Chapter 32: The Evening Checklist

Chapter 32: The Evening Checklist

Rick wasn't just a top student; he also had considerable magical talent. Coming to Plato's Academy not only didn’t cost him money but even earned him some.

What Suye envied most about Rick was his photographic memory, which was the strongest type of memory talent. Generally, mages only gained such a capability at the legendary level by combining various powers.

As Suye was thinking, Rick closed his book and stood up, saying, "I'll be off. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

Suye knew without a doubt that Rick would first go to the cafeteria to get food, half of which was for his sister, just as he did at noon.

Before coming to Plato's Academy, Rick had made one request: to be allowed to bring an extra meal home.

Suye felt that he could benefit from interacting more with Rick. After all, among the seven people at Table Five, only they seemed normal.

Plato's Academy offered several benefits, one of which was the ability to have dinner there before going home.

Seeing that Palos was still studying, Suye was about to remind her but decided against it, knowing that too many reminders might lead to misunderstandings. So, he headed to the cafeteria himself.

After dinner, Suye went to check on the competition grounds.

Holt was beaten into a large pig goblin and seemed to enjoy it, making Suye reluctant to watch.

Jimmy was running laps and had already left his third-year classmates half a lap behind.

After wandering around for a while, Suye left with his magic book in hand.

On the way home, Suye didn’t waste any time but instead practiced walking meditation, also known as mindfulness while walking.

During his walk, Suye almost completely shut out external perceptions and thoughts, focusing all his attention on his footsteps and legs, feeling the movement and the body.

Suye didn’t engage in deep meditation because the streets were busy with people and vehicles. He had only practiced walking meditation in parks without traffic.

By the time he arrived home, it was completely dark.

After the walking meditation, Suye felt refreshed and more energized.

The first thing he did upon entering was apologize to the three statues, moving them back to their original positions and then leaving the living room.

Suye returned to his bedroom, opened his magic book, and began writing on a blank sheet of paper.

Evening Checklist:

1. Recall and extract the content of Niedern’s lecture on meditation and create a simple mind map.

2. Review the meditation textbook, identify key terms, and gain preliminary understanding.

3. Meditate and rationally choose the divine light that belongs to me.

4. Preview tomorrow’s lessons.

5. Review the mind map of the math course concepts.

Suye wanted to briefly review last year’s other courses, but today’s class covered several subjects from last year, which he couldn’t understand at all. He had to self-study and would only start formal classes tomorrow.

Suye reviewed the checklist once more.

A small trick in creating a checklist is to use verbs at the beginning of each item, making it easier to act directly and enhancing execution. This is a basic time management technique.

When creating the mind map for the meditation class, Suye didn’t refer to his notes from the day but used the recall extraction method, continuously recalling the course content and recording it on the mind map.

Only when he couldn’t remember any new points did he consult his previously noted keywords to complete the mind map.

The recall extraction method is both a memory and learning technique, though tiring, it is highly effective.

Taking minimal notes with only key terms, rather than detailed content, was primarily to exercise the brain and complement the recall extraction method after class, enhancing its effectiveness.

Noting key terms was merely to prevent forgetting crucial points.

For the few points he didn’t understand, Suye sent a magic letter to Teacher Niedern asking for clarification, then proceeded to create the mind map for the meditation class.

After completing the mind map, Suye checked Niedern’s reply. Upon reading it once, he found all his questions answered, thanked him in a return letter, and included his three main takeaways.

Suye flipped to the evening checklist page and marked the first item as completed by blacking it out.

He then quickly skimmed through the meditation textbook, extracting numerous unfamiliar key terms, which left him feeling dizzy.

After interpreting these key terms in his own words, Suye intended to create a mind map but realized he lacked the energy. After some thought, he decided not to push himself and started meditating instead.

Meditation was a powerful tool for restoring energy. Suye usually engaged in shallow meditation for twenty or thirty minutes after work to rejuvenate himself for evening studies.

If he was extremely tired, Suye would skip meditation, as it was better to rest or sleep when overly fatigued.

Thinking about the dangers he faced, his goals, and the nightmare-inducing “55,” Suye decided to reduce his rest and start meditating to recover his energy.

Before meditating, Suye opened his magic book and skillfully selected Master Plato’s three-dimensional magic image, placing it by the door.

"Master, bless me."

After saying this, Suye returned to his chair and effortlessly entered meditation.

Just like before, Suye’s spirit transformed into a small light figure, flying continuously below the deep blue barrier between the two worlds.

In the realm of the spirit, time was imperceptible.

Suye focused solely on finding the farthest divine light.

After reviewing the meditation textbook, Suye learned that the divine realm also had different levels.

The place where meditation begins is at the lowest level of the divine realm, closest to the human world.

The deeper one goes, the closer one gets to the source of the divine realm, and thus the stronger the power obtained.

Most importantly, each person can only choose one divine light for their entire life, and it cannot be changed, even by deities.

Those particularly powerful mages may not have their achievements solely determined by the divine light they choose, but selecting a light from a deeper area will clearly accelerate their growth in power.

In Suye's heart, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and others hold a status and fame equal to that of deities. Therefore, Suye believes that these individuals must have chosen the deepest divine light, even if they did not possess advanced meditation techniques.

Suye completely forgot that this meditation was meant for rest, and he flew with all his might toward greater depths.

"Others start learning magic or combat skills from the age of six or seven. I am nearly a decade behind them, making my path in magic a hundred times harder. Therefore, from now on, every opportunity must be seized tightly, and every foundation that helps me grow must be solidified repeatedly. This first divine light, though it cannot determine everything, will have a significant impact on my life."

"My first divine light must be comparable to the Three Wise Men of Greece, or at least not far off!"

After an unknown amount of time, Suye suddenly saw a beam of white light and hurriedly flew toward it.

Ordinary divine lights are very thick, with a diameter at least a thousand times the height of Suye's spiritual form.

But this divine light was very thin, with a diameter ten times Suye's current size, thinner than any other divine light he had seen before.

This light was also more dazzling than any other.

Even without touching it, merely looking at it, Suye could sense an indescribable power within.

Suye hesitated for a few seconds, then gritted his teeth, bypassed this light, and continued deeper.

Time slowly passed, but Suye lost all sense of it, continuously flying deeper.

After an unknown duration, Suye suddenly paused, then accelerated his flight once more, stopping before a pillar of light.