### Chapter 3: The Magic Book

### Chapter 3: The Magic Book

Suye walked toward the colonnade straight ahead, a structure that combined elements of both Eastern and Western architecture, consisting of a corridor and pillars.

After a few steps, Suye helplessly lowered his head to examine his bare feet.

Ancient Greece had a typical Mediterranean climate with no extreme cold, so the Greeks did not have the habit of wearing shoes. Generally, they only wore them occasionally when going out. As for slaves, they were never allowed to wear shoes under any circumstances.

Even if they did wear shoes, most people simply wrapped their feet in linen cloth.

Suye adapted to local customs, not putting on shoes, and slowly entered the colonnade. He lifted a dark brown wooden four-legged stool, sat down on it. In Ancient Greece, many objects had independent names; this type of four-legged stool was called "Diphros."

Suye thought while habitually jotting down his ideas, but his hand paused mid-air before slowly lowering.

There were no keyboards or pens and paper around him.

Suye immediately stood up and entered the living room.

In the center of the living room stood a short black marble pillar, atop which stood a half-meter tall white statue of Zeus. On a table on the other side of the room were two smaller statues: one of Vulcan, the god of craftsmen and fire, and another of Athena, the guardian goddess of Athens City and goddess of wisdom.

At this time, Ancient Greece did not have glass, and most rooms lacked windows, making the living room very dim.

Looking at the somewhat eerie three statues, Suye stopped in his tracks.

This world had magic, divine power, heroes, giants, monsters, and deities.

The room was in disarray from searching through everything, but the three statues and a notebook remained untouched.

Suye took a deep breath, walked to a table, picked up the octavo-sized black notebook, and quickly left the living room, returning to the bright colonnade.

Suye gently caressed the black cover, the soft and smooth Demon Ox leather treated with magical potions. At the center, the golden embossed Greek words "Magic Book" shone brightly.

In the lower right corner of the cover, Suye's Greek name was branded.

Suye's pupils dilated slightly as he solemnly placed the Magic Book in front of him and carefully opened the cover.

Inside the Magic Book, there were no extra pages. The only two pages were on the inside of the covers. When opened flat, the entire book consisted of just one seamless page.

On the inner page, the image of Plato's Academy appeared, gradually becoming more vivid and dynamic.

Soon, a lifelike animated image of the front of Plato's Academy emerged on the page.

Suye let out a long sigh of relief. The Magic Book had a mysterious connection with its owner, and no one else could open it unless specifically designated by the owner.

"This... is like a tablet computer in the magic world, and it's even foldable..." Suye never expected the Magic Book to be so advanced.

Suye reached out to touch the page, confirming it was indeed made of parchment, unrelated to any technological product.

Bang...

The dynamic magic painting of Plato in the book page exploded, with light even flying out of the paper. A thirty-centimeter-tall marble arch rapidly rose from the book page.

Creak...

The grating sound of a wooden door turning echoed, and the marble arch rippled like water. A four-horsed carriage, about ten centimeters long, burst out, leaving a trail of rainbow behind its wheels.

In the next instant, Suye was caught off guard as the carriage crashed straight into his chest.

Crackle...

Suye was unscathed.

The carriage fell onto the magic book, and the four white horses with rainbow manes lay on the ground, kicking their hooves and neighing wildly, rolling their eyes.

"Ouch..." A tiny old man, the size of a thumbnail with dragonfly wings, tumbled out of the carriage.

The little old man in green clothes muttered to himself as he got up and dusted off his clothes. Suddenly, he froze, then nervously looked around. His gaze landed on a black pointed hat not far away. He hurried over, picked it up, and placed it over his shiny bald head, secretly relieved. Then, with a wave of his right hand, a whip appeared out of nowhere and flew into the air, poised to strike the white horses.

"Don't you dare slack off!" The old man shouted angrily, his thick white beard trembling like a furry mole.

The four white horses, their eyes darting around, tilted their heads to stare at the old man. Seeing the whip about to fall, they immediately stood up obediently.

The old man panted lightly, his dragonfly wings drooping to the ground, limp.

"Are you..."

Suye had seen this little old man before; he seemed to be Master Plato's assistant.

"All students at Plato's Academy have already received their new semester notification letters. Why did you just open your magic book?" The old man stood on the magic book, puffing out his cheeks and glaring up at Suye, his pupils shimmering with an unusual green light.

"Some things came up at home," Suye said helplessly.

The old man impatiently waved his hand, and a small white letter appeared in his hand. "You failed your exams last year. If you fail again this year, you'll be permanently expelled from Plato's Academy! School starts tomorrow, don't forget!"

The old man tossed the envelope into the book page, jumped back into the carriage, and cracked the floating whip, producing a sharp snap.

The four white horses immediately lifted their front hooves and neighed, turning to charge into the marble arch, disappearing into the rippling waves, leaving a trail of rainbows behind.

The carriage remained where it was.

Suye stared at the little carriage, lost in thought.

A roar came from inside the carriage: "These idiots are stupider than goblins! They're the fourth to seventh dumbest in Plato's Academy!"

Suye seemed to recall something, and a subtle change appeared on his face.

The old man cursed and leaped out of the carriage, dragging it with one hand, which was as big as a house for him, and dashed into the marble arch with ease.

Inside the arch, faint sounds of the whip cracking and roaring could be heard, along with the neighing of the horses.

The stone archway wavered, transforming from three-dimensional to flat, and slowly submerged into the page.

Letter after letter flew out of the page, lining up in the air above the spellbook, gently swaying.

Suye quickly scanned through them. There was a new term notification from Plato's Academy, a new term message from his linguistics teacher Niedern, and some casual chats from classmates. None of them were important.

With a wave of Suye's hand, all the letters fell back into the page like pebbles into water, disappearing without a trace.

The opened spellbook reverted to a blank sheet of paper.

Suye's right hand fingers moved lightly, and his thoughts raced. Lines appeared on the spellbook every centimeter, followed by vertical lines, eventually filling it with numerous grids.

Suye stared at the centermost grid, and with a thought, a Greek "I" emerged.

Next, the name of his linguistics teacher, Niedern, appeared in an adjacent grid.

Niedern taught language and also managed the class, essentially serving as the homeroom teacher.

Suye looked at the teacher's name, recalling past events, and shook his head gently. Regardless of whether Lawrence would prevent him from seeking help from Plato's Academy, even if he found Niedern, the teacher might not be willing to help him.

A hundred golden eagle coins could buy two houses in the slums; it was a large sum for anyone. Moreover, Suye's academic performance was notoriously poor, making him a well-known underachiever.

Suye believed that it was precisely because he was not valued at Plato's Academy that Lawrence dared to act against him.

Next, the name "Figo" appeared in another grid. He was a warm-hearted bronze warrior whom Suye had known since childhood.

Suye shook his head again; Figo's influence was far less than Lawrence's.

One by one, names were listed by Suye.

He knew very well that within such a short time, he could not face Lawrence alone and needed to rely on others.

Suye kept listing people he knew, and the empty grids dwindled.

This was the constellation method he had learned before, taught by a master who said that 99% of problems encountered by 99% of people could be solved using enumeration and trial-and-error methods.

After listing all the names, Suye circled three of them.

One was his teacher, Niedern.

Another was a priest from the temple of Vulcan, the god of craftsmen and fire.

The last one was Kelton.

Suye pondered for a long time, crossed out the other two names, and left only Kelton.