The water scale

With my mind less overloaded, I could maintain the two magics, and occupy myself with other things, in this case reviewing my spatial mana reserve... I had gone too far underwater, and my air reserve would be exhausted after 10 minutes of arriving at the gap to breathe; my psyche mana would run out a little sooner...

When I knew that my Psyche mana was about to run out, I opened a rift in front of me, trying to project the exit as far ahead as I could have given my depleted reserve of space after cutting down all the merfolk.

The advantage is that I had not lost the momentum or the speed that my psyche had given me, although it would disappear soon. The air disappeared, I still had 4 minutes of diving left, and I filled my lungs with the last breath... I dived without launching the body to an underwater sprint; this would make the effort make me consume all the oxygen quickly.

I advanced; I thought I would die there, in anguish and despair, if only the mana of metal, stone, gem or will could help me to advance, but it was useless at that moment. I continued advancing as best I could... 25 meters, 20... I noticed how my eyes were getting cloudy... 15, 10,... a feeling of fainting... hold on, Lion told myself... 5 meters...

When I stuck my head into the hole to breathe, I was dizzy, scared, and happy. So far, the tutorial has seemed easy to me, even the sanctuary, but dying by drowning was no joke... I had exhausted my space mana reserve and of psyche; I had a third of that of air left, and a little more mana of will. Although I had stone, metal, and gem mana... I didn't see any use for them, in this environment...

I created another air bubble and continued moving down the hallway... When I reached the next crossroads, I already knew I wouldn't try, I had seen death very close and I didn't like the feeling... My mind was scrambled to solve puzzles, and few tools to face any monster in an unfavorable environment...

There was no trick, trap, idea, or strategy possible in the face of mental exhaustion. With the decision made, I advanced until I reached the water balance room...

"If you have come this far, your resistance and ability to be in the water deserve praise. If you have seen how water beings fight, you will have learned something. If you reached the depths without fading too much, you will know about the danger. If you passed the judgment of the guardian, you already know his teachings, and if you have felt how water is also part of you, you have completed the teachings. Leave the weight of your journey in the balance, and may the great element reward you for it."

I didn't know if I would have been able to overcome the other two challenges, but frankly, I didn't want to know; I had gone as far as my spirits would allow me...

I put the two conch shells on the scales and supported them with my hands. A spinning ball of deep blue energy embedded itself in my liver... Although many would surely think of power, the feeling of... cleanliness led me to a funny thought: "Goodbye to the remains of my alcoholism. Fortunately, not that I had been an alcoholic, but I committed my excesses like everyone else of my generation...

"Affinity with the mana of water created. 1/6100"

"Congratulations on completing the water main mana core during the tutorial."

"Congratulations on partially completing the hidden quest in the Psyche Room 2/4 completed"

"Congratulations on being the first player with seven cores of level 3 or higher in the tutorial"

Water Mana Core, Level 3. 1/12000

I was tired, so my tests with the water were not particularly attractive. I created a wave, separated the waters, created a sphere and fired it... enough for the moment...

Thanks to the water currents created, the way back was faster. As I expected, the side corridors for the secondary missions were closed; there was no trace of them.

I arrived at the statue room. The time of meditation was good for me, but my mood was gloomy. I sat down to meditate and didn't stop until all my mana reserves were at their maximum.

I had advanced too recklessly into the sanctuary, as I began to find it easy... I looked at the tests I had left: fire, ice, lightning, life, death, light and darkness...

With a slightly renewed spirit, I meditated on what my next step would be. I didn't feel like going on adventures with a lot of psychological burden at the moment. I think some action wouldn't hurt, but I was tired. The darkness, the death, the light, they smelled to me to an overwhelming mental burden, fire, ice and lightning still sounded to me like tests of strength; however, the path of life seemed the lightest to me at the moment...

The marble of the path of life was a grass green color; it was pleasant to a certain point, but reaching the first torch made me more curious than anything else: what would be in the temple of life?

I passed the first torch and heard a familiar screech coming from the front. Five giant rats were advancing towards me. I was surprised; I won't deny it, but reacting quickly, I launched several air blades towards them that killed them without much difficulty...

When I got to the next torch, a group of goblins were waiting for me. I acted the same; I cast air magic, and although two managed to escape death, they couldn't avoid my spear afterward. It was fast and effective...

The problem came after the third torch. The corridor widened until it became a circular room 10 meters wide. On one side, an adult feline predator was protecting a litter of three kittens. It did not leave them, and I looked fiercely. Since the second phase of the tutorial I have wondered if, upon encountering these creatures in another situation, I would have been able to kill a mother who was protecting her litter. I was the invader; they only lived there. I knew it was a game, but if it were real life, wouldn't their death be reprehensible? I didn't need them as food, just to gain experience and become stronger. Did that justify death?...

I pressed my back against the wall opposite the beast and moved forward slowly. He roared, looking at me to see if I should start the action... I passed by, reaching the continuation of the tunnel on the other side of the room.

When I approached the next torch, another room would have been in front of me. In the middle of it, there was a humanoid; it had bluish skin and must have been more than 2 meters tall; it was wearing luxurious armor; its weapons were adorned with jewels; and it was bleeding profusely. Injuries to his head and leg...

He was unconscious, and a large pool of blood spread on the floor. He was breathing with difficulty and weakly. Should I finish him off to save him suffering? What sense would it make as proof to steal and keep the objects he had? Selfishly, both the sword and the armor looked magnificent... But wouldn't it be murder? I examined the wounds; the best thing would be to put a tourniquet on his leg and bandage it. I used part of his clothes for it; the wound on the hips and head looked better. I applied a bandage, carefully moved him to the wall, and left him with his legs elevated to prevent excessive bleeding. I couldn't do more for him so I continued on my way.

The next room after the torch was different, no monsters, not wounded... on one side a large number of pots with plants... on the other side a fountain with water and a watering can, I watered the plants, the ones that were drier I watered them well, and not so much those that looked greener and more adapted.

I continued on my way; there had been no tokens so far, although the situations were very changeable... But anyway, what could be done?

There was another room, and this time there were four wounded beings on the floor: a strong dwarf (or what would always be represented in fantasy games as such) with her armor and axe, an elf archer (so pretty, so mysterious, so delicate like everything that fantasy novels tell), what looked like a Minotaur, and an old man of an unknown race with a robe and a wizard's hat... The scene was very cliché if it weren't for the fact that they all had the greenish complexion of an unhealthy manner, and in addition to being unconscious, they were foaming strangely at the mouth...poison perhaps? In the center of the room, there was a small pedestal with a single small vial, just a few drops of an unknown liquid inside. A potion or an antidote?

It was an impossible choice, or rather an election of which he did not know the results; whoever he chose did not know them, and no matter how hard he tried, one would live, and the rest would die...

I could also keep the vial for myself and move on, but since the experience with the water made me a little more moralistic, this had stopped resembling a game, and the experiences were very real...

I decided to give the vial to the elf. Don't think badly; what was wrong with that? The elf regained a little color in her face, and she stopped foaming at the mouth, although she did not regain consciousness. . I waited a while, but nothing happened...

The next room was empty. This was strange to me, but there was little I could do...