After that night the "Little John" that his grandpa knew and loved died and a new John was born. One that has now understood that in order to get his revenge he needs to be better, he needs to get stronger.
He also needs to be able to live long enough to find and kill it himself. He has went to every doctor he could with his limited finances to gain a semblance of a cure even if temporary to extend the time he has to find it, but it lead to a dead end for his illness can't be cured.
So he has spent the next 16 years after that night trying to increase his odds at finding and killing it and one of a few steps he took was to learn skills that could help him with his endeavor of revenge.
Whenever possible he would take jobs all around as an apprentice for jobs that included on-the-job training including but not limited to a blacksmith in a town that favored cold weapons, a gunsmith for the army and a field doctor for the same army during a mini war helping to patch up wounds and clean infections gaining a doctors precision, and learning from an animal hunter and butcher while helping them skin the animals making sure to keep the valuable parts in tact from the butcher while also learning how to soften his steps and presence in order to not scare off prey from the hunter.
And through all that time he has learned the importance of patience and has gained wisdom from his experiences which he used to keep his mind sharp in order to stop it from falling behind his body through reading books and learning from teachers willing to teach him even though he is not well liked, which will be explained soon enough, allowing him to keep a stable level of intellect.
But through all of this he has been alone to deal with his illness that would make it nearly impossible to do anything because if he couldn't get his emotions under control he would start burning up.
What makes his illness worse though is the fact that as he got older the illness has gotten worse resulting in his nerves to become burned, his clothes to singe, and him to gain 1st degree burns because of the heat his blood is producing.
Now because of this he has been fired from many positions, banned from many towns, and ostracized from society as a whole because of his illness.
Upon learning he burns things when it touches his skin he has started to wear flame retardant clothes, gloves, boots, and a cloak just in case.
But the way he learned this was when he was passing through a town and he got a little too excited cause he just got payed from his job and bumped into someone which immediately started burning their clothes resulting in him being chased by the town guards through alleys and on top of roofs until he ran away from the town and didn't stop till he was sure they stopped chasing him.
After all his difficulties and hardships he still hasn't found the thing that killed his grandpa and he is running out of time so he has started to dive into the delusions of the city Yharnem being real and he Iis trying to find it to get the "Sacred Blood" no matter the cost.
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John: I hope this is the place
He said as he had recently gotten information on someone who could possibly take him to Yharnem by carriage and he hoped it was correct for this is his last chance.
John: *bloody cough* I'm running out of time
As he says that a carriage pulls up in front of him and the driver asks
Driver: You John?
John: Yes
Driver: Hurry up and get in I don't got all day
The driver says as John steps into the carriage and sits quietly for the rest of the ride hoping this is how he'll find Yharnem.
After the ride he ends up in front of what looks to be a worn down clinic which he thinks must be a mistake and goes to step back into the carriage until the driver suddenly drives away.
John: *sigh* Alright let's see what's on the up and up
As he walked into the clinic he called out
John: Hello! Is there anybody there?
He thought it was empty until he started hearing the creaking of an old wheelchair and saw what seemed to be a rolling corpse with a bloodied cloth around his eyes.
The corpse then made what sounded like a breath someone takes when a bear is laying on their chest and he said.
???: Are you here looking for blood?
John: No I am here to look for any clues on the location of Yharnem.
???: Well you have come to the wrong place because here we distribute "Sacred Blood" to those that need it. Now you look like you need it though, any ailment that burdens you?
John: How would you know?
???: The ill could detect other ill, and cause I see you are pale and seem weak in th knees as if you will collapse if given a moment of rest.
Now this surprised John cause he also learned from his travels how to hide any form of weakness from others and this old man saw through it even though he seems to be blind.
???: Why don't you follow me for your blood.
John: Well I guess I shoul- *thunk*
Was all he got out before he was knocked unconscious by a sleep gas that slowly seeped into the room as soon as the old man walked into the room.
Later John wakes up groggy trying to wipe his eyes until he realizes he can't move any of his limbs as if he has been tied down to a table then he sees the old man approach his face trough a type of mist.
???: Well you must be another on the path for "Paleblood". You can't do that without some blood of your own luckily you already signed the needed paper work.
John: *groggy* What do you mea-
He says before it all fades to black while hearing the old man's creepy chuckles.