"This truly calls for proper commemoration—your status!"
Astraea's voice brimmed with excitement, which greatly surprised Elise.
Did something happen to my status?
Why has my goddess' tone completely changed?
"Lady Astraea, my status...?"
"There is nothing wrong with your status. It's just that... hmm, how should I put this?"
Astraea picked up the parchment from the floor again and said, "Rather than explaining it myself, I'll print it out so you can see for yourself."
With that, Astraea pressed the parchment against Elise's back. As divine blood traced across her skin, her status gradually emerged.
"Take a look first, Elise." Although Astraea was very curious about what Elise had done yesterday, she decided to give her a moment to process things.
Since she needed to read her status, Elise removed her blindfold. Astraea moved to sit on the sofa to the side, avoiding direct eye contact with her.
"After you've finished reading, we'll talk about what exactly you did yesterday..."
Hearing Astraea's words, Elise understood that some sort of abnormality must have appeared in her status. She quickly turned her gaze to the parchment.
[Name: Elise Holiness]
[Affiliation: Astraea Familia]
[Race: Human?]
[Level: Lv1]
—Status—
[Power: G-297 → SS-1000]
[Endurance: G-297 → SS-1000]
[Dexterity: G-297 → SS-1000]
[Agility: G-297 → SS-1000]
[Magic: G-297 → SS-1000]
—Development Abilities—
[None]
—Magic—
[Scales of Judgment]
- Short-chant magic. Buff/Debuff type.
- Select a target and perform a single judgment of good and evil.
- After the judgment concludes, you may choose whether to activate the following effect.
- Those judged good/evil receive a slight increase/decrease to all abilities.
[None]
[None]
—Skills—
[Power of the Stars]
- Can generate and use Prana independently.
- Can use the unique Prana skill: Purification.
[Contract: Est?]
- When fighting alongside the contracted partner, all abilities greatly increase.
- When growing alongside the contracted partner, growth speed greatly increases.
[Saintess of Scales]
- When gaining status points, they are evenly distributed across all attributes.
- When walking the path of a saintess, all abilities greatly increase and growth speed greatly increases.
"Isn't this a bit too outrageous?"
Even Elise herself found the increase unbelievable. She could not help but cry out in astonishment.
In the eyes of Orario's adventurers, the peak of status values was S-999. Most people could not even reach that maximum.
Only the captains or top executives of the strongest familias could attain such exaggerated numbers.
As for what SS represented, there was no need to explain. It was a special realm reached only by surpassing the limit beyond limits.
And yet now, Elise had reached it so "easily"?
This was abnormal beyond abnormal.
Ordinary people would not even dare to imagine it.
There were some things that only Elise, as an agent of the Lord God Space, knew.
In the novel "Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?", only two individuals had been confirmed to reach beyond SS.
The first was the protagonist, Bell.
As the main character, he had even surpassed SS attributes and reached the higher realm of SSS.
The second was Bell's aunt, Alfia.
Incidentally, in the original work, SS ranged from 1000 to 1199, while SSS was 1200 and above. As for whether higher tiers existed, that remained unknown.
So why had Elise's growth speed been so fast?
She had her own guesses.
Elise possessed two skills that increased growth speed. One was Saintess of Scales, and the other was Contract: Est?.
Saintess of Scales would only activate when Elise carried out deeds befitting a saintess.
As for Contract: Est?, it was a passive skill. As long as she fought alongside Est, it would take effect.
She had always believed that the effect of a passive skill could not surpass that of a condition-triggered one.
It was like certain games where permanent five-star characters were compared to limited five-star characters. Which was stronger hardly needed explanation.
Permanent five-star characters were even jokingly called four-and-a-half-star characters.
Of course, the contract itself was not the main point. The key lay in the question mark behind the skill's name. It was one of only two question marks in her entire status.
One was behind her race.
The other was the contract with Est.
What could something be that even the divine blessing could not fully identify?
A smile curved on Elise's lips. She roughly understood what had happened. She had not been certain before, but now she could more or less confirm it.
The abnormal surge in her status originated from here.
"Judging by your expression, it seems you have figured something out. Can you tell me about it?"
Astraea's voice came from behind, pulling Elise back to her senses.
"Yes!"
Elise then told Astraea everything she had done yesterday.
Of course, she did not mention her speculation about the abnormal growth of her status.
After listening, Astraea frowned slightly.
"So you're saying that after entering the Dungeon yesterday, you fought all the way from the upper floors to the middle floors in a single day?"
Elise nodded.
"Then you deliberately damaged the Dungeon walls on the middle floors, triggering several hours of Monster Feria? And in the end, you saved several adventurers?"
Elise nodded again, though she did not quite understand Astraea's tone.
"After saving them, instead of returning to the familia, you went straight to the seventeenth floor and defeated the floor boss there alone?"
Astraea's gaze had already turned serious, which made Elise feel somewhat uneasy.
Why did it feel like a child facing her mother after doing something wrong?
"Then..." Astraea's expression grew somewhat sorrowful as she stood and faced Elise directly. "What about rest?"
"Huh?"
Elise froze for a moment before immediately realizing what she meant.
"Are you telling me that throughout your entire exploration of the Dungeon today, you did not rest at all, Elise?"
Concern poured from the goddess' lips. The sheer sincerity made Elise feel restless. Such obvious kindness was simply too much!
"I did rest..." Elise replied hesitantly. "A little..."
"How long did you rest?"
"For a while..."
"How long?"
"About... five minutes?"
"Elise..."
Astraea lowered her head, making it impossible to see her expression. Yet Elise could clearly feel her emotions.
Is she going to explode?
Elise grew nervous.
She was still afraid of a goddess' anger...
And Astraea was her patron deity. The reason for her anger was concern! That made Elise not even dare to entertain the thought of resisting.
"Promise me, Elise..."
Astraea lifted her head, and the sight startled Elise.
The goddess' face was filled with hesitation and worry. A faint shimmer of tears even lingered at the corners of her eyes.
"Please don't do something so dangerous again, alright?"
"At the very least, rest properly before you go into battle..."
The imagined fury of a goddess never appeared. Instead, her words carried even deeper concern.
"Actually, for me, those things..."
For me, those things were not even dangerous.
Just as Elise was about to say it, she met Astraea's resolute gaze. The words caught in her throat.
Honestly...
If I refuse, it'll just make her feel worse.
That's why I said...
This kindness is too much.
When a child does something wrong and the mother scolds him angrily, he feels afraid and repeatedly apologizes.
But if the mother instead embraces the child and begins to cry sincerely...
The child feels far worse.
Elise was experiencing exactly that feeling.
So...
"I understand, Lady Astraea."
"I won't do that again..."