History Literature / MotherOfLearning

* [[What The Hell, Hero?]] In Chapter 69 Alanic is more than a little taken aback at the state of [[spoiler: Sudomir Kandrei]] when Zach and Zorian drag him back to base.
--> "I'm glad the [[spoiler: kidnapping]] went off without a problem, but did you have to [[spoiler cut off his arms]]?"

'''Alanic''': ...I see.

Also published on Royal Road [[https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/21220/mother-of-learning here]].

* AmnesiacHero: Zach. When Zorian meets him, he can't remember how the loop started or what it's about, though he has a feeling that he should defeat the invasion of Cyoria. Zorian attributes the holes in his memory to Quatach-Ichl's soul magic attack. [[spoiler:They're actually much older, from when Red Robe betrayed him and partially wiped his memory to stop him from interfering and let him die in the final loop collapse.]]

* CloningBlues: This is part of the ethics of the time loop. [[spoiler:The entire world, including copies of every living soul, is destroyed at the end of each month only to be re-created again next time. The creators of the time loop decided that the only way this was at all ethical was by limiting the loop to a month; they decided that over a single month, a soul would not diverge enough to be considered a "new" person, and therefore killing the entire world was not a crime. However, the Crown allows temporary loopers to exist for six months, more than long enough to diverge, and therefore killing them is inevitably murder. The Guardian insists that it is the responsibility of the controller to decide if the gain is worth the murder.]]

** Shaping exercises are [[JustForPun shaping]] up to be this. With enough practice, a mage can cast despite [[PowerNullifier disruption wards]], bypass wards that are triggered by structured spells, and can create mind shields to rival those used by actual psychics, all without speaking or gesturing.

* AcceptableTarget: Several InUniverse.
** Zorian decides that he's okay with whatever happens to the cultists of the World Dragon. That includes everything from burglary and robbery to MindRape and assassination, if it serves his goals. He doesn't quite go as far as [[spoiler:torturing dozens of them to death while bonded to them, in order to unlock his soul perception]], but otherwise, pretty much anything goes.
** Zach feels similarly about [[spoiler:using the time loop to make one-sided deals with Quatach-Ichl, where the lich's gains are ephemeral while theirs are lasting.]]
---> '''Zach:''' I feel a dark spark of joy at the very thought of such a scenario. If there is anyone that I don’t feel the slightest bit guilty doing that to, it's him.

---> "You shot me!" Red Robe shouted hysterically. "What kind of mage uses a gun!?"

* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: Zach is of this opinion when the soulseizer chrysanthemum outsmarts and nearly kills him and Zorian, despite the two of them being extraordinarily skilled [[TheArchmage Archmages.]] [[spoiler: This actually greatly works in Zorian's favor in the climax, since Zach not learning much more about the flower allows Zorian to study it in secret and adapt his own magic to overcome Mind Blank, thus saving Zach's life.]]

* CombatPragmatist: Knowing that [[WeakButSkilled he'll likely be less powerful than those he'll have to fight]], Zorian plans much of his fighting style around preparation beforehand, often in the form of making golems, though he is just as willing to use a gun if need be.

** Quatach-Ichl is also a victim of this. While he's a NobleDemon who adheres to a code of honor and never betrays people unless they betray him first, he's also a thousand years old, meaning that his moral system is ''extremely'' dated and generally far more brutal than most people would consider acceptable in the present day.

* CombatPragmatist: Knowing that [[WeakButSkilled he'll likely be less powerful than those he'll have to fight]], Zorian plans much of his fighting style around tricks, traps, and bombs.

* HelicopterParents: Zorian's mother is a close-minded, status-obsessed social climber who tried to groom him into a worthy successor for their merchant family. It didn't take. Later on, it's revealed that [[spoiler: the reason why they are traveling all the way across the world to meet Daimen is because he intends to marry a princess in Koth, which very much goes against the parents' plans of having a ''local'', influential in-law.]]

* CorruptedContingency: Liches tend to have protections intended to pull their souls back to their phylacteries if threatened. [[spoiler:Which is how Kael's banishment coin is able to work; it couldn't have kicked Quatach-Ichl out by itself, but his contingencies triggered. Zorian defeats Quatach-Ichl in the final battle in a similar way, although that is a downplayed example, as it did involve a genuinely dangerous attack.]]

* HypnotismReversal: Red Robe captures Zorian, then attempts to use mind magic to read his memories and find out who else is aware of the [[GroundhogDayLoop time loop]]. However, while Red Robe has put considerable effort into training his unstructured mind magic skills, he doesn't have the bloodline gift that would make it truly effective. Zorian ''does'', and even with his more limited training, he's able to seize on the mental connection Red Robe has created and use it to counterattack, scrambling Red Robe's thoughts and interfering with his muscle control for long enough to escape.

* IndyEscape: Subverted; [[spoiler:the ancient palace of the Ikosian emperor used to have rolling boulder traps, but they've decayed into uselessness.]]