History Literature / AMagesPower

!! A Mage's Power contains these tropes

* AllJustADream: [[spoiler: Eric fears this is the case when he wakes up in his apartment and not a second has passed since he left. Then Tasio delivers his staff and spellbook to his front door.]]

* AttemptedRape: [[spoiler: Tahart's job offer Annala to is a ruse for the purpose of raping her. He hides {{Power Nullifier}}s and a SlaveCollar in her uniform to make her weaker. He would have succeeded if not for Eric's intervention.]]

* BaldOfEvil: [[spoiler: Tahart Ligo is a bald orc, who is gluttonous, unlawful, and a rapist.]]
* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: Selen's coup relied heavily on Kasile's paranoia. If she hadn't jumped at his bait with the Ceihan ambassador, then it would have fallen apart before it started. He even thanks her once she's at his mercy.]]

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Averted with Kasile. No matter how much she protests that "divine beauty is never tarnished" she is a sweaty and disheveled mess after a training session. [[spoiler: After she's injured in the climatic battle, it takes a corps of ladies-in-waiting to make her presentable again.]]

* BlackMarket: It's implied that Motsuc's Customization shop is part of a black market and that he is the one who sold a [[spoiler: [[SlaveCollar prison runed maid outfit]] to Tahart Ligo.]]
-->'''Basilard''': ''"Team, let's go before I get an urge to ask Motsuc where he got these items."''
-->'''Motsuc''': ''"I assure you I run a legitimate business!"''
* BloodKnight: Tiza looks forward to fighting monsters on missions.

* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: Eric and Dengel have an argument after Eric [[spoiler: kills Tahart, an orc]].
-->'''Dengels''': ''...Orcs are savages.''
-->'''Eric''': ''He was a person!''
-->'''Dengel''': ''He was a savage person.''
* BrokenPedestal: Eric idolized Dengel ever since he read the ancient mage's book, "The Spirit and It's Power". After he becomes a HeroicHost for Dengel, he exclaims that he keeps that book on his bed side table. [[spoiler: Then he pulls a GrandTheftMe and Eric realizes that he's a treacherous and power hungry opportunist.]]

* CharacterDeath: [[spoiler: Aio dies in the Yacian Caverns due to injures.]]
* ChekhovsGun: When Eric fist arrives on Tariatla, he witnesses Captain Hasina test an instant-hangover cure on a passed out gian. [[spoiler: When he needs Culmus to sober up in a hurry, he remembers this event and goes to see her.]]
* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler: Everything went as Tasio directed. He arranged for Eric to meet Annala and join the Dragon's Lair. He worked with Basilard to engineer a DarkestHour that would force Eric into action. He removed the sound-proof runes from Tahart's apartment so Eric would hear Annala's cry. Even Selen's EvilPlan only unfolded as it did becuse Tasio incorporated it into his own.]]

* ConservationOfNinjitsu: There's an aversion in the climax. [[spoiler: Kasile and Siron are surrounded by a large group of faceless and nameless soldiers, and it is made clear that the only reason they're still alive is because these soldiers don't want to kill them. The former is their nation's popular princess and the latter is their boss' son. Not only do their orders include "don't kill them", they're personally reluctant to do so anyway.]]

* DareToBeBadass: [[spoiler: Kasile uses one of these at the climax. When Eric has given up completely and it looks like the bad guy has won, she reminds him of all the incredible things he's done. In this way inspires him to confront Dengel and save the day.]]
* DarkestHour: [[spoiler: Eric and Kasile have been arrested on charges of sedition and locked in the castle dungeon. The Dragon's Lair is about to be raided so its members can join them. {{Power Nullifier}}s make Dengel's magical knowledge worthless. At this point Eric gives up and shouts for Tasio to send him back to Threa. Tasio doesn't arrive, and Eric realizes the AwfulTruth-Tasio ''planned'' this outcome. Not only will he not helped Eric, he's laughing his ass off at his expense.]]

* DamselOutOfDistress: ZigzaggedTrope. [[spoiler: Kasile easily handles the mooks that have come to abduct her, but their leader subdues her just as easily. Eric comes to rescue her but by the time he arrives, she's loose and on the verge of escape. In the end, she follows the outlaw force that composes her official rescue party.]]

* EngineeredHeroics: [[spoiler: This is Plan A for the BigBad, Duke Selen Esrah. He's hoping a RescueRomance will rekindled the relationship between his son and his ex-girlfriend, Princess Kasile. He hires some rogues to do the kidnapping, infiltrates them with a couple of his own guards to guard against betrayal and then sends down his son. The problem is that his son is captured despite his efforts, and someone else gets the credit.]]
* EvilPlan: [[spoiler: Duke Selen Esrah orcastrated Kasile's kidnapping and then the coup at the climax in order to become king.]]
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: Aio is one of many guises worn by Tasio. He pretended to die to galvanize Eric into active.]]

* FatBastard: Tahart Ligo is an orc so "heavily muscled" that he can't bend over and clip his own toenails. He's not NiceToTheWaiter, or anyone else for that matter. [[spoiler: In fact, he attempts to rape his temporary maid and then bribe her rescuer into looking the other way. When Eric refuses, Tahart decides to eat him instead.]]

* GrandTheftMe: After the shaman of Kyraa gives Eric the spirit of Dengel, she warns him to never give Dengel full control of his body, because if he does, then this could be the result. [[spoiler: At the climax, he crosses the GodzillaThreshold and does it anyway.]]

* GodWasMyCopilot: [[spoiler: In this case, the King of The Tricksters was my roommate.]]

** Any one of the Black Cloak rogues could kill him on their own, so he [[spoiler: pretends to be one of them and uses a quick spell combo to disable them when his ruse is discovered.]]
** When he fights mages from the Royal Academy, [[note]] Students of magical theory and other non-combat areas of study who have never been in a serious fight before [[/note]] he curbstomps all of them but one. When he fights Kallen Selios [[note]] A veteran field agent for the ICDMM, which hunts monsters so they can study mana mutation [[/note]], he is curbstomped himself.
** [[spoiler: In his climatic confrontation with Dengel, his only path to victory is exploiting the elder mage's ego and deceiving him. A direct confrontation would lead to a quick and premanent death. ]]

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: After his father's plot leads to Kasile being locked up in her own dungeon, Siron decides that enough is enough and frees her.]]

* HeroicRROD: Eric is a novice mage and novice mages should not attempt intermediate or advanced spells. The results are nasty. [[spoiler: After maintaining an elemental fusion spell for a prolonged period of time, he starts going nuts and had to be knocked out for his own safety. He was unconscious for a full day and couldn't manage any spells for a week. He didn't return to full strength until Dengel treated the damage he did to himself.]]

* HoldingTheFloor: [[spoiler: Duke Selen]], the BigBad, has been cornered by the heroes. So he holds their attention with an explanation of his evil plan until his reserve troops can show up.

* IChooseToStay: [[spoiler: Eric is happy on Tariatla and has no desire to go back to Threa. Tasio says otherwise and drags him back.]]

* IShallTauntYou: Eric prevents Dengel from noticing [[spoiler: the trap he is setting]] by exploiting the ancient mage's ego. For instance, "the great sage is dead, ''because he wet his bed''!"

* KillingInSelfDefense: Eric has to fight an orc. In this verse, even the weakest orc is bigger, tougher and stronger than the average human and Eric is a teenager with beginner magic. The only way to protect himself [[spoiler: and Annala, who was Tahart's initial target]] was to put the orc down for good. The in-house advocate for Eric's guild says the self-defense case is so clear that he won't have to stand trial for it.

* TheLadysFavor: It's tradition for jousters, be they formal knights or not, to receive a token from their girlfriend/wife (or boyfriend/husband as the case may be) before moving to the list field. [[spoiler: Eric must acquire one of these to successfully complete a RescueArc. When Kasile is kidnapped, he acquires her handerchief from Culmus, her secret boyfriend, and uses it as part of a tracking spell.]]

* MagicEye: ''Evil Eye'' is a spiritual technique that can paralyze the target through eye contact. Unlike magic it cannot be taught, only be developed through periods of intense fear, hatred, and/or sorrow. [[spoiler: When Eric sees that Tahart has restrained and is about to rape Annala, he develops this ability.]]

* {{Meido}}: Annala becomes a household maid as a summer job and wears a stylized version of a maid's traditional outfit as a uniform. [[spoiler: The uniform is a ruse for {{Power Nullifier}}s and a SlaveCollar.]]

* MotiveRant: [[spoiler: When Princess Kasile and her party corner Duke Selen Esrah during his coup, she demands an explanation for his actions. He talks about how she is a poor excuse for a future queen because of her arrogance and paranoia. He believes that taking the throne from her is for the good of Ataidar. He also doesn't like how she broke his son's heart and leands so heavily on outlaws for protecting the realm instead of nobles like himself. While all of this is true, he's actually HoldingTheFloor while waiting for his resserves troops.]]

* OrderVersusChaos: Inverted; Eric reads a story that protrays them as family. In fact, they're mother and son. [[spoiler: A scene at the climax states that there is more animosity between them then the story implied.]]

* PairTheSmartOnes: Eric and Annala, two school nerds, quickly become friends and later TwiceShy. [[spoiler: This is engineered by Tasio, who knew he would fawn over a "cute and sweet nerd".]]

** Tasio has a plan to make Eric grow a spine. [[spoiler: He incorporates the later two into his own.]]
** Duke Selen has a plan to [[spoiler: become King or dowager king of Ataidar. He exploits Kasile's into his own but is unaware of Tasio's.]]
** Kasile has a plan to ferret out her kidnappers. [[spoiler: She has no idea that the person helping her hired them to do so.]]

* PoliceBrutality: The Royal Guard that comes to arrest Eric [[spoiler: on charges of sedition, treason, and brainwashing a princess]] is a complicated case. On one hand they are brutal in subduing him, but that's because he's a professional mercenary and so is capable of hurting them if they are not quick. One of them spits on and curses him, but she is immediately punished by her immediate superior. He then apologises to Eric and tells him that she is new to the force and doesn't know the code of conduct yet. He also tells Eric that he believes Eric's crime to be worthy of brutality [[TheFettered but that would not be lawful]] and so he will restrain himself.

** [[spoiler: Tahart hides them in Annala's maid uniform to make unable to resist him.]]
** [[spoiler: When Eric is arrested, a metal collar is snapped on him to prevent him from attacking the officers.]]

* ProperlyParanoid: For Kasile, no threat or conspiracy to her throne is too small or silly to ignore. She's positive that there's something brewing in the shadows and she's right [[spoiler: but she fingers the wrong person. Her fears are exploited by Duke Selen Esrah in his EvilPlan for the throne. He uses her paranoia to paint the Ceihan Ambassador, and when she jumps into action, accuse her of being manipulated by someone else with designs for the throne.]]
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The Stand Stinger Society of Kyraa functions this way. They are the chiefdom's warrior caste and so they are charged with maintaining order. They enforce the decisions of the elders, patrol the desert for monsters and invaders, and fight in ritualized duels. [[spoiler: Tiza becomes an honorary member by winning one such duel.]]

* SecurityCling: [[spoiler: After nearly being raped]], Annala clings to Eric's arm because she's rattled and in need of comfort.

* SinkOrSwimMentor: Tasio's plan to develop Eric's confidence is to drop him on a monster infested foreign world and then abandon him. [[spoiler: After the reveal, he tells Eric that he was watching over him every step of the way, first as Aio and then in other guises. If he thought Eric couldn't handle a certain danger, he would have pulled the boy out of it.]]
* SlaveCollar: [[spoiler: Tahart hides one of these in the ruffled maid collar he gives to Annala as a uniform. She's unaware that it places her under any more control than implied by a summer job. At a command it can choke her into submission.]]

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: Tasio says this about Aio, his alter ego. Since Eric has gained many other friends, he has played his role in Eric's development.]]
* YouShallNotPass: [[spoiler: Basilard pulls this in the Yacian Caverns in order to enable his students and client to escape a pack of Xethras.]]

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The Dragon's Lair hierarchy is built with this in mind. Proving that he can kick ass is how Eric promotes from Apprentice to Novice. At the top of each Squad is a captain more powerful than several regular members and at the top of the guild is The Dragoness, who could fight all five captains at once.

* MagicStaff: This the WeaponOfChoice for Dragon's Lair mages because they can double as a fighting taff. They're mercenaries after all, not academic researchers. One way of killing monsters is just as good as another.

* MagicStaff: This the WeaponOfChoice for Dragon's Lair mages because they can double as a SimpleStaff. They're mercenaries after all, not academic researchers. One way of killing monsters is just as good as another.

* BaldHeadOfToughness: Orcs don't grow facial hair, and as a ProudWarriorRace, all of them are this by default.

* BaldOfAwesome: Orcs don't grow facial hair, and as a ProudWarriorRace, all of them are this by default.
* BaldOfEvil: The one exception to the BaldOfAwesome listing is [[spoiler: Tahart Ligo, an orc who is gluttonous, unlawful, and a rapist.]]