I just read through the whole story after discovering it a few days ago. It's simply fantastic. I also read a lot of the recent commentary in this thread. I personally think the story's pace is great, and I would be devastated if the time loop ended before the conclusion of the story. This 2nd arc has been just as good as the 1st one, despite the introduction of all the new characters and plot points.

I would argue that the time loop aspect of the story is everything, that the exploration of the world and the intricate web of plot points is precisely what makes this such a great time loop story. I've read some time loops in fanfiction before, but they failed because the setting was too familiar, too focused on the character becoming overpowered, too wish-fulfillment like in the origins of the loop, and too weak in establishing suspense and conflict. Even Time Braid, which is supposedly the inspiration for MoL, cannot even come close to MoL's execution of the time loop plot.

This story is great because of the tension between the 3 (or more) time travelers and the way that more of the world is constantly being revealed as a direct consequence of Zorian's looping. There are so many little things that eventually connect together, and it doesn't just stop with the first loop's events. Every observation in every loop could lead to something significant later on.

I don't think that the story is character-driven at all. It's just a mirage. It's true that exploring each character's backstory is very interesting, but that's different from the characters actually driving the story. It's merely a side-effect, or tool, in the development of the mysteries surrounding the time loop. A true character-driven story would have us be emotionally invested in the characters' dreams, hopes, fears, and individual outcomes. There's definitely a lot of character development, but ultimately this is still a plot driven story. As far as I can remember, Zorian has yet to involve himself with any characters' problems that are entirely unrelated to the time loop and invasion. There isn't a single character in MoL that I'd be interested in reading about in a new standalone story without Zorian or a time loop, and that, I think, shows that this is really a plot-driven story.

There are several key elements of the story that make it peerless in the time loop genre. The first is that despite the time repetition, the sheer size of the world and magic system that's been built makes it so that we are constantly discovering new things. The second is that Zorian is not the sole time traveler, and there is tension between him and the others. The third is that there are means by which the loopers can be destroyed permanently, so while there are some things that can be tried over and over again, some things can not, and that creates suspense. Finally, Zorian is actively engaged in solving the mystery of the time loop, and that is really driving the plot along to a tangible end with possible conflict over the control of looping. These combine together to create a very interesting and unique story around the central idea of time loops. If time loop were a genre, I would consider this a defining work. Though unfortunately, it's not a genre that has many other compelling stories.

 

I just caught up with this from chapter 34. I remember being a bit bored of the story around then for whatever reason and stopped reading the updates, now though I'm fully invested in it again. It feels like Zorian has had a big boost in competence the last few chapters. Or maybe it's just us having a better perspective on his power in relation to his peers after him being solo in the wilderness for a while.

 

Z' was basically being a hillbilly, going off on random adventures in backalleys and backhills and backwater...yeah, anyway, it's hard to appear competent when you throw yourself into new and increasingly weird situations in weird, sparsely populated places or with weird, crummy old guys that withold all the neat information from you.

Going back to where he started, Zorian is in control again. He knows everything (okay, not really, but comparatively he knows a lot more about his classmates and the situation there). It's natural he's going to appear more competent. I'd argue he left in order to grow and he succeeded, as demonstrated by his increasing competence compared to everyone else he's familiar with.

With time looping powers it's only a matter of time until you've exhausted your reasonable options so it seems he made the right decision.

 

New chapter out.

 

Well I like the promise of Zorian taking some more active efforts against the invaders. Also it does seem like Damien is being mentioned more often.

I think he's going to bring some more people into the loop with the memory packets, they've been built up for too long to have no impact besdes the collected Aranea research.

 

A nice, enjoyable, standard chapter with some more growth.

God, please no, nothing ruins time loop fics like bringing additional people in.

 

The last few chapters do seem to be building towards some revelation about Damien.

Re-reading this, I've noticed how much Zorian's personality seems to change from the beginning.

Anyone else think that this might be the soul fragment affecting his character rather than simply him maturing?

 

Well, then buckle in. Cause this story is going for a long, long time.

What actually pisses me off about this story is that Zorion, while incredibly strong in terms of battle stratgey and tactics, is a shit fighter. And part of that lays with his low mana reserve. He's got such low reserve, even after four years of time looping to build it up, he still can't beat a fellow student in terms of mana reserves.

 

They also seem to be building towards a revaluation about the government time dilation training facility which allows for mages to gain large amounts of skill in a short amount of apparent time. Considering that we know Damien to have considerable skill at a young age I think these two plot threads may be related. It's kind of far fetched thought.

 

There's a drawback to that facility. Unless that place houses some serious equipment or some other major power-up to build up his reserves, it's completely useless to him. Zorion's biggest weakness isn't his techniques, but the lack of power.

 

Zorian wasn't fighting seriously... He's an artificer and a mind mage, not a battlemage. Had he used his mind magic, the fight would have been over in seconds.

 

I prefer seeing Zorian have low reserves and working to get around it using cleverness, initiative, and every technique available--mind magic, devices, golems, foci, alchemy, mad control skills squeezing every erg of magical power out of his reserves. I think that if he were to start pulling a Zach or Damien, the story would lose something vital.

He's well on the way to being a great mage despite his handicaps.

 

Yeah, I find the focus on the shaping aspect of the magic is actually quite interesting. I'm wondering where it will all lead to, initially I thought it was just like Chakra control, a way to maximise efficiency. Now I think it's more than that. Maybe it will lead to him being able to manipulate mana on the fly and not rely on spells.

 

And I completely agree. But even his mind magic won't be able to help him against higher end foes who do know mind magic, and counter/detect him. And so far, every great battle he's ruthlessly won has been on his terms.

There's only so much contingencies he can take before he runs out, and the only thing keeping him alive is his mana reserves. The battle against the girl proved that.

Which is why I'm kinda irritated that his mana reserves barely rose since he first started looping. I'm hoping he seriously starts taking advantage of those battle mages and learn something from them about increasing his mana reserve, because if he can't even beat the girl before he runs out, he's not going to be ready to be facing the lich for centuries to come.

 

https://fictionpress.com/s/2961893/46/Mother-of-Learning

updated. zorian has finally learned to trigger the resets on his own, and none too soon

 

It seems like the plot will start moving again. I'm interested to see what the other soul switches do and where he will go to get help in reading the memory packet. Also, seeing as the necromancer was kind enough to introduce himself, I'm wondering if we'll get more info on the invaders.

 

Personally, I don't think Zorian can trigger resets on his own. I'm pretty sure it's still tied to Zach dying. That switch only kills him.