After leaving the shops atop Babel, Alise had already changed into a completely new outfit. From head to toe, she looked nothing like before.
Originally, Alise had come from the countryside. The clothes she wore didn't resemble those of an adventurer at all. No matter how one looked at her, she seemed like an ordinary village girl.
But after changing into refined clothing and equipping proper weapons—well, she really did look the part now.
At the very least, she finally resembled an adventurer.
So Elise found an open area, intending to test Alise's strength.
"Before you enter the Dungeon, I need to get a sense of your actual ability. Let's spar."
Seeing Alise still admiring herself in the mirror, Elise cleared her throat twice to draw her attention.
"Oh! I get it—you're testing my strength, right?"
Alise looked full of confidence.
"It might sound a bit self-praising, but I've been reading heroic epics since I was little, and I started practicing swordsmanship from a young age. I'm quite confident in my skills."
"I definitely can't compare to battle-hardened adventurers, but I'm not weak either."
"I'll definitely make you see me in a new light!"
Her words brimmed with confidence as she raised her sword into position, the sharp tip pointing directly at Elise.
The stance was standard, which proved she had indeed trained. But the true strength of her swordsmanship...
Could only be determined in real combat.
"Get ready. I'm coming."
Elise casually picked up a wooden sword. After carefully gauging Alise's level, she adjusted her own strength to roughly match it.
Alise also cast aside her earlier carefree attitude and stared at Elise seriously. She knew this was a test and that she had to respond in her best condition.
If she won, perhaps she might receive a gift from her beautiful captain...
Well, the equipment she was wearing already seemed like a gift. She herself didn't have anything worth offering in return.
In that case, she could only respond to her captain's expectations with the sword in her hand.
Alise glanced at the wooden sword in Elise's grasp. Her right foot pressed slightly against the ground, and then...
She ran.
At her fastest speed, she launched straight at Elise.
However...
The hand holding her sword made no movement at all.
In real combat, the tempo was extremely fast. There was hardly any time to think. That made correct judgment crucial.
And now, Alise had made a wrong judgment. She would have to pay the price for it.
Thud—
A knee slammed hard into Alise's abdomen. Having only just become an adventurer, she was clearly unable to withstand such a blow. An intense urge to vomit forced her mouth open instinctively.
But in the next instant, she felt something enter her mouth, and a dizzying sensation surged through her mind.
Was that Elise's hand?
What was she trying to do?
Elise paid no attention to Alise's disoriented expression. She simply lifted her hand and flung Alise's entire body away.
"Ahhh—!"
Alise curled up on the ground in pain. Although she hadn't suffered any obvious injuries, the scene would undoubtedly leave a considerable psychological shadow.
As for Elise, the one who caused it all, she did not immediately go to check on Alise. Instead, she silently looked at her own palm.
It seemed... she hadn't controlled her strength properly.
No, thinking about it carefully—Elise had only recently advanced to Level 2, while Alise was a fresh Level 1 who had just received a divine blessing.
On the surface, it seemed that lowering herself by one level should have been enough.
But that wasn't the case.
What had Elise's status values been when she leveled up?
They had been Max—1999.
Those numbers were even higher than an ordinary Level 2.
Moreover, after leveling up, her strength had surged dramatically. Those values were now treated as hidden parameters and no longer displayed. In terms of pure physical ability, Elise could probably rival some Level 4 adventurers—or even higher.
And just now, someone equivalent to Level 4 had kicked Alise...
The fact that she hadn't died was already fortunate.
"Uh... I'm really sorry!"
Elise hurried to Alise's side, using her healing and purification abilities to mend the injuries within her body.
"Captain... you really weren't doing that on purpose, right?"
Faced with Alise's questioning, Elise could only insist that she would never intentionally do such a thing.
She was a caring and devoted captain!
"I have some special skills that greatly increase my strength. Even though I lowered my visible status to Level 1, I forgot about that..."
"I'm truly sorry!"
Hearing that, Alise's eyes widened.
No way.
That blow had already left her like this—and that was after lowering her strength?
"Just how terrifying are you, my dear captain?"
Alise let out a bitter laugh before asking, "So... what was the result of the test just now?"
She would just treat this bit of suffering as if it hadn't happened. After all, the captain had healing abilities. She was fine now.
She surely wouldn't do that again, right?
Otherwise, I really will die.
"Mm. During that exchange, you exposed one weakness—you focused too much on the weapon in your opponent's hand and ignored everything else."
Elise continued, "The same applies when facing monsters."
"If a monster has sharp claws, we naturally pay more attention to them. But we mustn't ignore other parts of its body. For example, its sharp teeth could easily tear a chunk of flesh from you."
"Just now, you focused too much on the sword in my hand and ignored the leg I had hidden beneath my skirt."
"I see. Thank you, Captain!"
After hearing Elise's explanation, Alise instantly understood. She had indeed made that mistake.
It was far better to have her captain point it out than to learn the lesson from a monster.
After all, her captain was a beautiful girl.
If she struck her, she would at least hold back. If it were a monster, wouldn't it simply kill her?
With that thought, Alise felt much better.
As for Elise, she was thinking about something else entirely.
She had to cherish her members and let them feel her warmth and care. Incidents like failing to control her strength and injuring a teammate should never happen again.
Yet at that moment, an image suddenly surfaced in Elise's mind—the Astraea Familia fighting against the Juggernaut.
She had to find a way to help everyone in the Familia become stronger as soon as possible.
Wait.
If she remembered correctly, in the original story, endurance had been Alise's weak point, hadn't it?
In this world, the improvement of status values was essentially what one might call "proficiency."
Strength, endurance, dexterity, agility, magic.
The five parameters all followed the same principle—the more you used them, the stronger they became.
As for improving endurance, the method was simple.
Endure attacks.
With that thought in mind, Elise glanced at Alise. In her mind also appeared the figures of the Astraea Familia's future members.
Perhaps she could...
That look made Alise feel inexplicably uneasy. Soon after, a sense of crisis welled up in her heart.
"I don't know why, but I suddenly feel like my future looks completely bleak..."