Gacha Kingdom Building

-This chapter is written using Anna's POV-

My father died young. He was also a soldier... I don't remember him very well. Nor does my World.

But I remember my Mother.

She was very hardworking... This might have been true for both of them, but... she was the one who took care of me for most of my life...

As a kid, I felt guilty seeing her sacrifice herself so hard for me.

I felt like she deserved to be happier. I could tell that she was a bit lonely, and all she did every day was watch over me... but she was still young and pretty, so surely she could find someone if I wasn't in the way.

So, I decided to leave the house as soon as possible. My Gift had an obvious use for combat, so I trained diligently to become strong and eventually reach the position of knight.

I wasn't particularly interested in the battlefield or anything like that... it was also not just a matter of following my father's footsteps... It was just... what I thought I'd be the best at.

After all, fighting should be easy.

You just overpower whoever is in front of you and then you win.

With this mindset, I began training in my spare time.

Since my village wasn't in a remote location, nor there was a Dungeon Gate nearby, we were pretty safe, meaning the strongest guys around were lumberjacks or blacksmiths.

Not really people I could test my strength in battle...

But I was able to beat up all the other kids, even before my first level up, so I thought I was strong.

Level-ups are very important for my Gift to work, but with danger nowhere to be found, all I could hope for were these stray beasts that appeared every now and then. If not for the experience they provided, I would have been Giftless in all but name.

While living my days like this, waiting for an opportunity, a knight and his unit came to our town. They were hunting monsters from a rampage that had happened in another city, and I took the chance to challenge him.

I wanted him to recognize my strength and recruit me, or at least send me to a contest or camp where I could earn a position in the army.

However... He easily defeated me.

I mean... I wasn't expecting to win, but... He had no trouble at all, and for some reason, I felt like I couldn't use half the strength I usually had.

That made me very mad.

I knew I could do better, I was sure I was strong!

It had to be the effect of his Gift... but he denied my theory no matter how much I complained.

Apparently, it was just a matter of technique.

Like strength, some people are born with it, while others have to learn and develop it.

I thought this was gibberish. To me, techniques were just about looking cool. In a fight, if you're stronger, you should win.

So I dismissed him completely and kept challenging him day after day while his unit was still around.

Eventually, he started to like me, and he came to visit every day to train me.

I thought he and Mom were getting along pretty well too... I would never again in that life feel so realized.

Everything was just falling into place perfectly for me.

But then... they found the monsters they were looking for hiding deep within a cave.

They should have been able to defeat them but... the boss was there.

It was incredibly one-sided, and the knight I admired for so long lost his life while defending the caravans leaving the village.

I felt like he was a liar... the technique and strategy he tried to teach me were useless against superior mighty... I was angry and sad at the man who had died doing his duty... he was the most important person for me and my mother... it wasn't fair for him to leave us like this...

But in a sick twist of fate, this tragedy was what allowed me to join the army as a soldier.

The city we went to needed to reinforce its borders and started recruiting people to either join the guard or the extermination squad that was going to face the monsters again.

I wanted to avenge him... but... I was too afraid.

And for the first time, I noticed the contradiction in my decision.

I wanted Mom to be happy... and to do that I was also going to leave her behind...

Perhaps this rationalization was just a convenient excuse for my fear... but I decided to stay in the guard...

And this might've been the decision that plagued my life... if only I had been more courageous back then, maybe I could've gotten more levels fighting weak monsters... maybe I could've become strong.

Instead, I saw men coming back from the extermination quest carrying his sword as nothing more than loot. The symbol of his strength...

I thought that if I had that, I would be as strong as he was...

So, I kept working as a city guard, and in my free time, I offered my services as a knight for hire. I wanted the money to buy his sword... it was, after all, the only memento he left.

In my eyes, it was the symbol of his power and honor as a knight.

But my dream was crushed. Our country was invaded, and the city I was protecting fell rather quickly.

I didn't change anything, nor there was a meaning to my existence.

I wanted to show my mother my accomplished self... but the most impressive thing I managed to do was abandon her like all the other idiots before me.

Even now, thinking that she might've died while waiting for me to come back home...

Such a useless idiot.

A good-for-nothing, stupid woman who cannot do anything by herself.

This is who I was.

But now... I have the chance to make things right.

I find myself in the same position again... but this time... I will not fear... I will not allow myself to be weak, and I'll win.

At least I'll try, but my opponent is not making this easy.

Anna: "You do realize that running away changes nothing, right?"

It was a lesson I learned long ago.

While this guy is the better swordsman, the fact is that he's weaker than me. Whenever we clash, I can feel him struggling to stand. There's nothing he can do to win, I'll eventually get a solid hit in, and he will be unable to fight back.

Even if we just trade blows to our heart's content, my defense is almost as great as my strength. I'll outlast him easily.

He might be aiming to tire me by making me climb all these stairs with my greatsword in hand, but... my stamina is not going to run out so easily.

I pity him for trying so hard, but the result is clear.

Back when everyone got separated, I chose to go after him because he was carrying a sword, which in my mind meant that I'd have more of an advantage compared to my odds against one of the mages or someone with an obviously troublesome Gift.

I thought it was sound reasoning, but each passing minute made it clear that this ended up being a mistake.

On every floor, we would fight for a few minutes. He always gets a couple of hits in, but they don't injure me too deeply as he makes sure to keep himself safe above everything else, and as soon as I start to overpower him, he leaves to the next floor using his speed advantage.

If we had the same level, he'd have been done for a long time ago.

But the problem is that he's making me waste a lot of time here.

Miwen has a lot of strong girls by his side... so what I can offer him is my defensive status.

Since Elizabeth decided to accompany him, the others might need me to fulfill the role of their barrier, so for the sake of everyone, I needed to end this quickly.

AOTG Member: "...!"

He came to attack me again.

It was the same dance we did other times. He does all his frilly faints and whatnot while I block the way to the lower floor.

When he comes at me, he makes sure that he's not hit back, so our clashes only last for a few seconds, as any more than that and I would break him apart.

While he is managing to hit me, his attacks barely hurt. I wasn't going to fall with just this...

All I needed to win this was a good hit...

But I couldn't act rashly. Everything was under my control, and if we kept going like this, it would be just a matter of time before he couldn't run anymore.

Risking it all in one big attack was senseless.

We were on the eighth floor already, and there was just one other where he could run to, after a fifth clash, he was finally beginning to run out of space, and soon he'd be left with only two options. Either he would face me properly, or run to the last floor.

I was sure victory was within my grasp...

But suddenly, blood started spilling out of my mouth.

A wicked smile appeared on his face, and for the first time, I heard his voice.

AOTG Member: "Finally, goddamnit. I was beginning to think that you were made of steel."

Anna: "What... did you do...?"

The bleeding wasn't stopping, and I felt some drips running out of my nose.

I had already been exposed to something similar... when Ellie uses her Gift to poison enemies, sometimes they get like this too...

AOTG Member: "Oh, where's the confidence from the gorilla that kept chasing after me? You see girl, my body releases a special toxin. I've been flooding every floor of this building for a while now. I thought I'd need to concentrate everything on the next floor, but... it's already game over for you."

No way...

I couldn't feel anything... only that my body was slightly weaker now...

Was this intentional?

This was so reminiscent of Miwen... carefully and slowly fighting until you have enough advantages that your enemy is left without option...

It's the type of opponent I hate the most... why couldn't you just be a simple blockhead with a sword...

Still, this was too early to give up.

I thought that all I needed to do was get some fresh air in, so I rushed to the wall and broke a hole through it. I also began to destroy the windows of the building...

However, my condition had no signs of improving. If anything, the amount of blood leaving my body was slowly increasing and my strength was also leaving me.

AOTG Member: "Wow. I wasn't expecting the gorilla to be able to think. Too bad though. I have total control over these toxins. They will not disperse unless I make them."

Shit...

In this case... would he still be able to keep this up on the rooftop?

It's probably going to be a lot harder to concentrate them than on this floor with just a few sources of fresh air... but he might be able to do it...

Not to mention... I'd have to go fight my way through this floor and then another... If I charge at him, I bet I can safely reach the rooftop in like five minutes, but...

I might not be able to afford it...

The only alternative then is...

AOTG Member: "Sorry to say, but running away changes nothing. I won't let you go so easily."

I just glanced at the stairs to the lower floor, but it was enough for him to see through my intentions.

As I thought... the fastest path would be to the rooftop, but it might not be enough.

The safest option is to leave the building entirely... but I'm almost sure it would take too long as I'd have to keep him at bay.

...I thought about jumping out of the building... But then the toxin would still eat away at me...

Running away wasn't going to change anything... I needed to fight. I had to defeat him.

I can't believe I fell into this trap... it's all because I started thinking I was so strong again...

Idiot, you should know by now that you don't amount to anything. There's nothing you can do by yourself.

...

...But I'm not by myself anymore...

This guy is strong in a way that I'm not.

I'm not cut out for cunning tactics, tricky strategies, or complex techniques ... what I'm good at is swinging my sword.

In this life, there's nothing I want more than to be strong enough to destroy everything standing in our way.

I firmly grabbed the hilt of my sword, applying much more strength than I had ever done.

I'll not make the same mistake again... I'll believe in my strength this time... so that I can continue to grow stronger.

So that I can protect the ones I care about. So that I can make them proud this time...

There's no accomplishment more important to me than this.

It's thanks to his power, that I am now this strong. Thus, I'll dedicate it to him.

As for the troublesome things... I'll destroy them all.

Now that I think about it, even the sword in my hands is a gift he gave me. My very own symbol as his knight.

And this is the way to use it...

With all the strength I could muster, I swung my sword to the ground. Creating the biggest earthquake I had ever done.

If I did something like this anywhere, I'm sure the others would complain...

It's only thanks to him allowing me to train and test it that I know the extent of our power combined...

Each of his retainers is more skilled than me... but they all show me warm care and comprehension...

We have so much everyday happiness that it's hard to carry... but even with this incalculable weight... I'll carry it with a smile. And I'll protect it with my life.

As the building started to tremble, my opponent lost his smile and charged at me in order to make the earthquake stop.

Sadly, that's not how it works. Once I took the sword from the ground and raised it in the air, he stopped in his tracks noticing that he was being impulsive.

Since he didn't come at me, I struck the ground again, causing another earthquake, as big as the last.

My strength was slowly fading, but my determination was not.

I'm not weak anymore and I refuse to be weak again.

Just another quake and the building was sure to collapse.

So, I raised my sword again.

Now this was game over.

He didn't have an option, he had to come straight at me to make me stop.

And when he did, I sacrificed a bit of my power to hasten my attack, making sure that our swords would finally meet properly.

Seeing his sword broken in two... As I thought... I only needed one hit.

Anna: "Who would've thought huh? This gorilla ended up outsmarting you. Surrender, or else."

I didn't have much time remaining... in case he didn't stop the toxins, I would have to kill him...

But before I could hear his answer... the building collapsed.

My high defense came in clutch for the second time today, as not only did it make me last longer against his toxin, but also made me leave the rubbles almost unscathed... it ended up just hurting a lot, but I was barely bleeding from it.

Actually, since there wasn't blood coming out of my nose and mouth anymore, my bleeding had stopped for the most part.

Which meant that my opponent either had lost his life or was at least unconscious under all the rubble.

I felt bad for him, but helping the girls came first... we would be able to search for him later.

At least, that was what I thought, until Mia appeared accompanied by some of the others.

Claire: "Phew. And I was worried about destroying everything around us... I should've made a bet with Miwen."

Anna: "I ran out of options and thinking is too troublesome... More importantly, Mia. Can you feel his scent? Help me out, please!"

The two of us could do this search in under a minute since she's so good at following other's tracks.

Mia: "Sure, it would be bad if we were to let one of them escape anyway... Hm... Under there..."

Following her directions, we managed to bring the guy out.

Angelica also healed me in the meantime as apparently, there was still some poison remaining in my body.

I thought her Gift was pretty strong since she managed to heal me so much while at level one.

But then... she killed the man I fought right in front of me, and I realized... My experience was a bit higher than before...

Neither Claire nor Mia said anything to Angelica... these two seldom agree on anything, so... it was probably Miwen's order.

In which case, there was nothing for me to say.

Angelica: "I thought Anna was out in the street, but turns out she chased that man inside a building... then the only ones fighting in the open were Mia and Miwen... that's reckless..."

Claire: "I didn't have a choice, alright?"

Anna: "In my defense, I thought wrapping up quickly was the best choice."

It wasn't as good of an excuse as Claire's, but thankfully our group was composed of everyone who usually recklessly chase after enemies, so I was sure they would understand.

Still, something was bothering me...

Anna: "I was inside a building, and I only heard one explosion tonight, but... I don't suppose it was thunder, was it?"

Claire: "No... It's also bothering me. Elizabeth doesn't need to go all out but... I feel like she'd take the chance to gain favor with Miwen..."

The Demon Queen... an impressive title, and an impressive sight. When she's fighting, you can tell.

And yet... the night was very silent.

Mia: "I don't smell his blood... Angelica?"

Angelica: "In my dragon form I can feel some blood where they are but... I don't know who it belongs to."

Mia: "Well, it's not Miwen's. I've given him enough beatings to know that at least."

Claire: "Then it's probably their enemy. Let's keep going."

It was a fair assessment... Elizabeth was not only strong but also pretty smart, so she wouldn't fall into a trap like I did.

And their opponent was probably tasting hell with the two of them fighting together.

But still... I couldn't help but be worried.