Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 675 - 39 - Surgical Treatment_1

Chapter 675: Chapter 39 - Surgical Treatment_1

"What are you planning to do, Pannis?" Flare, propping up Vivian’s flower crown, asked, "And us, how are we supposed to assist you? You’ve pulled me from the Elven Royal Court thousands of kilometers away, and I don’t even know what’s happening now. On the way here, Mina told me this child is dying, and you plan to perform a high-risk surgery on her. What surgery? What are you trying to accomplish?"

"There is a parasitic creature in her body, a semi-energy entity, which is invisible to the naked eye." Pannis explained, "Based on her symptoms, it should be parasiting on her neck, specifically her cervical vertebrae. So what I need to do is to cut open her neck, divide her vertebrate longitudinally, and locate the parasite with energy sensing to kill it. Ideally, once this is done, her condition will not worsen. And as for you two, Lina, your task is to ensure she doesn’t lose too much blood, yet prevent the wound from healing too quickly to interfere with my operation. Flare, your task is simpler- you just need to make sure she doesn’t faint or die. This shouldn’t be too difficult for either of you."

"I don’t foresee a problem," Flare thought for a moment, then nodded, "As long as you don’t cut off her head, even if there is an accident, I can guarantee she won’t die within ten minutes, enough time for you to perform emergency treatment."

"I... I’m not sure." Lina interrupted, biting her thumbnail, "If some of the larger blood vessels are severed, it’s virtually impossible to stop the bleeding without a healing divine spell to reconnect them. Yet if I do reconnect them, I wouldn’t know when to do it, since I don’t know if it’ll interfere with your operation."

"Don’t be nervous, Lina," Pannis consoled her, "Calm down, theoretically I won’t sever her major blood vessels, you can rest assured on this. Thus, if you see excessive bleeding, simply reconnect the blood vessels. Don’t worry about whether it will interfere with me. Her life’s safety is the priority- even if my operation is temporarily interrupted, I can repeat the operation. It’s okay."

"Then there shouldn’t be a problem." Lina finally unclenched her jaws and bit her thumb, "I’ll try."

"It’s ok, you can do it," Pannis encouraged her, "As long as you don’t panic due to worrying about her, you will do your task to the best of your abilities, I believe in you."

"The problem is that I don’t believe in myself." Lina retorted with a huff, turning her head aside, "Besides, I won’t panic because I’m worried about her. What I worry about is that if I don’t do well, I’ll be the embarrassment, therefore I’m nervous."

"Alright, alright, you’re right, you’re not worried about her at all," Pannis shook his head in resignation, "Regardless of the reason, first release purifying spells around to sanitize the environment to avoid additional problems."

"In the name of Denia." Lina threw the magic book into the air without hesitation, while chanting a prayer. The silvery white magic book floated above the metal platform as if someone was holding it in the air, emitting a holy light that enveloped every corner of the platform. Lina right-handedly drew a square in the air in front of her chest, concluding her prayer in a whisper, and clapped her hands saying, "Alright, the cleansing effect will continue as long as the magic lasts."

"That’s enough." Pannis nodded, took several deep breaths to calm down, but couldn’t help muttering, "If only Philarx were here, his energy sensing is stronger than mine. To locate the parasitic energy creature, he’d be more suited for the task. Well... it’s no matter, it’s only a matter of spending a bit more time. I can do it, I am... no, even if I’m Pannis, even if I’m not perfect, I can do this simple task. I will not disappoint those who trust me again, not ever."

Flare’s eyes twinkled as she glanced at Pannis’ face, her lips curved in a soothing smile. She said softly, "Of course, you never disappoint your friends, neither before nor now, never."

"Let’s begin then." Pannis adjusted Vivian’s position under the white cloth slightly, exposing the back of her neck, which was mere skin stretched tightly over bone. Flipping his wrist, a tiny, spotlessly clean dagger appeared between his fingertips, as if it had been meticulously attended to just moments ago. He gripped the end of the dagger with three fingers, positioning the edge of the blade on Vivian’s neck. Despite the gravity of his actions, his hand was steady, much like the secure foundation of the mountain upon which they now stood.

"Aren’t you going to numbing her senses first?" Flare frowned and asked in a low voice, "Going straight in like this, and then dividing her vertebrae afterward, won’t it be extremely painful without numbing her sensations? Can she withstand it?"

"If she still had any sensation left, there would be no need for this operation." Pannis said stoically, his hands never wavering from their position, "You’re unfamiliar with the situation. She has no sensation from her neck downwards, can’t even speak. The forthcoming operations will be the same to her as if being performed on someone else. Alright, don’t make noise, I’m beginning."

As he said it, so it was. Even before Pannis finished speaking, his jab had already begun. The dagger, empowered by aggression, bubbled fresh blood from Vivian’s neck as soon as it made contact. Cutting open Vivian’s neck shouldn’t be difficult, her muscles were just a thin layer beneath the skin. Blue veins could be seen pronounced through her skin, forming obvious ridges. By avoiding these blood vessels, her skin and muscles can be removed effortlessly, leaving her bones exposed to their view.

Lina didn’t need Pannis’ instruction. As skin and muscles were being torn apart, she started to cast her healing spell on Vivian. Since no major blood vessels had burst, it was only needed to stop the bleeding temporarily from the skin and muscular level. In less than thirty seconds, the flow of fresh blood from the wound had slowed to a minimum, with only a thin layer of muscles on either side slightly quivering.

Setting the dagger aside, Pannis took several deep breaths to calm himself, took off the thin gloves he was wearing, revealing unusually clean hands. He drew out two special forceps to hold apart the torn muscles, exposing the spare bone more prominently in the light from the surrounding light-attribute crystals.

"How do you feel?" Pannis didn’t rush into the next step. Instead, he asked Vivian, who had opened her eyes at some point and was watching him with a cryptic gaze. "If it hurts, blink twice. If you don’t feel anything, blink three times."

Vivian pondered this for a moment, then suddenly blinked more than a dozen times. When she opened her eyes again, they sparkled playfully. Pannis rolled his eyes in annoyance, ignored the patient who should be the most nervous, placed his right index finger on the young mage’s spine, and slowly moved it up and down by millimeters, eyes closed. Flare and Lina were silent, holding their breath, scared that a tiny sound might affect Pannis’ judgment.

Pannis maintained the same posture, stroking the cervical spine up and down dozens of times, until the blood-soaked part of the cervical spine whitened due to his repetitive actions. He stopped and paced by Vivian’s side, musing, "I’ve just realized a big problem—I have no clue what kind of energy signature the energy creature has. Even if I sense it, I won’t recognize it."

"Are you learning from Christo now?" Flare asked, a sarcastic eye on Pannis. "You’re also making such poor jokes at unsuitable times? If such stupid mistakes could happen, then it wouldn’t be you."

"Well, I indeed don’t know its energy characteristics, but I can still locate it through energies different from Vivian," Pannis said. "It’s inside the second and third cervical vertebrae. And the best news—I don’t think it moves freely. It’s not going to escape into the skull, which is what I’m most worried about."

"So, what are we waiting for?" Lina was intently staring at the two vertebrae Pannis had pointed to but couldn’t detect the invisible energy creature underneath, no matter how hard she tried.

Flare, on the other hand, gave Lina a smile, "Give it up. No one can match his sensing ability when it comes to energy. I stopped trying a while ago. But I also want to know—what’s the holdup?"

"The next step is what I am least confident about, that’s why I’m taking a moment to calm myself," Pannis replied. "If I mishandle the next operation and damage something I shouldn’t, who knows what will happen? Maybe she’ll stop breathing and her heart will stop. Maybe she’ll lose consciousness forever and never wake up. So I must be extra cautious."

"Is it really that serious?" Lina tried to talk to Pannis to help relieve his stress."It’s only the spine, worst case scenario is complete paralysis, right? Is it really possible to cause such severe consequences? How do you know?"

"What do you think I’ve been doing all day?" Pannis laughed. "And yes, the consequences can really be that severe."

"Speaking of, how many magical beasts have suffered at your hands today?" Flare, still maintaining the Lifespring Ring’s effect, shook her head. "Is it appropriate to say such things in front of someone who practices the Life Deity System?"

"Seventy-nine. I’ll take responsibility for my own actions," Pannis flicked his hands and held his chest out, "Continuing like this is also meaningless. Even if I’m not confident, I have to take the next step sooner or later. So, I’m starting."

"I expect things to go smoothly for you," Flare lowered her gaze to Pannis’ slender fingers. "I believe you will make me witness a miracle once more."

Pannis didn’t speak more or took any tools. He just stretched out his right index finger again, pressing it against Vivian’s vertebrae. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to vote on qidian.com. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users can read on m.qidian.com)