"Since you've promised me, you must keep your word, Elise."
The goddess' voice echoed in Elise's ears.
"You absolutely must not do something so dangerous again!"
"If anything were to happen to you, I would be very sad."
Feeling Astraea's sincerity, Elise found herself unable to voice any refusal and could only agree.
"Alright, now that that's settled, let's talk about something else—your status."
Astraea's expression turned serious as she explained, "While you were in the Dungeon these past two days, I went to visit a few of my old divine friends. I gathered some information from them."
"The range of status values runs from I to S, which is 0 to 999—ten ranks in total. But you, Elise, are completely different..."
If a god who had spent years in the Dungeon saw Elise's attributes, they would undoubtedly be utterly shocked.
For ordinary people, S was already the limit. As for SS... what in the world was that? There was actually such a rank?
The more blessings a god had seen, the more shocking Elise's abnormality would appear.
But Astraea was different. She had only descended to the lower world a few days ago and had granted divine blessings to only Elise and Est. So when she saw such an anomaly, she was not as overwhelmed as other gods might have been.
"You have completely surpassed those rank limitations! You've reached an entirely new realm that no one else has ever attained!"
Just calculating Elise's growth from a single day...
All attributes had risen directly from G-297 to SS-1000?
A total increase of 3515 points across the board. What kind of human-shaped monster was this?
This was simply outrageous.
Although she had indeed been startled by something so exaggerated, deep down Astraea also felt a trace of secret delight.
To think that only a few days after descending, she would encounter a child so perfectly suited to her temperament—and one possessing such terrifying talent!
It even made Astraea briefly question the authenticity of her own divine authority...
She was the goddess of justice, not the goddess of fortune, was she?
But still...
"I truly picked up a treasure."
"Is this what they call the unknown? The potential of children—the people of the lower world?"
Astraea finally understood why so many gods in the heavens had gone mad over the unknown and the possibilities found in the lower world...
For even a god to feel astonished like this—it truly was a different kind of experience.
After living for who knew how many eons, measuring life in billions of years, the thing gods likely despised most was monotony.
To find the unknown. To find stimulation. To find enjoyment.
They sealed away their divine power, reduced themselves to mortal bodies that were merely comparable to ordinary people—or even inferior to them—all just to explore the unknown in this playground called the lower world.
Astraea might be a goddess of justice, a benevolent deity.
But...
A benevolent god was still a god.
Her reason for descending to the lower world could not possibly have been something as simple as love and peace.
Perhaps, like the others, she had merely come seeking amusement.
And in the process of seeking it, she had found Elise—this extraordinary existence.
It was like pulling a UR character on the very first draw in a game gacha pool whose highest rarity was supposedly only SSR.
Truly absurd...
At times like this, Astraea could not help but sigh.
"I'm just glad you're a child of my familia, Elise."
Perhaps the goddess had already begun to realize that within this human girl named Elise lay something the gods had always been pursuing.
With that thought, the seriousness on Astraea's face completely faded, replaced once more by her gentle smile.
"So what is your choice, Elise?"
Watching Elise lift her blindfold to put it back on, she asked, "Will you level up?"
Thinking about it carefully, for Elise to defeat a floor boss alone at Level 1 and achieve total victory already qualified as a great feat.
Moreover, all her attributes had reached SS-1000, far surpassing ordinary adventurers. Even the upper limits of captains from the strongest familias might not compare to Elise's current numbers.
In that case, leveling up seemed like a good option.
"No!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Elise refused.
"I choose to retain my level!"
As someone who knew the story, Elise was well aware that the upper limit of status values was not merely SS—there was an even higher SSS.
But only the protagonist, Bell, had ever reached that realm.
Since Elise herself could attain SS, then reaching the higher SSS was certainly not impossible.
"For now, I won't level up. I feel like I can still continue growing."
Still grow?
Elise's words nearly broke Astraea's composure. Yet because gods could see through lies, she knew Elise was not lying...
She truly could continue growing?
"If that's what you believe, then we'll retain your level for now."
Orario had grown rather turbulent recently.
It was said that not long ago, several cases of familia members being murdered had surfaced. The perpetrator remained unknown, and some smaller familias were seeking assistance from the Guild.
As for the Astraea Familia, it consisted only of Elise, Est, and the patron goddess Astraea.
A newly established small familia like theirs would not even register in the eyes of other familias.
No one would care about the life or death of a small familia. The dissolution of one or two would not matter. But if too many died, that would be different.
Small familias were one of Orario's foundations. Losing one or two was no issue, but if too many disappeared, Orario itself would suffer significant consequences.
After all...
You could not possibly have Level 5 and Level 6 adventurers standing guard at gates, could you?
Strictly speaking, the recently arrived Astraea Familia could also be considered a small familia. Yet they felt none of the panic other small familias experienced.
Obviously—Elise was that strong. Who would come courting death?
In terms of combat strength alone, Elise by herself rivaled the entire roster of certain large familias.
The possibility of defeating her was practically infinitesimal.
If someone intended to target Astraea, her patron goddess...
Sorry, still impossible.
Elise had personally formed a protective barrier around Astraea using her own Prana. Without the strength of at least a standard Level 5 adventurer, it would not even leave the faintest crack.
It greatly ensured Astraea's safety. Though the goddess herself possessed certain trump cards for survival, she accepted Elise's gift with a smile.
If someone thought about blowing up the familia residence...
Still not possible.
Elise had installed numerous protective measures using her own abilities. Trespassing recklessly would result in death—or at the very least, severe injury.
In short, it was extremely secure.
After all, the Sacred Queen incident had taught Elise a harsh lesson.
When unfamiliar with the original storyline—or with things the original never mentioned—Elise always made sure to keep a few extra safeguards in place.