Spoiler

Oganj was the dragon mage Zach spent a bunch of restarts fighting. It's also Croatian for fire, which is something else I really like about this story. The names are so alien from the standard fantasy Latin/Greek derivatives, it really makes the world feel exotic.

 

Thanks!

Spoiler

(That doesn't necessarily disprove my point )

 

Spoiler

Naah, Oganj is the dragon mage that killed an entire army, the dragon Zach kept trying to kill (leading to lots of short restarts), and finally killed once.

The author has managed to keep the twists coming outside the loop. However, the angel giving Zorian that calling card means that they expect to be involved at the end.

--- Post automerged ---

Damn that IS cool. I liked the Jaglenac stuff as well.

 

Spoiler

The Red Robe's identity, while not an amazing surprise it could be, works very well when considering how detailed the Contract is. He might even found a loophole completely on his own and if that's the case then it's possible for Zorian to somehow save Zach.

Wasn't expecting Oganj to get involved and with Ichl familiar with the situation, Z&Z really need to step up their game and start recruiting.

 

Spoiler

I'm guessing they will have to work with the government to some extent. The Triumverate Church already knows who these two are. But based on the previous discussion of how corrupt and power hungry the govt is... that's not gonna be a good thing

Who can they really get on board? All the usual suspects (Xvim, Alanic, et al) are already in. Maybe the headmaster finally has a role to play?

 

Spoiler

They need Daimen for sure. The teachers and maybe the headmaster. All the nameless fighting experts they recruited in various loops. The government is compromised by now, but maybe they have few names that can be used.

What they lack is a really big hitter to deal with either Ichl and Oganj.

Z&Z could together fight either of them, but both of them, even if they're definitely not going to partner, is too much. They even lost their advantage of Ichl not being aware they're familiar with his fighting tactics. I expect him to prepare a whole new bag of trick just for them. And the problem could be even bigger if Xvim and Alanic can't at least distract the Red Robe and Silverlake.

The angel could probably easily deal with both the lich and the dragon, but I doubt he will be involved that early in the fight. Someone else is needed.

 

Updated: https://www.fictionpress.com/s/2961893/97/Mother-of-Learning

 

Spoiler

SO Jornak focused more on connections and manipulating other people and states into what he wants. He has the Oganj group. He has wraiths. And he allegedly knows who to kill to set off a new Splinter War.

I wonder how a dragon would compare to the god-touched hydra or the rock worm. Honestly, I don't think the dragons are all that dangerous. The wraith bombs seem to be the bigger danger. Plus, there's the stuff that RR hasn't threatened them with. I wonder what that is.

 

Spoiler: Spoilers

I'm just so glad Novelty's back! Its been toooooo long

 

Can someone tell me when MoL is completed? I stopped reading about 4ish chapters ago because I wanted to save up and read to the end in one go.

 

I imagine it's anywhere from 4-5 chapters to at most 10. We're def coming close to the climax. Maybe a short epilogue and aftermath after that

 

Updated three hours ago!

A mostly pointless chapter, as usual.

 

I liked the change of pace, we learnt a few key things, and we see ZnZ changing their plans to deal with the truce and with RR's moves. Next chapter can't be as relaxing, though.

 

It's a slowdown when the things should probably speed up before the final battle, but I liked it. No need to rush things when we're a few chapters away from the ending. Better let the preparation unfold in the background while Zorian has interactions with characters he didn't interact with for a long time. And maybe some characters that he did interact recently too. We didn't get an initial reactions to Z&Z from Xvim and Alanic, but there were more than few of these in the time loop. I would like to get another Daimen's reaction to Zorian, this time when he visits him alone and even more powerful than in the scene we got in the loop.

 

I'm guessing it's not going to end in the 101st chapter, because three more chapters aren't enough to finish it in my opinion. But it can easily be done in five. Two to finish preparations while having the last necessary interactions before the final battle. Two for the final battle though probably extra long. One for the epilogue.

My only doubts are how the author will handle getting Zach out of the contract. Assuming it does happen, in my opinion it should to be a solution that was hinted somewhere instead of something new, but at the moment I can't find anything that would fit.

 

He shouldn't get out of it. Zach is centuries old right? Even more than Zorian I don't think Zach would be able to transition to life outside of the loop. It's also quite impactful that he's known that including Zorian was going to doom himself, but doing it anyway.

 

No, only a little over half a century. Maybe sixty at the highest, would have to check starting age and when they left again.

 

I think I've got a pretty good idea of how Zorian is planning on getting him out of the contract.

Spoiler: Idea

So he Zorian has two abilities that Zach doesn't know about, his ability to bypass mind blank and create an almost perfect illusory replica of Cyoria. We also know at least some of the restrictions on the contract are triggered by Zach's perceptions and that the contract should go away after a month if Zach isn't killed by it.

So Zorian has Zach place himself under a mind blank then traps him in an illusory world, shows everyone who knows getting killed/killing each other off and voila. The end of the month passes with Zach knowing he's fulfilled the contract, probably a bit sad and the contract gets lifted because the month finishes. Then Zorian reveals "surprise not dead" and everyone has a happy ending