Holy Sound

Adam did not go out that night. He was still too weak and knew far too little about the supernatural.

He planned to learn more about the aberrants at the church before starting his own plan. After all, Adam was more familiar with the church's methods than with the aberrants themselves.

Early the next morning, Adam found Brother Fula waiting for him at the entrance, just as he had hoped.

The monk forced a smile. "I've spoken with Master Alva. Go see him with me later, and he'll take you on as an apprentice."

"Thank you, Brother Fula!" Adam was overjoyed. Seeing the smile on Adam's face, Fula let out a sigh of relief. Perhaps he had been too inflexible before?

Setting those thoughts aside for the moment, Fula led Adam toward the South District Church.

"Brother Fula, you seem to have been quite busy lately?" Adam was fussing with his hair, as though he wanted to make a good impression on the teacher he was about to meet.

In the end, he used his half-long bangs to cover the scar beneath the corner of his left eye. Fula might be too young to know about it, but the other monks at the South District Church might not be completely unaware.

"Mm, handling some trouble," Fula said.

"Those monsters?" Adam guided the conversation. "That day, I saw you kill that monster with a single strike. You must have wiped out all those monsters by now, right?"

"I'm not that capable." Fula smiled shyly, completely unlike the decisive man who had thrust out that sword before.

"Aberrants are not so easily eradicated. Adam, you should be careful whenever you see anyone suspicious." Fula raised his hand and looked at his palm. "Those monsters are far too dangerous."

"The most common aberrants include werewolves, ghouls, wendigos, banshees, and sea sirens along the coast. Of course, there are other aberrants as well, such as vampires."

Fula did not explain in depth, merely giving a rough overview of the traits of those aberrants.

The one that interested Adam the most was the vampire. According to certain legends from his previous life, vampires were the natural enemies of werewolves.

The two also shared a deep connection in this world.

Vampires had not originally existed. They were the result of human sorcerers studying werewolves in pursuit of long life. The birth of every pureblood vampire required the sacrifice of a werewolf, so the two races did not get along.

Ghouls and wendigos were similar, but neither could remain hidden among humans for long. Once they reached adulthood or developed to a certain stage, they had to stay away from people, no longer able to conceal their abnormalities. Banshees lived even deeper in the mountains and forests.

Thus, among human communities, werewolves were still the most deeply hidden and the most dangerous.

Fula merely introduced the characteristics of common aberrants so Adam could be more wary, then said no more. By then, they had reached the South District Cathedral.

As they entered through a side door, Fula felt as if everyone were looking at him with strange eyes. It made him want to lower his head and hide his face.

He's far too young. Adam curiously surveyed the cathedral's interior. Catching sight of Fula's embarrassment, he felt a little guilty as well.

Perhaps Fula's bottom line would continue to sink over time, but that was his own affair. Guiding someone into lowering their moral standards made Adam recognize the fact that he was scum.

"So the Holy Sound Church is built more or less the same everywhere?" Adam slowly committed the cathedral's layout to memory.

Although most people simply called it the church, churches were not all the same.

Every orthodox church worshiped only one god: the Creator God, "No," the deity depicted in Divine Word.

However, each church perceived a different aspect of that god. As a result, the churches that developed differed entirely in everything from doctrine to the god's image.

The relationships between different churches varied as well. Some were fairly harmonious, while others were bitter enemies.

The churches of the Holy Sound Kingdom were basically all Holy Sound Churches that worshiped Holy Sound. They were among the more approachable churches and were relatively large in scale across the continent.

For Adam, what he needed to do was stay away from the Holy Sound Church. Of course, before that, he needed to gain more from this place.

From afar, Adam spotted a middle-aged man crouching in a corner, slowly tracing the patterns on the wall with his fingers.

He had an unkempt beard, dry long hair tied into a simple ponytail, and a white robe stained brown. He did not smell bad, though, and his hands were covered in all kinds of paint.

"Alva Ratu!" Fula quietly introduced him to Adam beforehand. "A great painter who settled in Roa several years ago."

"Master Alva, this is Adam." Once they approached, Fula pulled Adam over and introduced him.

"Brother Fula, go attend to your work. Just leave him here." Alva did not set aside what he was doing. He continued feeling around the wall, occasionally knocking on it and listening to the sound.

"Then I'll be going. Adam, study hard. If anything comes up, come find me!" Fula patted Adam on the shoulder, then turned and headed deeper inside. He had plenty to deal with as well.

After Fula left, it seemed that only Adam and Alva remained in that corner. Yet Alva had no intention of speaking to Adam and continued studying the wall.

Adam did not idle either. He observed it alongside him. The mural depicted the deeds of the god from Divine Word, creating the world and saving all living beings. By now, parts of it had faded and peeled away.

That was not strange. Though the Holy Sound Church had not actively hunted down gray professions such as sorcerers and witch doctors in recent years, it still rejected them strongly. Therefore, church items were merely of somewhat better quality and possessed no supernatural power.

What the church valued was always communication with the god. As long as that communication was convenient, they could obtain more divine arts.

Following behind Alva, Adam noticed that his examination was very strange. He touched, stared, listened, and even leaned close to sniff the walls.

"You there, go tell what's-his-name to buy an extra bottle of strong liquor with the materials." Alva suddenly said without any explanation.

Adam looked around. Since he was the only one there, he said nothing further. He walked elsewhere, found a passing monk, asked who handled the cathedral's purchasing, and went to find him himself.

For a considerable period of time, apprentices were essentially unpaid labor. What a teacher chose to teach depended entirely on luck.

Adam did not care about that. This was a good opportunity to walk around the cathedral and listen in on some of the church's secrets.

The church purchaser was a fat middle-aged man. He was extremely impatient when Adam asked to add materials and even showed Adam a hint of disgust.

"Painting needs strong liquor? That filthy painter probably just said something offhand, and you didn't hear him properly. Go back and ask clearly before coming again." Upon hearing that Adam wanted to add a bottle of strong liquor, the fat man was practically telling him to get lost.

"I'm certain I heard correctly. Please..." Adam glanced at some documents on the desk before saying, "Please add this material, Brother Jim. If you have any questions, you can ask my teacher."

"Brother Jim, Sir Rube is here." Someone knocked on the door and spoke. This only made the middle-aged fat man more impatient with Adam.

"Go back first. I'll add it later." Brother Jim waved his hand as though he could not stand Adam any longer, as if he had already agreed. Yet he found that Adam had not moved and was still standing there.

Only then did Jim seriously examine Adam. He pulled out a document from the side and added one bottle of strong liquor to it.

"Thank you for the trouble, Brother Jim." Adam smiled, turned, and left.

When he returned to that corner, Alva was still there. For the rest of the day, Adam followed behind Alva, watching him continuously measure different parts of the cathedral.

"You there, come early tomorrow!" Only when the sky gradually darkened did Alva turn to Adam and speak. He still had not remembered Adam's name.

What Adam did not expect was that as he passed through the corridor and prepared to leave through the side door, someone called out to him.

It was the white-bearded monk who had announced the punishment at the burning execution site that night.

At this moment, he looked kind and benevolent. He beckoned to Adam, smiling with narrowed eyes. "Adam, right? There are a few things I'd like to ask you."

I saw someone asking about update times in the review section, so I'll mention it here: updates are usually around one to two in the afternoon.