Hera could hear the screams of the surrounding monsters. In most situations, this would be terrifying, but not right now. After all, she was also screaming at the top of her lungs while following the beat of Vash’s music. The Harmony Guardians were by the side of the stage, watching Flint face of a team called Rage the Machines. A group of robot like creatures that normally dance something called popping. The idea was to do quick and sharp moves, making the dancer jerk while combining waves, tuts, and various other sequences. In the end, whoever was dancing would almost look like a machine doing precise movements over and over again. Yet, it wasn’t the robots who were receiving all the praise of the crowd. Instead, after two months of rigorous training under Vash. Flint was the one dancing on the stage, and wiping the floor with the competition.
The dwarf shifted from quick and short jerks to longer, more natural-looking movements, only to quickly return to those small steps. He did that again and again, increasing the complexity of the moves until the song was over. The already loud crowd exploded into cheers when he finished, making the winner of this battle clear.
As he walked back with a smile, Neria turned to Hera, “So, that’s 19. Are you confident you can win us the last one?”
Hera smiled, “I am. And why are you talking like this is going to be the first time? I’ve won plenty dance battles before,” she huffed. Her words were true. After the second week of practice with Nina, Talpa, and Lancel, Lurize got a skill called simply [Dancing]. In possession of the skill, the Royal Tutor could teach it to all the titled blades. Including Hera herself. One thing that they realized with the blade core skill was that the more court members had a certain skill, the faster it would grow, and the easier it would be for the others to learn it.
[Dancing] wasn’t a skill that just helped with actual dance. But also increased one’s ability to control their movements, especially now at rank 3. Which was great for fighting overall. She also got a few other skills, even if some of them were not that interesting. But it wasn’t the time to worry about that. Hera still had to win her battle. While the announcer was still talking, the Ophidianite stepped up to the arena. She was to face a group called Sisterhood of the Siren. They were mermaids that leaned more towards the fish side. Gills on their neck and eyes to the side of their heads, and the only monster group that sang while dancing.
Calling out her court, the Empress sent them up in the air. The Harmony Guardians learned they didn’t have to wait for their opponent to dance. They could start the battle themselves, and if their dance was good enough, the opposing team would give up before even trying. And that was what Hera was hoping for. She spent the last month and a half practicing this routine every day with the guides. Beings that had thousands of years of experience under their belts, and they were more than willing to share what they knew.
Looking back, she gave Vash a nod. It was the signal she was going to start. The performer had his personal stage already out, but he killed the lights and waited to start the song. Suddenly, while the announcer was still talking, Hera dropped down, her right leg was straight to the side while the left was under her body. Daskka, who had left the Empress neck during Flint’s dance, pulled a large switch in the corner of the club, killing all the lights inside the dungeon.
There were some boos and shouting, but everyone stopped making any sound when they heard the sound of the set of six golden bangles that were on each of Hera’s wrists. She shook them once and waited a few seconds before doing the same thing again. On the third time, Vash activated some of the spotlights, but ensured that the light only revealed their aimed locations as they moved around the stage. The crowd could see small glimpses of Hera. Her blond hair flowing to the sides of her face framing a snake diadem that was almost invisible in her head. Her purple scales shining against the light, and the pair of amber colored venomous chackrams she held in her hand close to the ground, right below the shiny golden bangles.
Hera started to shake her wrists in a certain rhythm, as she slowly got up, dragging her leg across the floor and gently rotating the circular blades. A secondary ringing sound appeared. The Ophidianite smirked and made a point to let the spotlight hit her tail, revealing another set of bangles around it, serving as an additional instrument for the song she was creating. Vash shifted the spotlights, now aiming at the court members flying in the air. They reflected the lights to each other and then to the ground, creating a disco ball effect of varying intensity. Hera started to shake the bangles more frequently and raise her hands, making the sound more and more intense. Her semitransparent orange skirt in display, revealing a pair of parachute pants below that had the exact same color as the skirt, but in a more solid tone. Her stomach exposed, and she wore more of the same see-through fabric covering her chest and arms, with a matching top underneath made of denser fabric. The jingling became louder and louder until Hera had both arms above her head. She shook her hips twice in the same direction, following the movement of a belly dancer, and Vash dropped a strong beat.
Using the chackrams to control how the light hit her, the Ophidianite continued moving her hips while she slowly waved her arms from side to side. Spinning to the left, she dragged her tail on the floor, causing small sparks to appear because of the bangles and continued moving her hips back and forth as she slowly went to the ground once more. Remembering to keep her eyes focused on the Siren. A trick that Nina taught her. It made the dance feel more personal, as if the rest of the crowd was watching something intimate and, with that, it became more intense. Hera quickly popped back up, shifting her hips from side to side again, the amber colored chackrams positioned to stop anyone from seeing her actual waist.
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Above her, DJ ignited in red flames and dove towards the Empress, who continued and, with a quick spin of her hands, parried the incoming ‘attack,’ making some of the fire to fall to the ground. The kopesh flew back to the formation to reflect the spotlight once more. Hera continued her belly dance routine, moving her arms sensually to follow along the rhythm. As the dance went on, the ‘attacks’ became more frequent, and the element associated with them more varied. The Empress blocked every single one of them and slowly let some mist trail behind her hands. Creating shapes with her movements that formed pictures as the sparks flew. Images of the moon, snakes, swords, a heart, and the last being the landscape of a beach with a few mountains on the horizon. That was only possible due to the shadows created by her court and Vash. When the music started to die down, she shook her bangles once more and, as part of the routine, went back to the same position that she started. At the same time, the last note of the song was played and Daskka flipped the switch again, leaving the entire arena in the dark.
Hera waited a moment with her eyes closed. She knew that 2 months were not enough to learn how to dance. Not to the point of winning a real competition. The moves she learned to beat a few of the teams were just that, moves that played against their weaknesses. However, this routine was different. It was something she tried to work out, using her strengths instead of leaning against the monsters. Instead of focusing solely on the dance, she added some flair that only she could add thanks to her court. But if it would work or not, it still remained to be seen.
Enough time had passed for her to realize that things were not over, and the Ophidianite was about to tell Daskka to turn on the lights when the crowd started cheering. They yelled, shouted, and then began chanting her name over and over again. The herald flipped the switch. Everyone was clapping, including the Harmony Guardians.
“There you have it, folks! I don’t think the Sisterhood can beat that presentation. The Underdogs win the battle, and the entire competition with a score of 20 wins and 0 losses!” the turtle announcer shouted as the entire crowd erupted into cheers once more.
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You have completed the dungeon quest:
Your team won first place in the dance competition.
Rewards: 400 thousand gold.
Bracelet of Dancing Style Upgrade - Siren Charm
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This was just the third Charm Hera got for the bracelet. It was an item very similar to Nimbus, which had a unique effect inside a specific dungeon. Here it would allow her to take the form of one of the monsters in order to dance. She already could become an Arachne and a Zombie, and now a Siren. When used outside, she would be covered in a spectral armor of sorts while also getting some of the abilities of the monster in question. Arachnes allowed her to climb walls, Zombies dulled her sense of pain, and Sirens increased the power of spells that affected emotions and thoughts. It was a nice item, but the best transformations still eluded her. She really wanted the elementals or the Minotaur one. Aside from that, there was one more notification for the Empress.
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You have leveled up.
Current level 56
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“That was great!” Vash rushed over to congratulate Hera.
“It really was. I didn’t think you had it in you,” Roan nodded.
“Hey!”
“Don’t blame me. I still remember your first attempt.”
“I don’t blame you, but I’m still offended,” Hera huffed.
“Either way, congratulations. Who had the idea to use the sparks like that?” Neria asked.
“Daskka. She saw a video about optical illusions and suggested it,” Hera smiled and petted the snake as she came back to her neck.
“Did you level up?” Flint asked.
“I did. We can go home now. I think our new gear arrives today,” Hera said with a smile.
The group left the dungeon, still talking about Hera’s routine, and headed back home. During the last two months, this was basically all they did. Woke up, came to the dungeon and occasionally tried to get some new skills. Hera herself had a few upgrades. First, she got the skills Cooking, Cleaning, Polishing, Sewing, Climbing, Throwing, and Blocking. Those were all the simple ones that helped do exactly what their name suggested. She could get a few more, but unlike the rest of the team, her focus was on dancing. Speaking of which, she also got Acrobatics, which improved her balance and overall control over her body. There was also Cutting, something that worked for both food prepping and fighting. One skill she acquired after taking a class was Lock Picking. She was in a place filled with spies, and it seemed like a good idea. Some dungeons had locked doors, and if she ended up in another lab, she could try to save people.
Hera also got a few upgrades to her skills. Battle Dancer increased by 1 rank, Grasshopper Stab and Slash also increased by 1 rank, which made their multiplier go from x 1 per 10 thousand mana to x 1.1 per 9 thousand mana. It was almost a 20% increase in power and also showed how they could grow even more in the future.
Lastly, was a legacy skill. The Empress tried to learn a few more ‘weapon combat’ skills. Namely, Lance and Scythe combat. After getting them, all of her 15 weapon combat skills consolidated becoming [Bladed Weapon Combat]
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Bladed Weapon Combat (Rank 3)
Improves your ability to use any bladed weapon during combat. Techniques that you already learned can be used with muscle memory alone. However, using a technique like this lowers the strength of the attacks.
When using an unfamiliar bladed weapon, you are able to underhand the basics of how to use them.
This skill also improves the user’s ability to learn new bladed weapon techniques and skills.
Bladed weapon effectiveness increase: 12%
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It was a bit weaker than the individual weapon combats, but the bonus of always knowing how to use the weapons would be massive. Even better, during this dungeon run, Daskka told Hera that she could get the last two skills of her legacy now. And considering how she was about to change her entire court, it was the best moment for it to happen.