(Opening Scene: The healers continue their examination of Zane in the infirmary. After numerous tests, Healer Elara steps back, a thoughtful expression on her face.)
"Our readings indicate no adverse effects on your internal systems, Zane," Healer Elara announced, removing her protective gloves with a sigh of relief. "The venom appears to be contained within your bio-magical aura, active only upon external physical contact. It's as if your body has… adapted to its presence."
Headmaster Theron nodded, a hint of relief in his eyes. "That is… somewhat reassuring. However, the mechanism of its activation remains a concern."
Just then, a commotion erupted near the entrance of the infirmary. A high-pitched shriek echoed through the room, followed by panicked voices. A large, hairy spider, easily the size of a small dog and with glowing green eyes, scuttled into the infirmary, its eight legs clicking ominously on the stone floor. Several students, clearly terrified, backed away hastily.
Zane, who had been trying to remain calm, felt a wave of pure, visceral fear wash over him. He had harbored a deep-seated arachnophobia since childhood, a primal terror of spiders that even his control over the void couldn't fully suppress. His breath hitched in his throat, and his heart pounded in his chest.
Unconsciously, instinctively, as the monstrous spider scuttled closer, a dark purple energy flared around Zane's hand. Before anyone could react, the spider lunged towards him, its fangs bared.
Zane flinched, his hand shooting out in a reflexive gesture of defense. His fingers brushed against one of the spider's hairy legs.
The effect was immediate and horrifying. The spider froze mid-lunge, its glowing green eyes dimming instantly. A sickly black liquid oozed from its leg where Zane had touched it, spreading rapidly across its body. It shuddered violently and then collapsed onto the floor, its eight legs twitching before becoming still.
A gasp escaped Astrid, who had instinctively moved closer to Zane. Headmaster Theron and the healers stared in stunned silence at the lifeless giant spider.
Then, a figure stumbled forward from the doorway, his face ashen. It was Doctor Alistair Finch, one of the academy's instructors specializing in magical zoology, his spectacles askew. With a strangled cry of "No, not Bartholomew!", he clutched his chest and fainted, collapsing onto the infirmary floor beside his now-deceased familiar.
The infirmary, moments before filled with cautious relief, was now plunged into a fresh wave of chaos and stunned disbelief. Zane's venomous touch, seemingly dormant under normal circumstances, had been triggered by his fear, with devastating and immediate consequences.