Chapter Summaries

Jezebel fled an arranged marriage, struggled to survive as an undocumented immigrant, and gave birth to Salomon Damonet under Master Gu Yi’s protection. Master Gu Yi brought Salomon to Kamar-Taj, where his strange Holy Marks faded as he slept amid a jumble of memories.

• Master Gu Yi told her disciples that a child marked by the stars would face hardship and be entrusted with great responsibilities.
• Jezebel escaped her family’s plans to marry her to old Kola, then struggled to find work and shelter in New York while pregnant.
• A priest sheltered Jezebel, and Master Gu Yi arrived on the night of the birth, promising that her child would become her disciple.
• Jezebel named her son Salomon before dying, and Master Gu Yi wrapped him in the Holy Shroud and carried him and Jezebel’s body to Kamar-Taj.
• Salomon’s birth coincided with a surge of Abyss creatures invading Earth, forcing Master Gu Yi to visit several Abyss Lords to end the disturbance.
• At Kamar-Taj, Salomon’s Holy Marks flickered as he recalled several different lives, then went dark as he finally slept.

Master Gu Yi explained that Salomon's innate magic came from the Positive Energy strengthening his life force, while his Holy Marks held the memories and knowledge of dead archmages. The chapter ended with Gu Yi tricking Salomon into freezing her drink as she began training him.

• Master Gu Yi showed Kamar-Taj's apprentices Salomon's Holy Marks and explained that his innate magic came from his strengthened life force, not the Outer Dimensions or the Vishanti.
• Master Gu Yi concealed the Holy Marks' other effects and explained that Salomon's birth gave her hope that Earth and Kamar-Taj could remain independent of the Vishanti.
• Salomon recalled that the Holy Marks contained archmages' memories, but absorbing their knowledge overwhelmed him, so he needed to strengthen his soul through study and practice.
• Salomon explained that his attempt to heat soup with a Magic Trick had instead sent sparks through the door, alarming nearby spellcasters.
• Master Gu Yi encouraged Salomon to freeze a cup of juice, then walked away with the frosty drink after he followed her instructions.

Salomon began Kamar-Taj's martial arts training, but Master Zhang dismissed him and Master Gu Yi arranged for him to learn Wing Chun. Master Wong took him to find a teacher in Hong Kong, while Salomon remained focused on magic and resisted the idea of becoming a hero.

• Master Zhang criticized Salomon's stance and sent him away from physical training, so Master Gu Yi told him to learn Wing Chun instead.
• Master Gu Yi arranged for Master Wong to take Salomon to find a Wing Chun teacher the next day.
• Salomon rejected Master Wong's offer to buy him a superhero toy, and Master Wong bought him wonton noodles instead.
• Master Wong explained Kamar-Taj's sources of wealth and told Salomon that his father had taken his living expenses and lost them playing mahjong.
• Master Wong said they were going to a school connected to the Hongmen that might accept Salomon as a foreign disciple.
• Salomon reflected that he liked magic but did not want to be a hero, though he would fight to protect humanity when forced.

Salomon trained for years before Master Gu Yi gave him the Ring of the Celestial Power and helped him face the Vishanti’s magic. He tamed the ring by awakening his first Holy Mark, and Master Gu Yi concluded that he possessed the Ten Rings.

• Salomon spent years training in close combat and studying languages while avoiding the United Kingdom’s efforts to place him with an adoptive family.
• At age ten, Salomon agreed to undergo a trial with Vishanti magic, and Master Gu Yi gave him the Ring of the Celestial Power.
• When Salomon put on the ring, Hoggoth roared and attacked Kamar-Taj’s Mirror Dimension while Master Gu Yi shielded the mages from the Vishanti’s wrath.
• Salomon meditated and awakened his first Holy Mark, using his magical power to tame the ring and ease the pressure on Master Gu Yi.
• After Salomon awoke, Master Gu Yi said she had guessed correctly and that he possessed the Ten Rings.

Salomon learned that his Holy Marks resembled King Solomon’s marks and might grant him the ability to command, while Master Gu Yi explained the origins of Earth’s gods and magical powers. She revealed that another ring lay in the British Museum, where its guardians made the trial too dangerous for him for now.

• Master Gu Yi explained that Salomon’s Holy Marks resembled King Solomon’s marks and might give him powers of dominion or command.
• Master Gu Yi warned Salomon that Earth’s mages drew power from many sources and that Kamar-Taj hunted dangerous Black Warlocks.
• Master Gu Yi recounted the origins of Chthon, the Elder Gods, the new pantheons, and the Vishanti Trinity, including a rumor about Hoggoth and Agamotto.
• Master Gu Yi told Salomon that an artwork in the British Museum held power connected to the Earth Pantheons and guarded a ring he was not ready to claim.
• Master Gu Yi instructed Salomon to find all the remaining rings before wearing them so he could control the Vishanti’s magical power.

In 2007, Salomon studied magic at Kamar-Taj and joined Master Wong on a mission to retrieve a magical artifact from the British Museum. They discovered that the museum was steeped in divine power and noticed spirits nearby.

• Salomon learned that Master Wong would accompany him as someone with little connection to the Vishanti, and Baron Mordo took him to train with magical weapons.
• Salomon and Master Wong traveled through the London Sanctum portal to London, where Salomon explained that the Sorcerer Supreme wanted him to receive an ordinary education as well as magical training.
• At the British Museum, Salomon and Master Wong sensed unusually strong magical power among exhibits representing many Earth pantheons.
• Salomon pointed out the spirits in the museum, suggesting that they were connected to the mission's guardian.

Salomon and Master Wong confronted Imogen Tutter, the Fourth Guardian, after discovering she controlled the spirits haunting the British Museum’s Egyptian Gallery. Her magic overwhelmed their first attacks, leaving Salomon injured as he ordered Wong to hit her.

• Salomon led Master Wong to the Egyptian Gallery, where meditation let Wong see the spirits gathered around the exhibits.
• Imogen Tutter revealed that she controlled the spirits and allowed them to devour souls, then attacked Salomon and Wong with magic.
• Salomon used Silver Dust to shield Wong from the spirits and told him to take Imogen’s ring, but her spell bound him to the floor.
• Salomon swallowed a Grasshopper Leg to cast the Leaping Technique and threw a dagger at Imogen.
• Imogen unleashed a surge of magic that threw Salomon and Wong back, leaving Salomon dazed; when Wong asked what to do, Salomon told him to hit her.

Salomon and Master Wong defeated Imogen Tutter after Salomon invoked Athena’s power, freeing the spirits and taking her Ring. Back at Kamar-Taj, the Sorcerer Supreme revealed that Athena and other New Gods had returned to Earth, leaving Salomon to wonder when the goddess would summon him.

• Imogen Tutter sent spirits against Salomon and Master Wong, but Salomon invoked Athena, whose divine power destroyed the spirits and freed them.
• Salomon told Master Wong to take Imogen’s Ring, and they fled the museum while Imogen raved to tourists who called the police.
• Salomon and Master Wong returned to Kamar-Taj, where Salomon asked the Sorcerer Supreme to alter the Ring and explain the snake coiled around his arm.
• The Sorcerer Supreme told Salomon that Athena, Hecate, and other New Gods had secretly returned to Earth, and advised him to wait until he had all three Rings before meeting the snake’s goddess.
• Salomon wondered what gift to bring Athena, and the Sorcerer Supreme suggested wine or skincare products.

The Venerable One showed Salomon the physical and personal prices of magic, then sent him to Salem with Master Wong to find the final ring. Guided by a moving map, they waited for their target while considering how Kamar-Taj’s sorcerers would fare against ordinary people.

• The Venerable One showed Salomon ascetics bearing magic’s physical costs and warned that a sorcerer might also pay through emotions, loved ones, or interests.
• The Venerable One gave Salomon a map and a book passage pointing toward Salem, where he and Master Wong went in search of the final ring.
• Salomon sensed lingering Exotic Magic in Salem and visited the Witch Museum with Master Wong.
• Salomon followed a moving red dot on the map and told Master Wong they would wait for their target and use magic when it appeared.
• Salomon warned Master Wong that Kamar-Taj sorcerers were vulnerable to guns and explained that the Sorcerer Supreme wanted them to understand the modern world.

Salomon and Master Wong waited outside Salem City Hall to confront Senator Ricky White, a descendant of the families tied to the Salem Witch Trials. Salomon used a series of spells to create a public distraction and slipped through the crowd toward Ricky, ending with a warning to Master Wong to find the ring with the pink gemstone.

• Salomon and Master Wong waited in a café across from City Hall for Senator Ricky White to emerge.
• Salomon meditated and heightened his hearing while Ricky White delivered a campaign speech on television.
• Ricky White came out of City Hall with his secretary Golia, and Salomon cast a spell that dropped their pants.
• Salomon made the bodyguards' pants fall too, then used magic to slow the crowd and blind the onlookers with a flash.
• Salomon told Master Wong to look for the ring with the pink gemstone.

Salomon and Master Wong stole Ricky White’s heirloom ring, but the spirits bound to it attacked them as they fled. Salomon began fighting back with magic after Master Wong carried him to a secluded spot.

• Salomon and Master Wong hid in an alley after Master Wong stole Ricky White’s ring during the chaos in Salem Town.
• Ricky White discovered the theft, and Salem police detained people at the scene as the incident escalated.
• The ring’s skeletal ghosts ambushed Salomon, hurling bricks and stones at him while demanding the heirloom back.
• Master Wong carried Salomon away as the ghosts pursued them, causing destruction through the streets.
• Master Wong brought Salomon to a secluded gap between abandoned buildings, where Salomon recovered enough to cast Magic Missile.

Salomon and Wong fought the Ghosts while keeping their secret mission hidden, and Salomon put on the two remaining Rings to unleash their power. As the Ghosts disintegrated, the Rings engulfed Salomon in unbearable heat, and he reached for the Holy Shroud.

• Salomon used protective spells on himself and Wong, then stopped running and attacked the Ghosts with magic while Wong fought beside him.
• Wong rescued Salomon from the Ghosts, and Salomon said Wong should hold them off while he dealt with the threat.
• Salomon put the orange and pink Rings on his right hand, and their magic set him ablaze and destroyed the Ghosts.
• Salomon endured the Rings' scorching heat as Hoggoth, Agamotto, and Oshtur appeared to him.
• Salomon tried to curse the Vishanti but could not speak, then used his last strength to undo the clasp of the Holy Shroud.

Salomon woke after surviving the Vishanti's Rings, which had unleashed devastating magic before the Vishanti Trinity appeared and accepted him as their user. As Master Wong recounted the disaster, Salomon remained too weak to speak and could only try to tell him he needed to get out of bed.

• Salomon dreamed of a colossal tree whose rings seemed connected to the key to the Spirit Kingdom, then awoke in his bedroom at Kamar-Taj.
• The Venerable One told Salomon he had tamed the Vishanti's Rings, reassured him that Wong was safe, and ordered him to keep resting.
• Master Wong visited Salomon and recounted how the Rings had unleashed flames that devastated the surrounding area before the Vishanti Trinity appeared.
• Agamotto defended Salomon as the Vishanti discussed his use of their Rings, and the Trinity vanished after the magical power subsided.
• The Venerable One brought Salomon and Wong back to Kamar-Taj and repaired Salomon's body, while Wong misunderstood Salomon's attempts to communicate.

Salomon recovered from his near-fatal burns with the Sorcerer Supreme’s help and discovered that his rings had bound him to the Vishanti, while he recovered at Kamar-Taj and prepared more scrolls. Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. investigated the Salem Town incident and began to suspect that Salomon and his companion were involved, unaware that they were at the Hong Kong Sanctum.

• The Venerable One healed Salomon with White Magic, and he recovered while resting at Kamar-Taj.
• Salomon found that the rings bearing the Vishanti’s power had bonded to his fingers and could not be removed.
• Salomon resumed making scrolls and remained exempt from self-defense classes while he recovered.
• Coulson and Sylvert examined the melted road in Salem Town and connected a footprint to the robbery of Senator Ricky White’s pink gemstone ring.
• Coulson suspected that the person who left the footprint and a companion at the center of the heat were mutants, while Master Wong and Salomon ate at the Hong Kong Sanctum, unaware of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s investigation.

Coulson investigated the suspected mutant crimes in Salem and traced the café footage to Salomon. S.H.I.E.L.D. identified Salomon as a London resident, but the chapter left Coulson still needing to find him.

• Coulson concluded that two mutants had committed the crimes together, with one producing extreme heat and light and the other possibly controlling air.
• Coulson learned that Agent Sitwell had found a waitress who recalled two unusual customers at a café across from City Hall.
• Coulson examined the café footage and recognized the child Salomon as the person linked to the high-temperature area.
• Coulson and Sitwell searched Salem’s surveillance footage but found no sign of Salomon or Master Wong leaving town.
• Sitwell used facial recognition to identify the target as Salomon Damonet, who was listed as residing in London.

Coulson searched the empty London museum for Salomon Damonet and suspected a hidden organization was exploiting mutant children. Salomon was actually in Hong Kong, while the museum was Kamar-Taj’s London Sanctum, concealed from Coulson by a Mirror Dimension.

• Coulson prepared a tactical team but entered the museum alone to avoid frightening Salomon.
• Coulson found the museum empty and suspected an organization was collecting mutant children with help from the British government.
• Coulson called in the tactical team to search the building after finding no one inside.
• Salomon wandered Hong Kong and enjoyed dim sum while Wu Guiyue insisted that proper chicken soup had to be made in a clay pot.
• The narration revealed that Coulson had entered a Mirror Dimension and that Enchantment Magic had falsified Salomon’s adoption records.
• Kamar-Taj apprentices and sorcerers continued using the Sanctum, leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. unable to find the organization Coulson imagined.

The Venerable One sent Salomon’s astral form into the Dark Dimension to confront Dormammu and learn about the danger threatening Earth. Salomon returned shaken but interested in studying the dimension, while The Venerable One urged him to learn balance and restraint.

• The Venerable One brought Salomon to the Mirror Dimension and explained that he needed to face dangers firsthand.
• The Venerable One projected Salomon’s astral form into the Dark Dimension, where he witnessed its corrupted worlds and Dormammu’s enormous face and hand.
• Salomon awoke in the Mirror Dimension, and The Venerable One identified the being he had seen as Dormammu, lord of the Dark Dimension.
• The Venerable One intended to prepare Salomon for a hidden role protecting Kamar-Taj, while Strange would serve as its public face.
• Salomon accepted the lesson and showed interest in exploring the Dark Dimension, and The Venerable One told him to learn balance and restraint.

The Sorcerer Supreme sent Salomon to meet Athena, who had helped him at the British Museum and wanted to ask for his help in the future. Athena welcomed him into her New York apartment and began explaining why she had assisted him.

• The Sorcerer Supreme suspended Salomon's Dark Dimension lessons and told him to visit Athena, bringing a gift and following the snake she had given him.
• Salomon traveled to New York and let the snake guide him to Athena's apartment.
• Athena took the snake, accepted Salomon's wine, and invited him inside.
• Athena asked whether Salomon believed the myths and explained that she had helped him because she expected to need his assistance in the future.

Athena explained why the Sorcerer Supreme was training Salomon and urged him to keep the gods out of Earth after her departure. In exchange for Salomon’s help at the British Museum, Athena lent him Pegasus for the rest of his life.

• Athena told Salomon that the Sorcerer Supreme’s magic and training prepared him to take up her mission when she retired.
• Salomon reasoned that he might have to defend Earth and Kamar-Taj from demonic gods and the Greek Pantheon.
• Athena asked Salomon to continue the Sorcerer Supreme’s mission and prevent the gods from returning to Earth.
• Salomon questioned Athena’s motives and said her help at the British Museum must come with a price.
• Athena gave Salomon a small sculpture that summoned Pegasus and lent the horse to him for life.

Salomon accepted two magical gifts from Athena, including the Aegis shield, after cautiously examining the Pegasus statue. Athena arranged for him to visit her monthly so she could train him, while Salomon left with stronger means of defending himself.

• Salomon examined the Pegasus statue and suspected the creature came from the Astral Plane rather than Greek legend.
• Athena noticed Salomon's concerns and tried to draw him closer, hoping to make him a hero and teach him combat.
• Athena showed Salomon the Aegis shield, explaining that its Medusa carving would not petrify him unless he wanted it to.
• Salomon accepted the shield as Athena's favor, giving him two powerful magical items to help protect himself.
• Athena required Salomon to visit her at least once a month so she could train him in resisting beauty and teach him art.