Chapter 339: [Alleviating Pain] A Cure for Hiccups?
This time, Garrett’s mage level advancement came earlier than before.
Perhaps the significance of penicillin was too great, or perhaps because he had treated too many patients day and night at the infectious disease hospital, or perhaps it was the accumulation of many small achievements he had made recently, gathering much feedback...
In any case, this time, no sooner had his priest level advanced than his mage level swiftly followed.
The world’s feedback was tumultuous and rich. Even with the strict barrier of the meditation chamber, the magic fluctuations seeping out of the room made Archmage Carlisle stop in his tracks outside:
Is this really advancing from level three to four?
Not from four to five?
You see, advancing from level four to five, becoming a mid-level mage at the same time, a mage undergoes a fundamental enhancement, with elemental power refining spirit and body from the inside out. Even a mage who gets winded from walking, after this advancement, could lie down and possess the physical endurance of a level one warrior...
"This kid, not high in level, but making quite the ruckus, huh?" Archmage Carlisle paced back and forth outside the meditation chamber, almost wearing down the floor at the doorway:
"Such deep accumulation... No wonder when he performs surgeries, he can cast seventeen or eighteen Mage Hands at once, as if never worrying about exhausting his spiritual power..."
With such accumulation, Garrett’s advancement process was naturally smooth. Soon, he crossed the spiritual power threshold of a level four mage, began constructing a protective shell outside the meditation environment, then started imprinting spell models within the meditation environment.The learning process for a mage is the imprinting of various spell models into the soul, one by one. Those not imprinted can still be cast, of course, but having to hold a spellbook and construct the spell model on the spot is a whole other experience.
Although based on the soul’s strength and capacity, each level can imprint a few to a dozen models—like the tangible spirit scenery of the Lord of Thunder, those clouds, thunder dragons, thunder serpents, thunder orbs, are all manifestations of spell models—the first spell imprinted during an advancement with feedback enhancement usually has an exceptionally good effect.
Thus, every mage is extremely cautious when choosing a spell to imprint during advancement. But Garrett didn’t hesitate at all and directly chose his imprint target:
His own improved [Alleviating Pain].
Anesthesia magic!
Local anesthesia!
Adjust this spell’s function model!
Add parameters!
Control the spell’s impact area, control the depth of impact, try to affect multiple points with one cast... Right, the original [Alleviating Pain] partially targets the central nervous system, that spell interface should also be kept open, ready for replacement anytime!
Garrett was completely immersed in meditation. Anesthesia magic, ah, such an important spell, worth spending a bit more effort on! If he could properly adjust the casting depth, reaching deep into organs, it might even help with diagnosis!
He devoted himself entirely to meditation, only to trouble Archmage Carlisle pacing back and forth at the door. Even knowing a mage with rich accumulation would most likely have a smooth advancement, he couldn’t help but feel anxious:
"Ah, this kid’s doing okay, right?"
"He hasn’t encountered any obstacles, has he?"
"Why are these magic fluctuations so erratic? One moment extremely strong, the next so weak..."
"MOSS! MOSS! How’s your master?"
"Don’t worry, teacher, Garrett’s definitely fine," Aurora said, bringing tea and snacks with the invisible servants:
"Teacher, would you like something to drink, take a rest? We don’t know how much longer Garrett’s meditation will take, and there’s no point in you waiting at the door. Otherwise, you could look over his adventure tasks again? Now that he’s advanced to level four, the original tasks might not be suitable..."
Archmage Carlisle glared at his disciple.
Why bring up what I don’t want to hear? It took me so much effort to find seven or eight tasks that got approved by the Lord of Thunder, and you want me to find new ones with just a word?
Are you trying to work your teacher to death?
He grabbed the teacup and drank down furiously, downing five or six biscuits in one go after drinking. Eating hastily, and with the tea somewhat lukewarm, he started to feel something was amiss before he even finished...
"Uh...hic!"
"Hic!"
"Hic~~~"
The discomfort wasn’t unbearable, just annoying. Every two or three seconds, or five or six, they popped up unpredictably. More troublesome was that they interrupted chanting—
As a high-level mage, most of the spells he could show off were high-level. Chanting for a few seconds was considered short; chanting for ten seconds, a minute, or even several minutes was nothing unusual. To be interrupted by a hic
cup halfway through chanting...
If you’re lucky, the spell fails, and you start over. If not, well, anything could happen.
Archmage Carlisle froze. For safety, he simply decided to stay in a room within the tower, fully focused on stopping the hiccups first. Aurora hovered around the teacher, offering one idea after another:
"Teacher, drink some water! Press it down with water, maybe the hiccups will stop!"
"Teacher, hold your breath for a while, push the hic back!"
"Teacher, drink water, sip by sip, I heard this can cure it!"
However, these methods were of no use. Later, Lynn and Norwood, two mages, also joined in, offering various folk remedies:
Drink a cup of warm sugar water...
Pinch your ears with your fingernails...
Sniff some snuff to sneeze and stop hiccups...
"You’re trying to kill me, huh!" When Norwood Mage brought a large cup of onion juice, claiming it was a folk remedy for hiccups from his homeland, Archmage Carlisle finally exploded:
"I won’t die from hiccups, hic, but these, hic, weird things might, hic, actually kill me! Hic~~~"
"What’s going on?" A laughing voice came from outside. Everyone turned around:
"Garrett, you’ve completed your advancement!"
"Garrett, do you have a way?"
"Congratulations on your advancement, Mage Nordmark!"
"I’m fine, hic, I’m just hiccupping..."
Garrett quickly approached. Halfway there, everyone present instinctively recoiled, then simultaneously started casting cleaning spells on him:
You’ve been in the meditation chamber for days! Didn’t change clothes! Didn’t bathe! Couldn’t you clean up before coming out?!
Garrett apologized with a smile. Amid a shower of cleaning spells, he sat down in front of the archmage to inquire:
"How did you start hiccupping? How long has it been? Besides hiccups, any other discomfort?"
Aurora eagerly answered for the teacher. As Garrett listened and observed Archmage Carlisle’s condition, he had already made a judgment:
Just simple neurogenic hiccups, nothing serious, just annoying. As for treatment, there was a small remedy...
"I do have a method. Your Excellency Archmage, could you roll up your trouser legs above your knees?"
"What’s this for?" Archmage Carlisle watched him warily: "I have hiccups, not leg pain! Why do you want me to roll up my trouser legs?"
"A remedy for hiccups." Garrett smiled amiably:
"If you don’t want to roll them up, I can cast through the clothing as well. It’s just that the spell is lower level, so if your clothing has strong magical defense, it might not work."
With a gentle demeanor, Archmage Carlisle reluctantly complied with Garrett’s instructions and rolled up his trouser legs. Garrett leaned down, activating his newly imprinted [Alleviating Pain], casting the spell on both sides of the archmage’s knees, just below the indentation four fingers below the knee.
The spell’s vibrations swept quietly across. The covered area was no larger than the mouth of a cup, and the depth no more than two inches. Archmage Carlisle was still surprised:
"[Alleviating Pain]? I told you my legs don’t hurt...hic, your spell’s vibrations are much smaller, and the casting area is reduced, how did you do it? Hic, did you modify the model again? Right, last time you said you wanted to learn this spell, I even took you to consult Madame Syatt, and this is the result? Hic, remember to publish a paper when you have time, don’t be lazy..."
He talked non-stop for about ten minutes. Suddenly, Aurora interrupted:
"Teacher, you seem to have stopped hiccupping!"
Archmage Carlisle paused for a moment. He raised his hand to touch his throat, then his stomach, and rapidly chanted a long string of spells. In the lounge, furniture and decorations began to float, their surfaces crackling with electric light.
And such a long string of spells wasn’t disrupted by a single hiccup.
"...[Alleviating Pain] can cure hiccups? Garrett, how did you do it?"
Garrett just smiled slightly, not answering. The truth was, this was a small trick shared by a colleague in emergency internal medicine, using lidocaine injections at Zusanli for treating neurogenic hiccups, which research found quite effective. His colleague from internal medicine even shared a dozen or so related papers with him.
Now, without lidocaine or any anesthetic at hand, why not...
Try magical local anesthesia?
And it actually worked!
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