Junichiro leaned back and stretched his arms above his head, his spine letting out little pops as he did. Sitting on the desk before him was a wooden stick in the classic easily recognizable shape of a wand. A well shaped cylinder that gently widened as you moved from the tip toward the handle. The handle was much thicker than the main body of the wand lending itself to a good grip. Wrapping around the main body of the wand was a filigree of gold set into carved trenches. At the tip a small highly polished red garnet sat. All-in-all the wand looked like a masterpiece as the highly polished exterior practically glowed in the light.
"It took six months..." He picked up the wand and felt the power thrumming in the beautiful piece of wood, "But I finally have my first wand!"
It took him six months to build up his reserves of mana enough to begin making low level wands. Still, 'low-level' covered a fair amount when it came to wands. This particular one would fire off explosive fireball spells. Why? Because it's a goddamn classic! His next one would be designed to throw out lightning bolts and the one after that would be healing spells. Given enough time, he would have hundreds of wands ready for his use in any situation. Combined with his current plethora of spell scrolls and he felt confident.
Oh, don't misunderstand, he had no doubts that he was still weak as hell. He was certain a mid-class devil, or the equivalent in other races, could crush him easily. No, he was confident in his ability to throw out some distractions and getting the hell out. He was confident in his ability to escape and survive. Just as long as it wasn't one of the top tier bosses of the factions. There were power gaps that just couldn't be overcome no matter how clever one was.
Aside from the wand, he'd spent the last few months gaining quite the reputation within the city. So much so that people were traveling from other cities to get their hands on his kitchen knives. Not just that, but his number of custom orders had increased and expanded to other items. He'd made a few traditional tanto's, and even one katana. Those had been exceptionally profitable for him. He currently had a rather nice nest egg of just over ten million yen.
Unfortunately, it wasn't all good over the last six months. He'd tried to do some Alchemy to make some potions but the best he'd managed with non-magical ingredients was some cleansing potions. A full on cultivation type item that was meant to clean out 'impurities' and make the body better. It generally did an alright job of helping the body work better but was nothing like a cultivation novel would have people believe. He didn't suddenly develop 'jade skin' or other bullshit. It just helped a few things and made life a bit easier. The effects were also only temporary when living in a modern city so they had to be taken pretty often to maintain the effect.
Between those potions, some minor salves for things like sunburn, some nutrient potions, and other really minor things that you could buy the equivalent of in a store, Alchemy was a bust. For now. Once he got his hands on the necessary ingredients, he could make potions to boggle the mind... After some research into the specific items available in the world.
Other than working on protections, kitchen utensils, custom orders, and failed Alchemy, he'd also been making small trinkets for future sale as well as going to a local gym. Between the cleansing potions, some nutrient potions, and his Ring of Regeneration, his gains at the gym had been phenomenal. He was probably the strongest thirteen, almost fourteen, year old in the city... among humans. He even had himself a cute little four pack.
Once he finished admiring his wand, he moved it down toward the very nice belt he was wearing. It was made of black stained glossy leather with a simple belt buckle. What was unique were the many little pockets, almost like a utility belt, hanging off it it along what some small 'loops' that looked like tiny pockets on the exterior. The purpose of the small loop pockets became clear as he carefully placed the tip of the wand in one and pushed it down. The pocket, impossibly, accepted the entire wand inside of it.
Like all of the things attached to his belt, the pocket was far larger on the inside than one would expect. He'd full on Dr. Who'd his utility belt so he could carry far more than anyone would expect. Each of the dozen little pockets similar to the one he'd just stuck his wand into was meant for another wand. He'd make them soon enough but for now, just the one would do.