A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

Suddenly, the sound of rapid horse hooves interrupted Thomas's thoughts.

At this sunset hour, a horse was galloping along the road. The rider was wearing some kind of eye-catching uniform, and people gave way when they saw him.

It should be... a messenger?

Thomas watched the messenger disappear at the end of the road before he got up and went downstairs to prepare his dinner.

In this era, the poor only had two meals of pea porridge a day, while the lives of the rich were not much worse than Thomas's in his previous life.

As long as you're willing to pay, it's not difficult to eat "Queen's Bread" every day, which is just as good as the ones in Thomas's bakery in his previous life. Chicken, duck, fish and meat are also commonplace, and there's no shortage of seafood.

Some might think that chicken, duck, beef, and mutton are fine, but how could fresh fish, especially sea fish, be possible? This simply means that the poor could never imagine the enjoyment enjoyed by the powerful. As early as the Roman slave era, the wealthy used horses and slaves to transport the perpetually frozen snow from Mount Etna in Sicily for their own enjoyment. In the sweltering summer heat, they could add a large chunk of shimmering snow to their wine. Even more so, the powerful could create a snow-white bed made of snow, filling it with fresh, perishable fish and shellfish.

This is still possible in midsummer, let alone now that it is early winter.

It is true that Italy has a typical Mediterranean climate, with neither cold winters nor hot summers, but the cold and hot are relative.

Although Thomas was not so extravagant as to fill fish and shells with ice and snow, it was enough for him to enjoy the delicacies of the era and even fill a dining table.

Thomas took half a step on the road to ascension and was promoted to half a step to protect the country. He felt that there were two major physical changes in himself.

My appetite inexplicably increased, at least doubling my original food intake.

He was incredibly energetic and his sleep time had been significantly reduced. Five or six hours of sleep a night was enough for him now - he didn't feel like a young man in his twenties at all.

Moreover, although the appetite is big, the patient can still tolerate hunger. Even if he does not eat for a day, he still has plenty of energy and will not suffer from hypoglycemia and general weakness.

This is the half-step to protecting the country... or in other words, the gradual transformation from an ordinary creature to a magical creature.

If it is truly about protecting the country, the changes should be more numerous, bigger and faster.

It was too boring to eat alone, so Thomas chose to dine with the owner. This was a gesture of goodwill, and it was also a major reason why the other party's attitude became so flattering.

The Jewish shopkeeper almost thought Thomas was a prince on an incognito tour. He had secured a client he had never dreamed of. He was now ready to answer every question Thomas had.

When Thomas went downstairs, a sumptuous meal had been prepared for him in the special room on the first floor.

As usual, the owner was eating with us.

Thomas naturally asked about the messenger just now.

"Oh, sir," the innkeeper said immediately. "It must be a messenger from the Holy Land."

"How's the situation in the Holy Land?" A messenger from Jerusalem? Thomas was intrigued.

As far as he knew, there was a fierce war going on between the two great religions, a war that had been going on since the First Crusade.

In my past life, the Crusades had already ended by this point in time. But in this magical world, the two great religions showed no sign of slacking off, and the battle was still going strong.

This war has nothing to do with Thomas, so I never paid attention to it before.

But no matter how irrelevant it is, the onlookers are still very interested in watching the fun.

The author says:

Author's words: Thanks to book friend SEERS for the reward. There will be another update in the afternoon.

Section 4 Rome 4

Jerusalem, the holy place of three major religions.

It is also the main battlefield of this war.

This was the case in Thomas's previous life, in a world without magic. But in this life with magic, it is even more incredible.

"It should be a standoff, but no fighting has taken place. The fighting is mainly at sea."

The Jewish shop owner gestured and explained, so that Thomas roughly understood the situation.

Simply put, it is a confrontation between two evenly matched parties.

Christians still occupy the Holy Land, but Muslims occupy a strategically advantageous position and form a semi-encirclement of the Holy Land.

No one could defeat the other in a single battle, and it eventually turned into a low-intensity tug-of-war.

There is a stalemate on land and at sea.

But compared to the dull siege on land, naval warfare was much more dynamic. The fleets of both sides engaged in a fierce back-and-forth battle.

As we all know, naval battles in this era are more brutal than land battles.

The losing side in a land battle still has a chance to escape. Even if they suffer a major defeat, their losses will be at most half.

But the loser of a naval battle has almost no chance of survival.

Both sides suffered huge losses, but they persisted.

In order to strengthen his naval power, the Pope organized several armed friars.

Thomas's memories of his past life included the three major knightly orders: the Knights Hospitaller, the Knights Templar, and the Teutonic Knights. There were also two lesser-known orders: the Order of the Sword and the Order of Santiago.

But in this time and space, there are many more knights.

The three major knightly orders are still there, but they are all on land, guarding the holy land.

These newly formed knightly orders were not stationed in the Holy Land, but were responsible for naval battles, plundering enemy merchant ships and civilian vessels, and protecting their own merchant ships and civilian vessels from being plundered by the enemy.

Including these newly established knightly orders, there are about ten knightly orders in total.

Thomas remembered that in a previous life, after losing the Holy Land, the Knights Hospitaller garrisoned Rhodes. After the fall of Rhodes, they retreated to Malta, changing their name to the Knights of Malta. They persisted until the Napoleonic era.

But in this world, the Order of Malta, the Order of Rhodes, and the Knights Hospitaller are on par with each other.

Both orders were smaller, primarily dedicated to naval warfare.

At the same time, a group of powerful warriors emerged on both sides and became heroes praised by the people.

The appearance of the messenger this time means that something big has happened on the front line.

It could be a good thing or a bad thing.

It could be capturing an important Green Cult stronghold, destroying an enemy fleet, or killing an enemy general or hero.

However, the messenger who reported the good news usually rode his horse at full speed while carrying a flag.

Only the messenger who brings bad news takes nothing and just rides as fast as he can.

Was there a defeat at the front?

It seems normal, victory and defeat are common in the military.

That’s all we have to say about this topic.

The meal is almost done.

"By the way, sir, I've already made the contact for you." Finally, the innkeeper discussed tomorrow's arrangements. "The dean is happy to receive guests from out of town. However... I told him the visitor is a wealthy nobleman from out of town."

The subtext of this statement is to donate some money...

This Jew is quite interesting...

Thomas had no objection to this, because he had been mentally prepared before coming here.

This is Rome, the city of corruption.

It is necessary to spend a little money to find an insider in the church, win over the favor of the person, and thus understand the various intricacies of the church that outsiders do not understand.

This person cannot have too high a status, otherwise not only will the cost be high, but there will also be a risk of being coveted.

This person cannot have a too low status, otherwise he will not understand the internal intricacies, and if he gives wrong information, it may lead to important mistakes.

A monastery in the suburbs like this one is the most suitable.

It is easy to guess what kind of positions these abbots hold.

This is a typical retirement job!

Moreover, it is likely to coincide with Thomas's guess!

“How old is the abbot?” Thomas asked an unexpected question.

"He must be over seventy years old...but he is in very good health!" the shop owner said immediately.

But he misunderstood.

The next afternoon, Thomas met the monastery and the abbot.

There's not much to say about the monastery. It's located on the edge of a small town and is a beautiful place. Small, yet somehow exquisite. Living there, while not necessarily promoting longevity, is at least beneficial to one's physical and mental health.

Of course, the disadvantages are also obvious - it does not have much real estate.

Even if all the property in the town belonged to the monastery (which of course was impossible), that would be the case.

In this era, except for merchants, people's main income came from agriculture, and it was easy to estimate income from land. So Thomas estimated that the annual income was probably around 200 to 300 florins.

If calculated by per capita income, it wasn't shabby; at least it was on par with the Chomutov Monastery, where Thomas was born. But these days, per capita GDP isn't important. Because—as everyone knows—the monastery's wealth is entirely concentrated in the hands of the upper echelons, leaving the lowest-ranking monks practically destitute, struggling to even get enough to eat. The Chomutov Monastery had an annual income of several thousand florins, allowing the upper echelons to squander thousands of them. Here... well, even the abbot, no matter how skilled he was at collecting bribes, could only rake in a few hundred florins.

A good cook cannot cook without rice.

The abbot was an impressive man.

He wore a monk's linen robe, tied with a rope in place of a belt, and was barefoot. Yes, barefoot. He seemed truly a righteous man devoted to asceticism. Unfortunately, Thomas immediately noticed that the venerable abbot's bare feet were exceptionally white and plump, showing that they were not often exposed to sunlight and dust.

Well, this is someone pretending to be poor to beg for alms.

There is nothing much to say, Thomas has already prepared two hundred florins.

The sum is equivalent to the annual income of the monastery estate. This sum should be enough to satisfy the abbot.

Together they prayed, sang hymns, and completed all the afternoon lessons at the monastery.

Then, Thomas solemnly made a donation to the monastery. After all, he was also involved in the church system and had seen this kind of scene many times. But this was indeed his first time making a donation.

Two hundred florins.

Even though the respectable dean never showed his emotions, Thomas still saw a hint of joy in the corner of his eyes.

Then the two of them came to the third floor of a small building in the monastery and rested and chatted in a simple room.

Thomas planned to stay here for one night, and the abbot would naturally do his best to entertain such a distinguished guest.

There are countless pilgrims coming to Rome, or to the Vatican, but very few of them come to this small place on the outskirts of the city.

Not to mention such a big donor.

Section 5 Rome 5

The two people started chatting.

Perhaps the abbot was a talkative person, perhaps he was delighted to receive such a large sum of money, or perhaps he simply hadn't had the opportunity to demonstrate his knowledge lately. In short, the old abbot was a bit reserved at first, but soon let loose completely, unrestrainedly recounting all sorts of happenings in the city, including the history of the Pope, the struggles between cardinals, the alliances among the powerful families of Rome, and even the selection of the next Pope.

All kinds of interesting secrets, rumors and gossips, covering everything from all over the world.

This really opened Thomas's eyes.

It is said that the smaller the temple, the stronger the evil spirits. However, this is not true for the city of Rome. Because the bigger the temple, the stronger the evil spirits.

The current Pope is Leo XI, who is very old, probably in his eighties or nineties.

A man who was elected Pope for who knows how - perhaps because he looks harmless and has a quirky personality?

Regardless of how he was chosen, at least half of those within the Vatican who chose him now regretted their decision. This was because the Pope wasn't content to simply sit on the throne and issue orders. Instead, he would occasionally make secret visits, suddenly appearing somewhere. This forced the clergy, who had been recklessly enjoying themselves and amassing wealth, to be a little more restrained.

So this Pope does not have a good reputation privately.

Regardless of the church's cardinals, bishops, and priests' mentality, it seemed they would have to endure this pope for a long time, because this pope was likely to have touched the seventh layer of the magic network.

This also means that there is a high probability that he is transforming into a magical creature, thereby significantly extending his lifespan.

However, while both extend lifespans, the benefits vary from person to person. While there's no difference in spellcasting ability between someone encountering the seventh layer of the magic web at twenty and someone encountering it at eighty, the difference in lifespan extension is vastly different.

All in all, a rough estimate is that the Pope has another twenty years to live.

Of course, the topic of the Pope is not so important, after all, there is only one person. But the intrigues between more than a dozen cardinals are really exciting.

How exciting was it? So exciting that even Thomas, who had experienced the tide of Internet informatization in his previous life, listened to it with gusto and was amazed.

There are also many stories and rumors about the people below the Cardinal.

One can speak and the other can listen, time passes so quickly.

So at night the room was lit with candles, and the old dean continued to talk, and Thomas continued to listen.

Their topic finally turned back to the Pope, because the Pope had come into contact with the seventh layer of the magic network, thus extending his life.