A Hospital in Another World?-Chapter 889: Garrett, What Do You Think Faith Is?

"Holy power... is a particularly mysterious thing."

While the Holy City of Radiance was in an uproar, Garrett was sitting on a small stool in front of Elder Tapros, looking up attentively.

As the seasons changed, it was once again time for the Natural Order to recruit new members. The Grand Elder of the Natural Order, the legendary priest Elder Tapros, had come out of seclusion to travel around and give lessons to the new disciples.

Naturally, Garrett set aside his tasks and traveled dozens of miles to attend the lecture. Even though it was a basic lesson, hearing it from different perspectives always offered new insights, and attending multiple times was never a bad thing.

Moreover, it meant fewer beatings.

"Although both are extraordinary powers, the sources of holy power and magical power are fundamentally different. Magic comes from nature, while holy power... comes from the human heart."

"The human heart?"

The new disciples opened their eyes wide in confusion:

"If it's holy power, shouldn't it come from the gods? The power we use to heal wounds, communicate with animals and plants, and call upon nature, doesn't it all come from the God of Nature?"

"Heh." Elder Tapros chuckled softly. Garrett's eyes twitched thoughtfully:

"It's not that gods created humans, but that humans created gods," he mused. In his past life, this was a basic worldview:

If you broaden your perspective to encompass the entire Earth, you'll find that the gods in each region possess local characteristics. As a great person once said, if cattle had gods, their gods would probably be a bull.

However, in his previous life, there was no divine magic. In this world where extraordinary powers are real, are gods illusory or truly existent?

Garrett dared not make a hasty conclusion. Under the oak tree, Elder Tapros continued his lecture with fervor:

"What is holy power? Holy power is highly concentrated spiritual energy, the most sincere prayers of the human heart. When this spiritual energy becomes strong enough, it can intervene in reality—at this stage, holy power and a mage's spiritual energy are no different."

"But?" Garrett asked softly. Elder Tapros smiled:

"But an individual's power is ultimately too weak. To amplify their strength, mages found a path."

He lowered his head and stroked the oak staff in his hand, fingers tracing the grain of the wood repeatedly:

"They use their spiritual energy to mimic the magical patterns found on magical beasts, magical plants, and in nature itself, to more efficiently manipulate nature."

Garrett stared at the round knot on the staff. The patterns on leopard skins, the scales on snake bodies, even the knots and grain on tree trunks...

Among these various patterns, some possessed magical power, known as "magic patterns," which early spellcasters discovered or experimented with.

"Of course, such imitation was still inefficient. Later, mages took another step forward, seeking more fundamental principles. Thus, magic patterns became configurations, configurations became formulas..."

Or rather, earth, water, fire, and air became transmutation, protection, conjuration, and alteration, and alchemy became chemistry. Garrett silently supplemented in his mind. Elder Tapros continued calmly:

"Divine magic, however, took a different path: realizing their individual power was insufficient, divine spellcasters began to gather the power of the masses."

"No one remembers how it started. Perhaps someone noticed that the more sincerely people prayed while healing a patient, the better the healing effect;

"Or perhaps, during a rain prayer, a village's collective devotion made it easier for the prayer leader to touch mysterious powers;

"Or maybe, on the battlefield, the atmosphere of unity allowed warriors to forget their pain and be filled with courage..."

"Resonance," Garrett suddenly whispered. Elder Tapros looked at him deeply and nodded:

"Indeed, resonance. People's needs, desires, and pains are always chaotic and difficult to focus in one direction. This makes it very challenging for priests to consolidate their power. Thus, gods were conceived—"

The legendary elder, meeting Garrett for the first time, looked at him kindly:

"Little Garrett, you really should find time to visit the New World. See what those primitive gods and primitive beliefs are like—a big tree, a rock, a wild beast..."

Like the demigod totem beast his teacher slew and brought back from the New World? Garrett pondered:

In this world, with real and tangible spiritual power that can affect reality, there are people and objects that can absorb, store, and use these powers...

"With a goal, there is a target to gather spiritual energy and prayers. Initially, followers of nature worshipped and imitated nature. Later, they found that merely imitating nature was too difficult and easy to lose control...

"Those who imitated beasts lost their minds after transforming, forgetting they were once human;

"Those who imitated plants stood still for so long that when their companions found them, their bodies had turned into oak trees;

"Those who felt the elements turned into roaring floods, howling winds, leaping flames, or solidified earth and stone..."

"So, that's why there are anthropomorphic gods?"

Garrett focused intently. Elder Tapros nodded affirmatively:

"Indeed, that's why the objects of our worship changed from nature to nature gods. It's much safer this way, with less risk of losing control. But the brothers in the order must remember their origins..."

Garrett pouted and secretly mouthed "God of War" and "Spring Goddess." Elder Tapros noticed at once:

"Them? They aren't that ancient, nor have they undergone such difficult experiences. To them, the gods they worship have always been anthropomorphic, right?"

That was a spot-on critique... Garrett turned his head away and chuckled quietly, unable to resist asking:

"What about the Radiant Lord?"

"The Radiant Lord, huh..."

The elder's gaze grew distant. Garrett held his breath, waiting, until finally, after a long time, he heard:

"The founder of that faith was an unparalleled genius, unlike any before or after..."

What?

Garrett was stunned. In his mind, the Radiant Church was akin to a certain religion from his past life—a behemoth, oppressive and corrupt, destined to collapse one day.

Yet, from the mouth of this legendary priest who had lived for who knows how many years, he heard the words "unparalleled genius"?

"You don't believe it?" Elder Tapros glanced at him with a smile. Garrett stiffened: "Uh..."

"Do you know how the Radiant Church dominated for so long, forcing us and the mages to this small island?" the elder asked slowly:

"Because that generation's pope, along with the twelve saints under him, not only clarified the divine duties of the Radiant Lord, making him known and worshipped by more people, but they also invented an entirely new method of utilizing holy power."

Garrett sat up straight, his eyes full of curiosity. Elder Tapros smiled, tapped Garrett with his oak staff, and asked:

"First, let me ask you a question. How do we usually store holy power?"

Garrett instinctively touched his chest. Then, he pulled out his oak staff from his chest pocket, shook off the roots entwined with the Endless Ink Pen, and transformed it back into a staff:

"This."

"Yes, exactly." The elder nodded lightly. He fondly caressed his oak staff:

"The human heart is a dispersive and difficult-to-consolidate power. We've always been able to store only small amounts of holy power in sacred relics or holy bones, or let the prayers soak the church over time. However, the pope of that generation in the Radiant Church, together with the twelve saints, pioneered an unprecedented method—"

The old man's eyes suddenly burned with intensity. He stood up, turned to the east, and gazed longingly at the Radiant Church's location:

"They carved out a piece of land—in a mage's description, probably similar to a demiplane—and transformed it into a divine kingdom. From then on, surplus holy power could be stored in the divine kingdom, ready to be used for divine descent spells."

Garrett gasped. He looked up, nearly toppling off his stool:

"A divine kingdom? Can this thing... move?!"

If it could move, that would be terrifying! It would be like a flying battleship that could hover over you anytime, unleashing destruction!

If the divine kingdom could move freely and cast divine descent spells at will... how powerful is a divine descent spell? Legendary? Mid-level or high-level legendary spell?!

"It seems there are some limitations, and it can't move freely." Fortunately, Elder Tapros dismissed his notion:

"It can't be cast anywhere. Moreover, the farther from the Holy City, the higher the cost of transmitting holy power. Otherwise, in previous wars, they would have already cast dozens of divine descent spells and turned the royal capital into ruins."

Garrett forced a smile. The elder gazed into the distance, sighing deeply:

"But if the church truly decides, disregarding costs and sacrifices, to cast several divine descent spells on the battlefield, they could still do it... To capture Ostend steadily, we still face a tough battle ahead..."

Garrett lowered his head in silence. So, if the church wants to take it slow, they can gradually restore local faith and use local holy power to attack; if they don't care about the cost, they could bombard the battlefield with divine descent spells.

And the Magic Council, the legendary mages, and the three other sects' legends, do they have equivalent means to withstand such an attack?