Diary entry 2

Woke up tired… I should get more sleep. I may have only slept for only 2 hours before, but this is the body of a child. I need to maintain it. My family is poor but I need to ensure that I keep myself healthy by sleeping, a somewhat proper diet, and wash my hands. I also need to have a look into the town if there is any way that I can create an alchemy lab. I’m not talented in glass smithing nor can I enter the black market since I’m so young. Clay won’t do it. It’ll get mixed up in the process and ruin certain potions I’ll try to brew. It might even kill someone. The main issue that I need to address for now is I need to find an alchemist to work with. I’ll have to inspect the town to see if there’s an Apothecary, doctor, or any sort of person that is a professional at medicine. Worst case scenario, I’ll have to go back to the forest and find a rumored Witch that lived there when my parents were children. But it’s only a rumor, and I can’t base my beliefs on rumors. I’ll continue writing later… I need to prepare some food, and my parents aren’t home. Meaning that my mother is off to “Work” meanwhile the father is going to gamble his current salary. Pathetic. I wonder, should I eat some rat meat which might carry diseases or a piece of hard bread which will cause me to have mouth pain… I’ll be safe and have some bread. Afterwhich, I’ll go look around the town.

I was apprehended outside the first 5 minutes I walked out. They were my childhood bullies. Little pieces of shit. They all terrorize me because they feel that I’m an easy target for oppression, luckily in my original timeline, they all die unsuccessful deaths as the lowest-ranked adventures possible which is “Iron” after going on their first dungeon raid. To be fair, the dungeons are quite unpredictable, and since it’s on this continent it’s even worse. I think it’s because of the wave. I never found an answer in my previous life. Nevertheless, they are still bullies and they are still standing outside of the door of my house’s entrance, and I’m not planning to walk out of my house to get beaten up again. They already gave me a black eye. Maybe if I walk out through the back I could walk around them, I’m sure that they’re not that profound in strategy nor are they too old to think about splitting up to cover all of the entrances. Facing them head-on might also not be a very good idea. Even if I do indeed manage to beat all of them up, their parents still have more influence than a prostitute and a drunk gambler. Spoiled brats not being able to manage the mess that they caused.

I’ll be taking my journal with me since I still need to write and I don’t want to repeat what happened yesterday in my entry. I left a lot of details out and I didn’t get much sleep. That way, I’ll be able to keep most of my findings and get more sleep. There is a risk of people destroying my journal, simply for the sake of having a sense of superiority. But this is a risk I’m willing to pay, besides, It’s an easily avoidable risk since I’ll easily find an opening to write in my journal.

Now for a way out…

Fortunately, they’re as dumb as I thought, and I just snuck out of my house through the back window of the first window. I highly doubt that this strategy is going to continue working so I’ll either have to find other ways of sneaking out or ways of stealing alchemical equipment if it exists, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. Now I’ll go look around town for anything that could be of any use to me.

I just realized how small this town is. Sword’s Edge is essentially a checkpoint for travelers. They stop here to resupply, relax, have a fun time, that’s why my mother is in the line of work that she’s in. Luckily, there is still an Apothecary in town. They produce all of the potions, sell them to the government which sends them to the adventurers guild, and then 10% of the profit from potions in the guild is given to them. Quite ingenious, I must say. Maybe they’ll take an apprentice, but the chances of them taking me are very slim, to say the least, because I’m not very beneficial to them. I’m poor, malnourished, and I might scare away their customers from my appearance. But I do know practically every mystery towards alchemical study. I can even prove to them that I can work consistently. I’ll keep writing after I attempt to get a job at the age of 8 years old and most likely fail because I’m “too young” or something.

I successfully managed to get the job of “Alchemist doctor apprentice” which’s surprising. To avoid suspicion and so that I was not mistaken for a very old monster shapeshifter in disguise, I simply showed them that I could listen to instructions and managed to brew an early version of the healing potion. A very poor quality one at that. With the ingredients that they gave me, I could probably brew up something that’s three times as effective. What a waste of materials. It still surprises me that something so trivial is considered something invaluable in this period. They said “We see a bright future ahead of you” and etcetera, that since I’m so young (just what I predicted they would say) they could only allow me to be an apprentice to a doctor for legal purposes or something of that sort. Those idiots first thought of paying me with candy thinking that I’m extremely naive and gullible until they finally complied with my terms of simply wanting money. They understandably did not give me money since I didn’t do anything, and I didn’t bother asking them for equipment since, once again, I was there only for an interview not working there.

Though the interview was long, I still have plenty of time to spare. I wonder if the bullies are still in front of my house. They’re not, because they’re right in front of me.

Got beaten up again. This time they broke my nose. I can heal those injuries, but I don’t think I should. Because if I keep healing myself, I’ll just continue being their punching bag. A sack of flesh that’ll never break because it automatically repairs itself. For them, it would be a luxurious item. So no self-healing of any sort. Besides my bleeding nose, I still need to have a look around for anything else more beneficial to me. Maybe in the future, I could have someone manufacture me a mask that I designed myself. That’s for later though. For now, I have to record the mapping of the town. I won’t be drawing in the journal though. I’ll keep a separate book in case I need any illustrations of any kind. Otherwise, my journal will be disorganized, and just a giant mess. Not only that, but I hate books where there are inexplicable parts of the book where there are pictures that don’t even closely relate to the current plot of the story. It only relates to the past of the book’s plot. My ranting aside, I should probably wait until tomorrow to buy another book. After I get my money of course. I should probably check into the merchants guild to see if there’s a Revolver. No, that would be a bad idea. Can’t have people suspect a small child who on his first try manages to become an Alchemist doctor’s apprentice and who can also negotiate with people who are known for their silver tongues of selling products. Especially for an item, a child should not be able to even use. I think I should just go back to that forest to see that Witch everyone is scared of. I’m curious about what she can do. Both as a spellcaster and an alchemist if she is one.

I was looking in this damn forest for quite some time. The sun is setting, so I would assume that right now is at least 6 in the afternoon. No sign of the Witch. I’m getting really tired... I have to rethink this… how would I find a deranged old hag who lives off of the wilderness while also creating potions to maintain her youth or continue to live a very long life. Sounds like me to be honest. Aside from the aging part. In the trees. I can see her hut. It blends in so well, I doubt anyone would be able to see it, but thanks to my explorations I have a natural habit of second-guessing everything I see since I was tricked on multiple occasions by Skull treants mimicking themselves as trees. I can’t climb up this sort of tree without anything to keep me from falling. And I’m not a beast-human hybrid so I can’t claw my way up. The Witch could have developed temporary levitation potions… for more convenience, but she did something before that method. Maybe a hidden staircase. That would not make any sense because hollowing out a tree would break it since it wouldn’t be able to support the weight of an entire house. There are no vines, nor a network of houses. So no loose bridges over trees, which I could theoretically through trial and error at least use to gain attention. Hold on, that’s it! Attention! I’m not a good thrower but I at least could try hitting her house.

I hear something. Better hide in that bush nearby.

It was the Witch. My theory checks out that she’s maintaining her youth through potions or at least she tries to seem young. There are many methods that one can regain youth or put up an illusion that they are young. But since she wasn’t aware that I was watching the only conclusion I can bring out of this is that she managed to make herself younger through temporary means. I can’t stay here for long though. She’s unpredictable and dangerous. I have to leave before she figures out that I’m here.

Managed to get away, or maybe that’s what she’s trying to convey. What I managed to find out was that to get to her home, she uses a levitation spell. I wasn’t exact but close enough. I guess she is more of a telekinetic magic-user. Maybe she’s capable of using different types of magic. Can’t say for certain. But it’s getting late. And I don’t want to worry my parents too much.

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