Mercenary Wars

Chapter 1: Herbalist Apprentice
In the forest, a wild boar lay quietly beside the grass.

"Why do you think it fell here?" The thin middle-aged man in a white priest's robe looked down at the motionless wild boar and asked lightly.

"I think it's sleeping—"

The priest frowned. “I’m asking about Gao Jianuo.”

The person who was interrupted was a strong young man who was carrying various objects on his waist and shoulders. He scratched his head when he heard the words and looked at his companion beside him, a brown-haired boy holding a short bow.

The brown-haired boy was of medium build, but looked a little thin compared to his tall companions. He wore a coarse linen tunic with a straw rope as a belt. He looked ordinary, like a farmer's son in the countryside, but his eyes revealed a calmness and deep thought that belied his age.

In response to the pastor's question, he first walked forward and observed for a while, then gave a conclusion: "This wild boar accidentally ate the flowers of the poisonous lampwort and fell into a coma."

The pastor asked again: "Besides this, what other uses does the poison lamp have?"

Gao Jianuo pondered for a moment. "The leaves of the poison lamp are often used to make painkillers, but they are highly addictive, so they are listed as restricted herbs by the Apothecary Guild... In addition, according to the Nordenlon Herbal Guide, the leaves of the poison lamp were also used as a tool to tame goblins."

Hearing this answer, the pastor felt secretly surprised.

Last year, he discovered the clever Gao Jianuo among a group of servants and accepted him as his herbal medicine apprentice. At that time, he did not realize how amazing the boy's learning ability was.

However, after only a few months, the boy went from being a novice who knew nothing about herbal medicine to a qualified assistant who could share the work with him.

Now, after studying herbal medicine for many years, he can hardly find any questions that can stump the young man.

Logically, a mentor should be proud of such an apprentice.

But for some reason, he never wanted to praise Gao Jianuo.

Not at all.

This time was no exception. Faced with the boy's perfect answer without any flaws, the pastor did not make any response.

After a moment, he walked up to the poison lamp with his hands behind his back and leaned over to observe silently.

The poison ivy without flowers looked similar to the surrounding weeds, which seemed to make a subtle regret flash in the pastor's deep eyes.

"Take this poison lamp beetle." He stood up and ordered.

I've been waiting for you to say this.

"Yes, sir." Gao Jianuo was a little expectant, and had already held the medicine hoe in his hand. As he spoke, he approached the poison lamp and began to dig the soil seriously.

As he continued to dig up the poison lamp beetle, some information that looked like text emerged in his perception as expected.

Level 2 Herbalism: 198/200

Level 2 Herbalism: 199/200

The reason why it is said to be like text is that if you look closely, you can find that this information does not actually belong to any known text, and it is not even seen by the eyes. It is a subtle thing beyond the five senses.

At a baptism ceremony a few years ago, Gao Jianuo received his first holy name and the blessed ability called "cognition".

But for him, "panel" is undoubtedly a more appropriate name.

He is a time traveler.

In his previous life, Gao Jianuo was a glorious successor to the motherland. He might have only needed to pass one civil service exam to successfully take over and make great contributions.

As a result, an unexpected encounter with a dump truck caused him to be reborn in the Farallo continent and become a farmer's son.

Because his family was poor, he was sent to the church in Driftwood Town by his parents to work as a page boy a few years later, where he remains until now.

Logically speaking, after a lucky baptism, Gao Jianuo should have obtained a noble position and become an apprentice priest of the Mosaic Church, and then become a formal priest in a few years, and then he could make great contributions to the church and the principality.

But he was vaguely aware at the time that this ability, like an attribute panel, did not belong to any saint, and had nothing to do with angels or prophets. If he rashly revealed it, what awaited him might not be a position in the church, but a private seat in the Inquisition.

This is a world where religion is supreme, very similar to the "Dark Ages" he had heard of in his previous life.

But in fact, the church was still quite tolerant. At least during this period, as long as the blessing did not come from the devil or evil spirits, there would usually be no serious consequences. However, the church's shelter would definitely end here, which was undoubtedly disastrous for a country boy from a poor background.

Therefore, Gao Jianuo had to hide the holy name and blessing he had received in order to continue to make a living in the church, and more importantly, to receive cultural education.

For children from poor families who wanted to learn to read and write, serving as a church boy was almost the only way.

Being a page boy is similar to a child laborer, with food, lodging, and education provided, but it is very hard work and there is no salary.

Fortunately, with his mature mind and learning ability supported by the panel, Gao Jianuo became Pastor Green's herbal medicine apprentice, and his situation improved.

There are still some troubles.

For example, he sometimes had to follow Pastor Green into the Driftwood Forest to collect herbs, just like now. This process was not easy and even a little dangerous, after all, not every beast would accidentally eat the poisonous lamp flower.

Furthermore, Pastor Green is not an easy person to get along with.

Judging from Gao Jianuo's experience as a person, Pastor Green's mental state is very unhealthy. He always has a stern face no matter what. Except for the chief pastor of the church, few people claim to have seen Pastor Green smile.

As an apprentice, I have never received any praise from Pastor Green.

"Lord Green is like a bowstring that always wants to shoot something." This was a wonderful metaphor proposed by Raymond half a month ago, which made Gao Jianuo look at him with admiration.

Raymond is a tall young man in the same industry, who mainly does all kinds of hard work for Pastor Green.

For example, now, Pastor Green pointed at the wild boar on the ground and said, "Be quick, Raymond." "Yes, sir!" Raymond responded excitedly, then took off the short-handled war hammer hanging at his waist, held it tightly with both hands, and smashed it hard at the wild boar's head.

"Hmph!" The wild boar twitched a few times and then fell silent.

"Thank God for the gift." Raymond made a prayer triangle on his chest. He might be the most pious person in the entire Driftwood Town.

Gao Jianuo also completed the collection of the poison lamp beetle, and just as he had expected, his herbalism skills were finally upgraded from level 2 to level 3.

This brings him 1 point of intelligence growth and 15 points of character experience.

He looked at his attributes.

【Holy Name: Eddakondejanus】

[Level: Level 1]

【Physique: 9/20】

[Spirit: 17/20]

【Strength: 9/20】

[Intelligence: 16/20]

[Agility: 11/20]

[Experience: 63/100]

"Edakondejanus" is the holy name he received at his baptism, and it is also the source of his panel abilities.

However, he still had no idea about the origin of this name. The only clue he had was that when he received this holy name, a sentence vaguely floated through his mind: Perception is choice.

Pastor Green: "Let's go back."

Following the priest's instructions, Gao Jianuo took the herbs, Raymond dragged the wild boar, and the three of them set out on their return journey.

The place they returned to was not Driftwood Town, but a small house at the edge of the forest. After all, the forest was quite far from Driftwood Town, and the herb-picking trip usually lasted for several days, during which time they obviously needed a place to rest.

In the following days, the three of them went back and forth between the forest and the cabin.

Until they collected enough herbs.

The next morning.

"You go back to town first, I will go back in a few days." Pastor Green woke up the two teenagers.

Raymond seemed to think of something: "Sir, this year's baptism ceremony is coming soon, you..."

"It won't delay the baptism," Pastor Green added. "Don't forget to take that boar skin back to town and sell it."

"Okay, sir." Gao Jianuo and Raymond were no longer surprised. Pastor Green always came back a few days late and never told them the reason.

They didn't dare to ask, nor were they too lazy to ask.

After all, they slept on the floor every night here, and the herbal smell in the house was very strong, so they didn't want to stay any longer than a day.

If it weren't so dangerous to travel at night, they would have preferred to leave last night.

So, after Pastor Green finished speaking, the two teenagers went out quickly.

The forest was quite foggy today, and Gao Jianuo couldn't help but be more vigilant while walking on the road.

The world of Fararo is very similar to medieval Europe on Earth, but there are also some essential differences - this world has supernatural powers.

Not only do supernatural powers exist, but they are also quite common. A small town church pastor like Green can cast a few holy light spells to heal minor injuries and illnesses or kill a wild beast instantly with the snap of his fingers.

Of course, mana was precious, and Pastor Green would never use it for minor injuries or illnesses, or even for a beast. To a large extent, his study of herbal medicine was also to conserve mana, a perfectly normal motivation for a second-level pastor.

Low-level monsters occasionally appear in the Driftwood Forest.

According to the chief priest of the church, when he was young, he once witnessed a griffin passing by here, and the gusts of air it stirred up were enough to blow people on the ground away!
Gao Jianuo expressed his doubts about this, but that didn't stop him from paying more attention to his surroundings.

Ok?
His eyes suddenly fixed and he stopped.

"What's wrong?" Raymond asked puzzledly.

Gao Jianuo didn't say anything, but gestured to Raymond to take up his weapon, then he bent his bow and drew his arrow, and carefully approached a patch of grass in front.

Soon, he could see the scene in the bushes clearly.

A man with faint traces of blood on his body was lying motionless on the ground, seemingly dead.

At this moment, Raymond beside him suddenly shouted: "I understand!"

Gao Jianuo was shocked: "What did you understand?"

Raymond pointed at the man on the ground and said firmly, "He accidentally ate the poisonous lamp flower!"

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(End of this chapter)