The chamber was silent except for the students' labored breaths. The Trial of Five Mists had nearly killed them, but they had survived. That alone was not enough. They knew another trial was coming, and this time, they refused to be caught unprepared.

  They gathered in a secluded corner of the testing grounds, exhausted but determined. The notes, once a source of deception, were now scrutinized with a pragmatic lens. Every possibility was dissected, every contradiction questioned. The students who had previously competed against one another now sat in a tight-knit circle, setting aside their pride for the sake of survival.

  Cassius ran a hand through his hair. "We've seen what happened last time. We relied too much on the notes and nearly paid the price. This time, we prepare for everything."

  "Agreed," Lysandra said. "We need to anticipate every possible failure and have countermeasures in place."

  Aether nodded. "If the notes mislead us again, we need to be able to rely on our own knowledge. Let’s break it down. We know concentrated sulfuric acid will react with certain anions. If we identify the gases correctly, we can neutralize them immediately and move forward with confirmatory tests."

  Valencia pulled out a parchment, quickly sketching a sequence of reaction possibilities. "We test the seven vials one by one. The plan is simple—observe, neutralize, confirm."

  "If a colorless gas with a pungent smell is evolved, that should indicate HCl, meaning the chloride ion is present," Thorne added. "We neutralize the others and quickly confirm Cl? before getting the hell out of here."

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  They spent the next hour inscribing counteractive sigils and refining their contingency plans. Multiple arrays were set in place to suppress any unforeseen reactions. No one wanted a repeat of the last trial.

  When the time came, the vials were arranged before them. Seven in total. The students stood poised, watching with hawk-like precision.

  Cassius took a deep breath. "Let’s begin."

  They added concentrated sulfuric acid to the first vial. Nothing. The second vial—again, nothing.

  "Expected," Valencia muttered. "Not every salt will react."

  The third vial, however, immediately released reddish-brown gas with a pungent odor. The students instinctively stepped back.

  "Bromide," Aether called out. "Neutralize and move on."

  A sigil flared to life, binding the gas before it could spread further.

  The fourth vial reacted violently, producing violet vapors.

  "Iodide, obviously," Sylvaine noted. "Quick, neutralize it."

  Again, the sigils did their work, suppressing the fumes before they could cause harm.

  Then came the fifth vial. A sharp hiss, followed by dense brown fumes curling upward.

  "Nitrate," Lysandra said with certainty. "Another one to ignore."

  The fumes were contained, and they moved forward.

  When the sixth vial was tested, a colorless gas was released. The room tensed as anticipation spiked. Was this it? Was this chloride?

  One student, overwhelmed with excitement, leaned in to smell it despite the sheer recklessness of the act.

  "Idiot!" Valencia snapped, pulling them back.

  But the damage was done. The student’s expression twisted in confusion. "It… it’s not pungent. It has no smell."

  Silence fell over them.

  "Odorless?" Aether repeated. "That’s not HCl. It must be oxalate."

  Without wasting another second, they neutralized the gas and turned to the final vial.

  By elimination, this had to be the one containing the chloride ion.

  With careful precision, they added the concentrated sulfuric acid.

  Nothing happened.

  A suffocating pause filled the air as their brains scrambled to process the outcome.

  "What just happened?" Cassius whispered.

  The answer should have been simple. But it wasn’t.

  Something was wrong.

  And now, they had to figure out why.