Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 550 - 18 Bewilderment_1

Chapter 550: Chapter 18 Bewilderment_1

Vivian’s mind was in a whirl as she tripped and stumbled down the spiral staircase leading to the basement. A familiar set of footsteps echoed behind her and without turning around, she knew it was Pannis, not trying to conceal his presence. Ignoring Pannis’ trailing, Vivian ran all the way down to the second basement level and opened the secret door in the wall that lead to the third and fourth levels.

As always, the small elevator was only a few square meters. Vivian had just entered and was about to close the door when Pannis glided in like a ghost, silent and weightless. Annoyed, Vivian glared at Pannis, who continued to study the wall of the elevator as if it were adorned with magnificent frescoes, oblivious to her gaze. After a while, Vivian admitted defeat to Pannis’ unyielding resolve to follow her, and with a frustrated sigh, shut the elevator door. Amidst the deep hum of machinery, the elevator jerked and began to descend slowly.

When the elevator doors reopened, they had arrived at the fourth basement level where Vivian’s personal space was located. No longer attempting to drive Pannis away, Vivian walked out of the elevator as though he didn’t exist. She stood in the circular corridor for a moment before deciding to push open a nearby door and walked in.

As soon as you entered, a strong smell of herbs filled the air, with a hint of floral fragrance and faint stench. The room inside was a circular space of about thirty square meters. Eight long tables were placed along the walls, each equipped with numerous wooden racks that housed transparent crystal bottles and cups of various sizes. Additionally, there were small Crystal Energy furnaces for heating, and small pools were installed on each table. To the right of the tables stood tall cabinets with numerous drawers, each containing different materials. It was astonishing to see that there were no labels on any of the cabinets or nearly five hundred drawers, leaving one to wonder how Vivian identified the contents each drawer held. In the center of the room was a wooden beam for support, which was surrounded by several cunningly crafted medium-sized instruments of various shapes, their functions yet to be revealed.

Entering the laboratory, Vivian noted that Pannis had slipped in as well. She glared at him, then shrugged it off, fetched a loose robe from a coat rack and put it on, then threw another one at the bewildered Pannis. Biting her lip in contemplation, she placed the goblin codex disc, which had been her excuse, on the short cabinet by the door that held miscellaneous clothes and items. Then, she walked to one of the long tables and silently took out multiple crystal cups and bottles and proceeded to clean them with water-attribute magic at the sink. Cleaning utensils with magic was a highly convenient action, especially for someone like Vivian, who had high magic control. She could shape the magical water into the shape of the container and then clean each corner meticulously and swiftly. Once cleaned, she would drain the water from the utensils and disperse the Elemental Energy within the container. This method left the wet inner walls of the container dry and devoid of the need for air drying. After cleaning hundreds of small containers, Vivian stood in stillness, her head hung low in thought. Eventually, as if she had made a decision, she started bustling.

This was the first time Pannis had seen Vivian busy in her lab. He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the lab door, admiring the precision with which Vivian danced around, her rhythm enchanting.

In reality, Vivian was barely moving. She wasn’t even standing. There was a special chair with wheels in the lab. Vivian sat on it. The chair was soft and comfortable, perfectly molded to her body. It allowed her to half lie down while still seated. It also had leather straps on it, using them, she secured herself to the chair to prevent herself from sliding off.

When everything was prepared, Vivian’s body visibly slumped. Were it not for the straps, even her head would have drooped. But the binding straps solved all those problems. Although she relinquished control of her body, it did not mean she would sit immobile. With the help of magic, one could see magical threads extending from her body, each one moving and pulsing on its own accord like individual tentacles.

The lab was bustling now. Drawers were repeatedly opened. Containers with different alchemy materials were moved around on the tables. The mortar was continually grinding the hard magical beast teeth. A cutter sliced up the large chunks of ravengrass roots. A Crystal Energy furnace heated refined silver mouse oil. And unknown materials mixed with water were poured into a half-filled bottle, which was placed on a machine in the center of the lab. A disk affixed to the machine began to spin rapidly, setting the bottles on it spinning as well. Utilising the lab chair, she would quickly roll over to the location of her interest without any lag whenever necessary.

Thus, Vivian, who could not move on her own, was simultaneously doing multiple tasks that mages can usually do, with zero overlaps in any of the dozen or more operations. It was as if she had multiple brains, each performing a separate task with absolute precision.

Pannis observed Vivian’s motions and sighed, almost inaudible. He knew what the cost behind this ability was, an ability that elicited envy from almost any mage who saw it. It was the frequent overuse of her vitality leading to intense headaches. The suffocating feeling of being unable to move or speak, only able to blink. The pain of having to split her attention into countless parts at all times to control her body to avoid collapsing or paralysis. The critical factor was the fear of imminent death. Of those who would surely feel jealousy for her ability, how many would be willing to pay such a severe price for the same power? More importantly, this ability was something she had honed for over a decade in order to stand up again relying on her strength.

"Don’t be surprised, this is nothing," Vivian heard Pannis sigh and misinterpret his intentions. Even though she should’ve lost the ability to speak, Vivian spoke,’ "I can simultaneously refine fifteen potions when pushed to my limits, which is thrice as difficult as the tasks in front of me. Even the actions I perform to walk are more complex than what I am doing now."

Pannis laughed softly behind Vivian, whispering, "Can I help with anything?"

"You insisted on following me down here just to ask if I need help?" Vivian continued her alchemy process, but turned her chair to face Pannis, rolling her eyes, "Isn’t that wrong? Weren’t you here to comfort me?"

"But, do you need someone to comfort you?" Pannis, arms folded, lazily retorted, "If you truly needed someone to do that, then you wouldn’t be Vivian."

"And, what do you think Vivian should be like?" Vivian asked, "Insensitive? Cold? Numb? Arrogant? Living in her world forever, always taking the care and love of others around her for granted?"

"That’s how you see yourself? Well, my view is different." Pannis corner of mouth raised slightly, smiling, "The Vivian in my eyes is firm, strong, possessing an exceptional willpower and determination uncommon to most, a confidence beyond that of normal people, and the strength to uphold that confidence. The Vivian in my heart, is always the girl who simultaneously claims to be a genius and achieves corresponding accomplishments with a smile, not the sensitive and repressive person who may succumb to fear and panic at any moment, but too afraid to reveal her inner pain and fear to her loved ones."

Vivian did not respond. She simply continued her prior operation in silence, dealing with the more than ten bottles and cups floating in the air. But instead of proceeding with the next step, she let out a faint sigh, "It’s not that I’m afraid, but that I don’t want you all to worry about me. These pains and fears, I can bear them myself. There is no need for all of you to bear them."

"Do you remember? Just over twenty minutes ago, you were questioning why we didn’t tell you about your treatment. You were blaming Catherine for not hiding it from you. You were asking Catherine to share the burden with you, saying that is what family does," Pannis amusingly said, "But now, when it comes to your turn, you think bearing it all by yourself is enough? Although we hid it from you, and that made you feel sad, you told Catherine to treat you like a family to share the pain. Have you considered how Catherine would feel, watching you conceal your pain while enduring it in silence? You should know, among you girls, Catherine is the eldest sister, carrying everything for you, but she’s actually the most sensitive and soft-hearted. Have you ever considered her feelings?"

"But, it’s something I can only face by myself." Vivian bit her lip, "Even if I told you all, you would not be able to alleviate my pain right now. It would just add to your pressure, so why bother?"

"Indeed, perhaps we are temporarily unable to help you relieve your pain and fear." Pannis nodded, "But if you voice out these feelings, at least it could alleviate your stress and depression, and mentally make you feel more relaxed. Plus, you should think about Catherine too. If you share these with her, at least it will make her feel that you don’t consider her an outsider, and there’s no barrier between you two, don’t you think so?"

"I don’t know, I really don’t." Vivian looked blankly at Pannis, saying in a daze, "Are you saying, my actions have deeply hurt big sister?"

"Think about it, when Catherine and Lina hid things from you, you knew very well they had good intentions, but weren’t you hurt?" Pannis asked in return, "Your feelings mirror theirs. Your actions are the same, and the end result is the same as well. So, why must family members hurt each other? Perhaps it’s because only the family truly cares about each other." (To be continued. If you enjoy this book, please cast your recommendation votes or monthly votes for this book at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)