A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

With that level of power, authority is no longer important; freedom is more important.

No, he gathered his thoughts. There was no evidence that Giuliano was in danger.

It was almost certain that he was involved in the war, but all the unfavorable news had no real evidence. When it was mentioned, it was vaguely supplemented with vague words such as "I heard", "it seems", and "maybe".

Maybe he was doing well and didn't need Thomas to help him at all.

Collecting his thoughts, Thomas faced the Jews again.

The latter had wisely remained silent, allowing Thomas to fall into deep thought.

"I want ten thousand florins," said Thomas.

Ten thousand florins, that would be worth something.

"no problem."

"But it's not cash," Thomas said. "I'm going to Bohemia, and it's hard to carry that much money."

The key to bringing money to Kiev last time was a cart—a large one at that. With a dozen people packed in, carrying an extra bag of gold coins wasn't a big deal. But carrying 10,000 gold coins on a light cavalry cavalry would be a bit of a burden.

"No problem," the Jew said with a smile. "I can write you a ticket and use it to pick up the money at... well, somewhere in Bohemia. We offer that service!"

Chapter 49 Divination

Thomas has decided to go back and take a look.

No matter what, he now has the ability to protect himself.

And although ten thousand florins was a lot, it was within his budget, not to mention the possibility that he wouldn't have to spend any money at all.

If it really doesn’t work, I can still become a bandit!

However, it is not easy to make it public when I return.

After all, he is now an official member of the Knights Templar, sworn to serve and obey the leadership of the Knights Templar, and it is not easy for him to leave for a long time without approval.

Not to mention leaving Ross without permission and going to another country.

Even if you just go and come back, it won’t work.

Damn, who knows what you're doing abroad? What if you're secretly passing on classified information?

If someone catches you doing this, you will be labeled a traitor.

So it is better to hide your identity and return secretly.

But in this regard, Thomas happened to have an extra advantage.

This is because when he killed the Assassin, he also took his luggage and equipment (maybe it wasn't Assassin equipment, but it doesn't matter), one of which was a bottle of potion. This potion can permanently dye a person's skin brown. Using this potion, and then changing into clothes, Thomas felt that he would easily be seen as a member of the lower class.

Even if he met an acquaintance in broad daylight, the other party might not recognize Thomas because his dress and skin color were obviously different from normal.

In this way, you can basically leave quietly and return quietly.

Of course, Thomas didn't rush off immediately. Although he planned to go secretly, he still had to ask for leave or take on a mission, so that he could have a reasonable excuse to stay away temporarily.

This shouldn't be difficult. Just find a reason. The Knights won't refuse leave for such a thing.

Towards dusk of that day, Thomas came to see the old wizard who called himself Gandalf again.

This time, the old magician was operating a sand table in the open space outside the cabin, which was a rare sight.

A sandbox in the truest sense of the word—a large wooden tray filled with sand—the old magician turned the tray over and over, examining it, but he didn't know what he was studying.

"Ah, Aragorn, you're here," said the old wizard. "Why? Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing. I'm here to get the next part of the Book of Steel Soul." Thomas was a little curious. "Master Gandalf, what are you doing?"

"Just a simple divination," Gandalf replied. "Someone asked for it. I'm afraid it will take a few days to finish the Book of Steel Souls. I haven't had time to copy it recently."

"A simple divination..." Thomas's mouth twitched.

"The simplest one, I only charge a hundred florins," Gandalf replied casually, continuing to study the sand table. "If you want, we can also perform more advanced divinations. For example, tortoise shell divination, which costs three hundred florins per session."

Damn, it’s so dark!

Everything has a price, but knowledge is the greatest luxury!

"Can it be calculated?" Thomas asked. "Can a person's fate be predicted and changed?"

"Of course."

"In that case, could you please tell me how I can become the Grand Duke of Kiev?"

If you can do this, three hundred florins are nothing!

"It's not that simple," the old magician said without batting an eye. "Ultimately, divination is about prying into the mysteries of fate, like casting a stone in the dark and listening for the echo. So nine times out of ten, it's likely to have no effect. But if you can see even a tiny glimpse, it's a huge win."

"Not only that, divination itself will disturb a person's fate. Even if a result is obtained, the process in between will most likely be completely distorted, and may even have a considerable negative impact."

"Besides, plucking the strings of fate is extremely taboo. Because it involves too many things... who knows what might attract its attention, or get you entangled in some weird things. You might even get killed by a meteorite the moment you step out!"

The old magician said.

"...There are still so many taboos? Then what's the point of divination?" Thomas felt a little toothache.

"That's still useful," Gandalf laughed. "It's just that frequent divination is useless—not only useless, but also dangerous—but if you do it occasionally, it will indeed allow you to get the answer that is closest to the truth in advance."

"Last time, the Grand Duke of Kiev... or at least one of his men, came to me to divine about his missing relative," Gandalf said. "The result was unexpected. I didn't need to do anything; the person returned unharmed."

Thomas already knew about this.

Although the kidnapping incident caused a lot of uproar and the whole of Kiev was in turmoil, the final result was that he returned inexplicably.

It all seemed like a farce—though the overall outcome was good. At least a number of cancers were wiped out.

Suddenly, Gandalf shook the sand tray in his hand, and a lot of sand fell out of the tray, leaving only about half.

"Tsk... what a coincidence! I still have some to spare," Gandalf said to Thomas. "Aragorn, are you interested in a divination? This time, the price is special... ten florins! This is a sand table divination I invented, and you can get five key words."

"What can you predict?"

"Anything is possible. But remember one principle: you can only divine the same event or person once. Also, it's easier to divine something that has already happened than something that hasn't, something that's closer in time than something that's farther away, and something with a specific, clear goal than something vague," the old magician said. "But even the easiest ones won't yield a clear, unambiguous answer. For mortals like us, the strings of fate can't be directly manipulated. Therefore, you can only get an approximation of the truth, not the truth itself. So don't underestimate these five keywords; they're more than enough."

"I see... In that case, I'll do some divination on an Italian named Giuliano. I want to know his current situation."

"Someone with whom you have a deep bond? Or someone with whom you have no direct relationship?"

“My mentor,” Thomas replied.

"Interesting!" The old magician shook the sandbox in his hand. The sand formed a strange shape as it shook. "The first keyword: war! He must have been involved in a war. Or at least affected by it."

Sure enough... this old miser's divination is quite good.

"The second keyword is betrayal. He either betrayed others or was betrayed by others." Gandalf continued to shake the sandbox, making the sand form a new shape. However, in the process of shaking, some sand fell outside the sandbox.

Thomas felt a tightness in his stomach.

"The third keyword is 'difficulty.' He's in some kind of predicament, being targeted." Gandalf continued his divination. "However, due to the influence of the war, this word may not have much meaning. Affected by the war, difficulties are the norm."

"The fourth keyword is: retreat. But it's an incomplete retreat. He arranged a retreat, but it doesn't guarantee escape."

"The fifth keyword is: assistance. Someone will come to help him, or is planning to help him."

After five shakes, there was not much sand left in the sandbox, and divination could no longer continue.

"Well, did it help you?" asked Gandalf.

"I suppose so." Thomas took out ten florins and handed them to the other party. "Master Gandalf, did you divine something that led you to come to Kiev and stay here temporarily?"

Thomas said it casually, not really thinking so. But he didn't expect Gandalf to not answer.

"Haha...haha...haha..." He laughed and turned back to walk towards the cabin.

No...it can't be right?

Thomas was startled.

Is something big about to happen in the seemingly peaceful Kyiv?

Chapter 50 The Malice of Fate 1

At dawn that day, Thomas joined the crowd leaving Kiev.

The land was so vast that no one paid any attention to a young man with skin tanned by the sun, dressed simply, and holding two horses in his hands.

He should be a messenger sent by some wealthy family.

Maybe it’s not even “expensive”, just a wealthy family, such as a businessman.

After a day's gallop across the land of Ross, Thomas arrived at the first inn.

It was called a post station, but in reality it was just an inn. After simply presenting his documents, Thomas replaced his two exhausted horses, but without resting himself, he immediately set off.

After all, he was an elite soldier and only eighteen years old, so a day's journey was nothing.

The path arranged by the Jews was completely different from the path Thomas had taken.

After all, the Jews valued both efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Having finally built a post road, they wanted to maximize its effectiveness and benefit as many cities and regions as possible.

So this time Thomas was going to enter Bohemia from Russia through Hungary.

The next day, he arrived at the Carpathian Pass.

The majestic Carpathian Mountains form the natural border between Rus and Hungary.

The mountain pass belongs to Hungarian territory... A certain Hungarian king discovered the advantages of this entrance and exit in advance, so he enfeoffed the mountain chieftains as nobles here. From then on, this place became the legal territory of Hungary, and a steady stream of taxes flowed into the Hungarian treasury.

It was here that Thomas ran into a problem...the Hungarians had blocked the mountain pass.

God knows why.

A large group of merchants and pedestrians gathered at the foot of the mountain pass and were temporarily unable to move forward.

There are many different opinions, including that the War of Succession was about to break out in Hungary, and that the king was preparing to go to war with Rus, Poland, and the Holy Roman Empire, etc.

But Thomas was not in the mood to find out what happened; he wanted to get through the mountain pass.

This is the only difficult point in the Jewish post station system, but everything will be fine once you pass it.

Thomas was temporarily trapped in a small market town outside the mountain pass. Of course, he was not the only one trapped here. However, thanks to the privilege of the post station, he was able to get himself a room in this crowded place.

He couldn't just stay and wait, he had to think of a way.

Fortunately, the innkeeper, or rather the owner of the hotel, was somewhat responsible and gave Thomas some advice after he asked for help.

There is a small village of mountain people nearby - although it is just a small village, the people in it are said to have the ability to secretly cross the mountains.

The village is not far away.

The village is surrounded by a not very high wall with a watchtower on it, but there are no sentries on it.

However, there is a guard at the main entrance who collects entrance fees.

Although this is an unknown little village, it has obviously become a distribution center for mountain products.

The mountains also produce some mountain products that are rarely seen in the plains.

However, as a market, it not only trades mountain products, but also a lot of miscellaneous things.

For example, if someone gets a "treasure" that seems to be able to fool others, he will dress himself in mountain clothes, pretend to be a mountain person who has dug up a treasure, and sell it here at a low price.

The most typical of these treasures are the bones of Christian saints.

The bones are indeed bones, but it is hard to say who they belong to, or what creature they belong to.

Thomas quickly entered the small village.

A spontaneous market has formed in the front half of the village, gathering a lot of people.

"Collecting herbs in the mountains, a day's round trip! Local hunters lead the team, so they'll come quickly!"

"The old road in the mountains leads directly to Prague. Come on foot! Ten people in a group, leave when you are full."

"A shortcut in the mountains, an experienced guide, only walking allowed..."

Many people are already shouting here.

The main road through the mountain pass is blocked by officials, but the small path is still passable.

However, the traffic conditions of these paths are naturally very poor, not to mention that it is winter and the mountain wind and snow are not funny.

If you get lost, you might never come back.