ch241-ch260 · 249-ch249

Chapter 249: Off You Go

"Alright! My turn first!"

Soushi, who for once arrived before me.

He's fired up today.

Wait—he was early yesterday too, wasn't he?

"So what did you two decide?"

Worth confirming.

"I'm going 【Enchanter】, and Aikawa's going 【Prima Dancer】!"

Fujutsushi!

Which one?

"You'll both be buffers, then. Are you sure about that?"

Kasumi-san didn't go so far as to ask, "not 【Magic Spearman】?"

"Yes, ma'am. Floor 40's coming up too, after all. We plan to entrust both our strength to Haru-kun and Watanabe-san. That means you two will be standing in the crossfire more than we will—so are YOU two fine with that?"

Aikawa answered, surprisingly well thought out.

"Heh-heh. Floor 40, is it. You're remarkable, Aikawa-san. Very well. With both of your strength received, we absolutely will not lose. We will not let the front line be breached. Leave it to us with peace of mind."

Feels properly party-like. Nice.

......Only four of us, though.

Add one more and make it five, and I don't think the dungeon would complain......

"If you're resolved, then let's go. 【Gate】......"

︙

︙

"Then, I'm heading back to work. Tell me about your skills this evening."

With Soushi and Aikawa's upper-rank jobs safely acquired, Kasumi-san changes into her uniform and leaves for her shift.

"Off you go, Kasumi-san."

"Mmm-mmm-mmm. I like that. ......Once more, please."

Normally it's Kasumi-san who says "off you go" and sees me off into the dungeon, you see.

Me being the one to say it is the rare way around.

Very well—request granted.

"Off you go, Kasumi-san."

"I'm off. Heh-heh-heh."

Nice, for a change.

"No kiss on the 'I'm off,' though, huh."

"Nope, none."

Knock it off.

See—she heard you. Kasumi-san, outside the warehouse, stopped dead on the spot.

Ah—now she's moving again.

Off you go.

"If you're done writing, hand it over."

To hide my embarrassment, I snatch the notebook from Soushi.

Name: Natsukawa Soushi

Job: 【Enchanter】new【Staff User】【Water Mage】

Lv: 30

HP: 660/660→1050

MP: 580/600→1260

Strength: 45→66

Endurance: 45→66

Agility: 45→66

Magic: 60→126

Skills: 【Cooking】【Strength Up・Self】【Endurance Up・Self】【Agility Up・Self】【Magic Up・Self】【Conversion・Water】【Water Manipulation】【Water Pressure】

Skill Points: 14

Ugh......

Stats you want to cover your eyes at.

An upper-rank job with stats barely different from a beginner close-combat job.

Base values of 2.2 for Strength and Endurance......

Meaning they rise by 2.2 per level, while 【Charge Spearman】 had base values of 2.5 for Strength and Endurance.

So this is a magic job......

"They say it's a hard road"—you don't need to be told; the numbers say it for you.

"Hey, I haven't written the learnable skills yet, so give it back."

"You'd saved up points and now it's going to be tight, huh. Soushi, is there some crazy skill you can learn?"

"No weapon enhancement, as expected. That's your weak spot too, Haruki, damn. Aikawa, prioritize covering that one, alright?"

"Ehhh? For me, just taking the basic 【Prima Dance】 skill costs 5 points? Well, I'm taking it anyway. There—here's the first pass."

Name: Aikawa Natsuki

Job: 【Prima Dancer】new【Dancer】【Monk】

Lv: 30

HP: 750/750→1650

MP: 450/450→750

Strength: 60→111

Endurance: 45→69

Agility: 69→120

Magic: 45→75

Skills: 【Partial Beast Transformation】【Prima Dance】new【Weapon Enhancement・Prima】new【Strength Up・Prima】new【Endurance Up・Prima】new【Agility Up・Prima】new【Magic Up・Prima】new【Dance・Stage】【Dance・Let's】【Avoidance】【Weapon Enhancement・Dance】【Strength Up・Dance】【Endurance Up・Dance】【Agility Up・Dance】【Magic Up・Dance】【Body Enhancement】【Natural Recovery・HP】

Skill Points: 5

Aikawa's side is properly strong, huh.

HP and Endurance are low, but Strength—the attack power everyone worried about—should be higher than expected.

A base value of 3.7.

Lower than the 【Samurai】's 4, but with Aikawa's 【Partial Beast Transformation】, that's more than covered.

Endurance's base value is 2.3, almost identical to Soushi's 2.2.

Nothing to do but manage it with evasion skills, huh.

Well, with Agility at a base of 4—scout-class levels—against golems she probably won't even need the evasion skills.

And Aikawa gets dance buffs and Soushi's enhancement buffs stacked on top, so no worries there.

Wait—she's already learned skills, hasn't she.

"So this 【Prima Dance】—what is it?"

"It extends skill durations. Kasumi-san looked it up on overseas sites for me—there's a similar skill on jobs like opera singers, and with this whole line, the dance time required before activation DOUBLES, but in exchange the beginner 【Dancer】 skills' durations double too. The upper-tier skills won't even activate unless you dance double with this one active. So from now on, dances come in sets of two, got it?"

Double the time until the buff lands, huh.

Re-casting mid-battle gets even harder.

During the dance, 【Avoidance】 can dodge one attack, but......

Everything from here depends on how much Soushi can do—and it changes how Kasumi-san and I move, too.

"Got it. And Soushi's side?"

"【Strength Up・High・Bestowal】!—like that, four types for starters. MP cost is...... twenty. Now, how's the effect?"

Soushi cast 【Strength Up・High・Bestowal】 on me, but "how's the effect," you say......

It doesn't feel as dramatic a jump as super mode, I'd say?

"It's on, all right. We'll need to test durations and the rest too. Want to try Aikawa's dances as well—golems, or Forest Ogres......"

Which one for the shakedown run, hmm?