Rob X Punzel ~ Twenty-Three!

Goldie strolled through the bustling streets of the citizens district, an area which was a sharp contrast to the slums she still called home. The familiar sound of coins softly jingling in the pouch at her waist helped her to blend in as she walked past dozens of people with enough money to their names to buy literally every single building in the slums if they had so desired.

Months had passed since her escapade with Bob, and she had put the cute… no, scrappy young man out of her mind. Goldie grunted in frustration as her thoughts  returned to that evening, but—she told herself—only because of how close she’d gotten to being caught and thrown to the guards, for no reason other than someone else trying to save their own skin. 

Letting out a soft scoff, Goldie remembered how Chay had reacted after she gave him a much abridged version of what had happened. His enraged response boiled down to ‘No more trusting or helping random people. It's a good way to get scammed or get dead’.

Relationships meant everything to her, but… her crew leader had a point. Maybe she had become more jaded, or perhaps simply more aware of the realities of the life she was living. Still, she was able to hold her head high, especially now as she wore the trappings of wealth in a not-quite-successful attempt to blend with the upper class she now found herself living off of and among.

Goldie now wore clothes magically enhanced to keep themselves clean and adjust to the temperature of the city. Thinking about them made her trail a finger along the soft material, feeling a little thrill go through her at the bespoke luxury material hugging her frame. Custom outfits such as this were the bare minimum to be able to walk through the higher-end area of the artisans’ district, where even the lowest assistants wore clothes at least this fine.

Still, despite the silk clothes, custom leather boots, and even the touch of makeup she had started trying to figure out, her origin was far too apparent to allow her access to the noble district—even with a hefty bribe. On the handful of occasions she had crossed anyway, Goldie stood out far too much to stay there for long. Her untamable mass of golden hair cascading down her back, glowing faintly and releasing a pleasant scent, drew eyes in an area where everyone knew who was supposed to be there. 

As soon as those eyes moved down to her face, lightly pocked with scars from sores or bugs which just didn't heal right, due to her living conditions, their eyebrows would go up, and they would make a discreet motion to someone. That person more often than not would run to inform the guard. After two narrow escapes, she’d given up on the noble district… for now.

Still, over most of the last year, her thieving had grown in complexity and scale. After their success with securing a huge amount of lace and silk, Chay and his crew had earned respect and access to a lot more information from the guild. They now had access to scores ranging from which merchant houses had particularly impressive non-magical goods to illegal smuggling operations that couldn't rely on outside support if they were robbed. They carefully planned each heist and walked away with enough coin that each one of them could have purchased a small storefront in the merchant district if they had the skills or desire to do so.

But leaving this life meant a need to hold onto the space they’d carved out for themselves. None of them were confident they could fight off a concerted effort to take over their shop, and they certainly hadn't the skills to consistently make money—not enough to keep their shop and hire the required protection services. 

Still, without overhead, the opportunities to make coin abounded. Even after significantly increasing the amount of money she was handing to the orphanage on a regular basis, Goldie still found scores of coins whenever she brushed out her hair. Slowly, the consistently increasing wealth began to affect her daily life: starting with bathing in perfumed water, dressing in her current fine clothes, and sometimes even quietly and secretly dining in restaurants, of all places. Never had she felt more like a thief than when she’d been given the tab for her meal and needed to pay it—one meal had cost nearly a quarter of what she gave to the orphanage every month. 

As their successes piled up, some of the guild higher-ups had come to her with offers to let her build up and run her own crew. Goldie would admit that she’d been tempted, especially since Chay took a cut of everything she made on top of the guild doing the same. Even so, she refused every time. Loyalty was still the most important thing to her, and she knew exactly how rare a trait it was in her line of work. 

Beyond that, having to deal with guild politics sounded like a nightmare, especially when stepping too far out of line would usually mean a visit from a guard when they least expected it. In her opinion, Chay did a fantastic job with the rigmarole of pacifying or bribing people as needed. Not to mention, he had taken note of her loyalty and made sure to shower her with commensurate rewards and accolades. All of the crew, yes, but… she was becoming ever more aware that he gave her more attention than he gave the others…

“It's about that time, isn't it, Goldie?” Xander's friendly voice shook her out of her thoughts, and only then did the thief realize she had allowed her feet to carry her to the forgemaster’s shop without thinking. “The deal was once a year, so you can commission it, but the next set isn’t on the cheap for another week! Unless… are you finally going to decide on a free item? I've got some good ideas-”

“Nice try, Xander.” Goldie blushed, happy he couldn’t read her mind and see what she had just been thinking, waving away his minor grunt of vexation. “I'm going to wait until you've had enough time to push your Breakthrough Skill up to at least level eight or nine. I have no doubt that, eventually, you're going to be a kingdom-wide celebrity. Only then will I make you go out of your way to hand something over for free.”

After letting out a longsuffering sigh, he motioned for her to enter the shop. Goldie noticed that his lips were twitching, a sure sign that he was only playing at being annoyed with her. “Commission, then?”

“Yup.” Goldie tossed her current battle scissors over. “These didn't last as long as I’d hoped they would. I've got a big job coming up soon, and I need something that’ll give me a little more… oomph.”

Xander ran his fingers over the pitted, tortured metal of the magical scissors he had sold to her less than a year previously. “You poor thing! What did the bad woman do to you? Seriously, what did you do, Goldie? Have you been using these to cut rocks? Bah, that hair of yours is a menace. I know exactly how these looked even the last time you had me touch up the inscription, and now it looks like you've been walking around with serrated knives in your pocket.”

“What I’m cutting with them most often actively fights against being cut, as would anything that wants to not be cut.” Goldie carefully explained. “It’s also getting more difficult to cut my usual target, even with the current magic you have in here. I'm thinking it's time to step up for a durability enhancement. Got anything you can add into the mix, like fire to burn through…?”

“Through your hair,” Xander bluntly finished her sentence, though she didn't verbally react to his words. “Got it, you can't say. If I were you, I'd find whoever made you swear that oath and stick them with this rusty scrap of a shear you’re replacing.”

“I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about,” Goldie blithely stated, quickly moving on as he met her glance with a frank stare. “How much do you think it's going to cost me?”

“You?” Xander looked away, then at the ceiling as he scratched his chin, which was now covered in a thick stubble. “First, I'll calculate what I’d charge someone else… apply your discount, add on the risk cost of not submitting the magical signature, and… twenty-five gold.”

“You're a monster,” Goldie replied as soon as the last syllable had left his mouth. “How about without the fire?”

“Twenty, but if whatever it is you're cutting is becoming immune to the magic I've put on these old scissors, you're going to need to switch up to a different kind of magic. That, or have it in addition to the cutting. Magic's not cheap, if you can't produce it yourself.” Xander shrugged nonchalantly at her glare. “The price is the price, unless you want it for free?”

Growling as she pulled coins from her hair, the thief slammed them on the table and glared at her friend—for that’s truly what he had become over the last year. “You'll take a down payment?”

“For you? Sure. I know you're good for it.” Xander swept the coins off the countertop and into his pocket without counting them, knowing she always paid exactly half up front. Then he leaned onto the barrier between them, looking at her curiously. “Now that business is out of the way, I've been hearing some rumblings up and down the district. Lots of shops are missing goods, even when they shouldn't be. We’re talking warded buildings without a mark on them, suddenly losing hundreds of gold worth of goods. Lots of people are getting nervous and stepping up their defenses. Hiring mercenaries to keep things safe. Things like that. Know anything you want to share?”

“Sounds like they should treat their employees or customers a little nicer. Like you do.” Goldie breezily tried to move past the topic. “I can't think of anyone who could just ignore magical protections built into a wall and still make off with their goods.”

“Hmm.” Xander smiled softly. “Well, if there's anyone who you think needs a word of advice, just go ahead and remind them that any magical items can be tracked. Any magical items, even if they aren't registered with the wards. Some people have classes or skills that allow them to sniff that sort of thing out. If someone produced an item, they can usually find it. If someone had something in their possession, and it mysteriously vanished, they can usually find it. If something is powerful enough, it’ll let out a signal just by existing. Perhaps you can just let this strange person know to be safe out there, or remind them to offload certain items as soon as possible.”

Goldie went silent as she tried to think whether her crew had taken anything magical over the last few months. She was fairly certain the answer was no, but there’d been more than one occasion where Chay would have her hair pick the locks on a safe or display case, then quickly hide whatever was in there before they could see it. Those jobs usually meant a large bonus, so she hadn't asked any questions… but maybe she should have. “Can't think of anything that would affect me, but I'll make sure to have a few quiet conversations.”

“Good. Good.” Xander nodded, leaning back more and relaxing his shoulders, tension flowing out of him even as clear relief glimmered in his eyes. “So… what else do you have going on today?”

“Oh.” Goldie had an uncontrollable urge to look at her left arm, but her eyes flicked back to the shopkeeper in the next instant. “Trying to make up my mind about something.”

“Do tell!”

After figuring out how she could carefully tiptoe around the topic, Goldie began, “You see, today's my birthday.”

“Enough said!” Xander stood upright, a broad smile on his face. “Congratulations, have you unlocked your Full Class yet, or… no, of course not. Just like everyone else your age, you must be wondering if you should unlock your Full Class or try to push your skills higher to unlock your next skill first. Well, let me put your mind at ease. Almost no one gets their Advanced skill very high before unlocking their Full Class. It's the work of decades in some cases, and the sheer power available to you with even a Basic Skill from your Full Class means it's worth getting.”

Nodding along at his words, Goldie couldn't hide the pained expression on her face. “Doesn't every level in your skill add to the eventual power of whatever you unlock next? Wouldn't it be better to have as many of those as possible? What about system merits? How do you get those?”

“Mmm… yes, but wouldn't it be better to start building up the levels in your next skills as early as possible? You'll still be able to reach Perfection in whatever skills you already have unlocked. Over time, that is. Merits, well, just do deadly, dangerous, or improbable things.” Xander waited for more information, then he remembered who he was talking to. “If there's anything specific you can ask about, I'm more than happy to give you whatever little information I have.”

“No… no.” Goldie took in a deep breath and sharply nodded. “I've waited long enough; I think it's time to go see what my Full Class looks like.”

“Congratulations again! As a present to my good friend, I'll knock five silver off the final price of your new weapons when they’re ready.” Xander barely got the practically insulting offer out before Goldie was walking away, showing him a rude hand gesture as she shoved the door open. A roar of laughter followed her out onto the street, cut off only when the door slammed closed.

Breakthrough Skill: Bad Hair Yester-Morrow: Level 6/10.

Requirement to advance: Perfectly block a magical attack using an elementally opposing infusion while protected by a body-enveloping hairball.

“Yeah… I have no idea when I'm going to fight against someone who can bring magic to the fight. Even if that happens, how will I know what element perfectly counters what they’re using? Lastly, how will I time the infusion to the hairball, which triggers automatically?” Goldie started walking, and unlike her journey here, now every footfall had deliberate purpose behind it.

“I guess there’s nothing to do but see what the system has in store for me this time.”