Diary entry 1

As of today, I decided to write a journal. I’m currently 8 years old living in the southern continent with my parents in a town called “Sword’s edge” before the “Infection Wave of the Fog” as I like to call it struck. It’s a peaceful time for my family and me. I didn’t see much of the outside yet… so I can’t say for certain how it is out there, but if I’m not mistaken that when my parents were this healthy, that means that there should at least be nature out there, not sure if the wave already struck or not but hopefully it won’t strike anytime soon. I can at least breathe with ease from the air not being poisoned. Thankfully, there aren't any Alas Crows nor any Flesh Rats outside. I know that because if there were, I would hear a scream right about now. Going back on topic, I need to start a lab. Sadly there aren’t any useful materials on this continent to make any useful potions. Or at least there weren’t when I first studied this continent. I did theorize that the continent was full of rich materials… maybe I should attest to that theory. I’ll continue writing later… parents are calling.

I've returned from having a cake, truly the most delicious thing I’ve eaten in 15 years. Maybe it’s my own bias, but what can I say, I love my mother. Even after… well, it doesn't matter now. What does matter is that damn god. He said that he’s given me another chance to extend my life. I don’t like believing in the idea that there are higher beings out there but I do live in a world where children's stories are basically history. But if he indeed sent me here that means that it’s indeed possible to extend even one second beyond the “Time Limit.” Otherwise, I put my trust in the wrong god. I do have an advantage though. I’m a child. That way, I can create excuses to go outside and find some exotic plants. Highly doubt that there will be anything too potent like the jungles of the eastern continent but I’d rather see for myself rather than assume that there isn’t anything useful. Besides, I need the equipment to perform alchemy. Unfortunately, alchemy is not popularised yet and is treated as a dark art rather than science. It’ll be harder to do anything without catching on the unwanted attention. That means, no mana potions, no health potions, no poisons either. The only thing that is common to use in this world is magic.

Firearms are a rarity since to use a firearm, gunpowder is required. I much rather prefer to use a firearm because I didn’t train my body physically so I never could wield a sword properly, and I was never trained in archery, so I couldn't use a bow and arrow properly. Thankfully, some genius has created a special device that fired smaller projectiles made only of metal. It still fascinates me to this day. The same inventor made a one-handed version and called it a “Revolver” I believe. My weapon of choice. Never saw the blueprint of how it works though. I’ll have to find a way to confirm if revolvers exist or not. If they do indeed exist in this time then they’re probably a rarity since it’s expensive to get all the materials to build it and also to get shape right. After all, it’s based on an artifact called “Kartovsky’s gun.” Perhaps I’ll compensate for the time being by using a crossbow. It’s faster to reload, and not that hard to hold.

Going onto another problem that I found out is that I’m not too adept at magic. That puts me practically at the bottom of the food chain. I can only create basic healing circles which essentially means I’m only able to heal small scratches or bruises. This is even worse because that magic is considered the worst magic possible since it’s not offensive in any way, nor does it provide that much support. In my past life, I did manage to improve my magic and even learned to use black magic such as “Corrupt” which disrupts a person’s mana flow, or “Removal” which I tried to use on my body to remove the “limit” but it only worked on other people which is why I frequently used it to heal some of my patients. There are many reasons why I managed to gain black magic but one of them is to kill a person which this body won’t be able to do just yet. Maybe I’ll be able to find some crucial ingredients in the forest to brew something useful to me. I won’t be able to take anything with me though. It’s better to wait until I find some alchemist master or maybe even a merchant to get my hands on the equipment of potion brewing. I need to keep the ingredients fresh. Unless I have to use a rotten fruit or a dead rat. I’ll pause my writing. I need to inspect the forest.

Turns out that I was in the forest for about 5 hours. I wasted so much time out there that I’ll need to go to bed soon. Luckily, my visit did not end up in vain, I did find something intriguing. I managed to find a “Violet mimic” as the name suggests, it’s color is purple. A distinct feature that this plant possesses is that it attracts insects using a special smell that tricks them with its smell that is considered by the insects to be extremely sweet. The reason that it survives is that it attracts its prey and then swallows it dissolving with that same liquid. I’m surprised that this exists here because there aren’t that big insects that live in this area so it wouldn’t be able to develop such a mechanism due to it unable to sustain itself. It can grow there but it would be better for it not to due to the insufficient amount of food. What’s even weirder is that the other plants that I found aren’t supposed to exist in that specific area. Such as light mushrooms that only grow in caves absorbing light. Or Firefly Houses which only exist in the western continent of fire. Clearly, the ecosystem is already a mess even without the Wave… or is this the Wave already destroying the area? Or is this natural because the continent is inside the Fog? Too many questions, so few answers.

My eyes are starting to get heavy, that’s a sign to go to sleep. I must continue studying the forest to see if there’s anything else notable. Besides the nature of the continent, I also need to see if there is an alchemist in town. I can possibly convince him to make me his apprentice so that I could use the equipment. Off to bed now.

I’m Karas Pesuto and this is my first entry in this timeline.