At night, in a room at the inn.
Hilde took off her clothes and ran her palms over her arms, stomach, thighs, chest, and other areas.
She kneaded and felt them carefully, recalling how she had been before.
In the end, she could confirm that she had finally put on a little muscle.
"Nice."
A smile curled Hilde's lips.
Although she had yet to learn battle aura, making progress physically was still a good thing.
She could feel her strength growing.
And most importantly—
She had always felt that she was too skinny, with no real intimidating presence.
It was not as if she wanted the bulky, thick-armed physique of some muscle-bound noblewoman, but at the very least, she did not want to look skin-and-bones, malnourished, and easy to bully.
"I'm still a little short, though..."
"But I'm only eight. I haven't even started developing yet, so there's no need to rush."
Hilde nodded in satisfaction and got dressed again.
Her training had not yet succeeded. She still had to work hard.
The following evening, deep within the dojo.
Hilde swung her sword with meticulous focus.
Compared to before, her sword swings had become more powerful and precise.
Clearly, her strength was steadily growing.
She was also gradually adapting to the doubled intensity of her training.
A month and a half had passed.
At first, Hilde had suffered greatly. Every day, she gritted her teeth and forced herself onward, desperately squeezing out every bit of her stamina.
But as time slowly passed, she got used to it.
This was because the training intensity Linus had set for her had not truly exceeded her limits. Though it left her utterly exhausted, it did not damage her foundation. Every time she recovered from exhaustion, her strength increased a little.
For