Garrett’s lecture on the frog experint—no, rather on central and peripheral nervous systems and the conjectures about neural electrical signals—was a resounding success in the Black Crow Swamp. As the lecture concluded, necromancers sward him, nearly trapping him inside:
"So, the principle of the first-tier spell Panic is to simulate electrical signals transmitted to the target’s nerves?"
"Um... I’m not sure about that... But I can suggest a thod to test it. Use a silver wire cage, the finer the better, and cover the entire body of the target. Try to see if it reduces the spell’s effect... If you don’t have enough money, maybe just covering the head could work..."
"So, the reason my stitched-up monster doesn’t obey is because the nerves were damaged during the stitching?"
"Uh... I really don’t know if the nerves in the chunks of corpses still have any activity. Maybe you should conduct an experint to test it?"
"So, if I add silver wires as nerves to the skeleton soldiers, could it enhance their controllability?"
"...Why would an empty skeleton be able to move at all? I really don’t know!!!"
I’ve never personally created undead creatures!
Commanding, rebuking, dispersing undead—I can’t do any of it!
I’m really not a necromancer!!!
Thankfully, with Archmage Edgar’s protection, Garrett managed to leave the Sleepless Tower intact and fled in a panic. Fleeing back to his own mage tower, Lin heard about his lecture today and regretted:
"Ah, why didn’t you call ? I’ve been studying fourth-tier necromancy spells lately, preparing to advance, and was hoping to listen to more related content."
"Uh, I was pulled in to give the lecture at the last minute..." Garrett wiped sweat off his brow: "Then I’ll go over it again?"
"No need... You’re going to write a thesis anyway, I’ll just look at it then."
"Okay... Okay then..." Garrett didn’t press him, resolving to make his thesis even more detailed. Curiously peering over:
"Big Brother Lin, you’re already preparing to advance? Which spell are you planning to use for the advancent? Controlling the dead? Plague Spell? Or maybe Fear Spell?"
Lin shook his head at each option Garrett listed, until the golden skeleton beside him shook its head so vigorously it snapped and fell:
"Crack-crack-crack... Rolling..."
It rolled right to Garrett’s feet, stopped, and lay still on his shoe.
Garrett: "..."
"None of these spells would significantly enhance my abilities." Lin smiled:
"Controlling the dead, I already have several skeletons I can use, no rush to learn that; Plague Spell, since you’ve revealed the pathways of infectious diseases, it seems quite straightforward; Fear Spell, is just an area-of-effect version of Panic."
The confidence in his eyes suggested that advancing was within his grasp, but he chose the most challenging topic for his growth:
"I’ve chosen Blood Ignition, a spell I haven’t encountered before. It’s worth my ti to invest more effort."
Oh... Blood Ignition... Garrett quickly recalled. Thanks to Archmage Carlisle, he hadn’t yet learned fourth circle spells, but he had morized their nas and functions:
Blood Ignition, a fourth circle necromancy spell. It introduces a burning, corrosive substance into a living creature’s blood, causing simultaneous fire and acid damage.
The spellcasting thod is non-contact and extends 100 feet 10 feet per level, requiring a drop of blood and a saltpeter crystal.
Blood Ignition cannot affect construct creatures, elental beings, earthen creatures, plants, or the undead. Simply put, it has no effect on anything without blood.
It sounds like dissolving saltpeter in blood, then magically infusing it into the target’s bloodstream and igniting it... Garrett shivered but still inquired with concern:
"Did your research succeed? What issues have you encountered?"
"Quite a few." Lin frowned slightly. He generally didn’t like to trouble others, except Garrett. This fellow often had innovative ideas and discussing with him could open up new ways to solve problems:
"First, the resistance of the spell targets is quite high, making it hard to inject the saltpeter;
Second, it’s prone to inaccuracy, even if it hits the torso or arm, the spell might still fail;
Third, after injection, the induction of fla and acid damage often fails, sotis one works, sotis neither..."
Garrett frowned along. He completely didn’t understand why a remote spell could inject a substance into soone’s bloodstream. But for the other two issues, he had so thoughts:
"Big Brother Lin, let’s tackle these one at a ti. The
problem with failing to induce fla and acid damage, I rember saltpeter can ignite and can also be distilled into nitric acid. So, should we try a different casting material, like nitroglycerin?"
emmm…
Lin pondered seriously. Then, he requested a small bottle of nitroglycerin from Garrett and rushed to the testing area downstairs. Pointing at a rabbit, he silently chanted and gestured—
"The spell resistance is much lower now, almost zero—but the damage isn’t right!"
There was no fla damage, no acid damage. The rabbit silently collapsed.
Garrett dove forward, felt its carotid artery, then lifted the rabbit’s eyelid to check. With his experience, the rabbit should still be alive, but it seed to have low blood pressure...
Indeed, a tiny crystal of saltpeter could cause significant fla and acid damage inside a spell target; a tiny drop of nitroglycerin poured in, wouldn’t the blood pressure plumt?
Garrett thought anxiously for a mont, then cast Inspiration. Thump, thump, thump, a surge of adrenaline, increased myocardial contractility, accelerated heart rate, increased cardiac output, vasoconstriction of the mucous mbranes, and rising blood pressure...
After a while, the rabbit’s chest heaved, and its front legs twitched weakly.
"Garrett, why did changing the spell material to nitroglycerin lower the resistance so much, and why did the damage change?"
"Probably because nitroglycerin is a dicine, it might be beneficial... As for the significantly reduced damage, maybe it wasn’t ignited?"
Garrett was troubled. This magic could potentially be adapted into a powerful clinical ergency spell: maybe add so adrenaline, dopamine, lidocaine, etc.
It could bypass invasive procedures, skipping the blood circulation, directly reaching inside the body...
But controlling the magnification of the drug’s effect was too difficult! Seeing how the rabbit collapsed, it was as if it had swallowed a large cup rather than a drop of nitroglycerin!
Can we achieve it so that if I use 1 milliliter of spell material, the effective dose is just 1 milliliter?
"Let’s look at the second problem for now. It’s prone to inaccuracy, spell failure... could it be due to misidentifying the blood vessels?"
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