f and drank the potion all at once. A coughing fit soon erupted. I pressed my forehead into my palm.
"That tastes awful!"
"You do feel better now, though, right?" I picked up the bottle and lid, sealed them, and stored them in my bag.
Callie flexed her hands for a bit. Getting to her feet, she jumped up and down a few times with a smile on her face. "That stuff is amazing!"
The dark circles that had started to form under her eyes had disappeared. I was starting to think maybe her problem was that she just had a small mana capacity. I wondered if there were special materials that could help boost her capacity.
I heard a slight crunch behind us and put my finger to my lip. Callie's celebration was cut short, and she immediately crouched to the ground and grabbed her staff. Her voice seemed to be a natural monster lure, like earlier.
I silently drew my sword and, with the unsharpened side, hit the flying monster out of the air. It was another squirrel-type monster with dark purple fur. It fell to the ground and gave me a murderous glare.
I managed to not kill the thing, but it would be up to Callie to finish it off. I heard her muttering under her breath, and another wisp of smoke came out of the end of her staff. A clear look of frustration made her face scrunch up, but she continued muttering until a small flame flew from her staff.
The smell of burnt fur reached my nose, but I did not let it distract me from keeping watch over the fight. Callie was careful not to let her voice echo in the forest now, and she was diligent in keeping the squirrel monster at bay as they fought.
I was very impressed that she was learning how to fight so quickly. Since healers are often treated well in the association, I assumed they had taught her some things, but it was clear that this was her first time in the dungeon.
I didn't really ask much because I didn't want to share the fact that I had an extra three years to prepare for the dungeons compared to most others. With each clash between the two, I could see that she was adjusting to the fight in order to not waste energy or make unnecessary movements.
It seemed that I would not need to do much teaching. At most, I would just need to supervise as she gained experience in a safe way.
The fight lasted several more minutes, and Callie looked just as tired as when she fought her first battle. I pulled another mana potion out of my bag and forced it into her hands.
"Ugh. Not again."
Despite her words, her eyes remained focused, and she downed this second potion in one gulp as well. I had purposely purchased a variety of mana potions with different effects. Right now, I was feeding her the lowest-quality ones.
Since it was restoring her completely with one potion, I figured her capacity was severely low for a new healer. I remained positive. If there was anything I learned about the dungeons in both of my lives, it was that the dungeon had ingredients for everything.
All it took was finding a crafter who was skilled enough to produce your desired effects. Dyno had a variety of potions in his shop, but I could tell that he was not the one who had made them. I would need to see if he was willing to introduce me to the creator.
My motivation for this was the fact that they were the only better-quality potions I had found thus far. If they could already create what was considered top-quality for new hunters, then it was possible for them to create true top-quality potions for advanced hunters later.
At this point, I needed to create relationships with many people before those relationships became locked behind introductions from already popular hunters.
Plus, I highly doubted that such a crafter would have become an association crafter. It was more like they went into the dungeons themselves to gather ingredients and then sold their creations wholesale to other crafters in order to afford better equipment.
My previous experiences in the dungeon involved a lot of gathering. It was the safer option for those hunters who did not have any good abilities. I still gathered ingredients out of habit, but in this life I was definitely fighting monsters more often.
"Callie, let us focus on gathering ingredients until more monsters spawn. It will also give your body some time to recover. Mana potions are good, but if you are not used to their effects, your body could collapse."
We left the monster where it had fallen, and I began pointing out the many plants in this dungeon. Since it was considered a beginner's dungeon, many different basic ingredients grew here. Though most hunters didn't bother to learn how to gather them.
I remembered my friend from my past life, who would give me quests to gather basic ingredients for him. If I gathered enough, then he would spot me a few low-grade potions. He ended up dying in a dungeon trying to collect some rare ingredients shortly after.
It was exactly because of that incident that I had been exploring a Rank D dungeon the day I died. It was becoming increasingly harder to support myself, and out of desperation, I attempted the dungeon alone. I had told myself that if it got dangerous, I would just run away.
"Is that an ingredient?" Callie pointed out some HP Grass growing under a tree. I nodded, and she happily started gathering the plant the way I had taught her. I found it amusing that she was a healer, and that was the first thing she learned to recognize without my help.
I handed her a pouch to put what she had gathered in. For a time, we went on like that, gathering Mana Herb, HP Grass, and various other ingredients used for potions. I wasn't sure what all had been discovered, but my plan to create an exclusive relationship with Dyno's supplier shouldn't expose me too much.
We were in a grassy clearing in the forest when I began to hear different noises around us again. I guess it was already time for the monsters to start respawning. I placed my hand on Callie's shoulder and signaled for her to prepare for battle.
Callie looked around us and began to pick out where the attacks would be coming from. I held back my astonishment at her progress and took a step away from her. This time, I would let her experience multiple enemies. I would have to save her in the end, but it would be a valuable learning experience for her.
Bright red eyes peeked out of the grass. The long white ears that poked out told me that a group of rabbits had discovered us. I could also hear some movements in the trees, but these were the first to engage us.
A small fire the size of a lit match came flying out of Callie's staff. It flew across the somewhat tall grass and hit the first Were Rabbit in the face, making it scream in pain. There was a black spot left in between its eyes.
The group came bounding through the grass and quickly surrounded Callie, giving no notice to my presence. Seeing that I was not going to intervene in her fight, Callie focused on the numerous enemies now surrounding her.
I could see her fingers clutching the staff grow white as she gripped it too tightly. The rabbit directly behind her leaped and used its strong hind legs to strike at Callie's back. I watched her stumble but catch herself.
The bloodlust in the air from the Were Rabbits was definitely having an effect on her. I could see the look of pure hatred on their faces as they began attacking at different intervals in all directions to catch her off guard.
At some point I would need to put a stop to this, but I needed to see how long she could survive. There are only two of us in this party right now. I could not completely block all the attacks if we were to be surrounded.
Since the landscapes of each dungeon were drastically different, it was better to teach her this lesson now while the enemies were still so weak. My hand remained gripped on my sword nonetheless. Each time she cried out in pain, I was desperately trying to stop myself from coming to her aid.
I began to notice a sparkling light coming from her skin. It looked like some kind of buff. Did she just learn it? Her harsh breathing told me that she would soon reach her limit. I began pulling my sword from its sheath.
She held up her hand to me, stared down the rabbit that she had damaged earlier, and began using her staff as a club. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my lips. She had finally realized that her staff was more than just a medium for her magic or to block attacks. She had started using her head to make up for her lack of mana.