A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

Although Thomas was sent to the monastery to live a better life, in fact it is impossible for poor people to live well anywhere.

The food he received was far from suitable for his physical condition.

Half of the reason was that the total amount was indeed a little insufficient from time to time, and the nutritional value was even more questionable. The other half was that most of the food of this era was difficult for Thomas to swallow.

But his current condition - anyone can say "very healthy".

Therefore, Thomas believed that the divine power's healing effect on the body was a restorative one. Damage to the body could be repaired, so it should be able to heal any injuries to the body.

Thanks to this thing, Thomas felt that his security in this world had increased a little bit.

At least you won't die of an unknown illness for some inexplicable reason.

As it stands, this world is a world of my own. At least within the range Thomas has encountered, there's no sign of supernatural power. No magic, no celestial arts, and certainly no flying swords.

The high-ranking monks in those monasteries were all charlatans who made a living by deceiving people. After several attempts, Thomas was convinced that they did not have any supernatural powers.

The knights in the monastery all wore armor and carried weapons, practicing armored combat instead of palm strikes and sword techniques.

Can this healing ability be used on other people... Thomas didn't try, nor did he dare to try.

This is the Middle Ages!

An era that advocates barbecue of living people.

As a soul living in the 21st century, we have all heard of witch hunts to some extent.

Even if Thomas was a man, if he was really classified as a wizard, he would definitely not have a good death.

The last of the faithful left, and now left the group of novices.

Everyone filed out in a line. Because it was raining outside, everyone who walked out of the church door would put their hoods on their heads.

This is the church in the city. The monks only come here to attend mass on Sundays and spend most of their time in the monastery.

As a novice monk, Thomas is now a member of the Chomutov Monastery.

An ordinary monastery, an ordinary Middle Ages, an ordinary dirty and messy town, plus names like Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire, this should be medieval Europe.

Thomas walked in the line of monks, feeling a little confused. He didn't know what he could do or what he should do in this world.

He hadn't had time to think about this before because he wasn't used to the environment. Now that he's finally settled in and has some free time, this question popped up again.

"If I can't go back, what do I want to do here? What can I do?"

Follow the example of those time travelers, use your own historical foresight to achieve great achievements, become a noble or a prime minister? Or even become a rich king?

The problem is that he is quite ignorant about this period of medieval history, especially this country. Apart from the names of the Holy Roman Empire and Bohemia, he really doesn't know much else.

The history of this place is not a compulsory course in textbooks!

He could only say that he knew the general idea of ​​the entire historical development, not the details.

Can you really make it big with just this little ability? I guess the chances of failure are higher.

Thomas's eyes gradually hardened.

"Forget it. No matter what happens in the future, at least I have to improve my life now. No matter what, I have to make some money first! I'll set a small goal and earn enough to eat and drink freely!"

"Thomas." His companion behind him poked him on the back.

There were no rules or taboos in the monks' team. Some walked with their heads down, but others chatted as they walked.

Behind Thomas was a boy of about the same age, with fair skin and a medium build. He wore the same gray monk's robe as Thomas—a garment made of coarse cloth—and his hood covered half of his face, but one could see that his eyes were a very beautiful baby blue.

The kind you might see in a shy kitten.

His name is Joshua. He entered the monastery at the same time as Thomas. He is currently a novice monk like Thomas and shares a dormitory with Thomas.

It is said that he is the second son of a merchant family.

"Thomas, I heard a rumor..." his companion whispered. "There's been a recent change in the monastery's leadership. It seems a new abbot is coming... So... I heard some of the novice monks are going to be dismissed?"

Thomas' heart trembled.

Section 3 Night Blindness 1

Being expelled, that is, leaving the monastery and losing the status of a novice monk, is a very troublesome thing.

Even though the monk profession is not that great from the perspective of the 21st century, other professions are even worse.

In the Middle Ages in Europe, it was a society with very distinct classes and many restrictions.

For example, craftsmen must be certified by a guild. Without guild certification, no matter how good your work is, you will only get low wages. You will also be troubled by guild members from time to time.

The peasants were even worse off, having to accept repeated exploitation from the nobles. Not to mention natural disasters, perhaps a single extra tax or conscription by a noble could destroy their families.

Even if you are lucky and God bless you so that nothing bad happens, you can only barely make ends meet.

But if God shifts his attention even slightly, disaster will strike.

Thomas's original family is a typical example.

To make matters worse, Thomas had no way out.

Others were laid off, and at worst they could still go farming.

Even if I wanted to farm, there was no land.

After all, his parents' inheritance had been taken away by the village chief as the price for him being sent to the monastery.

So no matter how bad life was in the monastery, Thomas never thought of leaving.

Of course, I might have other ideas in the future when I have a certain amount of capital, but I definitely cannot give up my identity as an apprentice monk right now.

In this world... it's really hard for ordinary people to live with dignity. Becoming a priest is truly a good career.

Many thoughts ran through Thomas' mind. This was really bad news.

This also made him feel a sense of crisis.

"Why?" he couldn't help but ask.

During this period, he focused most of his energy on studying the damaged divine nature and divine power, and did not pay much attention to inquiries about gossip.

After all, they had only been here for a few months, so they were just getting to know the monastery.

"I heard it's a common practice," Joshua said. "Every time there's a change in the monastery's leadership, some of the novice monks are dismissed."

Thomas hesitated for a moment, but immediately realized why.

Whatever monasteries elsewhere might be like, in Thomas's understanding, the Chomutov Monastery could be considered a school.

An academy for training priests, knights, and ascetics.

In fact, the architectural layout of the entire monastery (excluding the large attached fields) is 50% similar to that of a college.

The other five points are like a fortress.

This was also the norm in medieval Europe. The so-called monasteries were actually just as defensive as castles, and in fact, they were actually castles.

There are actually quite a lot of novices in the monastery. Many more than regular monks. This is because qualified graduates usually leave for other places, while unqualified ones tend to stay.

Even in the 21st century, there are often some naughty students in schools who are unable to complete their studies, causing great headaches for the school authorities.

The monastery is not a charity organization. It is impossible to keep supporting these hopeless novice monks. Sooner or later, they will be dismissed.

The change in senior management was a good opportunity. The new abbot took office and it was a good time to clear out a group of useless people.

"I heard that, too," Thomas replied. "We're new, so we shouldn't be among those being laid off, right?"

"I don't know," Joshua said worriedly. "But my family said the risk is probably too high. We have to do something."

Do something?

When talking about the medieval church, what is the first thing that comes to mind for people in the 21st century?

At least the first word that came to Thomas' mind was "corruption."

bribery!

As long as you send the money, you will be safe.

No matter how much you clear out, you can’t clear it out on your own.

It was also clear who the money was to be given to. At least Thomas had carefully researched whether the genuine monks in the monastery were priests with supernatural powers or just charlatans with their mouths.

Others may not know Thomas, but Thomas knows them.

There may be changes at the top level, and it’s unclear who will come and who will leave, but the middle-level managers who hold key power will definitely not change.

But the problem is... Thomas has no money.

The journey from the church back to the monastery is several kilometers and takes about an hour to walk.

After an hour's journey and having gone through the entire mass ceremony, everyone was a little tired, so almost everyone immediately went back to their rooms to rest.

The housing in the monastery was relatively spacious, and the novices could each have a room either individually or in pairs.

However, Joshua did not return to his room, and once he entered the monastery, no one knew where he went.

In fact, you can guess it without asking.

Thomas sat alone on his bed.

Coming to this world was not easy. He tried hard to observe and learn, and combined with some of the memories left over from his predecessor, he finally settled down in the monastery without any trouble.

It is not easy to be a monk, especially for these newly arrived novice monks.

Apart from other things, religious ceremonies, including daily prayers and mass, as well as some etiquette such as greetings when meeting people, all have fixed detailed rules.

There are no requirements for believers who participate, but there are a lot of requirements for novice monks.

In fact, there are rules for everything from food, clothing, housing and transportation, which is quite troublesome.

In addition, they also had to recite scriptures and various gospels. Although they had a reading guide, they were unfamiliar with it and things could go wrong.

Finally, I have to do odd jobs.

The novice monks do not eat for free and need to do a lot of extra work.

Originally, the workload was shared by all the novices, but newcomers were always given special care, so the workload was quite heavy. For Thomas, he didn't know how to use many of the tools and equipment, so he had to learn how to use them one by one, which was very troublesome.

I finally got used to the rhythm, but today there was another layoff.

He fished out a small purse from the bedside—there were about a dozen copper coins in it. This was all his property.

He knew that medieval European currency was a complex mess, with all sorts of coins. Commonly heard of in China were the dinar, florin, livre, ducat, ecu, sou, pound, shilling, pence, mark, kroner, and so on. Less common were even more: the solidus, thermius, forli, half-forli, denier, teremix, dirham, tourdenier, denier, groschen, and so on.

As for what these coins were called... he didn't know either. After all, there was no place to use money in the monastery.

These dozen or so copper coins are obviously not enough for bribery.

Thomas unconsciously stroked his bedding with his hands. The rough texture made him feel a little calmer.

His gaze gradually changed from confusion to determination.

If it were the original self, he would probably be unable to do anything now and could only waste time in anxiety and fear about the future.

But Thomas's soul is an adult after all. And he comes from the 21st century.

You can't just sit there and wait for death, you must take control of your own destiny!

How do we do this?

He suddenly felt an impulse in his heart, and a word that no one could understand came out of his mouth with a special melody.

"If we have nothing to eat or wear, the enemy will provide them for us...If we have no guns or cannons, the enemy will make them for us!"

Then put the purse back where it was and leave the room.

Section 4 Night Blindness 2

There is no doubt that the news has spread.

It was even possible that the expulsion had already begun, as Thomas could easily observe some novice monks whispering in the corner.

From time to time, a genuine monk would pass by and scold him, but as soon as he left, the novice monks would gather again.

After all, the situation for the vast majority of people is the same—they don’t want to leave the monastery.

Judging from the situation, this layoff is not just a rumor. It should be a consensus among the top leaders and a foregone conclusion.

Medieval Europe was a class society, and a person's background determined 99 percent of his life possibilities.