Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: The Dreamlike Well
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The scenery of the well we'd found was as beautiful as a painting from a dream.
A moist dirt floor inside the cave.
Pure spring water, faintly glowing, pooled in the sunken ground, while light blue moss and herbs bloomed here and there, releasing a subtle fragrance.
A small garden emitting a soft glow even in the darkness.
A sight I'd seen countless times in the game, but confirming it with my own eyes carried a whole different weight.
...Honestly, it was pretty surprising.
Was the well supposed to be this gorgeous?
Pavarintos wasn't even a game with top-tier graphics to begin with.
"Wow..."
"...."
Even Hyun Tae-jin, who'd been wearing a grim expression from the start, was awestruck—so you can imagine how stunning it was...
...But I hadn't come here just to gawk in admiration.
"Alright. We've found the well, so let's rest here for today."
"Is that okay? What if monsters show up..."
As I plopped down on the cave floor to stretch out my aching legs, Hyun Tae-jin asked with clear worry.
A perfect question.
You just nailed the key point.
But there was no need to fret.
"It's fine. This is ant territory, so goblins won't come here."
"...What about the ants?"
"Those won't come either. See that orange flower among the ones blooming here? It's called Repellent Herb, a mana herb that gives off a scent harmful to ants. So as long as we don't yank out all the Repellent Herbs, they won't barge in."
"Aha..."
Of course, if you pulled them all and the scent faded, they'd swarm like mad.
Mana hunger afflicted every creature equally.
In the game, this gimmick was implemented meticulously, which had done wonders at blocking newbie influx.
The herbs looked ripe for picking at a glance, so rookies would think jackpot and rip them out—only to get mobbed by ants and die.
There was even an urban legend about chains of character deletes leading straight to uninstalls.
"...So now we just rest?"
"No. Rest a bit, then we train."
"Train?"
"Even if you've played the game, reality's different. We're both total newbies here, so if we want to survive, we've gotta adapt to this world, right?"
"....."
There was plenty to do.
Unlike the reality we'd come from, carelessly resting here could get you killed.
That went for me too—and for Hyun Tae-jin as well.
"Tae-jin."
"Ah, yes."
"When you first got here, what skill did you pick up?"
"Uh... Heavy Stance, was it..."
"Hmm. You just had to go with that one."
"...Is it bad?"
"No, it's fine... but it can be tricky the first time."
Not bad at all.
Early warrior skills were Weapon Enhancement, Body Enhancement, Heavy Stance, and Light Stance.
None were duds among the four.
They were all basic skills you'd end up collecting eventually anyway.
The catch was their wildly different uses—you just had to master each one.
"Tricky, you say?"
"Yeah. Heavy Stance is the most fiddly to pull off among them."
"...Heavy Can?"
"Heavy Stance Cancel. In simple terms, after Inner Force Activation, you trigger Heavy Stance right before your attack lands."
"Why would you... Ah! It's because the skill makes your body heavier, right?"
"Exactly."
It was a technique from the game too.
People had once griped that it was a bug, but the devs officially confirmed it was an intentional, carefully crafted skill.
In Pavarintos the game, layering Heavy Stance just before a motion ended boosted damage.
Sure, mistiming it dragged out your recovery, but it was super useful in guaranteed-hit scenarios, so it saw plenty of use.
A game obsessed with realism—probably worked the same way here.
"One catch. Don't use it on upward swings—only downward strikes. Otherwise, pop it before getting hit to cut down on stiffness—"
Warrior's most versatile basic skill.
Diverse applications, but demands the most attention.
Pavarintos the game had excessive knockback and stiffness, true to its trash-game rep.
Later on, without Heavy Stance, you'd eat hits and fly dozens of meters like an idiot—making fights impossible without it.
"—So, you get it?"
"I get the idea... but wasn't that only doable because it was a game?"
"Maybe. But it's worth a shot. The devs were total lunatics—they'd patch anything they deemed off-intent, no matter what."
"Hmm..."
That was why Pavarintos got absolutely trashed online.
A game meant for fun, daring to inconvenience players?
Strictly speaking, not an unfair gripe.
A game's goal was player enjoyment, but Pavarintos was the opposite.
No official word, but their patches sure seemed designed to savor user suffering.
...Of course, looking back now, it hit different.
Maybe a desperate push to get more people into Pavarintos.
Something poetic like "you only appreciate spring after the blossoms fall," or the devs' hidden philosophy, and all that how'd you endure this long nonsense.
"Practice it later. You've got two swords now—scrape 'em against the wall, and the feel should come."
"...Understood."
Good, he listened well.
A lot of newbies tuned out hard, so this was a plus.
Even now, instead of sitting to rest, Hyun Tae-jin picked up his sword and headed toward the open space by the well, eyeing the wall.
"...."
What he eyed was a thick Divine Tree root protruding from the dirt wall.
Divine Tree roots are pretty sturdy—perfect practice target.
Alright, newbie wrangling done for now...
First, recharge my mana.
I wasn't exempt either.
Training was essential for me too.
For a mage, accuracy was everything.
Without solid aim, your combat potential tanked hard.
A mage with crap aim was a walking disaster.
With Memorize, every spell counted—waste one, and you'd be swimming in real-time bloody tears.
Sure, there were close-range mage builds dancing around with Lightning Strike like ninjas... but they weren't viable in reality.
In the game, that was for insane concept freaks only. In a game where one hit could probabilistically screw you, close-range mage? No thanks.
Best bet was quietly practicing Mana Arrow.
'...Nah. Might be better to rest a little.'
A long march.
Unlike the game version, real Pavarintos was vast.
We'd walked at least an hour, easy.
My shoulders ached under the weight of my chest, fatigue piling up in my waist and legs.
At least as a vampire, I'd recover fast—small mercy.
In the clearing by the well, mana herbs in bloom.
I leaned back against the wall for a short break.
"...Ah."
A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Right, there was that method.
Realizing it, I checked the mana herbs sprouting in the clearing.
'Repellent Herb and Blood Herb. A few Poison Bell Herbs... and the rest are just useless weeds.'
Mana herbs around the well.
Some you could pull, some you absolutely couldn't.
Pull Repellent Herb, and you were screwed. Poison Bell Herb was fine if you wanted hard mode.
Survive the first poison burst, and it stopped after that. But nothing I could handle right now, so pass.
And the moss growing nearby...
...Half of that should be okay.
The moss's job was using mana to enrich the soil.
Yank it all, and the other herbs would die off later—but not immediately.
Half would be fine.
It'd recover without issue.
With my plan set, I pulled tools from the backpack Hyun Tae-jin was carrying.
A bowl and pestle.
A pot and ladle.
A few pieces of firewood.
And a gourd-shaped water flask.
All from the food storage.
'Better prep some now.'
What I aimed to make: mana recovery potion.
The simplest consumable in Pavarintos.
Potion-making was pretty complex.
Of course, that was for a game.
With the sword's slicing air as BGM, I laid out the harvested moss and herbs on the ground and sorted them.
First, I balled up the moss, dropped it in the bowl, and started grinding.
'...Not as easy as I thought.'
Potion-making in Pavarintos didn't require a dedicated skill.
Sure, related spells or magic made stronger potions easier, but you could get decent results without them.
And mana recovery potion was among the simplest recipes.
Grind mana herbs or mana stones into juice and powder, mix with a bit of water, simmer over moderate heat—done.
The underlying principle was straightforward too.
Heat deformed material structures—and it broke down mana structures the same way.
Simmer mana herbs, and the heat-vulnerable toxins and effects evaporated, leaving only the solid mana and liquid mana, more resiliently bound in the ingredients.
Cool it down, and you had a mana recovery potion.
Chewing raw mana herbs gave some recovery too, but nowhere near as effective.
Heat flattened the mana structure—and raw ones often acted as poison in the body due to their properties.
Gobble them recklessly, and you'd snag the Mana Poisoning debuff, suffering hard.
'This good enough...?'
But doing it for real? No feel for it yet.
Grinding the ingredients, boiling water in the pot—same issues.
Herbs had varying heat tolerances, so precise fire control was crucial for potion-making.
Heat-resistant mana herbs kept their properties even when simmered, so herb knowledge mattered too.
A technique that came up surprisingly often if you knew it.
Still, barely anyone used it—too annoying and complicated.
Early game, easier to just reroll your character than bother.
"...Hmm."
With time to spare, I gave it a go anyway.
Used Lightning Strike to ignite the firewood, then Telekinesis to adjust the pot's height and control the temperature.
It took focus, but wasn't too tough.
'Just control practice.'
Telekinesis control was vital.
You shaped mana like an invisible hand to manipulate physical force—but since the acting point was detached from the mage's body, you could even move your own.
You could fly with it.
Not much call in a ceilinged cave, but worth practicing later.
For now, the potion took priority.
How long did I simmer the ingredients?
Hyun Tae-jin approached from where he'd been practicing in the corner.
"...What're you doing?"
"Making mana potions."
"Mana potions?"
"Exactly what it sounds like—drink 'em to recover mana."
"Oh..."
Did he know? Nice reaction anyway.
Worth dragging along.
But when I tossed out some casual follow-up chit-chat, he gave a weird reply.
"How's the training going? Getting the hang of it?"
"Ah, yes. I think I'm done."
"...Done already?"
"Yeah. Not sure if I'm doing it right, but..."
Awkwardly, Hyun Tae-jin swung the sword in his right hand.
The blade's tip arced toward the Divine Tree root exposed on the dirt wall.
With a heavy sound, Hyun Tae-jin's stance with the longsword bent low, the blade striking the Divine Tree root.
The exposed root split cleanly, transparent sap oozing out.
A crisp strike.
Crisp aim.
Crisp postural control.
A flawless sword blow.
"...This right? It wouldn't cut straight, so I had to time the skill just so."
"Hmm..."
...What the hell.
Did that grab you that fast?
Sure, in the game, mouse and keyboard made it simple enough... but this was reality...
...Or maybe reality made it easier?
No other examples to compare—he was a mystery.
"...Looks like it's working."
"Ah, good then. I'll keep practicing."
"...."
...Whatever, it'll be fine.
Fast learner? No downside there.
I nodded lightly and got back to my task.
The pot brimmed with clear liquid.
I poured it into the empty gourd flask and sealed the mouth.
One homemade mana potion, complete.
'...Next time, just buy 'em.'
Dirty inefficient work.
Guess there's a reason nobody bothers.