Chapter 119
Chapter 119: Faith and the Divine
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The first class in the afternoon was Theology.
Theology was a required course, and also the first class for level-1 students at the Royal Academy. The girls in 1504 were generally quite excited, none of them willing to take a lunch break, afraid of being late, so they arrived early at the entrance of the academic building.
The overall structure of the academic building was square-shaped, looking somewhat like ancient Babylonian architecture from the outside, but even more magnificent and grand. The first floor consisted of massive beams supported by stone piers, and beside the wide-open giant stone gates stood two lifelike lion statues over 3 meters tall. The outer layer of pale bluish-white stone bricks was almost 2 meters thick, with unknown green plants growing between the stone joints, extending all the way to the top, making the entire building seem alive and full of vitality.
I counted, the entire building had 9 floors in total. From the outside, each floor showed rows of huge floor-to-ceiling windows resembling arches, probably connecting to each classroom.
Although there were no class divisions in the academy, the four dormitory towers had different classrooms for the same courses, different course schedules, and even different teachers, so the towers could be seen as large classes. I was in the level-1 class of "Ceylon Lakeside"... this understanding seemed fine, right?
In any case, our classroom was on the 5th floor.
Going up the stone steps and following the directions on the course schedule sheet from the dormitory, I finally arrived at a very large stone room. The interior arrangements weren't too different from what I'd imagined, rows of wooden desks and chairs where you could choose any seat, a lectern that was a raised smooth stone platform, though there was no blackboard.
After looking around, I chose a desk in the middle near the window, in an inconspicuous position. I placed the two books I was holding, 《Gods and Faith》 and 《Divine History》, flat on the desk, casually opened a page, roughly scanned it a few times while propping up my chin, and waited boredly for class to begin.
At this moment, Sarah, sitting next to me, turned her head: "Peylo, Peylo... they're all looking at you, hehe."
She whispered to me, as if she'd discovered some major secret, her face full of smug satisfaction.
I looked at her somewhat strangely.
Wait... they're looking at me, not at you, what are you so pleased about?
And do you think I find this enjoyable?
This is torture, alright!
So I frowned at her and pouted: "Annoying."
Because my senses were very sharp, I really disliked being stared at, especially by many people. It made me quite irritated, but I couldn't just walk over and gouge out their eyes one by one, so each time I could only endure it.
Yet the gazes of the surrounding students were very "enthusiastic," perhaps even mixed with some ill-intentioned lecherous looks. What made me most annoyed was that I could also hear what most of them were saying.
"Hey, look... that black-haired young lady..."
"Damn, she's from our tower?!"
"She's beautiful..."
"Why don't you go introduce yourself?"
"...Why don't you go?"
"I'm afraid she won't pay attention to me..."
Discussions like these were relatively polite. There were also some vulgar individuals who huddled together and whispered words that were simply unbearable, making me wish I could immediately grab them by the collar and throw them out the nearby window.
But such situations were too common. If I seriously took issue with each person, I wouldn't be able to do anything else, I'd be annoyed to death by such things all day long. So I could only force myself not to care, treating them as livestock. Let them talk if they want.
After chatting with Sarah for just a few sentences, the teacher arrived. It was a man who looked to be in his 40s, wearing the pale gold robes of the Church, with a kind face and a smiling appearance.
Seeing him slowly step onto the stone platform, the students quieted down for a moment.
Then they began whispering to each other, discussing amongst themselves.
"What's going on?"
"Theology... shouldn't it be Lady Theresa?"
"She's not teaching us?"
"I clearly saw her this morning..."
"Who is this teacher?"
"Ahem." The robed man cleared his throat, and the atmosphere immediately quieted down again.
He scanned the classroom once, then said: "Most of you probably don't know me, so let me introduce myself first. I am Father Morgan from Gallaher Church in the royal city, and I will be your Theology teacher from now on. Starting today, I will explain to you all the fascinating aspects of theology and faith."
Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap—
Scattered applause quickly turned enthusiastic. Father Morgan raised his hand and pressed down, then he grinned.
"I know you're actually quite puzzled, right? You all clearly saw Sister Theresa this morning, so why isn't she teaching Theology?"
"That's right, Teacher Morgan, why is that?" someone asked.
Father Morgan stepped down from the stone platform.
"Although it's unexpected, due to some special reasons, Sister Theresa is indeed not the Theology teacher, but she will interact with you all in another elective course. She's usually very busy with her duties, and the heavy course load would be difficult for her to manage, so please understand... Alright, enough small talk." The priest clapped his hands. "Now let's get to the main topic... but don't open your textbooks yet. In this class, we won't be covering what's in the books. I'm going to tell you all a story first."
...I gently closed the books on my desk, adjusted my sitting posture, then looked toward him.
Father Morgan began to speak eloquently.
"First of all, this story, some of you may have heard it, some may not. But I believe that absolutely no one would be unfamiliar with the name Patrick, right?"
Someone immediately responded from below: "Patrick was humanity's first hero!"
Hearing this, the priest snapped his fingers.
"Exactly. The story I'm going to tell begins with our first hero. Over 1,000 years ago in the Common Era... of course, even the great divine might not be able to say the exact time..."
Although he was a clergy member, he wasn't at all that stiff and serious type. His teaching was lively and interesting, occasionally making everyone laugh.
Even I unconsciously became absorbed in listening.
The content of this class was simple, he only told one very long story.
Over 1,000 years before the Common Era, there was a young man named Patrick who encountered the divine and received a blessing.
That was the origin of faith.
At that time, the world had many wondrous races. Like the immortal race hidden deep in the Amikir Mountains, who not only lived eternally without aging, but were also said to be able to move mountains with their will.
Or the fairy race skilled in brewing wine, who had long pointed ears and could hear the cries of beasts from 1,000 meters away, and could freely command trees and water flows, they were called children of the forest.
Mm, these were definitely elves.
As well as those soaring through the sky, possessing the power of light and flame, mighty and unmatched giant dragons... and so on. To humanity, these races were all favorites of the divine.
In their eyes, humans had no sharp claws or fangs, couldn't fly or even climb trees, had slow reactions and weak strength, lived less than 100 years, couldn't learn anything, they were extremely weak creatures who had to struggle with all their might just to survive. Even weak wolves could easily tear them to shreds, or they could die from eating mushrooms.
Too weak.
So weak they seemed like a joke from the world.
Therefore, humanity later reached the brink of extinction, until that young man named Patrick, by chance, encountered the divine.
Patrick knelt and prayed to the great divine, telling the divine that his people were heading toward extinction. After hearing this, the divine believed this was an oversight, and also lamented that under such cruel disadvantages, humanity still stubbornly resisted the world's injustice.
"Child. Your sincerity has moved me. I bestow upon you the spark of faith, so that your race may continue."
Thus, humanity obtained a new power granted by the divine — the power of faith.
This was the embryonic form of the Holy Church. Although at that time, they were only called "a group of people who received divine favor."