ch181-ch200 · 182-ch182

Chapter 182: Dance・Let's

"Then shall we practice dancing? Come on, Soushi, you too."

Aikawa brought that up out of nowhere.

"You say 'shall we,' but you're the one doing it, you know."

"What are you talking about? Ah, right—Haru-kun, I never explained 【Dance・Let's】 to you, did I? 【Dance・Stage】 is the one where you just watch, and it only gives about half the effect of my stat buff. But 【Dance・Let's】 is a skill where you get the same effect by dancing along with me. And it doesn't even consume MP!"

Huh? No MP cost?

Isn't that a god-tier skill?

But there's a problem.

"I've never danced in my life, you know? What about you, Soushi?"

I did do some mysterious "creative dance" in PE back in middle school, but I don't think that counts as dancing...

"Same here, but I practiced a little yesterday. Whether the skill effect kicks in, well, we'll see when we try."

I beg your pardon?

"It's fine, I'm a beginner too, so I can only do simple steps. What matters is that you recognize what I'm doing as a dance. Apparently, if you're experienced, there are even cases where you can't get the buff?"

I see—so just like with the creative dance, thinking "this isn't dancing" would be bad.

So the judge is whoever's receiving the buff, huh...

"The same movements, huh... Show me how it's done first, then."

I shall pass judgment on the bear-ear dance.

"Okay. There are two called the Bronx step and the box step, and for 【Dance・Let's】 I think the box step is easier to follow. I practiced it with Soushi yesterday, but the Bronx step took a while to get down... So we're doing the box step."

Oh, I actually know that one.

You step on the four corners of a box—that's why it's the box step.

Aikawa calls out the counts while she steps.

"Starting with the right foot. Right, left, right, left. Next, from the left foot. Left, right, left, right. ...So? Think you can do it?"

"Doubt it."

Instant answer.

Why did you start the second round from the opposite foot?

"I think it's easy, though? 【Strength Up・Dance】【Endurance Up・Dance】【Agility Up・Dance】【Magic Up・Dance】! Here we go. Right, left, right, left. Left, right, left, right. Ah, amazing! The buff took! So THIS is how it works~. Right, left, right, left. Left, right, left, right."

"Hey, don't speed up."

The skill seems to have activated just fine, but please stop moving faster when I'm trying to learn by watching.

Still, to think I get to watch a high school girl dance without holding back...

My verdict: 'quite the god-tier skill.'

The only pity is that Aikawa is wearing long pants...

Maybe the Thigh Swordswoman could do this dance, you know.

No—Endo-san!

Endo-san, huh... Aikawa is awfully slender, though.

Her arms and legs look like they'd snap, slim but not particularly tall.

Her face is small too—she looks so unlike that hulking Bear Ossan I almost doubt she's his daughter.

Then again, inside the dungeon there's stat correction, so your actual build doesn't really matter...

...Armor: absolutely not.

Wouldn't it be better to have Mia-san pad it out for her?

"Hey. Quit staring."

Eep, sorry.

"Both of you dance too."

Ah, apparently she isn't angry.

I wasn't found out.

Alright, let's do this.

"Haruki, you start with the right foot."

I know, I know.

Soushi and I take up positions on either side of Aikawa.

It's fine.

First, step the right foot forward-left, then the left foot forward-right.

Then bring the right foot back to its spot, and finally the left foot back to its spot.

I've got it memorized properly.

"Here we go~. 【Dance・Let's】! Right, left, right, left. Left, right, left..."

"Hoguh."

My feet tangle and I go down.

"What are you doing? Ah, the buff's coming. Huh, so this is what it feels like. I wonder if my skills feel like this too? Aikawa, MP? 【Status】. ...Mine's not going down."

Wait, the dance succeeded even though I fell!?

"Really? 【Status】. ...Mine's not going down either. A complete success!"

It was NOT a success!

"Grrrnnn. One more time. One more."

Soushi, you practiced yesterday—that's why you can do it, isn't it?

"Fufu. A sore loser, are we? And here's our usually-cool Haru-kun. Souma-san would love to see this. By the way—if you don't step the 'two' of 'one, two' in front of where your 'one' foot was, you fall over like you just did. Here we go~. 【Dance・Let's】! Right, left, right, left. Left, right, left, right. So?"

She was watching me closely, wasn't she.

I knew it myself—I just panicked on the second round's opposite foot and got it wrong.

"Huh? The buff's not coming?"

It should have succeeded, but no buff.

"Hmm. Maybe our movements were out of sync? Try being conscious of your upper body too. Like this. Bounce up and down together—right, left, right, left—and move your arms like this too. Left, right, left, right."

Aikawa turns toward me and demonstrates.

Hmm.

Not a single sway.

Oh, that reminds me—Kasumi-san will be doing this too, won't she...

Revising my verdict from 'quite the god-tier skill' up to 'a decidedly god-tier skill.'

"I'll keep watch."

Soushi takes up a position in front of me and Aikawa.

And of course he only intends to watch Aikawa.

I can read you like a book.

"Let's call out the rhythm together while we dance, okay? Here we go~. 【Dance・Let's】!"

"Right, left, right, left! Left, right, left, right!"

Oh?

"Ooh. It came. The buff took."

Well, well.

I pull the spear planted in the ground and take a stance.

Hmm.

Compared to 【Charge・Spear】 super mode, the effect falls well short.

Time doesn't feel like it's slowing down, either.

Well, 【Charge・Spear】 keeps draining MP the whole time, so it stands to reason its effect is bigger.

"Okay. Now we just need to check the duration. Soushi?"

"Oh? It's worn off already. Just like the research said—I'm sure it's around one minute."

One minute, huh...

The "around" part is personal variation between users.

It might even change depending on how precise the dancing is.

A one-minute duration is short, but you don't even need three seconds to kill an Ogre King, so it holds promise for boss fights.

Or on hills full of orcs, if the enemies are spaced apart, maybe we could re-cast?

Though if they swarm in without pause like the Forest Ogres that come out at Floor 30, re-casting—or rather, re-dancing—might be difficult...

"In combat, 【Dance・Stage】 can handle the re-cast. When I shout '【Dance・Stage】!', look at me. Apparently the buff applies as long as you recognize that I'm dancing. I'll use it for boss fights and other long battles. Until then it's 【Dance・Let's】 to save MP, okay?"

Boss fights don't get that long, and MP recovers once I come back through 【Gate】 anyway.

We'll hammer out those differences in actual combat, but I would like to see 【Dance・Stage】 once before then.

"Try 【Dance・Stage】 here, before we get to real combat."

"Hmm. It's a waste of MP, but you're right, better to test it. This time I'll do the Bronx step, so watch closely. Ah, hold your weapons too."

Oh?

【Weapon Enhancement・Dance】, is it?

Being able to share that too is amazing.

Could it cover my weak point—weapon enhancement in daily use?

"You too, Soushi. Weapons."

"Yessir."

Soushi stands up and pulls his kitchen knife out of the ground.

Soushi's is a kitchen knife, not a weapon—will that be okay?

"【Strength Up・Dance】【Endurance Up・Dance】【Agility Up・Dance】【Magic Up・Dance】【Weapon Enhancement・Dance】! Here we go. 【Dance・Stage】!"

Sword drawn at her hip, Aikawa starts stepping, jumping side to side—right, left.

So this is the Bronx step.

It looks simpler than the box step—just repeated side steps—but this one is beyond me.

It's the kind of thing that only counts as a dance if the dancer can actually do it.

If I tried it, it'd just be side-to-side shuttle hops, probably...

But I see, though.

Since the movement is just jumping side to side, it shouldn't get in the way of combat.

Unlike the box step, there's no crossing your feet, so you can respond even if an enemy suddenly comes at you.

No falling flat like I did, presumably.

"Oh, it came. Whoa, even the handle's enhanced."

With Soushi's 【Cooking】, the long-handled kitchen knife only got the knife part enhanced, but apparently the handle got enhanced too this time.

I give my spear a tok-tok too—sure enough, I can tell it's enhanced.

And this is only half the effect...

【Dancer】 is pretty amazing, huh.

【Enchanter】 is the famous high-rank job that can enhance other people's weapons, but a lower-tier job being able to do it is impressive.

That said, the stat buff really is half of what it was before.

It's a weak enough effect that I only feel "oh, I am enhanced" when I stop and think about it.

But enhancement is enhancement.

"My weapon enhancement is in perfect shape too. Honestly, we could certify 【Dancer】 a god job."

"Not bad, Aikawa. MP?"

"Yay! MP is down by 10. Looks like I can use it about ten more times? Want to go to Floor 11?"

Aikawa flashes a peace sign.

She's smiling a genuinely bright smile.

She'd been so down, so I'm glad she's cheered up.

And Soushi's beaming too, of course.

The two of them trading delighted glances... isn't the Minotaur about due?