Chapter Summaries

Suye confronted the Enka Family and the Athenian officers at the gates, then revealed that his Senior General medal and other military honors were genuine. He exposed himself as Ulak, the celebrated hero of the Battle of Marathon, leaving the officers unable to attack him and the crowd spreading the news.

• Trak surrendered, and the fleeing members of the Kabel Family abandoned their weapons as Pallas and Suye watched.
• Suye challenged the Enka Family to seek divine judgment and warned Old Turner that he would spare him despite knowing the Rolon Family's crimes.
• Old Turner accused Suye of forging a Senior General medal, but the Holy Domain General verified that the medal was genuine.
• Suye presented his other military medals and revealed that he had fought at Marathon under the alias Ulak.
• Suye summoned the Hell Unicorn and displayed Hellfire, prompting witnesses to recognize him as Ulak and the Marathon King.
• The officers lowered their gazes and the commoners rushed into Athens City, shouting that Suye was Ulak.

Suye returned to Athens and revealed that he was Ulak, the King of Marathon, and a Senior General, turning the planned arrest into a citywide welcome. The nobles realized they could not strip him of his honors, while Athenians cheered as he headed toward God of War Mountain.

• Athenians learned that Suye was Ulak, the hero of Marathon, and that he held the rank of Senior General.
• Athenian generals returned Suye's medals, saluted him, and welcomed him back as a general.
• Achilles and several Greek magic associations publicly welcomed Suye and confirmed his many titles.
• Athens's nobles realized that Suye's achievements in the Battle of Marathon could not be revoked by their city-state.
• Suye entered Athens through the northern gate with Plato Academy's teachers and students, as cheering civilians lined Goddess of Wisdom Avenue.

Suye returned to Athens and was welcomed by a growing crowd whose retellings of his achievements began turning into myths. He left God of War Mountain with a vast haul of military treasures and returned to Plato Academy for a celebration.

• The magic associations announced Suye's identity as Ulak, and Athenians joined a procession celebrating his return.
• As Suye approached God of War Mountain, Athenian officials rushed to commission dozens of statues of him for City Hall Square and the Acropolis temple district.
• Suye told the military headquarters that he wanted to exchange his military merits for Spoils of War, and the Chief Logistics Officer let him tour the warehouses.
• Suye used his perception abilities to select treasures, exchanged all his military merits, and stored the items in his Spatial Ring.
• Suye urged the crowd to disperse, returned to Plato Academy, and attended a celebration with the teachers and students.

Suye rallied Dwarves, craftsmen, and mages to develop porcelain and new horse equipment, then showed Neder how the gear could transform cavalry warfare. He and Neder planned to keep the designs secret while the Plato Chamber of Commerce secretly bought horse ranches across several regions.

• Suye celebrated the success of Dragon's Fine Things and called on the Dwarves, craftsmen, and mages to help develop porcelain from unknown Porcelain Clay.
• Suye announced plans to create saddles, Stirrups, and horseshoes, and the Dwarves toasted him as the King of Marathon.
• Suye showed Neder designs for horse equipment, and Neder explained how it could strengthen cavalry and Archer Cavalry against Persia's armies.
• Suye warned Neder that the equipment must stay secret until the next great war, since Persia could quickly copy it.
• Suye proposed that the Plato Chamber of Commerce secretly acquire horse ranches in Greece, Northern Europe, and Persia before demand drove prices up, and Neder agreed to take charge.

Suye planned to develop saddles, porcelain, paper making, and movable-type printing with the Plato Chamber of Commerce, arguing that cheap paper and books could transform the world. After discussing how to gain the temples’ support, he returned home to find a crowd of neighbors waiting at his doorway.

• Suye arranged for Neder and the Plato Chamber of Commerce to acquire horse ranches and secretly develop saddles for a cavalry regiment.
• Suye proposed funding paper-making research himself and opening the methods to the world, and Neder offered the chamber’s manpower and resources.
• Niedern agreed to recruit mages to research paper making and movable-type printing, while Suye said paper would come first and the team would develop porcelain and saddles as well.
• Suye planned to present paper making and printing to the Temple of the Goddess of Wisdom before announcing them publicly, and Niedern walked him to the academy gate.
• Kelton picked Suye up and discussed Dragon’s Fine Things with him on the way home.
• Suye arrived home to find his neighbors gathered outside, and they surged toward him when they saw him.

After returning to Athens, Suye slept while two Black-robed Men tried to identify him as someone who had tampered with fate, but divine light shielded his house. The next day, he prepared to visit the Temple of Athena, and the Enka Family arrived to offer a Suye-style Apology.

• Suye returned home, summoned Di Aotian and the Hell Unicorn, and slept through the night as his neighbors celebrated his return.
• Two Black-robed Men used a ritual for the Goddesses of Revenge to investigate Suye, but divine light shattered their giant viper before it reached his courtyard.
• The Black-robed Men decided to return after Suye's divine light faded and punish him for tampering with fate.
• Government workers set up forty bronze statues of Suye in City Hall Square, where crowds and decorated veterans lined up to touch them.
• More than forty members of the Enka Family knelt outside Suye's home and offered a Suye-style Apology.
• Suye told the Enka Family he would visit the Temple of the Goddess of Wisdom first so they could truly apologize afterward.

Suye negotiated an apology from Gorlo, the new head of the Enka Family, and revealed that he wanted Hero Items as compensation. Gorlo feared that surrendering the family’s ancestral treasures would bring noble retaliation, while Suye insisted the family had many items to give.

• Gorlo privately apologized to Suye and offered the Enka Family’s noble recommendation quota, but Suye rejected it and asked about other compensation.
• Gorlo described Enka I’s achievements and explained the family’s collections and his own standing among collectors.
• Suye told Gorlo he planned to become a hero collector and said Gorlo had earned his attention by offering access to exclusive collecting circles.
• Suye demanded Hero Items as his apology, and Gorlo warned that giving up Enka I’s medals and possessions would isolate the family among the nobles.
• Suye dismissed Gorlo’s concern about the ancestral treasures, leaving Gorlo terrified by the demand.

Suye secured Gorlo’s agreement to replace the Enka Family’s ancestral collections with replicas and acquire the displaced statues and other collections for him. At the Plato Academy’s new porcelain workshop, Suye examined pottery and found clues that might help him understand how porcelain was made.

• Gorlo agreed to catalog the Enka Family’s ancestral items, replace them with replicas within a month, and deliver the original collections and worn statues to Suye.
• Gorlo offered to buy the Kabel Family’s collections for Suye and invite him to the Noble Collection Trade Fair; Suye accepted the offer to buy the collections.
• Gorlo left with the Enka nobles, while Suye greeted his neighbors, handed snacks to the children, and rode with Hill to the Plato Academy.
• Suye found Neder organizing a porcelain research workshop and examined its pottery, clay, and tools.
• Suye noticed that some Black Pottery vessels had smooth, glossy patches around their rims, selected five examples, and asked the craftsmen how the surfaces had been made.

Suye organized the search for a porcelain-glaze method, then committed to building experimental kilns while raising funds to buy horse ranches. After investing thirty-five million Golden Eagles, he planned to return to the battlefield to pursue a major profit and the Fountain of Youth.

• Neder sent craftsmen to consult experienced potters, who reported that Wood Ash could make pottery surfaces smooth and glossy.
• Suye gave Neder funds for horse-ranch purchases and decided to seek large loans from temples to increase his investment.
• Suye paid Euclid the first installment for his research, gained six Mana Sources and six Mana Wells, and urged him to discuss logic with Aristotle.
• Suye directed the craftsmen and mages to build twenty or thirty controlled kilns and test White Pottery clay, Wood Ash, Bone Meal, and other materials.
• Suye borrowed ten million Golden Eagles each from Commerce Temple and Athena Temple, then gave the money to Neder under a formal agreement.
• Suye calculated that he had invested thirty-five million Golden Eagles, decided to fight in the coming cavalry battle, and went to meditate in the Volcano Plane.

Suye returned to the Plato Academy and met Climela, who had joined his class to study alongside Pallas. Climela publicly credited Suye with inspiring her to pursue magic, while Suye discovered his language talents let him master Persian and Greek with ease.

• Suye meditated in the Volcano Plane, ate a Magma Fruit, collected his gains from Wang Dachui, and went to the Plato Academy.
• Suye entered his classroom and found Climela sitting beside Pallas, then learned she had passed an examination to choose her year and had selected his class.
• Suye teased Pallas and Climela, caught up with Hote, and discovered he could rapidly understand the entire Persian textbook and his Greek lessons.
• Teacher Niedern introduced Climela as a new classmate capable of competing for first place.
• Climela told the class that Suye had ignited her interest in magic and inspired her to come to the Plato Academy.

Suye explained to Niedern how he had helped Climela understand the First Principle, and Niedern assigned him to teach the outdoor lesson. The class gathered outside as Niedern announced that Suye would teach them how to become a qualified educator and help Hote advance to Warrior Apprentice.

• Niedern questioned Suye about Climela's progress and his teaching, and Suye said he had used the First Principle to practice the Feynman Technique with her.
• Suye told Niedern he planned to discuss the First Principle with Aristotle and write an article, and Niedern assigned him to teach the outdoor lesson.
• Suye returned to class and told Climela not to praise him in public, but Pallas defended her and warned Suye not to bully her.
• Suye studied his language courses and quickly learned the material for the current term before self-study class.
• Niedern brought the students outside and announced that Suye would teach them how to become qualified educators and help Hote advance to Warrior Apprentice.

Suye faced the challenge of helping Hote pass his written exams and explained how he had developed the Victor’s Posture to improve his mood and confidence. He left the class considering the connection between posture and mindset, while teachers across Plato Academy listened through their Magic Books.

• Suye learned that he was expected to help Hote overcome the written exams he had failed for years, a challenge Pallas considered nearly impossible.
• Niedern urged Suye to ignite Hote, while the students pressed Suye to explain the change in his bearing when he tapped his fingers.
• Suye described how sailors’ different working environments affected their health and behavior, and how he had seen cabin sailors improve after adopting an upright posture.
• Suye explained that he had invented the Victor’s Posture by holding his chest high, raising his head, and relaxing his shoulders to improve his mood in difficult moments.
• The students and teachers listened as Suye concluded that posture, like environment, could influence a person’s mindset.

Suye explained how posture and forced smiles could affect a person’s mindset, then used tribal survival to argue that people need goals. He left the class considering whether Hote lacked a genuine goal or was being prevented from pursuing one.

• Suye demonstrated tapping his fingers as a cue to assume Victor's Posture and explained how forced smiles might ease dissatisfaction.
• Suye answered Niedern’s questions about smiling by describing how bodily signals might shape the brain’s response.
• Niedern kept Suye and the class behind to work on igniting Hote, while the school’s teachers watched their discussion through Magic Books.
• Suye proposed that Hote either lacked a true goal or faced an obstacle preventing him from pursuing or rejecting it.
• Suye argued that goal-directed tribes survived by preparing for danger and securing food, while unguided tribes died out.
• Suye concluded that setting goals before acting was an instinct that great figures had developed into a deliberate method.

Suye used diagrams to show his classmates how hard work and thinking, and dreams and action, could work together rather than stand as opposing choices. He added a third dimension to the Action Dream Diagram, leaving the class stunned by the new factors he revealed.

• Suye explained that hard work and thinking belonged on separate axes, and that combining them was more important than choosing between them.
• He argued that people should avoid extreme, either-or thinking and consider problems from multiple angles, prompting Aristotle to say Suye had begun pursuing the Principle Layer.
• Suye drew a diagram combining dreams and action, and Jimmy and Pallas recognized how dreams provided direction for action.
• Suye asked what else life needed beyond direction and steps, and the students offered answers including methods, perseverance, thought, and faith.
• Suye projected a three-dimensional line of additional factors from the Magic Book, leaving the class speechless.

Suye explained the Lookout Effect and Opportunity Signals, showing how clear goals made people notice and seize relevant opportunities. Afterward, Euclid argued that Suye had developed a deeper system of thought than Aristotle, who eagerly welcomed Suye as his teacher.

• Suye told the students how sailors who knew their route would pass Chios Island listened to warnings about hidden reefs and avoided the storm’s dangers.
• Suye explained that goals directed people’s attention toward useful information and opportunities, and urged the students to set goals for their lives.
• The students admired Suye, while teachers in the Teaching Affairs Office replayed his lecture and considered its ideas.
• Euclid described six layers of understanding and said Suye had reached the sixth, surpassing Aristotle in abstracting and systematizing thought.
• Aristotle accepted Euclid’s assessment with excitement, called Suye his teacher, and briefly let his power turn his hair golden before restoring it.

Suye helped Hote confront whether he truly wanted to become a warrior and why, guiding him to ask what he wanted for himself rather than what others expected. Hote asked Suye for help and admitted he wanted to become a battlefield hero, but he still struggled to voice his deepest reason.

• Euclid wrote that Aristotle treated Suye’s excellence as an opportunity to improve, and the teachers recorded the discussion.
• Suye explained that Hote had persistence, methods, and support, but questioned whether becoming a Black Iron Warrior was truly Hote’s life goal or a prison.
• Suye asked Hote to decide for himself whether he wanted to change and face his past, and Hote broke down in tears before asking Suye for help becoming a powerful warrior.
• Suye asked why Hote wanted strength, and Hote said he wanted to become a battlefield hero like his father and save the Athenian army.
• Suye urged Hote to search for his own deepest reason, and Hote admitted he knew it but was still embarrassed to say it.

Suye helped Hote voice his desire to protect the city-state and become a hero, then explained how to search for a life goal through reflection and sustained action. He challenged Hote to identify the fear keeping him from becoming a Black Iron Warrior, and Hote admitted he did not know.

• Suye urged Hote to say what he truly wanted, and Hote declared that he wanted to protect the city-state and become a hero.
• Suye explained that students could find their life goals by repeatedly questioning themselves and distinguishing between taking action and obtaining results.
• Suye told Hote that finding a goal was not enough and urged him to discover what was stopping him from pursuing it wholeheartedly.
• Suye confronted Hote about avoiding the real reason he did not want to become a Black Iron Warrior and reminded him that Hote had asked for help.
• Hote lowered his head and said he did not know what was preventing him from becoming a Black Iron Warrior.

Suye helped Hote reveal why his family had urged him to avoid becoming a warrior: his brothers and father had died in war, and his mother had sent him to the Plato Academy hoping he would be safe. He then guided Hote and the class to reflect on the reasons behind those wishes, leaving Hote still searching for an answer.

• Suye gently questioned Hote until he admitted that his pain came from a force he believed was stopping him from becoming a warrior.
• Hote explained that his brothers and father had died in war, his mother had become ill and passed away, and she had sent him to the Plato Academy so he could avoid battle.
• Hote revealed that his second brother had been forced to take a nobleman's illegitimate son's place in the army and had urged Hote not to become a warrior; Hote said his life had been bought with his family's lives.
• Euclid recorded, "I failed to save them," while Albert admitted he had once judged Hote as a coward without considering his circumstances.
• Suye explained the difference between quick thinking and reflection, then asked Hote why his family had not wanted him to die.
• Hote began pondering the question with the class's support as Suye glanced at Niedern, prompting the teachers to laugh about Suye's pointed comparison of their teaching methods.

Suye helped Hote recognize that his family’s protection came from love and that he had grown into an adult who could pursue his dream of becoming a hero. After Hote embraced that dream, Niedern asked Suye to lead monthly grassland lessons and prepare the next one.

• Suye guided Hote to see that his family loved him and had protected him, rather than intended to keep him from becoming a warrior.
• Suye led Hote through imagining his family hearing about his achievements, and Hote declared that he wanted to become a hero who protected the city-state.
• Hote wept as he pictured his family supporting his dream, and Suye told him to reflect on the lesson instead of cultivating that day.
• Niedern thanked Suye for helping Hote and said Suye had ignited a dream that might otherwise have taken years to emerge.
• Niedern assigned Suye one grassland lesson each month and told him to prepare the second lesson.

Suye received an invitation from the Magic Associations to join them, but insisted that his primary field was All-element Magic and that he might pursue leadership of the Magic Council. The chapter ended with the Fire Magic Association’s chief vice president enthusiastically praising Suye’s ambition while the other mages reacted awkwardly.

• Suye encouraged Hote to pursue his goal by asking teachers questions and preparing preview and review materials for the class.
• A group of powerful mages from the Magic Associations arrived at Plato Academy and summoned Suye to the Meeting Hall.
• Dean Laurence asked Suye which Magic Association he wanted to join, but Suye said he wanted to choose all of them.
• Suye declared that All-element Magic was his primary field and said he might try to become First Speaker of the Magic Council after reaching the Legendary realm.
• The Fire Magic Association’s chief vice president praised Suye’s ambition, leaving the other mages awkwardly looking on.