Yayyyyyyyyyy! Please, let me scream first!
I never imagined I' d actually write a fantasy novel long enough to complete Arc 1, or rather, Book 1! LOL
Since I was a kid, I' ve always dreamed of writing a long fantasy story.
Over the years, I had tons of ideas swirling in my head, but this is the one I finally put pen to paper for.
To be honest, The Ogre Power: The Girl with Giant Strength wasn' t even in my head originally.
It all started when I read a manga and saw this super cool scene. I thought, "I want my novel' s character to be that cool!"
And just like that, this story was born. The plot just poured out of my mind on its own.
Once I outlined the story up to the scene where Calika decides to flee the kingdom, I started writing immediately.
Calika represents stepping out of the safe zone.
As you know from the story, the heroine' s family fled for their lives to seek refuge in the Tatenthai Kingdom.
They had no rights to begin with. Whatever was given, they had to accept. In the story, that meant being herded into the slums to fend for themselves.
Why not go to a better kingdom or city? Here' s why:
When they fled their homeland, the eldest wasn' t even 18 yet. The kids had no knowledge of routes or how to survive outside the walls.
In this world, monsters are everywhere, making travel extremely dangerous. And travel always comes with costs.
Commoners usually stay in their birth village or city their entire lives.
With little money, Calika' s family chose to follow a large group of refugees. It ensured they wouldn' t get lost and could scavenge leftovers or discarded items.
But even then, some routes have bandits, some kingdoms don' t welcome outsiders, and others might even send soldiers to enslave or kill refugees outright.
Refugees must choose the shortest, safest routes.
Safe routes are usually near large kingdoms, as they have the manpower to clear threats for merchants' trade routes. Plus, when nobles are sent on missions, soldiers and knights clear the paths, making them safer than smaller cities' routes.
Yet, even on the "safest" route, their refugee group was attacked by monsters.
Calika, scarred and disfigured from an attack, grew even more terrified of traveling.
In the end, they chose Tatenthai—the closest kingdom that offered some semblance of acceptance, even if it wasn' t ideal.
At least it had walls and a place to sleep, even if they had to build it themselves.
Back then, their only wish was to stay together.
They didn' t dare flee elsewhere, unsure if another city would offer shelter, food scraps, or safety. The risks—what if someone got hurt or worse? —kept them from changing their situation.
Despite their miserable life, with homes made of scrap wood and water from filthy canals, it was the safest "safe zone" for the heroine' s family at the time.
As the story goes, their lives were about to improve. Tiara became an adventurer, saving up to buy a house in the city to change their lives.
But then, Gibo, the idiot leader of Tiara' s monster-hunting party, messed up, abandoned her, and refused to take responsibility. He' s wanted now but fled to another city long ago.
The three siblings' dreams shattered. The heroine had to step up to support the family, despite hating fighting and getting hurt.
But hold on.
If you' re thinking, "Oh, it' s all that jerk Gibo' s fault, the root of everything," let me tell you: even if Gibo had succeeded, everyone got paid fairly, and the siblings bought a house to change their lives…
They' d still end up back in the slums.
Readers might be like, "Huh? What' s that about?"
There' s a reason, lol.
As you probably noticed, especially when Laswin was furious looking at the noble district, most nobles in Tatenthai are utterly vile.
They prey on the weak, exploiting those who can' t fight back.
The siblings would' ve been cheated on house contracts, land taxes, and citizen taxes after becoming legal residents.
With no backing, they' d soon lose their house, drown in debt from shady contracts, and be sent back to the slums.
Reporting to authorities? Useless. As non-native citizens, they' d be ignored, and the nobles might even retaliate by accusing them of slandering nobility.
Their lives would loop like this until they died.
This wouldn' t happen if Tiara had a higher rank or useful skills to join a mid-tier guild.
In that case, they could rent a house or stay at the guild.
Sounds nice, right? But if Tiara couldn' t keep fighting or died on duty, the siblings would be kicked out of the guild immediately. If they rented, they' d face the same scams mentioned earlier.
If it' s a shady guild, they' d be forced to pay compensation fees from contracts. For example, Tiara signs a 10-year contract for daily or monthly pay but dies early. Instead of voiding the contract, a bad guild would demand compensation from the siblings, draining every coin Tiara worked so hard to earn.
What about Elda, then? She' s their hope, right? She' s so smart, maybe she' d get an amazing skill.
Nope. She' d get [Rank F] , no skills, no class—just like Calika.
This family is truly hopeless, lol.
And Elda isn' t growing up healthy either. Her frail body means she' ll die in a few years.
Even if they could reclaim their homeland, the siblings wouldn' t return.
They' d think: Why risk a dangerous journey back? The house is probably gone, the city walls too. Where would they get food? Would the new ruler be kind? Better to stay where they have a shack and can scavenge scraps.
They' re fully trapped in their "safe zone."
To survive, they' d have to hide forever or rely on someone indefinitely, living like tools until they break.
The only way out is to leave the safe zone—the place they believe is the safest they' ll ever have.
That' s the essence of Arc 1' s ending.
Calika takes her family out of the safe zone (Tatenthai Kingdom) and doesn' t look back with regret, despite knowing countless monsters and dangers await in the forest. Because she' s learned:
Her family' s future isn' t in this kingdom.
To me, as the writer, that' s incredibly impactful and cool! ^ ^
That' s all I wanted to share after Arc 1.
In Arc 2, Calika will keep fighting for survival, facing a critical decision about who to save.
The heroine won' t get super strong overnight anymore. She' ll need time to train and gain experience.
The story will focus on her struggles, starting from zero again.
As for all the villains so far, I promise: Calika will come back to make them pay for everything they' ve done to her family, with interest!
*****
For Arc 1, or Book 1, it' s been released as a free E-Book! Go download and keep it, yay!
Arc 2' s first chapter will drop in 10 years—not too long, right?
Kidding! It' ll be out this Monday, lol.
*****
Lastly,
Thank you to all the lovely readers! Just seeing the view count makes me happy, and your comments saying you love it make my heart soar! ^ ^
Special thanks to reader YumiNeko, who' s been with me since the early days and even helped create a super cute and cool cover!
Calika on the cover is both awesome and adorable (P.S. The first cover was replaced; this is the new one!) .
I' m sure the cover drew a lot of readers in, lol.
I' ll be back to share more after Arc 2! ^ ^