Mercenary Wars

Chapter 4 Practice
The chief pastor's words caused some discussion.

As he was old, it was natural for him to step down, and people were more concerned about the selection of the next chief pastor. After all, in the eyes of most people here, the position of chief pastor of the church was more important than the mayor.

"Will the next chief be Lord Gerard?" said a rash young man.

When Pastor Green heard this question, his expression froze for a moment.

The old priest kept smiling, showing no emotion at all. “That’s not something I can decide. I need to wait for the appointment letter from the South County Monastery.”

"Okay, everyone, let's go back."

After the baptism ceremony, people gradually dispersed, and only a few servants in charge of cleaning and two priests, Green and Gerard, remained in the nave.

"Green, if the monastery didn't choose you, would you still stay in Driftwood Town?" Pastor Gerard always had a smile on his face. His actual age was similar to Green's, but he looked much younger.

Green said expressionlessly: "Are you so confident?"

Gerard shrugged. "I didn't say it had to be me. The monastery might also send someone we don't know to be the head priest. After all, you and I are both second-level priests. We are somewhat unqualified to be the head priest of the church."

"Maybe." Pastor Green said nothing and turned to leave.

After leaving the nave, he returned to his room and sat in a chair in silence for a while.

After a while, he pulled out a piece of paper from a thick book on the bookshelf and spread it out in his palm. It was clearly written on it: If one of the two people chooses, death will befall you.

Staring at the faded words on the note, Pastor Green's face flickered from gloomy to bright - the words written on it were a prophecy that had troubled him for many years.

Is the prophecy about to come true?

Thinking of this, Pastor Green couldn't help but tighten his grip, causing the paper to wrinkle and then tear apart...

……

The next day, at the church door.

Gao Jianuo said goodbye to Ryan, and the two stopped to chat for a while.

Ryan suddenly asked, "How old are you?"

"Sixteen," said Corgano.

Ryan looked him over a few more times, then burst out laughing. "If we'd just met, I wouldn't have doubted that number. Honestly, you don't look like sixteen at all. You look closer to twenty-six."

Gao Jianuo: “A lot of people say that.”

Ryan seemed to be thinking about something, and after a moment he asked, "Do you have a section on the Sage's Holy Name?"

"Sage?" Gao Jianuo rarely heard this word.

Ryan explained, "The so-called 'sages' are, simply put, a group of noble wise men who don't believe in God. They exist almost exclusively in ancient legends—in this respect, they're similar to angels. I've seen people with the holy name of sage before. They're intelligent, good at learning, and mentally mature at a young age, just like you."

Gao Jianuo was thoughtful for a while after hearing this.

Ryan looked around and leaned in closer, saying, "I want to remind you that the Church's current tolerance is not the norm. Just fifty years ago, the Church treated sages almost the same as it treated demons... So, if you truly have a sage's name, it's best not to stay in the church, otherwise all that stands between you and the stake might be a new Pope."

The stake!
Gao Jianuo was shocked when he heard this.

He lived in the church and knew little about the dark history of the Mosaic Church, but when he recalled what he had seen and heard about religion in his previous life, this did not seem to be a strange thing.

"Thank you for your reminder." He thought for a moment and asked softly, "If someone with the name of a sage wants to stay away from the church, where do you think he should go? Nanhai Town?"

Ryan didn't answer, but smiled and patted his shoulder: "The more dangerous the place, the freer it is."

At this time, Raymond happened to pass by carrying a large box, obviously making another contribution.

"Are you leaving, Ryan?" Raymond asked breathlessly, adjusting the box on his shoulder.

"Yes, thank you again for your help." Ryan waved his hand and walked away. "See you again, Raymond, Gao Jianuo, the light is with you!"

"Goodbye!" Gao Jianuo and Raymond also waved.

With Ryan's departure, Gao Jianuo's life returned to normal, repeating the same things every day, but the repeated things were different from before.

For example, he now spends some time every day practicing the art of feigning death.

As a form of hypnosis, the art of suspended animation relies almost entirely on mental properties.

As a time traveler, Gao Jianuo was born with spiritual attributes far superior to those of ordinary people. Coupled with the blessing of "cognition", he practiced the art of suspended animation very quickly. Moreover, the practice of suspended animation did not require any environment and could be performed during lunch breaks, at night, etc., and it could also be used for rest, which was very convenient.

So it didn't take long for Gao Jianuo to master the art of feigning death to level 3.

After his feign death technique reached level 3, he examined his attributes again.

【Holy Name: Eddakondejanus】

[Level: Level 1]

【Physique: 9/20】

[Spirit: 20/20]

【Strength: 9/20】

[Intelligence: 16/20]

[Agility: 11/20]

[Experience: 98/100]

[lv3 Suspended Death] [lv3 Herbalism]

[lv1 Archery] [lv1 Skinning]

……

Each upgrade of the suspended animation technique will bring 1 point of spiritual growth. After three upgrades, Gao Jianuo's spiritual power has reached 20 points, reaching the current upper limit.

In this case, further improvement in the art of suspended animation would be uneconomical. Furthermore, the fourth level of suspended animation, which required relieving pain, was far more difficult to practice than the first three levels. So, after a moment's deliberation, Gao Jianuo decided to suspend his practice of suspended animation.

It’s better to upgrade your level first. Gao Jianuo really wants to know what he will get after the upgrade.

Only 2 experience points are needed to upgrade.

There are many ways to gain experience, such as hunting wild animals, but for him at the moment, the most reliable way is undoubtedly to improve his skills.

After checking several of his existing skills, Gao Jianuo decided to practice archery.

Just do it.

Gao Jianuo immediately took the bow and arrow, found a big tree near the church and started practicing.

"Hush-hush-"

As he shot the arrow over and over again, his proficiency in archery began to grow.

[Level 1 Archery: 69/100]

[Level 1 Archery: 70/100]

Raymond's loud voice suddenly came from afar: "Gao Jianuo, someone fell and was injured. You need to treat the wound!"

"I'll be right there." Gao Jianuo sighed, then put away his bow and arrow and walked quickly.

Since his herbal medicine skills had been upgraded to level 3, he could now make a variety of potions, including healing stones. So, under Pastor Green's instructions, he almost completely took over Green's free clinic duties as a church pastor, spending a lot of time every day helping the townspeople solve headaches, fevers, bruises, and even various psychological problems.

Overall, this is a bad thing.

After all, Gao Jianuo is not as dedicated as Raymond and does not like to do this kind of unpaid work.

Of course, strictly speaking, it is not completely unpaid. Some patients will voluntarily give him a few copper coins after being cured - this thing should perhaps be called a "tip".

Thus, Gao Jianuo's monthly income was about thirty copper coins, which was less than the daily income of the town's blacksmith, making him a beast of burden among cattle and horses.

But he couldn't make a choice yet.

Boys raised by the church usually have to work for the church for free until they are eighteen years old before they can choose their own lives.

Of course, he could sneak out of Driftwood Town in the middle of the night, and no one would hunt him down for that, and it wouldn't even be considered a crime. But with his current strength, the ordinary beasts of Driftwood Forest could drive him back.

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(End of this chapter)