Gacha Kingdom Building

That was the last time I had fought alone.

In this life, I thought that going to the dungeon with Miwen and the others made for a good opportunity to test out my magic in ways that weren't possible or at least that I wouldn't think about in the confines of my cabin.

However, I might made a mistake.

Our king seems to believe that I'm actually strong or something... to the point where he'd allow me to face an adversary by myself, completely alone.

That's very far removed from the supporting role I take... this type of fight is pretty much a first for me in this life.

I'm not very confident that I can do this... if not for the others keeping the enemies away, I wouldn't be able to do anything.

My reflexes aren't good, and my body is sluggish as hell. Even after he boosted my speed with passive skills, it's doubtful whether I can dodge close-quarter attacks.

If it comes down to throwing hands, I still suck at it.

Yet, I don't find it in me to complain too much.

For starters, this life only exists now because of him.

While he banned me from using Arcanum, he found me a teacher who has advanced my research at a faster pace than I could've alone.

And in his kingdom... as long as I have his favor, there will be nothing for me to fear.

If there's one thing I would like to complain is that he made me regret the actions I took in my past life... now that I remember them.

I used to have people around me... but I pushed them away, and sacrificed good memories for the sake of my research, eventually having no one by my side, nor any desire or ability to make connections with others.

It would be ridiculous to repeat the same mistake again.

This dream-like life that he provides me. One where my every wish is granted. One where he provides me with a warm home...

This is worth fighting for.

So, I have my head held high, as I face my challenger in the name of my king, and I dare not bring him shame.

Before any move of my adversary, I start setting up some barriers for myself, much like Elizabeth did in our fight.

She's a mage, and her body was pretty much as bad as mine. On close quarters there was nothing that she could do aside from being on defense.

But thanks to the time the barriers bought for her, she managed to fight against physical attackers... her absurd Gift allowing her to employ those infinitely also helped, of course...

As for me... I can't waste all my mana in barriers, or else, I won't have the means to attack, and if my mana runs out, It'll be my loss, whereas a warrior can always naturally recover his stamina within just a few minutes.

So I decided to set up two invisible air barriers. The first one tightly around my body, so that my opponent would think he was hitting me when in reality he would only meet my magic.

And then, a second one, just a few centimeters away from me. The objectives for this one are to delay attacks and provide me with information about my opponent's strength.

As long as I get a feeling for their power, I'll be able to adjust the barrier on my body accordingly.

I didn't have too much time to do anything else in these first seconds of the battle, however, as my opponent quickly closed the distance between us, and with a single punch managed to break my first layer of protection.

Perhaps due to the delay that the barrier provided, I was able to get out of the way...

But I couldn't help but find it strange.

Even though he could close the distance so quickly, I managed to see his fist coming... taking into consideration his surreal strength too, it's hard to believe that he has put points into speed...

I needed to check, but wasting time with a simple attack wouldn't do me any good.

Since I was already using air, I decided to take control of the air in the room, as using as few different elements as possible would allow me to maintain more spells and better control over all of them.

Thus, I retreated away from him and recreated my barrier while also spreading my mana over the room.

This informed me immediately that my opponent wasn't well-versed with magic, as any mage would instantly fight for control over the air if they could, and in case they weren't able to use wind magic, they'd just change venues to prevent the other from establishing a territory where they can control the very air that they are breathing.

With most of the air under my control, I was able to feel his movements through it, which should allow even someone like me to react...

This was good... I was slowly making up for my faults... if I could keep going like this, I would eventually create a chance for my victory.

But if I kept being on the defense, it was possible that my opponent would eventually suspect something, even with a low magic sense.

Attacking... fire should do the most damage... but that's precisely why I'd like to keep it for a finishing move if it comes to it.

Earth is also strong, but it's the most easily perceivable element, and is usually better to use it to restrain or obstruct an opponent.

This left me with wind, water, and spatial magic...

I decided to go with water... it's more noticeable than wind, but it's also more malleable, which should allow me to adapt it to fit his powers while I hide mine.

As such, I started throwing some simple water balls around, their objective was to create a few puddles that work like sentries, launching water arrowheads in the enemy direction from multiple angles and at different intervals.

Since I didn't have to pay much attention to them, this didn't affect my control over the other magic too much, and if need be, I could change the puddles into other shapes or entirely different magic, as was the case when my opponent appeared behind me.

Again, I didn't even see him coming, but thanks to the disturbance in the air and the barrier standing between us, I was able to dodge it.

Sensing an opportunity, I transformed one of the puddles close to him into a water spear, but I couldn't pierce him as he once again appeared on the other side of the room.

...I had a theory.

This guy wasn't that fast when attacking. Only when he was moving I couldn't see or feel his movements.

This fake speed...

Haah... just my luck.

To test my theory, I stopped adding mana to the air and focused on making a line in front of him that would cross the entire room.

Once he stepped on it, no matter how fast he was, a wind blade was going to launch up.

I then took direct control of the puddles and launched a barrage of attacks. I purposefully created a pattern that would make it easier to dodge by coming forward, but I tried not to make it too obvious either, as sooner or later he would have to come at me as he carries no weapons, has no magic, and only fights with his fists.

Still, this attempt ended up paying off for me.

As I expected, he dodged it by coming forward.

But he never touched the line.

And with the air in my control, allowing me to feel his movements, it was pretty much confirmed.

This guy wasn't fast at all.

He was teleporting.

Because of that, with the speed increase Miwen gave me, I could follow his movements when he was attacking, but I wasn't able to do the same when he was closing the distance.

This made things a bit problematic.

I'd have to do something about him, but he would always have the option to get away...

As our battle kept going, he was getting more and more annoyed with my barriers since I threw the puddles into the ceiling, allowing them to simply drop some inoffensive water on him.

This made for the most lackluster battle as I was only defending myself.

But the puddles, or any other attack that I could launch, were meaningless, as he could simply dodge them in a fraction of a second.

AOTG member: "...Why don't you just give up? You've already figured out my Gift, right? There's no winning for a mage like you."

Bea: "I'm not a mage. ...Not anymore. I'm a witch. A very evil one."

AOTG member: "What's the difference?"

Bea: "Don't be impatient, I'll soon be showing you that."

While I said that... my options were limited.

I needed to think about his Gift.

It was clearly not as powerful as the Merchant's. If he could travel through time too, then Miwen's sister would have never managed to escape them.

... And yet, she did escape... from a teleporter, nonetheless...

How?

I'm sure he would say that it's because his sister is incredible and whatnot, but... more realistically, it must have something to do with this guy's power.

More specifically... restrictions.

They had a scout, and they were able to follow their tracks... but this guy didn't manage to give chase with his teleporting ability...

So the tracks they left weren't enough... nor were the directions that their scout gave him...

This means that... even if he knows where someone is, he can't simply go there...

...Hm... I suppose it's worth a try. It'll work to my advantage anyway.

The inoffensive water that was dripping from the ceiling... I was spreading it through his body.

Since it was my mana, this marked him, allowing me to track his position at all times... but aside from that...

I could also instantly perforate his eyes.

This is why you don't let your opponent set up so much.

AOTG member: "Ahhh! What did you do?"

Bea: "Hmm~ Now that's a nice scream~ Oh, you poor thing. Did the witch scare you? How terrible. Why don't you run away?"

AOTG member: "Ughh... you bitch, I'll kill you. You hear me? You are dead."

Hmhm... even while blinded, he was still able to teleport around the room.

It's probably due to his memories of this place...

Oh, so perhaps this was it... not the ability to travel to somewhere he can see, but to places he has already seen or has been to.

If that's the case, I should give him a warning.

Bea: "You see... I have you marked. No matter how far you go, or where you are... I can do something like this."

I concentrated some of the water into one of his wrists as he was attacking me relentlessly, making me waste too much mana to deploy new barriers.

Then, I cut his hand off.

As long as he doesn't die, Angelica should be able to heal him, so Miwen probably won't get too mad... probably.

The poor guy was crying on the floor without his hand.

It was a very sad sight, so I took the opportunity to control his tears and sent them back to where they came from.

But perhaps I'm not that good with anatomy, as I ended up blocking his respiration instead, which made him pass out.

Bea: "I hope you learned your lesson. A witch can only bring disaster upon you. Now... where is Angelica..."

Angelica: "Here."

Bea: "...fuhh... speak of the devil."

Claire: "Calling an angel a devil... talk about poor taste huh?"

True... I suppose it was not my brightest move.

In my defense, she scared me shitless. These races with wings can walk so silently... they already have the perk of flying, but with this, they would make for incredible assassins

Speaking of assassins though... as soon as she arrived, instead of healing my opponent, Angelica outright killed him.

I had a small inkling that this might've been the case but... it seems like Miwen is really going that way huh?

He had already warned me that he cared not for others whom he wasn't responsible for, but for it to be to this extent... I wonder if his anger is clouding his judgment, or if he will go this far every time he fights an opponent.

He's showing them as much mercy as he does for monsters... absolutely none.

While I'm not against it whatsoever, this might hurt his relationship with some of the others... they have high expectations of him due to the way he treats them... so I'm sure this will come as a shock, even more to Ellie and Licia...

Bea: "Ah... I almost forgot I need to go help Ellie."

Claire: "Hm? Do you know anything about her fight?"

That's not it. Like me, she's a backline support. Fighting one on one puts her in a disadvantage from the get-go.

But there's another problem with her. A way bigger one.

That girl is too earnest and innocent. She will probably face the challenge head-first instead of setting traps like I did.

Bea: "As the older sister, it's my duty to protect her."

He showed me the importance of having others around you. Ones you can count on. Ones that count on you.

I'm ashamed that I went as far as to trade something like this for my research... I really regret it now.

But... this is the biggest gift he gave me.

And I won't lose it again.

This time, I'll let my greed run amok, and I'll have everything that I want, without sacrificing anything in return.