This story is a true gem and clearly beats many of the stories in the upper rankings. The beginning chapters had some glaring issues such as cringe due to the nature of the MC and some of the dialogue (very chuuni); this issue becomes moot in very little time. This can be attributed to the excellent character and world developing skills of (PancakesWitch); as the story progresses and the MC gains confidence, the dialogue between her and other characters steadily increase in it's quality. Another glowing point of this story is that the MC feels real, she is no hero and doesn't randomly help others for no particular reason. In saying that, the MC is really naive in the beginning and as the story progresses, her attention to details increase and more thought is put into actions.If anything, Kireina fits the role of anti-hero best, She is no goody two-shoes and certainly no villain either; whats interesting here though,is that as Kireina grows her family and gains things and people she desires to protect, the more she is willing to do to protect them and become stronger. An excellent example of this is her willingness to eat people, in the beginning she is apprehensive to do such a thing but eventually casts aside that apprehension in favour of the benefits.Another really strong point of this novel is it's world and how it expands. The world in this novel is really unique with quirky ideas such as the snowy mountain walls and the astral road. In nearly every chapter the reader is introduced to new and fantastical races with many unique creatures that aren't an archetype of an existing earth creature.The world building is really stellar in this novel and really utilizes the 'show don't tell' rule by having much of the exposition being given in side chapters by minor characters which give us this information by comparing common sense to the situation in cases where Kireina often breaks it. This effectively provides lore and also indicates not only how Kireina views this world but also how the world sees Kireina.Overall, this is an excellent novel and many of the wrinkles are only present in the first few chapters and these are ironed out. The release schedule is excellent with a new (and long (*v*)) chapter everyday with the occasional rapid releases. Solid characters which don't feel overshadowed by the MC and an excellent ever growing world. 5/5
