Feign Death

Raymond still refused to accept any reward. Ryan wanted to say something more, but someone outside came to ask Raymond for help with some work. Raymond gladly went off, and the matter was dropped.

Watching Raymond run off to contribute with all his might, Ryan shook his head and turned to Gagnor. "What about you?"

Gagnor was clearly not quite so noble.

He thought for a moment. "Can you answer a question first? Back in the forest, when I touched you, I found that your body was cold. Why was that?"

"Feign Death."

"Feign Death?"

Ryan explained, "Feign Death can make someone resemble a corpse for a period of time—no heartbeat, no breathing, and cold skin. It can even remove the sensation of pain... I was very weak at the time, and I didn't know who you were. Pretending to be dead might have given me a slight edge in danger."

He asked, "Are you interested in it?"

Gagnor nodded. "A little."

"I can teach it to you." After a brief pause, Ryan added, "Given my current condition, Feign Death is probably the only useful thing you can learn from me."

Then he changed the subject. "But you'd better prepare yourself mentally. Although Feign Death is a bit of a lowly trick, only a small number of people can truly master it. And I won't be staying in Driftwood Town for long. You'll probably only have a few days to learn."

"I understand."

"Good. Let's begin." Ryan adjusted his posture slightly and began explaining. "First, you need to know that Feign Death is actually a form of hypnosis. The caster uses meditation, breathing adjustments, and other methods to hypnotize their own body, thereby entering a state of feigned death."

"Based on how convincing it is, Feign Death can be divided into five levels. Mastering Level One Feign Death isn't difficult, but it isn't very useful either. It can practically only help you fall asleep quickly. No one would use it on a battlefield."

"With Level Two Feign Death, you can retain part of your awareness while asleep. That is very helpful in the wilderness."

"At Level Three Feign Death, you can retain full awareness, stop your breathing and heartbeat, and make your skin turn cold. This is Feign Death in the true sense of the word." Ryan added, "Don't underestimate it. This move has saved my life at least twice. It doesn't just work on ordinary people—it may also work on some low-level demons or warlocks."

Gagnor was puzzled. "Why?"

Ryan smiled faintly. "Practitioners of Black Magic usually prefer living people to corpses."

Gagnor nodded in understanding.

Though he had never encountered demons or warlocks, he had heard some legends in both his past and present lives. He knew they were far more interested in the living than the dead.

Ryan continued, "But remember, an ordinary person can only stop breathing and their heartbeat for about six minutes at most. Once you exceed that limit, feigned death becomes real death."

"Level Four Feign Death can remove the sensation of pain. Even if an enemy cuts off your ear, you won't give yourself away. As for the highest Level Five, I don't know much about it either. Legend says it is a state between life and death, one that can even allow a person to touch the realm of the dead..."

Over the next few days, Gagnor spent most of his time learning Feign Death from Ryan, occasionally chatting about anecdotes concerning South Sea Town and the Gray Hawk Mercenary Group.

Priest Green also returned to the church and quickly became busy. The church was about to hold its annual Baptism Ceremony, which was practically the most important event of the year for Driftwood Town.

There were three priests at the Driftwood Town church. Besides Grimm and the elderly head priest, there was also Priest Gerald. All three priests were busy, and the apprentices and servants naturally had no free time either.

Fortunately, there was Raymond, that great philanthropist. As long as Gagnor asked, he was more than happy to take care of things for him, giving Gagnor more time to study Feign Death.

Hard work paid off. After several days of intensive study, Gagnor had finally gotten started with Feign Death.

After successfully hypnotizing himself, Ryan woke him from his slumber, and he was astonished to see that a new skill had appeared on his panel.

lv1 Feign Death: 0/100

Spirit +1 Experience +5

Gagnor was rather excited.

It wasn't just because he had gained a skill, attributes, and experience. More importantly, from now on, he could fall asleep anytime, anywhere, just like Raymond!

He would never have sleep problems again!

Ryan smiled. "You learn quickly. It seems you have quite a talent. But from here on, you'll need to practice on your own. I'll be leaving Driftwood Town tomorrow."

"Thank you," Gagnor said, then asked, "How is your injury recovering?"

"Much better. I have a blessing related to self-healing, and it came from a saint." Ryan said, "If I hadn't stolen things as a child, I might be the priest presiding over the Baptism Ceremony now."

"The Baptism Ceremony is about to begin. Let's go take a look as well."

"Alright."

The two left the room and came to the church's central hall.

Churches in large cities usually had dedicated baptismal pools, but for a town church, building one specifically for that purpose was clearly too extravagant.

Thus, the Baptism Ceremonies at the Driftwood Town church were all held in the central hall. It was the most spacious area, with dozens of seats and room for over a hundred people if everyone squeezed in.

More than a hundred people were now crammed inside, some standing and some sitting. At the center stood the three priests and over a dozen children awaiting baptism—the doctrines of Mosaism required believers to be baptized at the age of twelve.

On the marble table before the three priests sat a gilded cup engraved with a triangular design, as well as a gilded round basin filled with the Holy Water for baptism.

Gazing at the Holy Water in the golden basin, Gagnor fell into thought.

What exactly was Holy Water?

Holy Water looked no different from ordinary water, but he had undergone baptism himself and was certain this was no ordinary water. Otherwise, there would have been no need to transport it all the way from the monastery.

According to the church's official explanation, Holy Water was water that had been blessed. Yet Priest Green had vaguely mentioned that Holy Water seemed to be some kind of potion...

The church head was an old priest nearing sixty. His hair was almost entirely white, and his wrinkled face always carried a benevolent expression.

He opened the Holy Book of Light, with its golden cover, and first delivered a speech filled with scriptural quotations. Then he closed the book and said slowly, "Fang Fulo Calendar, Year 1453. Southern Diocese of Nordanlun. The baptism begins."

With that, he set down the holy book, rolled up his white sleeve, and picked up the golden cup.

At the same time, a boy walked to the stone table under Priest Gerald's guidance and raised his head devoutly.

The old priest smiled, scooped up a cup of Holy Water from the golden basin, and slowly poured it over the boy's forehead. At the same time, he said, "May the light be with you."

The baptisms of the dozen or so children were completed one after another.

No one received a blessing during the ceremony, which was not surprising. Believers regarded baptism as sacred, but as a means of obtaining blessings, it was actually very limited.

After the ceremony, the old priest gave another scripture-filled speech, making everyone drowsy. Only at the very end did he get to the main point. "This is my final year as the head priest of Driftwood Town. At this time next year, Gerald or Grimm will take over from me and preside over the baptism."