Chapter 231: Not Subduing, But Guiding it?

The sound that came out of the tadpole resembled the aggrieved cry of a child. Although it sounded slow and drawn-out, it was loud enough to send dust flying backward and swirling around the arena.

Aisha was instantly alarmed and wanted to retreat. Suddenly, she began to suspect that this wasn’t a low-class beast, as they had claimed or as the textbook she had read suggested. No ordinary beast could produce a sound that generated such a powerful gust of wind.

Was this another trick?

She glanced toward Corwin. However, even he looked as though he hadn’t expected to be pushed back by that single sound. Could he really be unaware of it, too?

’Ting!’

Although she was filled with doubt, Aisha needed to subdue the beast quickly, as the countdown was already ticking away.

Once the wind settled, Aisha took a step forward and studied the tadpole beast before her. She was still several feet away, but she couldn’t help marveling at its body. It was like staring into an endless darkness, as though the creature itself could suck her into a bottomless abyss.

The metal cage, however, had not been removed, unlike the one used for the Verpent. Even more metal chains wrapped around its body, digging into its flesh and leaving wounds that continued to bleed.

Aisha raised her hand.

Seeing her gesture, the spectators grew restless once again and began discussing what she was trying to do.

"Hey, wake up! Don’t faint now, okay?"

"You can’t subdue a beast just by reaching out your hand like that."

"Maybe she plans on knocking out the beast with a punch?"

That comment made some students laugh, while others remained curious about what she was actually trying to accomplish.

"Is she thinking of guiding a huge beast like that?"

"Did she not attend Guiding class or learn how to do it?"

Naturally, Aisha didn’t know how to do it. After all, she wasn’t the Aisha everyone knew.

Besides, the former Aisha had failed to subdue a corrupted beast during her first encounter and had fainted. Since then, she had never attended another such class. After her purification value was revealed to be the lowest, she had focused on her academic scores and abandoned her other core classes.

Aisha had watched Kane’s match earlier and seen how he had done it. However, watching someone perform a task and actually knowing how to do it were two entirely different things.

Moreover, guiding a Sentinel was completely different from using her guiding ability to subdue a beast.

Guiding a Sentinel required physical contact for more effective stabilization and to minimize the risk of interference. It was also far easier and more natural, since a Guide could perform it almost as effortlessly as breathing.

Subduing a beast through guiding, however, was different. There was much more to learn, along with several ways to do it effectively. One mistake could be fatal, potentially causing the beast to lose its mind and become uncontrollable.

At this moment, Aisha understood how amazing and complicated being a Guide was.

The tadpole trembled once again as she took another step toward it. While everyone remained confused and continued discussing what crazy thing Aisha intended to do by approaching the beast, she had already covered the remaining distance and stopped right in front of it.

At such close range, she could feel the pressure emanating from the tadpole. It even stirred a faint sense of fear within her. However, the feeling was so slight that she barely noticed it as she studied the creature’s skin.

Its skin was just as dark as the rest of its body. If she weren’t careful, she might mistake it for the night sky and feel as though she were being pulled into its depths. However, the sight of its countless scars, both old and new, made her chest tighten.

When she noticed another fresh wound forming where the chains dug into its body, her frown deepened.

"Booo~p!"

As soon as Aisha approached, the tadpole let out another cry. The resulting gust swept through the arena, making her ponytail sway behind her before it gradually settled against her back.

But the beast squirmed even more when it realized she was now only a few feet away. Its movements caused the chains to tighten around its body, digging even deeper into its flesh.

"Be good. Don’t move," Aisha muttered as she began to understand how the creature had accumulated so many scars.

According to the textbook she had read, these tadpoles were known to be nonaggressive and highly curious. Whenever a starship passed by, they would chase it around. However, they weren’t completely harmless. Once provoked, they would ram their enormous heads into a ship until it became a wreck, seemingly to vent their anger.

Still, Aisha thought they were very similar to the puppies in her world.

If it trembled just because she had approached it, how much suffering must it have endured?

That was why, even though she was supposed to end the round quickly by subduing the beast, she couldn’t bring herself to act recklessly and make it suffer even more.

"It’ll take only a moment," Aisha said gently, trying to reassure the frightened creature.

But the tadpole squirmed again. It even seemed to struggle against the chains, as though it wanted to break free.

Aisha sighed and closed the remaining distance between them. She pressed her palm against its body and felt a tremor run through her own arm. Narrowing her eyes, she quickly willed her power to flow through her hand and guide it toward the beast.

Under her palm, the creature trembled again, sending another wave of movement up her arm. The chains shifted with it, scraping across its wounds whenever it tried to pull away. Aisha could feel how little room it had to move, and the thought made her careful about every bit of power she released.

She couldn’t simply force her will upon it and expect the beast to settle down. If it interpreted her attempt as another threat, it might struggle even harder against the restraints and injure itself further.

The arena was still filled with voices, and she knew everyone was waiting for her to make a move and show them how she would win the match.

However, what they didn’t know was that Aisha had no intention of subduing the beast just to win.

Instead, a crazy thought had suddenly entered her mind.

She wanted to guide the poor creature and relieve it of its pain.