Diary entry 4

I woke up the same as yesterday, nothing to worry about in that category. What does worry me is that I heard screaming from downstairs. That means my parents are fighting. And when my parents fought… it got physical. To each other and me. They just want to vent out their anger on me. I do wonder what they’re fighting about… it’s about money. Again. Father wants more money to gamble more and to win more so that he could easily buy the entire house debt and afford better food. Meanwhile, mother is defending herself saying that with the money that she’s earning right now she can’t give him anything, since, with her money, she can barely afford the house and the food. Both of which are of poor quality. I mean the floor is unstable, food sometimes has moss, our situation is just a mess. I can’t tell either of them that I’m making my own money. If I tell father, then he’ll exploit me for that same money, and if I tell mother, with her best efforts she’ll try to keep it secret, but father will force out all information out of her and she’ll unintentionally rat me out. Making father want to exploit me. Since they’re in such an argument I might as well write more recipes so that I don’t have to keep remembering. Now, what should I write down… it’s a bother keeping the entire recipe of the philosopher’s stone in my head but I think I'll do it later. I should probably write the best iteration of the healing potion that I made so far. Still improving it. Nothing is perfect.

Healing potion ver. 13

Ingredients

Dead slime 500 ml (preferably red for taste and color) 9 Pure Bloom petals Lizard’s tail (2.5 cm long) A drop of a healer’s blood

How to create the potion:

Boil water. Glass containers are not recommended. Preferably use a miniature cauldron on a stable surface. Wait until you see bubbles popping at a rapid rate. When the water reaches boiling point, add 3 Pure Bloom petals. (Wait until the initial petal is dissolved to add the next one) Cut the lizard’s tail in half horizontally and add the upper half into the boiling pot. Add 250 ml of dead slime to dissolve the tail and blend all of the current ingredients. Add the remaining 6 Pure Bloom flower petals one at a time. Repeating the same process of waiting until the dissolution of each petal to add the next. Drain the lower half of the lizard’s tail of its blood into the cauldron and using a clean metallic mixing tool all of the ingredients. Add the lower half of the tail itself into the cauldron. Add the remaining dead slime. Wait for 5 minutes, then use the drop of a healer’s blood and mix all of the components using a new metallic mixing tool. Let the potion sit in darkness for 10 minutes.

Cautions:

Always use clean metallic tools to mix the components of the potion in to prevent any unintentional extra ingredients. In the production of the potion, no sunlight can touch the potion. It will become mucky white-colored water with a faint taste of iron. Do not use a glass beaker as a container for the potion. The heat will cause the glass to shatter, and ruin the process. If brewed incorrectly, the potion will melt you inside out. The side effect of using the potion will amplify the pain of all the future and current wounds you will receive for 10 minutes.

I have to find a way of shortening the pain amplification period. Maybe using dog saliva will help. I don’t hear my parents screaming anymore, maybe because they left the house. Either way, I have to get to my job on time… otherwise, I will get fired, and I won’t be able to fund myself to buy healthier food and alchemical equipment. I’m worried that either of my parents will follow me to my place of work but there’s no point in worrying about that. Because they’ll be in their places practically the entire day. I wrote too much. Now I have to run to work which I’m terrible at. My feet will hurt from the uneven brick roads, and I’ll lose my breath from not having that much stamina.

It took me 10 minutes of running and walking to get to work. Luckily I made it in on time. I’ll continue writing later.

My employer was visibly angry at me for nearly being late, which is understandable. I got angry at my assistant for being late because that would put me behind schedule and the only thing I didn’t have and still don’t have is time. I got my money… I wonder… won’t that “Paladin” guy show up today? Can’t say for certain but I’m pretty sure that around this week or maybe month, the first ship from the central continent got here. Makes sense that they discovered it so late. The southern continent is much farther away from the central one than the other three and the “Island ring.” Which just shows the influence of the primary religion from the central continent. Nevertheless, I still hate the sight of the paladin, that irritating shiny white armor that majorly contrasts from my town. So tacky, so much unnecessary detail. Even the person who was wearing the armor was so frustrating to listen to. Claiming that he would save us from our demise not saying how or why. And he didn’t even fulfill his promise to anyone. Not only that, but his looks just caused all of the women and even some men to attach themselves at his feet. Disgusting. His clean yellow hair, smooth white skin, teeth so clean they sparkled and with those blue eyes that shined like sapphires… it made me think that he was showing how poor our town was and how much he deserved to be praised by everyone. His looks and state of armor showed his status as a noble. He wasn’t a bad person by any means and I don’t think that he was putting up a show but if he did, he was really good. Don’t know if he could use magic, but now I assume that he could because the majority of the nobility know how to use magic. At least the other person who was traveling with him was more logical and much more tolerable. Judging by his voice I could tell he was a much older man, he too was wearing armor, but it wasn’t the same as the paladin’s armor. It was colored silver, less detailed, but the most peculiar part was that he was wearing a helmet. A standard helmet that covered his face with a cage-like plate. With those vertical bars… I wonder what the world looks like from the inside of one of those helmets. The view always obstructed, constantly gasping for air from the heat. I couldn't see his face from all of the shadows of those same bars, but I could tell that he had white skin and that he had a beard. Nevertheless, when they do indeed show up, I’ll need to ask them some questions. And I’ll get them one way or another.

I’ll kill that traitorous bitch. Apparently, from the eastern side of town to the forest takes about 40 minutes of walking. It took me 80 minutes to get to the witch. 20 more for eating food and 20 to find her house. Though the town is small it’s a town nonetheless. When I did reach the witch, she was mad that I came later than usual. What’s with everyone today saying that I’m late? I shrugged it off saying that maybe I got a bit too worked up with writing the most recent recipe in my journal which was my latest version of a healing potion. She said that she will look into it later. But before that, she decided to teach me the basics of rune enchantments. She did provide me with an explanation of why runes work even for people without magic. The reason that they work is that those same runes are the alphabet of sorcery. No one knows where it came from, and the reason that no one has records of those runes is that regardless of where they’re written, they apply whenever someone writes them on any surface. The witch doesn’t know why which bothers me. She is learning from “The Monk” the most intelligent human to ever exist who was cursed to be bound to an enchanted forest for “sticking his nose where it didn’t belong.” Don’t know the specifics. She claims that she understands all of the knowledge that the Monk is giving her and yet she did not explain why the runes work the way that they do. Either the Monk didn’t tell her everything, or he told nothing to her at all. I refrained from asking her since that would prevent me from learning anything. I think she started to sense my doubt and she didn’t want to reveal the truth. So she stabbed me in the arm. The knife was coated in snake venom, so I was simply being limited to move. She should have checked if I truly died because after she stabbed me, she simply pushed me off of her house and left me for dead. Backstabbed again. That was a serious moment. This was a fast toxin. My vision started to get blurry, my muscles within my arm started to twitch, I knew that what came afterward was vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, and more until eventual death. I couldn't think straight. I knew how to treat the poison, I just didn’t have the equipment nor the ingredients. I was pulling myself with one arm, clawing at the earth in an absolute panic trying to find a way to hide. I handled these kinds of situations before, but this time was different. I was in shock, I couldn't even scream, I had nothing that could save me. I even started to worry “Why is the witch not following me?” I thought to myself. “A false sense of hope?” “Waiting until the poison tortures me until I die?” the last thing I saw was three people running at me, which reminded me of a memory that I couldn't remember for some time. It was of a friend. He asked me: “Do you know what’s happiness?” at the time I didn’t understand the question. “Happiness is a feeling expressed by someone who is enjoying something.” I think he was offended by the answer and punched my mask off. Revealing my pale face that was not exposed to sunlight for quite some time, making my skin feel as if it was burning from the sun. Back to the present, I was really lucky that I was brought to the Apothecary on time to receive treatment for the stab wound. They didn’t even charge my family, being aware that they were poor and I worked for them. But now, I have to stay at home for at least two weeks for my wounds to heal. No travels to the forest, no job. I did request the Apothecary to allow me to have some of the equipment to brew something for the experience. (That’s a horrible excuse) They agreed and gave me some vials on the condition that I don’t break them. Otherwise, I’m fired. Now I must rest. Sleep is the best medicine after all. For now.

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