828 An expert kind of help

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Rhythmic Gauntlets (Dance Affinity)

Very Rare

Level Requirement: 60

Defense Scaling:

Agility X 48 Endurance x 45

Passive Skills:

Shine Under Pressure:

When you are in a critical condition, you gain a boost to strength and agility:

Strength and Agility increase: + 20%

Active Skills:

Dance of Destruction:

When attacking while following a specific rhythm, you can charge the gauntlets with each blow, even if you are holding a weapon. After charging to a certain point, you are able to trigger the skill to reapply the damage dealt by those blows.

Minimum charge to use: 30%

Mana cost: 5 million mana

Cooldown: 1 hour.

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Hera was in her room, staring at the only good thing that came out of the dungeon. In all fairness, she also leveled up, but she had yet to look at her status screen. Her dance was so bad, so bad that she even blocked out the memories. All she remembered was how everyone was laughing at the end, and the sheer embarrassment that she felt. She groaned and shoved her head into the pillow, screaming into it like a teenager. She knew she was better than that; it was just a dungeon, and the monsters were not real. But that situation hit too close to nightmares. Nightmares of embarrassment that every teenager would have when growing up. Nightmares that she often had, especially in her last year of school after the guild rejected her. That didn't matter anymore. She was no longer that same kid. She was the fucking Ophidianite Empress! Yet… She screamed again, her voice muffled by the pillow.

"Hera? Are you ok?" Neria's voice came from behind the door.

"I still exist, so no."

"C'mon. It wasn't that bad," Neria tried to cheer her up.

"Yeah, right," Flint's scoff was followed by the sound of someone giving him a slap on the back of the head.

"You are not helping!" Neria yelled before speaking softly again, "Can we do anything to help?"

"No. I know I'm just being dramatic. Just give me some space, we are not going there again today, right?"

"Yeah, Vash is tired. He had to dance almost ten times in a row, so he is just down for the day," Neria continued.

"Ok, then just give me some space. Please. I'll be better soon," Hera replied.

"All right. If you need anything, let us know."

A minute or so went by with the Ophidianite not moving, with her head still stuck to the pillow. She then got up and created a soundproof bubble around the room before calling her court out.

"Can you all keep watch in the room? Don't let anyone come in. I'm going to call the guide," Hera said.

"Will do, are you ok, Empress?" Lurize asked.

"Did you see anything during the dungeon?"

"Not really. But I can fell your distress. What happened?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm not hurt, no one did anything bad to me. I just don't want to talk about," Hera looked at the armored figure, who nodded in response.

It didn't take long for them to get everything set up and allow the Empress to call the guide. She was in her room, a suite actually, with a queen size bed in the center, a white wardrobe was in the corner and a small desk along with a single chair was on the wall beside the entrance door. Or at least, that's how it was supposed to be. What changed was a small wooden double door, about 40 centimeters tall, appearing beside the bathroom. It suddenly burst open and a tiny armored knight came rushing through, pointing a large spear ahead of them.

"You shall not devour me, oh foul beast!" the knight yelled and swung his spear, spinning on his heels, before facing the Empress, "Oh. Apologies, my good lady. I was facing one of the most heinous windmills I have ever seen."

"You were… fighting windmills?" Hera tilted her head.

"Correct, those are nasty creatures."

"Sure…" she didn't say anything, but this guide reminded her of an old crazy knight from a book. Maybe it was a sore spot, and she needed to ask for a favor. One that she was dreading just to think about it.

"Why are you looking at me in such a way? Those windmills are dangerous creatures. If you are not careful, they will lash out with tentacles filled with teeth, or worse, create a multitude of arms to grab you and pull you to their maw."

"But they are… OH! Do you mean the mimic windmills?" Hera remembered about the dungeon that was just by the entrance of the room.

"Yes, yes. Ah, I see where your confusion stems from now. Understandable, and I apologize for not being clearer in the situation."

"You don't have to, it was just a misunderstanding. But I was under the impression that guides didn't have to fight against monsters."

"You are correct. However, some of us do enjoy the thrill of battle. Hence, we venture into dungeons while limiting our own powers to match that of our room. Purely for the hunt, we are unable to get any rewards, of course. Alas, doing such a thing also makes us unable to answer the call of an explorer. That is why, when someone like you uses the skill to contact us and we are in the middle of a dungeon, we simply leave there to answer you."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get in your way."

"Fret not. This was hardly the first time it happened, and I am certain it will not be the last. Also, the battle was nowhere near as exciting as I had hoped. I supposed I should start lowering my power even more next time."

"That's a good idea. Oh, and I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Hera," the Ophidianite gave the guide a nod.

"Of course. My name is Lancel Ott," the guide bowed to her.

"Lancelot?"

"No, Lancel Ott. Those are two separate words. You may call me Lancel, my Lady."

"Does my Lady work?" Vulcan turned to the Empress.

"What?" Hera and the guide both asked.

"Sorry. I was thinking out loud," Forge shook his head.

"But what do you mean? Now I'm curious," Hera replied.

"So am I, good sir."

"I was just thinking if calling Hera 'My Lady' was also a correct term. We call her Empress since she is our Empress, but she also introduced herself as the Ophidianite Empress. So, is my lady the right term, or would that be an offense?" Vulcan explained.

Lancel turned to Hera, "My apologies, your majesty. I did not realize your title was beyond the scope of Lady."

"Don't apologize. You can just call me Hera. My lady is fine too," she turned to Vulcan, "And you hush. Next time, don't talk about that in front of a guide."

"Why not?"

"I believe one should not question an Empress' command."

Hera let out a long sigh, "Because of that. Lancel, you don't need to call me Empress, your majesty or anything like that. You can just call me Hera."

"I cannot do that. It would be an offense against your position," Lancel shook his head.

"Ok, ok. How about using my lady? Would that be ok?" Hera pleaded.

"That is… agreeable, if that is your wish, my Lady," Lancel bowed to the Empress.

"Yeah, please," Hera rubbed her temple, "This is like Tom all over again. Anyway. I don't actually have any questions for you, but I do have a favor to ask."

"A favor?" Lancel tilted his head.

"Yeah. I remember another guide telling me that you can watch what happens in dungeons. Correct?"

"That is half correct. We need permission from those involved in the dungeon. Or we can watch what the development of said dungeon is without seeing the people involved. And that is… quite strange. But to watch what a group did inside a dungeon after they already left it's more complicated. I could only do that by spending a significant amount of time with your questions."

"Perfect. I give you permission to see what I did in the dungeon today. The favor is, could you record my…" Hera took a deep breath, trying not to remember what she did, "My dance… if you can call it that? And give it to the kobold sisters? Nina and Talpa. I need to learn how to dance properly and they are the best dancers I know. If, along with the video, you could tell them that it would be wonderful."

"You want… their help for that?" Lancel sounded off. But Hera couldn't put her finger around for the reason. Then again, it was hard to read a living suit of armor.

"Yeah. I mean, they are the only guides I know who really like dancing. Vash, one of my party members, was already talking about teaching me, teaching us. But I think I'm going to need a more intensive lesson for it to work," Hera admitted.

"That is… commendable. In order to do that… considering the requirement of me watching the video and also recording it… It would take the entire five minutes of questions," Lancel explained.

"Perfect. In all honesty, I didn't have any other questions to ask. I don't even know if I should be trying to find out things about this place. With the headquarters here, any extra information I get feels like it is a risk."

"Understandable. Especially considering the current circumstances in the MAZE. But… may I ask you a question, my Lady?"

"Of course."

"Do I appear unreliable to you in some way?"

"What? No, not at all!"

"Then why… why have you not requested my assistance in improving your dance abilities, my Lady?"

Hera was taken aback, she froze for a moment before replying, "I didn't know you would be skilled at dance. Also, this is your room. I figured that if I asked something like that. Something that is so vital to beating the dungeon, you wouldn't be able to help."

"Ah. I see… I must say, you are not entirely wrong. Even so, I would be willing to help you improve your dance, if you would have me. My Lady," Lancel took a knee in front of the Empress.

"I would love your help, Lancel. But… look at the dance first. If you don't feel like you can't help me, I will understand," Hera wouldn't blame anyone if they felt like she was beyond hope.

"Fret not, Empress. I will help you no matter what. Also, I will contact the sisters with your request. I am sure they will be more than willing to assist you. They have sung your praises several times already."

"They talked about me?"

"Indeed. Due to the nature of the very dungeon you are trying to beat, the sisters became good friends of mine. We are even part of the same dance group."

"Oh! I had no idea. They mentioned the group, but since I didn't know everyone in it, they couldn't tell me much about it."

"Perhaps we will be able to show you some of the dance routines we have created. But now, I must go," the tiny double doors on the side of the room opened and Lancel pulled his lance up, "We shall meet again soon, your majesty."

With that, he dashed out before Hera could even complain about his farewell. Before leaving the room, the Empress quickly pulled her tablet and sent a message to Vathrik, asking if she could go to the doorway in order to access her private room. While waiting for the answer. She went back to her team, just to prove that she was doing ok. She wouldn't let that dungeon win. Before Forge could find all the information hidden in his memories, and before they were done with this whole power leveling. Hera was going to be the able to beat half the monster teams in dance battles on her own. And that was a promise.