The Crown of the Werewolf

Chapter 5: Perception

"Bryan! Are you going to forsake the grace of God?"

The sunlight shone through the window and onto the bed, and Bryan woke up from his sleep, a little later than usual.

Last night's encounter left him still feeling a little shaken, but fortunately, he had also gained something from the experience.

Bryan looked around, and suddenly, the sounds, smells, and light exploded in his mind, and everything around him was imprinted in his brain. It was as if he had broken through a certain limit, and he was now extremely familiar with everything around him, with a feeling of being in control of everything.

"Sensory perception?" The state of sensing everything didn't last long for Bryan, and soon it faded away.

Before last night, when he smelled something, he simply smelled it, and when he saw something, he simply saw it. But during that period of time, all of his perceptions were combined together, and he could even collide with the perceptions of others.

If he had not been able to exit the perceptual state in time last night and had continued to fight, it was very likely that he would have been completely covered by the perception of the black smoke werewolf and suffered various perceptual impacts, causing him to black out.

Brian breathed a sigh of relief, tidied up the attic, and listened to the commotion downstairs as he went down with the "Divine Language" in his hand.

Father Flarsher was talking to Maggie downstairs, apparently asking about tuition fees.

In the airspace city of Roya, there is the Holy Light Vocational Academy. Most of the nearby monks and aristocrats graduated from this theological academy, but the tuition fees are too high for ordinary civilians.

Although Father Flarsher had high hopes for Brian, he could not pay for his tuition, as he was not wealthy himself.

Moreover, Brian did not want to go to that theological academy. Why go there? To die?

Looking at Brian coming down with the "Divine Language," Flarsher's eyes were full of regret. He regretted that Brian was born in the wrong era. In the early years before the theological academy was reformed, as long as a commoner passed the test and bought a copy of the "Divine Language," they could enroll.

But with the strengthening of the aristocratic forces, most theological academies have undergone reforms, and the threshold for entry has become higher, making it extremely difficult for ordinary civilians to enter.

Although the monks of the theological academy have since received better resources and their status has become more and more respected, even Flarsher himself has benefited from this, he still sighed.

"Father Flarsher! You haven't been here for several days." Brian ran over looking very surprised, but then his face became full of reluctance as he handed the "Divine Language" to Flarsher. "Here you go."

"There's been a lot going on lately." Looking at Brian's expression, the young monk became even more regretful, but he still took the "Divine Language." Although he was skilled, he was still not wealthy, partly due to his refusal of some inappropriate "gifts" from nobles in the city.

But after taking the "Divine Language," Flarsher's expression suddenly changed. He opened the book and found a small piece of thin wood, with a drawing made with charcoal that imitated the nearby illustrations.

Brian had already prepared this as his stepping stone to becoming an artist by knocking on the door of Uncle Arisburg's woodworking shop these days.

"Did you draw this?" Father Flarsher was very surprised. The charcoal was too rough, and the painting was done on a piece of wood, making the entire picture look too simple, but it was not difficult to see the similarity between the picture and the illustrations in the scripture.

"Um!" Brian seemed very embarrassed and just made a sound before lowering his head and not speaking again.

"It seems to have worked!" Brian was well aware of the bargaining skills. When you want to make a request and are afraid that others will not agree, what should you do?

First, make a more outrageous request. After the other party refuses, then make the original request. At this point, the chances of the other party agreeing will greatly increase.

Although Brian's situation was somewhat different from Flah's, the principle was the same. First, let Flah see his talent in theology, but Flah did not have the ability to support both Brian and himself.

Therefore, when a slightly inferior alternative option appears, Flah will choose compensation with a guilty conscience, even if this option slightly violates his own principles.

To some extent, Brian was consuming Flah's kindness.

"You also have a talent in painting." Flah was generous with his praise and pinched the "Word of God" in his hand, somewhat pleased.

After hesitating for a moment, Flah said, "I know a few painters. I'll talk to them later and maybe they can teach Brian something."

"Thank you, Father Flah!" Maggie pushed her nephew while trying to give Flah some meat pies, but Flah refused.

"If it works out, I'll come over tomorrow morning and take you there," Flah said, then left the Boku family and muttered to himself, "God will bless the faithful."

Watching Flah's back disappear, Brian grinned and said to himself, "God won't bless anyone, only I can bless myself!"

"Brian?" Maggie's voice made Brian turn his head and smile shyly.

"It's really great that Brian has a talent for painting and can get help from Father Flah." Maggie was very happy. After her nephew came, there was one more mouth to feed.

Although Brian was very capable, the more people there were, the more limited the family income would be.

Brian smiled, walked into the kitchen, and carried the basket of pickled vegetable cakes out.

Except for the encounter with a powerful peer last night, everything was still under his control.

He had collected a lot of information, and besides information about various nearby residents, the most important one was information about the South District Church.

By purchasing various materials through the procurement personnel of the Southern Church and analyzing the arrangements for baptism and worship by the congregation, Brian deduced that the Southern Church might be undergoing renovation, with a focus on the murals.

It was with this consideration in mind that he chose to become a painter.

Brian had conducted a deep analysis of Flah, who was of noble birth but was sent away with a sum of money upon reaching adulthood because he was not the eldest son.

With that money, Flah entered the theological college, which was the usual path for most illegitimate children of nobility.

Perhaps influenced by some ascetics in the college, Flah had a strong sense of justice and was very displeased with the nobles raising the entry requirements of the theological college. After graduation, he did not return to the family estate, but instead came to Roya.

In Roya, he also rejected the nobles' enticements and had no connections there.

Brian greatly admired such a person as Flah, but this did not prevent him from taking advantage of the naive cleric.

When this naive young cleric, who had no connections and could not finance Brian's enrollment in the theological college, discovered Brian's talent in painting, he would think of the renovation of the church's murals.

Brian remembered Flah's swordsmanship on the night of the burning, and with his identity and ability, he could actually gain many benefits as long as he was willing to speak up.

According to Brian's judgment, if he had Brian join the mural restoration as an apprentice and work under a painter, it would just be within Flah's psychological bottom line.

Being able to enter the church and stay there from morning till night, there was just too much information that could be collected during this period.

Whether it was to use the church to restrain Baron Mansla and seek opportunities to climb over the wall, or to explore the church's defensive layout of the Roya border wall, he could gain more initiative.

Most importantly, as a local church, its information channels must be the most well-informed, and from here he should be able to obtain some early information on personnel movements within the church.

"Although I have done a lot of cover-up, that person will come to Roya someday!" Brian thought, after selling a piece of pickled cake, putting down the cloth, wiping the sweat off his face with the back of his hand, and gently rubbing the scar on his face.

Of course, even if he failed, Brian would not suffer any loss. Everything was just Flah's spontaneous behavior and had nothing to do with him, Brian. The only thing he was afraid of was that Flah's bottom line would drop too quickly and he would use his connections to send him to the theological college.

Lowering the bottom line of a good person was a nauseating thing, like a bucket of excrement falling from the second floor, and Brian was well aware of this. But he did not regret it.

No matter what his ideals are, what his hobbies are, or what great beliefs he has, the prerequisite is to stay alive.

Flora walked into the church through a side door, nodded to other monks, and became somewhat hesitant.

He had never done anything like using his connections to benefit others.

But in the end, Flora still came to the painter.