The Spider Queen

(Zrudread University)

(St. John's Science Center- Lab Room 302)

The university was unusually silent today as midterm season was now in full swing.

It also helped that students were punished if they made excess noise around the testing sites.

Exams were an important occasion as they could determine your future life within the school.

Those in the ordinary class dreamed of scoring high on the midterms and being transferred to the elite class.

This would be the equivalent to scoring to the sky with the help of all the extra resources and training sessions.

Elite students on the other hand were under enormous pressure to maintain their high standards as the numerous envious eyes watching them meant that others would easily take their place given the chance.

Of course, the situation was not so volatile in the higher years as the extra resources given to the elite class would have significantly widen the gap between them and the typical student.

But in the first year it was commonly accepted that a good portion of the elite freshman class would be losing their spots to other rising stars.

Inside one such exam, a hybrid girl was scratching the side of her head in confusion as several empty vials and laboratory equipment were scattered on her workstation desk.

Two hours had passed since the poison cultivator exam had begun and Sophie was already starting to feel the pressure building up.

She had long lost count of the numerous failures and useless by-products that had to be disposed down the waste bin.

It seemed that every time she found a substance that would neutralise one component of the poison….

It would just cause a problem with another component.

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The other students did not know that Sophie's exam difficulty had been raised so quite a few eyebrows were raised at the sight of the top student currently at a loss.

Sophie took a few deep breaths and headed for the equipment locker to get a new pair of disposable gloves.

Time may be running out, but the important thing was not to panic.

Marks could still be awarded even if she did not finish creating an antidote.

Sophie tried to brainwash herself with some positivity.

It didn't really work and as she glanced at the clock ticking constantly with a mocking tone, she could not help but fall into despair.

Sophie put on a set of blue disposable gloves with practised ease and then walked back to her workstation.

Picking up her dropped pencil, she immediately got to work by penning down the corresponding neutralising agents on the page where the list of components had been written.

Sophie figured at this point it was probably the best course of action to get all the neutralising agents and then worry about balancing out the different substances.

Two thirds of the list had already been completed but those included the biological compounds that Sophie was already familiar with.

"Maybe I should use the blood of Venax birds to counteract the effects of the anticoagulant agent in Xeritheium," she muttered softly.

The name of the reddish-brown poison could not be found in any database, so Sophie had the sneaking suspicion that it was an original formula.

If only her mysterious powers also included an encyclopedia ability….

Sophie no longer paid any attention to the clock and immersed herself fully into the wonderous world of chemistry.

Measuring the quantity of each liquid in the various measuring cylinders at eye level to reduce parallax error.

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The quantity of reddish-brown poison was getting smaller and smaller as Sophie had to constantly pipette samples into the various lab apparatuses.

Eventually she found that the vial was now empty.

Sophie paused for a moment and then hurriedly checked the list to see if any components still needed to be tested.

And of course, she was still missing two.

Alright.

Don't Panic.

Let's check the clock….

Fuck.

Time to panic

There was only ten minutes remaining and almost all of the other students had already handed in their antidotes and left.

Apparently, Professor Macabre would secretly grade their antidotes and then make the students drink the poison and their concoction in the following class.

Each antidote would also be tested by the professor to make sure that it was safe for consumption.

You would be surprised how many students would end up creating an 'antidote' that was far more deadly than the poison they were supposed to neutralise!

Sophie was the only person in the back of the classroom who was still working on the antidote and there wasn't enough time to test it out properly.

Mixing random neutralising components would be reckless and dangerous so she declined to take that risk.

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Sophie simply re-wrote the list of substances she had tested in neater handwriting and then headed for the equipment cupboard to put the neutralizing agents into separate vials.

She waited patiently for the timer to end.

It was better than handing in nothing.

Tick! Tock!

Tick! Tock!

With each passing chime of the clock, Sophie could feel her mood getting lower and lower.

It never felt good to have to knowingly hand in a failed exam.

"Time's up!" Professor Macabre called as she checked the small timer on her wrist communicator.

Sophie got up with a sigh and walked over to the professor with a sheet of paper and several vials of liquids.

"I'm sorry but I couldn't make an antidote in time," Sophie lowered her head and quietly spoke.

Professor Macabre kindly smiled at the downtrodden girl and reached for the slip of paper to give it a cursory scan.

Her eyes gradually widened as she read the additional notes and rationale Sophie used for choosing the neutralising agents.

The writings clearly demonstrated a profound knowledge of the theoretical laws governing poison crafting and her deductions were quite logical.

"Honestly, I would have been shocked if you had," Professor Macabre adjusted her glasses and looked at the hybrid girl.

"But you were extremely close to solving it. You just made a few simple errors when dealing with the cyanide-based toxins and used the wrong formula when handling the mercury metalloids."

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"What you did today has already exceeded my expectations."