Chapter 6

This chapter explains a lot in terms of magic within this world but doesn't explain the reason behind it. It also expands upon Eli's abilities even further, he is not merely skilled at language and memory, but he actually has hidden knowledge based on interaction as well. Like Wikipedia, if you do not search for a subject, then you can't easily access that data. However, humans are not supposed to operate like that  (Spoiler Alert or False Herring  )

As for introducing Puck, you guys know I love Midsummer's Night Dream, I interpret it as a triumph of sexual freedom and a good throple comedy, even if the two males didn't get lustful with one another (I can imagine bisexual Shakespeare directing the boys acting in the girl's parts, which makes up for the lack of sexual novelty in the modern retelling). My puck is a mischievous, but benign character with a hand at using toxins to great effect. As a working partner for Francis Walsingham, it made sense to have a poison expert.

In terms of history lessons, nitric acid known as Aqua Fortis in medieval Europe can be generated via saltpeter and sulfuric acid. Saltpeter can be made by the composting method of limestone, urine, and feces creating crystals. Sulfuric acid can be created by heating iron and using liquid run-off. Nitration of plant oils in combination with gunpowder can generate an explosive compound, it won't be to the power of dynamite or plastic explosives, but it is still potent. Not going into detail as I do not want to be FBI watch-listed or banned for teaching you guys how to make explosives  

As for the law of power, 8th law of power according to Robert Greene "Make other people come to you", it's actually something that can be applied to Sun Tzu's art of War, "choosing favorable ground". The idea is simple, you want your opponent to come at you without proper information on your terms. Even if they are numerically superior, if you can find a choke point, a few people can take out forces many times larger. 

Some people will wonder, how can a 17-year-old American teen be able to plan that kind of military strategy, even if he has knowledge, he wouldn't know how to apply it like that. Welcome to the world of Japanese Manga, Otaku's (fans of Anime and Manga) are students of not only these stories, we also know the Japanese history behind them. During the Sengoku Jidai, which (coincidentally or not) happened around this period as well, a famous night time raid happened, where Oda Nobunaga with an army of 2,000 faced an invading force of 25,000 men used his opponents superior numbers and self-assured sense of victory against him by launching an all-out attack that killed the enemy commander. Even when you are weaker, you choose the grounds that you are fighting and have better strategic weapons at your disposal, then you will weapon. 

Also, most noble military units of the Medieval period were made up of impressed young men within their territory. Thus, you would see a lot of innocent teenage boys sometimes as young as 12 going to fight without understanding what they are fighting for or dying for. If you were in Eli's shoes and you had to kill little kids in order to make your point, I don't think you want to talk about it. Writers and playwrights can make it fun and games, but killing people isn't.

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Note:

1. Nitric Acid or Aqua Fortis was discovered in the medieval times by alchemists as experiments with sulfuric acid and saltpeter. Saltpeter was a main ingredient of gunpowder as well.

2. A Midsummer's Night Dream will be produced in 1595 during Elizabeth I's lifetime.

3. Hemlock as the poison that Eli identified is well known as the poison of choice for intellectuals, since Socrates had committed suicide with hemlock. I wanted to draw a historical connection between Hemlock and Eli's abilities.