ch161-ch180 · 179-ch179

Chapter 179: Bear-Ear Dance

"Floor 10? A Minotaur shows up here?"

"Yep. And this is Haruki's special skill, 【Gate】."

Soushi explains to a bewildered Aikawa.

Aikawa shouldn't have ever fought a Minotaur before.

In that case, I'll play bait and have the two of them take it down?

I never asked what Jobs they'd picked—please tell me they're not fighting bare-handed...

"I'll be the bait, so you two attack."

"Right, counting on you."

"I don't really get it, but okay."

Aikawa doesn't quite grasp the situation, but she understands a fight is starting.

A reaction on 【Presence Detection】.

A Minotaur has appeared.

There's quite a distance, so I head over at a speed that won't lose the two of them.

I slip past the Minotaur's flank while shaving at its legs.

Literally shaved off with the cross-blades of the jumonji spear.

"GUOOOH"

Roaring in pain, it whirls around and raises its axe.

I dodge the descending axe with a single step back.

I've fought Minotaurs plenty of times, after all.

Old hat by now.

"Yah!"

The moment the axe strikes the ground, Aikawa's sword crashes into the Minotaur's back.

Hard to believe it's her first time—what an uninhibited swing.

The Minotaur staggers for an instant but doesn't turn around.

Its gaze is still fixed on me.

"Hnn!"

In that case—next, Soushi charges in.

His lengthened kitchen knife carves deep into the Minotaur's back.

Not only is the handle longer—the blade at the tip has grown a bit too, hasn't it?

As expected of Mia-san. Fast work.

"GRMOOOOH"

THIS it can't endure, and the Minotaur turns around.

Between Soushi and Aikawa, Soushi's got the higher attack power, it seems.

Well, naturally—with the 【Cooking】 knife enhancement and all.

Before the Minotaur can turn on Soushi, I shave its other leg this time.

Not enough to cut it off, but the Minotaur lurches, stance broken.

Two, three more rounds of this, and when Aikawa lands another slash, the Minotaur stops moving completely.

Soushi didn't go for the neck, did he.

Did he hold back to let Aikawa rack up experience?

Impressive stuff.

"I'm picking my Job first, then. I'll ask about your skill later, Haru-kun."

"Oh? I never heard what you two settled on, actually. Yours too, Soushi."

I have no idea what Jobs even appeared for Aikawa in the first place, so I can't begin to guess what she'd pick.

She uses a 'Sword Saint model' sword, so maybe she's a 'Sword Saint-chan' fan?

In which case, 【Swordsman】?

Is that going to be okay?

"I'm going 【Staff User】. Thinking about the long term, the two of us decided that's best."

A buffer, huh...

But 【Staff User】 has lower stats than the other combat jobs, if I remember right—is that going to be okay?

With stat-boost skills he can roughly match the other combat jobs, but that burns MP every time...

I'll have to make sure he doesn't push too far forward.

"I'm a 【Dancer】! Already picked it. Fufun."

She says it proudly, but 【Dancer】... what was that again?

A general-class job?

Judging by the name, a job that dances, but...

"Um, sorry. What's a 【Dancer】?"

"A 【Dancer】 is a 【Dancer】. It's a lower-tier job, you know?"

That's not what I'm asking.

I'm asking what the job actually DOES.

"I hear 【Dancer】 is a buffer. You dance, and it strengthens your stats. Seems the effect works on people watching the dance too—rare among lower-tier jobs, apparently: a job that can buff OTHERS."

Soushi explains in her place.

I see. So Aikawa's a buffer too...

The difference from 【Staff User】 being that she can strengthen other people?

"What about the stats, though? Which is stronger, 【Dancer】 or 【Staff User】?"

"I couldn't see her stats. But it sounds like the job's done some real work in the past, so I figure it's fine. We'll just have to compare from here on. Oh, and the big difference from 【Staff User】 is that dancing to buff yourself doesn't cost any MP."

Hoh.

No MP cost is amazing.

Then again, you have to actually dance.

In exchange for not being a skill you can whip out in an instant, it costs no MP.

Balanced, in a way...

And since she made a point of saying "SELF"-buffing, buffing others probably does consume MP.

"So HP is... and MP... Strength..."

The two of them are writing their statuses on the ground.

They look like they're having fun.

Dungeon-san, another Minotaur, please.

Eh? There's a respawn timer, so you can't serve one right away?

Useless, honestly.

"Yesss. Mine's stronger across the board!"

Ohh.

So it's NOT a general-class job.

Well, 【Staff User】 has low stats to begin with—can't be helped.

But 【Dancer】 is supposed to be a buffer too, isn't it?

Now I'm curious how it even showed up on her job list.

If she'd already decided, it must have appeared last time too.

"Were you dancing in the dungeon every day to make 【Dancer】 show up?"

"Nooo. Nothing like that comes to mind, so I think it's one of those 'aptitude jobs.'"

Aikawa shakes her head.

'Aptitude jobs'—meaning the ones already on the job selection screen from the start. A born-with-it job, in other words...

I've heard 【Healer】 and a few other rare jobs can only be taken as aptitude jobs—but where does 【Dancer】 fall?

"So you weren't practicing, then... By the way, do you have any dance experience?"

"Nope?"

Hey!

But a bear-ear dance, done with animal ears out via 【Partial Beast Transformation】...

I think that has legs.

If it's a performance-type skill, there might even be synergy.

You have to watch the dance to receive the buff, so openly staring is allowed, right?