged again, trying to destabilize the spatial threads.
Several snapped immediately, but I quietly replaced them.
Instead of resisting the corruption, I let the threads flex slightly when the miasma pressed against them.
Like reeds bending in the wind.
I slipped to the side and extended several threads around its forelegs.
The beast tried to move, its legs pushed off the ground and suddenly the distance beneath them was wrong.
The leap collapsed halfway through and the beast slammed into the ground with a startled snarl.
Outside the barrier, someone inhaled sharply.
I heard Liang Yu whisper,
"…Oh."
The creature scrambled upright immediately, furious now.
Miasma flared violently from its body.
Three of my threads snapped at once.
But by now I understood the rhythm.
Corruption pushed outward in pulses.
Between those pulses, the spatial distortions held.
I waited for the next surge.
Then moved.
My fingers lifted slightly.
Spatial threads folded inward from all directions.
The creature stumbled, sliding across the ground as its own speed betrayed it.
Now.
I stepped closer.
One final layer of threads unfolded, thicker this time, a bit more stable.
The beast tried to leap again.
But the ground beneath it no longer aligned with the direction of its force.
Its legs kicked uselessly as spatial distortions redirected every attempt at movement.
Several threads snapped against its onslaught of power.
But enough remained.
I reached toward the floating talismans Professor Lin had indicated earlier.
With a small twist of spatial tension, I pulled one toward me, it hovered in the air for a moment.
Then I pressed it gently against the creature's shoulder.
Golden containment runes spread instantly across the beast's body.
The miasma recoiled as the sealing array activated.
And the beast finally collapsed into a restrained crouch, breathing heavily but no longer able to move.
Silence settled over the training grounds.
I released the remaining spatial threads.
They dissolved quietly back into the air.
Then I stepped away from the now-contained beast.
The barrier shimmered open.
When I walked out, the quiet outside felt noticeably heavier.
Liang Yu was staring at the enclosure.
"…You didn't actually restrain it," he said slowly.
I tilted my head." Hm not exactly."
Dawei Chen looked thoughtful.
"You redirected its momentum."
Yung Yu's gaze had narrowed slightly, "Spatial distortion."
Professor Lin finally spoke.
"Well done."
His voice carried calmly across the field.
"An excellent demonstration of adaptive containment."
He looked briefly toward the beast, then back at me.
"You avoided direct confrontation and instead altered the environment in which the creature was operating."
A pause.
"That is precisely the kind of thinking everyone must develop."
Behind him, several of the senior instructors were exchanging quiet glances.
Sheng Rui stepped closer.
His expression held quiet curiosity rather than surprise.
"You adjusted the space around it," he said.
I nodded.
His smile returned, softer this time.
"I suspected you were capable of something like that."
Professor Lin clapped his hands once.
"Now that you have seen the difference between brute force and controlled containment…"
His gaze swept across the group again.
"…we will repeat the exercise."
Liang Yu groaned quietly.
Yung Yu cracked his knuckles.l
Dawei simply reached for his sword again.
Professor Lin gestured toward the enclosure.
"The next manifestation will be released shortly."