The End? (Chapters 103, 104, 105 & 106)

That was in chapter 39, and Zorian made a lot of progress since then. But maybe you're right. I'll need a full reread to check it :)

I think I have the explanation for this. Zorian's mind sense and empathy works automatically, but knowing that a mind is shielded (if it's not the kind that also blocks mind sense and/or empathy) requires actively trying to intrude into the mind. Look at chapter 39, when Zorian only realized Xvim constantly shielded his mind when Zorian tried to read his mind (probably just surface thoughts). And Zorian did make a deal out of not just reading people's mind willy-nilly during the loop lest he slide down the slippery slope once out of the loop.

AKAAkira

He was on the level of casual telepathy years ago. He's an empath, he feels if someone's mind is protected as soon as the mind comes to his attention. In the chapter, he clicked his tongue, slowed down his platform, he tried talking to them and only then he noticed? Unauthentic.

Ahh. Ok I hadn't considered that. However would there be surface thoughts if a person was unconscious? Also Zach mentions that he digs deeper into the people which suggested to me that he was doing deep memory scans.

Dark Prophet

Hmm. I will have to consider this one. I've added it to my editing list as an issue for consideration.

Domagoj Kurmaic

This was beautiful. Thanks so much for the consistently excellent story! I think I've found a slight continuity problem -- in the epilogue, Zach reads the older Silverlake's mind and finds that she's forgotten the last month. However, earlier in the story Silverlake states that her mind is protected and designed to implode if tampered with, and that she set up those defenses a long time ago. I think that the story would work better if Zorian just showed Zach a badly damaged corpse of the old Silverlake instead of allowing access to her mind.

Robert McIntyre

I'm not sure what you mean. Zorian always tries to negotiate with non-enemies first. As soon as he saw the eagle riders wouldn't change their minds, he begins probing their mental defenses. As soon as Zorian sensed their apprehension about Oganj, he pushed them over the edge.

JDG

I love this story and expect the epilogue anxiously. Thank you for your amazing work

Thank you for this read ride. I regularly sue this story as an example of why exactly i read fiction on the net rather than hardcover books.

First thing Zorian is - the best mind mage ever. His encounter with eagles and not figuring out in the first millisecond that their minds aren't protected is a redundant example of "Idiot ball" trope. Could you rewrite this piece before calling it finished?

Zorian's mind magic is unstructured and extremely flexible, so he needed a lot of practice to develop those skills. By contrast, there are structured spells that allow the user to hear surface-level thoughts. That kind of thing is trivial for Zorian. Also, I think you're right that soul perception and mind magic aren't related.

JDG

Okay now I'm completely lost. I was aware that he could do very limited mind magic through structured spells - such as speaking mind to mind. However outright reading people in the way described is waaay beyond basic level mind magic. Remember Zorian had to mind rape to death a bunch of invaders to be able to do it. Also what does being able to do mind magic have to do with soul perception? This is the first time I've seen that requirement.

Dark Prophet

He was always able to do limited amounts of mind magic. I think the restrictions were mainly for the soul magic, mind magic, blood magic, and maybe 1 other. If he was not able to read mind then he would have never been able to develop his soul perception either.

Scott B Fenton

Guys there's one thing I don't get - how was Zach reading minds. I thought there was very little he could do with mind magic. Didn't his contract have big restrictions in place in regards to mind magic?

Dark Prophet

So I finally read MoL. I learned about it recently and read it in one breath. Thank you for your wonderful story and its main character! I had never seen a character so much like me, who thinks like me, feels like me, and even looks like me (at least looked before my laser vision correction). Not 100%, of course, but still similar. This is one of the reasons why I love this story, besides the fact that it is wonderful in itself :)

I can't believe I never noticed the header of this channel until the second to last chapter...

Federico

Standing ovation with tears on my face. This is just so much, so beautiful, so satisfying. Thank you, thank you so much for taking all this time and making it absolutely perfect. Jsyk, I laughed so hard at Silverlake's faith my cat got scared x) Ha-ha! In your face witch! Also, the beginning of chapter 15 gave me a small heart attack before I realised what was happening. Sweet bajeesus. Going to reread it tomorrow!

Masha

I didn't think to increase my pledge last week. I hope the epilogue counts as a paid release. 👍

JDG

I didn't stop to express my thanks, but should do it now :) Worth the wait, and thanks again for the whole story. It was more than a pleasant ride : it is something I reread a lot and enjoy tremandously. I love this ending, especially as it allows us to know more about everyone involved and answers some pretty good questions I had. Now, I'm just waiting for next "Sunday or other" for an epilogue, and hope it will quench my thirst of MoL. A small part of me would love to see the world after this part, but I am fine with this small disappointment :)

Bruno Salque

Not sure what plans you have for the epilogue, but could you make it multiple chapters to address the various dangling threads? Specifically, I imagine you could do a chapter each on - 1. Kiri and friends' immediate future (and mage training). 2. State of the aranea, repaying them, maybe hint at how zorian will use the teleportation gates. 3. State of the school, professors, whether zorian will finish his education, or maybe do research with xvim. 4. Silverlake, Alanic, soul magic, church, etc. 5. State of government, how they react to zorian/zach. 6. various other side characters (this could be multiple chapters easily. I just suck with names lol)

Shawn Liu

Thank you!!

Andrew

Congratz Domagoj Kurmaic.. The story never let its pace falter from start to finish.. I dont remember a single chapter where i felt the story boring.. Great job man

A couple of typos 105 and letting them relieve the battle again => relive 103 burning through his mana an at unacceptable rate. => at an unacceptable rate (or just omit the article) Overall, good story, can't wait for the epilogue!

You made us wait all those months for this? ... worth it :D There are two things I think you did great, that many authors (even big shots) sometimes fail at: 1) When a story starts with a premiss (in this case, time loop), at some point the plot need to leave that premiss to wrap things up. That's when I frequently notice a quality drop in the story. It feels like the author had a good idea to start but didn't know how to finish. Here, you handled that transition from "time loop" to "real world" really nicely, the story kept flowing. 2) The ending. Without spoilers, I think it's a very satisfying conclusion. That is not something easy to do, as so many works of fiction fail at it, on some level or another. Whether people like it or not, you gave the story a proper conclusion. Congratulations and thanks!

so now several years of epilogue right? (okay maybe not but wow, loved this)

The longer the epilogue is the happier I will be. This was an amazing story and I wish it could go on forever

BookDragonling

I will. I just need to decide that. No shortage of options, I just need to find one that works.

Domagoj Kurmaic

I am filled with a lot of positive emotion now! Thank you! I hope you will write more after this story.

Mathias Baumann

Thanks for the awesome conclusion! Totally worth the wait. Although I suspected what was going to happen since we found out about how Zach's contract works, it was still very well executed and super interesting. I could tell how much effort was put into getting this right. I decided to become a patron for this little final stretch - I consider the story good enough to become a book (or a few), so I'm paying accordingly. :) Looking forward to the epilogue!

André Mello

Yes. Once I make plot summaries and do some test chapters I'll pick a story from one of my many ideas and come back with another work.

Domagoj Kurmaic

Well, I put the epilogue target date as this next Sunday, but you know me by now so... fingers crossed and hope for the best.

Domagoj Kurmaic

Thank you so much for story! I have been following it since 2014 and have reread it halve a dozen times. I can't wait to see what you what stories you come up with next. Do you have any plans for writing in the future?

Near future.

Domagoj Kurmaic

Thanks. I actually already corrected the first two by now, but I added the other two to the big list of edits to make. Typos, man. Typos never change.

Domagoj Kurmaic

Wow, you sure don't mess around when you want to reward the author, ha ha. Incidentally, do you happen to know which chapter(s) these typos belong to? I can tell for some of them, but for others I would have to tinker around with all four chapters to track them down. If not, no big deal, I just figured you may have that information.

Domagoj Kurmaic

Demigod's SoL. Niche genera :-)

wanderer117

Thank you so much for the story and its end. I just finished. The last chapter has left me confused and probably would need somebody explain it to me. All in all I'm super impressed with how you imagined the story, time loop, characters, mind magic capabilities etc., I hope the epilogues comes soon.

D

Wow, what a good ending. Not many online novels manage to make it to the end, and if they do it usually ends with a whimper instead of a bang. This was a bang! Thank you for the story. I am looking forward to the epilogue, I am wondering if it will be like Harry Potter 17 years later, or if it will just be in the near future instead.

Hugo Meijer

Excellent. Couldn't have hoped for a better ending. Just signed up to help pay for the epilogue. Also, here are some typos: "ward as dissected" -> "ward was dissected" "he wasn't, careful it" -> "he wasn't careful, it" "steering his away" -> "steering him away" "Zach's was angry" -> "Zach was angry" "Zorian had gotten" -> "Zach had gotten" "tattered in pitch" -> ? (Tatter isn't a verb) "horse he" -> "horde he" (probably) "human cruel and unpleasant" -> "cruel and unpleasant human" "people's mind" -> "people's minds"

Thanks so much for all your work. In the past I've told myself that I would report typos but never bothered, but I want to help contribute. In 103: "stone to power" - > powder. "he (Silverlake) crowed" - >she. "he charred, skeletal corpse" - > the. "and if he wasn't, careful he could" - > and if he wasn't careful, he could. I hope this helps!

Yeah, I hope to read 5 chapters of epilogue ;) even if all of them are done every three weeks.

Bruno Salque

Just woke up from an MoL dream where Zach was on that hill just thinking and thinking . . . that was so powerful. Congratulations on finishing (minus the epilogue) this wonderful story. I can't wait for when Zach finds out his best friend isn't dead after all.

JDG

Your editor is super right about the epilogue to many things need closure

Bert Peeters

Wow, can't even begin to describe how impressed I am with the final wrap up. Can't wait for an epilogue!!! Cheers!

Just finished, great ending. Drew on some Virtuosity, I see... or maybe not. I'm surprised Zorian mind wiped every one, instead of just some enemy guy he didn't care about and replaced whoever then messed with his memory every time Zach tried to read. Really contemplating sending some more money your way for this awesome end. Any plans after this is finished?

Congratulations, and thank you for everything Domagoj. Mother of Learning has been a once in a lifetime experience. Take it easy, and write for fun!

Ben Veltri

Been following this monthly and then triweekly for just over 5 years. What a satisfying and bittersweet ending. Personally I hope the epilogue wraps things up nicely and you've got another spellbinding epic lined up, but whatever comes, thank you for this fantastic journey.

nyt

104: "Black swords made out dimensional force" missing "of". "wraith horse" "horde?"

Nathan Fish

103 has a mistake: "demon tree" when presumably "angel tree" was intended. Also "stone to power" powder?

Nathan Fish

Thanks for everything! Been amazing to follow along with this novel :) If you ever decide to write another novel, I'll be looking forward to following that too! Don't want to make an assumptions of one, as the amount of effort that must've gone into writing this one is incredible. Just glad to have experienced it.

Lovely ending - Personally hoping for as long of an epilogue as possible - even a book consisting simply of how Zorian ties up any loose ends and experiences life after all hes been through in a slice of life manner(not rushed-simply daily life, not sure if the term "slice of life" is a proper term for that?). Though thats just wishful thinking I guess :p

Required

Loved it! Obviously I'm still looking forward to the epilog but the triple I win view changes worked really well.

wanderer117

The Imperial Crown by default gives temporary loopers six months. They didn’t do anything extra for that.

Listerine

Woooo... what a hell of a trip. Thank you so, so much for this story.

Stephen “can Rage last for four years” C

Thank you for all your hard work! Excited for the epilogue!

Kilo181

It’s been a fun ride and I’m sticking around for the epilogue too. Thanks

Tonberry

it was awesome. Thank you!

Very satisfying. I'm so curious how Zach and the others got the imperial crown to extend their markers for six months. Thanks for the journey. For years, I've told anyone I know who likes fantasy about this so they can enjoy it as well. Time for a reread! 🐼

JDG

I had picked up on zorian using an elaborate mind illusion to trick zach the moment he was laying out those mind glyph in seceret. The Jornak illusion was a suprise though.

Honestly, ive already put some thought into how the epilogue should go in a comment several chapters back by now. Domagoj could write a full book just tying up the character arcs of notable minor characters.

Thank you it has been an incredible journey and something I was able to look forward to every month for years. I feel kinda stupid for adjusting my pledge expecting multiple patreon post only to find it all in one :) Guess I will set aside the money to get the (hopefully) coming physical and audiobook release for myself and friends ;)

Just here to say thanks. I've been following the story for a couple years now and I've really enjoyed it. I haven't been able to support your work until now but I'm glad that I'm able to be a patron now atleast.

He had me in the first third not gonna lie

LurkerFrontCenter

Thank you! I'll definitely continue my pledge just for the epilogue, because closure is important. This story has been one of the best stories I've followed and read and I want to say thank you so very much for sharing it with us.

Just a thought, when you write the epilogue, you could always write it as current epilogue and perhaps a quick view of the future of the main characters :) allowing us to see if they are happy with the end result of their life choices

Corwin Amber

No, unless there was a reason to think they knew something, he left them alone.

Domagoj Kurmaic

Did Zorian chose to mindwipe normal people of the entire month just to be sure no one could possibly have figured it out, as far as Zach knows, even though the only people who explicitly know are a few of their helpers?

Listerine

That was the stated plan from the beginning. Actually you were supposed to get the epilogue as well, but you know...

Domagoj Kurmaic

Also, I can't believe you only counted this as one chapter for patreon! WTF its 4 chapters. <3

David Zabner

Thank you for a really fun ride and a fantastic novel. I am excited for the epilogue! Great job finishing this whole thing up!

David Zabner

Gotta say, your ending for Jornak was Amazing, Fantastic and so Astonishly fitting. And what a perfect day, on groundhog day for the story to end. Thank you so much for writing Mother of Learning :D

Jeppe Fiig

I'm very satisfied with how it turned out. Could have been better, but that's always true. As much as I enjoyed writing the story, this is where it was always leading up to, and I'm glad I was able to bring it to a close. Well, almost. Still have an epilogue to write and all...

Domagoj Kurmaic

Thank you Domagoj, that was a wonderful ending. You definitely made a story that I very much enjoyed reading for the past 8 years. I am looking forward to the epilogue, and hope you are as satisfied with that ending as a writer, as I was as a reader.

Daniel I Beer

Not read yet, but so hyped. Might be better to have this end the story and then release the epilogue later anyway. Thanks for all the hard work.

Asking the real questions.

Inslayer

So, now the only question is...how soon until the audible release.

Aaron Stewart Nagy

Can’t wait to read! I literally just finished rereading through the whole series, took me the whole month of january, but the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Blue

I can only say THANK YOU! so many stories don't actually get finished and it breaks my heart every time. I thank you from the bottom of my heart ❤️!

GunySa

Oh, wow, yeah, congratulations! You really did it! 🎺🎺🎺

Masha

I am scared. Is it truly going to be over? I was kind of ready for a delay. Now I am not sure I am mentally prepared to read this.

Masha

Thank you and congratulations.

Mr R

I love you.

Yay, man!!! Congrats. All cheers go to you! I'd love to see some more love to that universe in the epilogue. :)