The heat on the field had not fully dissipated.
The air was held within a stable temperature range. It did not rise. It did not fall. The moisture left by breathing was rapidly extracted, its spread confined to an extremely small range.
The students stopped.
Not loosely.
But in convergence.
Their steps slowed into a unified range. Their breathing returned from disorder to control. Their bodies were forcibly pulled back from a state of exertion into standard posture.
No one bent over.
No one held their knees.
No one sat down.
They stood.
Perfectly straight.
As if the previous thousand meters had not existed.
Iosef Kain stood to the side.
He did not speak.
He was observing recovery.
Not who recovered stamina faster.
But who recovered "control" faster.
Some brought their breathing back to a stable range within twenty seconds.
Some took nearly a minute.
Some appeared stable, yet their chest movement still showed deviation.
Some deliberately extended their breathing rhythm to mask instability.
He recorded all of it.
These were not ordinary students.
Yet their methods of using their bodies were still inefficient.
"Move."
He spoke.
His voice was not loud.
There was no emphasis.
The formation turned.
Direction aligned.
No one asked the destination.
No one hesitated.
They executed directly.
The path from the field to the laboratory building was not long.
But the structure changed distinctly.
The external space was open control.
The internal passage was completely closed.
Wall thickness increased.
Lighting shifted from natural cold white to perfectly uniform artificial light.
No shadows.
No blind spots.
Footsteps were swallowed again.
Airflow was suppressed to the minimum.
Like entering a fully sealed container.
Iosef Kain walked at the rear.
He watched the door.
Not the switch.
But the mechanism.
The door opened without mechanical delay.
Identification had already been completed before their arrival.
Not a single identity check.
But continuous tracking.
Position, speed, formation, individual variation—all were being read by the system.
Any anomaly would be handled in advance.
This was not a door.
It was a filter.
They entered the laboratory building.
The temperature dropped again.
Not a comfortable temperature.
A suppressive one.
Affecting muscles, nerves, even ability output.
The corridor was straight.
No branches.
Or rather, no visible branches.
Every door looked the same.
Numbers replaced all information.
The formation stopped.
The door opened.
Space unfolded.
Ability training room.
Empty.
Extremely empty.
No reference points.
No lines.
No equipment.
No markings.
The space itself was the restriction.
Students entered.
They dispersed automatically.
Spacing precise.
Not measured.
But formed over time.
They knew each other's "safe range."
Iosef Kain did not enter the center.
He stood at the boundary.
He observed the moment "before start."
Some closed their eyes.
Not to rest.
But to cut off external input.
Some flexed their fingers slightly.
Not from tension.
But to adjust trigger points.
Some slowed their breathing.
Not to relax.
But to reduce fluctuation.
All of them shared one action.
Suppression.
Their abilities were not activated.
But already being pressed down.
Training began.
No signal.
No countdown.
At a certain point—
they all entered simultaneously.
The space shifted slightly.
Air density varied across different regions.
Local structures distorted.
But all within controlled limits.
Iosef Kain's gaze locked onto one person.
Initial stability.
Smooth output.
Clear boundaries.
Then—
a subtle deviation.
Not in strength.
In rhythm.
Frequency increased.
Control lagged.
No reaction from the surroundings.
No one noticed.
Or rather—
no one tried to notice.
The training model here was "individual isolation."
The fluctuation continued to accumulate.
Like pressure sealed inside a container.
No release path.
The critical point approached.
Breathing began to misalign.
Hand movements lost consistency.
Output started to tremble.
Then—
eruption.
No warning.
No buffer.
Space was torn open into a displaced layer.
Air structure collapsed and reformed instantly.
The impact began to spread.
At the very origin of that spread—
a layer formed.
Barrier.
Generation time extremely short.
Almost simultaneous with the eruption.
Boundary precise.
Just enough to contain the out-of-control range.
No waste.
No delay.
The impact was locked inside.
Rebound.
Stacking.
Compression.
Iosef Kain watched the barrier structure.
Not a fixed wall.
A dynamic layer.
Every impact altered internal paths.
Energy was redirected, folded back, weakened.
The out-of-control student was inside.
Movements chaotic.
Output completely out of control.
But unable to break through.
After a few seconds—
the energy began to decay.
Not a natural end.
Consumed.
Within the enclosed space, constantly canceling itself out.
Until zero.
The barrier dissipated.
No residue.
The ground restored.
The air restored.
As if nothing had happened.
The student remained standing.
Breathing out of control.
But the body still forcibly maintained.
No one looked at him.
Training continued.
Iosef Kain did not speak.
He recorded it.
Ability runaway.
Fully contained.
Zero loss.
Conditions.
Distance.
Reaction time.
Presence.
Training continued to advance.
Second round.
Overall fluctuation increased.
Third round.
Fatigue began to accumulate.
Not physical fatigue.
Control fatigue.
Suppressing abilities consumed more.
At a certain moment—
abnormality was no longer a single point.
Left side—
frequency out of control.
Right side—
output misaligned.
Front—
structural instability.
Multiple nodes approaching critical simultaneously.
Seven's gaze shifted.
He was determining order.
The first barrier deployed.
Locked.
The second—
completed simultaneously.
The third—
delayed.
A time gap appeared.
The third point began to leak.
The impact just crossed the safe range.
At that instant—
Iosef Kain moved.
He did not step forward.
Did not enter the range.
Only his fingers.
A light snap.
The sound was faint.
But the result immediate.
Three out-of-control points—
interrupted simultaneously.
Not suppressed.
Not weakened.
Severed.
Consciousness forcibly cut.
Neural signals terminated.
Ability output dropped to zero instantly.
Bodies lost support.
They fell.
In sync.
No sequence.
The space restored.
All fluctuations vanished.
Seven's barrier froze.
Then dissipated.
Air stabilized again.
Training paused for a moment.
Then resumed.
No one looked at those who had fallen.
No one checked their condition.
They continued.
Iosef Kain withdrew his hand.
As if nothing had happened.
He was comparing.
Seven's method.
Localized control.
Containment.
Consumption.
Required distance.
Required deployment.
Required time.
His method.
Direct action.
Remote.
Instant termination.
No reliance on structure.
No reliance on position.
Not a substitute relationship.
A difference in hierarchy.
Training continued to run.
The system did not stop.
Those who fell were removed.
Silently.
Efficiently.
The formation filled the gaps automatically.
Spacing restored.
No disturbance.
Iosef Kain watched all of it.
This system allowed loss of control.
But only within boundaries.
It allowed risk.
But only controllable risk.
Individuals could collapse.
But the whole could not be affected.
He turned.
Walked toward the exit.
No summary.
No evaluation.
But the conclusion was complete.
High completion in ability training.
Comprehensive environmental control.
But dependent on environment.
Dependent on rules.
Dependent on boundaries.
He walked out of the laboratory building.
The external air rose slightly.
No longer fully controlled.
He paused for a moment.
Not because of the environment.
But because of a judgment.
If these people left here—
lost the boundaries—
lost the control structure—
could they survive their first loss of control?
He did not continue thinking.
Because the answer was already clear.
Unstable.
And the battlefield—
does not allow instability.