Although the necromancers generally have wildly imaginative ideas and completely disregard ethics, producing an array of bizarre techniques that could darken oneâs vision, thereâs no denying that there are still gems to be unearthed among them.
Garrett dug through the heap for a long time and, besides the electrical pulse acupuncture that could be kept as a technical reserve, he indeed found a solution to his problem:
A modification to the spell model. It couldnât eliminate the double pain backlash, but it could suppress the peak of the pain to just over single intensity, and then release it slowly. As long as it didnât spike too high, exceeding the threshold in an instant, Garrett had a way to handle it:
Just slap another one on!
Garrett, clutching the modified spell model, rushed back. Smearing and striving, he worked hard to construct his own
.
Unlike the original
, an epidural targets the spineâfor instance, typically during a cesarean section, the anesthesia would reach up to T6, around the sixth thoracic vertebra.
Whether itâs the commonly used spinal anesthesia for labor pain or the combined spinal-epidural anesthesia for cesarean sections, both target the spinal nerve roots and the surface of the spinal cord. For the
, the best method is simply to block the spinal cordâs transmission of pain.
However, the spinal cord is part of the central nervous system, and the spell configuration of the
targets peripheral nerves. Directly adapting the previous version wouldnât work.
âSo the original version wonât do?â
Madam Dorothia Exler from the Oak Grove Clinic, having finished a dayâs work, wiped her sweat and came over, curious. She casually waved, and a bunch of scattered draft papers flew straight into her hands:
âI mean, using that one, directly on the spine?â
âThat definitely wonât workâ¦â Garrett gestured with his hands: âCentral nerves are central nerves, peripheral nerves are peripheral nerves, they require different spell configurationsâ¦â
The old lady looked baffled. This high-level 13th-rank mage, although she could overpower several Garretts in magic, her knowledge of modern medicine was not extensive:
âI know the brain is for thinking, Iâve also read those papers on brainwaves from the control series. But the spine? The spine is also central nervous?â
âUmâ¦â
That was a good question. To answer this, Garrett didnât know whether to start from histology and embryology, or from the evolutionary history of animals. Anyway, after changing his gestures a few times, he finally sighed:
âWhy donât you try it yourself?â
Just try it. At her command, a young necromancer grabbed a rabbit and presented it with both hands. Following Garrettâs design, the old lady slapped the
on the rabbitâs spineâ
With
as a guide, the spell easily wrapped around the rabbitâs 5th, 6th, and 7th thoracic vertebrae. Then, she secured the rabbit, and requested a nature mage to act as a bridge to help her initiate
, using a long needle to pierce the rabbitâs hind leg:
â!!! It hurts!â
She shrugged, guess it didnât work after allâ¦
So, Garrett had to go back and remove the parts of the modified version targeting peripheral nerves, then refill the original versionâs configurations that targeted the central nerves.
âAh, this mix and match is so troublesomeâ¦â
Calculating, modifying, smearing, piecing together. After trying back and forth a dozen times, Garrett finally constructed the
. Next, he faced another issue:
Is this thing even useful?
In his previous life, the textbooks on obstetrics and gynecology brightly stated: Epidural anesthesia for pain relief slows down contractions, thus prolonging the labor process and slowing down the birth of the baby.
But thatâs because the anesthetic blocked all nerve conduction, resulting in no central regulation, leaving only the local autonomic nerves to react.
was supposed to only block pain transmission and not other nerves, so theoretically, this issue shouldnât arise, but...
Who knows what it would actually be like?
The only way to relieve worry is to experiment. Direct human testing was out of the question, so it had to start with animal testing:
âGive me a rabbit! Do we have a female rabbit about to give birth?â
There definitely was one. Rabbits, from conception to birth, only take about a month. If not managed tightly, itâs quite easy for them to conceive again next month. At Garrettâs command, the mage in charge of managing animals searched through a bunch of cages and immediately offered up a mother rabbit.
The details about the mother rabbitâs labor time and duration were not recorded by Garrett, so he only had the dumbest method:
To experience it firsthand.
He patiently waited half the day, and as soon as the mother rabbit began labor, Garrett was promptly notified. In the dead of night, he rolled off the hospitalâs on-call bed and sprinted to the research building:
â
!â To lessen the pain and avoid a sudden shock to himself!
â
!â Release the target spell!
âUh, next I need to communicate with it⦠If I start screaming, please make sure to interrupt me!â
I do not want to experience labor pain! Not even the reduced, animal version of it! If it hurts so bad that I cry and tear up, thatâd be too embarrassing!
âDonât worry, weâll interrupt the spell in time,â Madam Exler said smilingly:
âOr maybe weâll hit you with a Peace Spell, or, perhaps, just knock you out?â
Uh, none of those options seemed particularly pleasant⦠Oh well, having someone ready to assist is better than none. Garrett adjusted his breathing, focused his energy, and pointed at the rabbit in front of him:
â
!â
emmmmâ¦
âHow does it feel? Does it hurt?â
Madam Exler, Joanna the mage, and several other casters involved in this project or helping out, formed a circle around Garrett, watching tensely as he grimaced, his face contorting into a bizarre expression:
âIt doesnât hurtâ¦â
It doesnât hurt; the shared sensation, the mother rabbitâs abdomen, both hind legs, the entire lower body, there was no feeling of pain. It seemed quite perplexed itself, after giving birth to the first bunny, it bit off the umbilical cord, ate the afterbirth, and then continuously licked itself:
It doesnât hurt?
Really doesnât hurt?
Ah, ah, ah, the second little bunny is coming out now!
âWhy do you look like that if it doesnât hurt?â
âMy feeling is so strangeâ¦â
Garrettâs face was full of odd expressions. For the first time in his life, he felt his stomach twist into a knot!
Hardening, swelling, tightening, the entire stomach, like being gripped by a giant hand, clenched tightly and then kneaded a few times! It felt like his insides were being turned inside outâ
And also, he had a strong urge to use the restroom!
Hold it, hold it, this is not your feeling, this is just you sharing the rabbitâs sensationâ¦
No matter how many books you read, no matter how well you understand the theory, itâs completely different from actually experiencing itâ¦
Iâm a man; why do I have to experience contractions, damn it!