Thud!
"Ah—"
Thud!
"Ah—"
At regular intervals, a heavy impact echoed from within the training grounds, as though a bomb had detonated inside a confined space.
And every time that sound rang out, a scream immediately followed. From the sound of it, it seemed to belong to a young girl.
Moreover, the resentment contained in that scream was so intense it nearly overflowed.
One truly had to wonder what kind of activity inside could produce such cries.
However, the beautiful and kind Miss Elise understood perfectly well.
Because she was the one responsible for all of it.
In other words, she was the culprit.
"Alise, move your hands away!"
"No way! If I move them, you'll absolutely beat me to death!"
"No, if you move them, I'll hold back a little. If you keep blocking like that, I'll only hit harder!"
"Like hell I'd believe you!"
"Then I'll just use even more strength!"
"Nooooo!!!"
Astraea Familia, training grounds.
For reasons unknown, such a scene was unfolding within.
The red-haired girl lay flat on the ground, desperately shielding her head with both hands. Even so, her clothes were already in tatters.
The other figure was none other than the newly titled Elise.
At this moment, she was sitting on Alise's stomach, swinging her fists without pause.
Each punch carried considerable force, and nearly every single one was aimed straight at Alise's face.
"Why are you always aiming for my face?!"
"You already have a face on par with a goddess! Why are you still jealous of my beauty?!"
"It's enough for me to be the number one beautiful girl among humans! I'm not competing with you anymore!"
Alise continued spouting incomprehensible nonsense, clearly harboring some kind of misunderstanding.
Jealous of someone else's beauty?
Elise?
Heh.
"I'm beating you to help raise your ability values! How could it possibly be for something so trivial?"
"Haven't you noticed how fast your stats have been improving lately? Shouldn't you be thanking me properly?"
Elise refused to yield, slightly increasing the strength behind her fists.
After all, ability values could rise.
If Alise's stats increased while Elise continued punching with the same force as before, wouldn't the speed of her improvement slow down?
So naturally, she had to hit harder.
Alise, take this!
"I really should thank you, you damn Captain!"
"You're welcome, number one beautiful girl among humans!"
"Ahhh%?!!!"
Whatever she was saying after that became incomprehensible, but Alise was a beautiful girl after all. Even when she cursed, it somehow still sounded elegant.
Meanwhile, Astraea sat on a chair by the entrance of the training room, smiling gently as she watched the scene unfold.
"Their relationship has improved!"
"Alise is gradually integrating into the Familia. How wonderful!"
If Alise heard that, she would probably cough up blood from anger.
What integrating into the Familia? She was simply being beaten up, alright?
And besides...
Lady Goddess...
What part of this looks like a good relationship to you?
Time continued to pass. Astraea glanced at the sky outside. It seemed dinner time was approaching.
"Elise! That's enough for today!"
Astraea cupped her hands around her mouth like a makeshift megaphone.
After all, the noise Elise made while beating Alise was quite loud. If she didn't shout, Elise might not hear her.
The last time, it had been exactly like this. She had called out for quite a while without Elise stopping. In the end, she had to walk over personally before it concluded.
Hearing the goddess' voice, Elise immediately responded. Whenever Astraea called her, she almost always answered...
Unless something unexpected occurred.
"Understood, Lady Astraea."
Elise stopped punching and carefully observed Alise beneath her.
Her face was swollen and bruised. Her body was filthy, and in several places, blood had seeped out.
However, Elise had controlled her strength well. Though the injuries looked severe, they were only superficial wounds. They would not damage Alise's foundation.
"Hell... is over..."
Clearly, Alise had heard Astraea's call as well. The hands shielding her face finally fell limply to the ground, succumbing to gravity.
She truly had no strength left.
Next, under Elise's full-course treatment of purification and healing, Alise was resurrected on the spot. However, her trembling body still seemed to recount the atrocities she had just endured.
"Lady Astraea, please check Alise's ability values. There should be very noticeable improvement this time."
Hearing Elise's words, Astraea nodded. She was also curious to see what kind of growth Alise had achieved after all this. Even Elise leaned over from behind the goddess to watch.
"As expected. This kind of training was correct."
Looking at the ability values manifesting on Alise's back, Astraea sighed in admiration.
"Your Endurance has reached S-999, Alise."
"Although your other stats haven't increased as rapidly as Endurance, they have at least reached the A range, so..."
"Would you like to level up?"
"To achieve a level up in just three months, Alise, you've created history."
The goddess' gentle voice echoed in Alise's ears. Upon hearing those words, tears nearly welled up at the corners of her eyes.
Three months!
It had already been nearly three months!
Do you know how I've survived these past three months?
Aside from the occasional rest, I was basically beaten senseless by that damn Captain every single day!
I finally found an excuse, claiming I needed to practice controlling my strength. But the moment I came back, she dragged me into the training room and beat me again!
At present, aside from Endurance reaching S, her other stats hovered between B and A. It could be described as nothing short of astonishing.
"Then I..."
"No, Alise, you can't level up yet."
A demonic voice suddenly rang out. The excitement that had just begun to bloom inside Alise was instantly doused like a bucket of cold water poured over her head.
"Your Endurance was forcibly raised by me. This is roughly your limit for now."
"But don't forget, your strengths are Power, Agility, and Magic."
Within Alise's gaze, the golden demon slowly revealed a smile.
"So until those three stats reach their peak, you'll need to keep working hard."
"During this time, I'll put in a bit of overtime and help you improve further."
In short...
Do your best, Alise!
After all, you possess the potential for all stats to reach SSS!