Rob X Punzel ~ Sixteen!

“It's been a while, Rebecca Punzel,” Schule-tyrant called out in a voice that seemed more tired than the golden-haired woman remembered. “Even so, I thank you for remembering where you came from. As you know, I'll make sure this goes where it should.”

“I go by Goldie Locks now,” the seventeen-year-old woman who had once been a resident of the orphanage informed the headmistress, even as she handed over a thick purse stuffed to bursting with silver coins. “It's good to see you again, even if it's only for a few minutes. Anything else you need, or is coin still the best way to help take care of the kids? It still hurts that I’m unable to bring food and clothing–”

“Too obvious. I understand.” The muscled, steel-haired woman gave the thief a knowing look, a small shake of her head showing her reluctance to continue the conversation. “This is fine. Food, housing, clothing. That's what we can provide, and this coin will help us cover it. Anything else… well, you remember. They need to fight for it. That's the law. Not that you care about the law anymore, hmm?”

As the bitter words washed over Goldie, the young woman shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I care, headmistress. I just can't do anything to remedy the situation. But… maybe soon. Even with the donations I bring here for all my little brothers and sisters, even the ones I don't know, I'm still able to put a good chunk of coin away. I've got my eye on a business in the merchant district and, if I play my cards right, I might be able to sponsor an apprentice after I purchase it and legitimize myself.”

“Right.” Schule-tyrant looked Goldie up and down, noting the fact that the young woman still had plenty of scars from injuries and sores, signs of malnourishment from when she was growing up, broken fingernails, and deep bags under her eyes. In other words, she looked like a standard adult slum dweller in all things but her luxurious hair. “You just keep telling yourself that. Eventually, you'll do what I did and take over a business by force.”

“Money has a strength of its own, Schule-tyrant,” Goldie replied with her part of this familiar argument. “Whether that means buying some muscle to protect my interests… or stuffing my coins into a leather sack and knocking the wind out of a guard with it.” 

The memory of getting through a checkpoint together put a wry smile on Schule-tyrant’s face, but it vanished as swiftly as it had appeared. “I heard about the guards sweeping through the slums a week ago. Does that have anything to do with your ability to hand over a second donation of this amount for the second time this month?”

Goldie’s lips twisted into a scowl, which she didn't bother trying to hide. “Only in the most distant of ways. That was my guild finally taking out some trash I’ve been wanting to burn. It was a plan two years in the making, but we got every member of the Scammer’s Society in one go. The person who handed over all of the information to the city was given the bounty on all of that scum, with a bonus of ten percent of the value of the recovered city guards’ armor that had been stolen over the years. I had a lot invested in that project, so I got a crew leader’s share on it.”

“Did you, now?” Schule-tyrant’s eyes shifted to the bulging sack in her hand, not for the first time seeming hesitant to accept coins taken via stealth. Apparently coming to a decision, she pulled the coin into her shirt and gave Goldie a sharp nod. “I don't like what you do, but in this instance, it sounds like you made the world a little bit better to live in. Even if it was only in the slums.”

They parted ways there, Goldie not even bothering to look back after she stalked away. Rejoining the flow of traffic only a few streets over, she murmured a reminder to her hair to leave the locals alone, and hurried along. Over the last few years, the thief had begun to truly rely on her hair, and now they worked together in an uneasy alliance. She made sure to spend some of her coins on hair care products, especially conditioner, but far too often on new battle scissors. She grumbled at the reminder, pulling out her current set and running her finger along the dull blades.

“When's the last time I even used these in a fight?” There was no heat in her voice, only tired resignation. Her eyes locked on a strand of hair swinging about freely, and she raised an eyebrow at it. “This is your fault, you know. If I didn't have to cut you all the time, I'd have more money to spend on the things you like.”

The strand bobbed, as if mimicking a shrugging motion, and all Goldie could do was let out a breathy murmur, the fight having already drained from her. “Fine, be like that. Hey… how much more do we have until we grab a new skill? It's got to be getting close by now, right?”

Over the years, she’d gone from checking on her skills multiple times a day to once a week, and now months might pass at a time before she thought to check again. When skills weren't rapidly increasing and therefore catching her attention, there was only so often she could reread the same words over and over before even the magic of the system became nearly commonplace.

Basic Class: Golden Locks

Basic Skill: Hair Helper: Level 10/10.

Advanced Skill: Tangle Tamer: Level 10/10.

Breakthrough Skill: Ponytail Pixie: Level 10/10.

Goldie smiled as she looked at the Perfected Breakthrough Skill, which had only reached that level in the last half year. During one of her regular combat practices with Joss, Tauren, and Luca, and even Chay—after each of them had earned a reluctant passing grade from Cutter—they had slowly gone from sparring partners to actual friends. 

Thinking back reminded Goldie of their rocky introduction, but she was proud of how they were now a tight-knit crew, each of them knowing each other as well—or perhaps even better—than full-blooded brothers and sisters. Keeping the bare minimum attention on her surroundings, she thought back to the day they had solidified their crew.

After a long day of working, followed by combat practice to make sure they stayed sharp, Joss had suggested they get a drink together to cool off and relax. Everyone had agreed, each of them enthusiastic for their own reasons. Yet, it all boiled down to the fact that being a thief meant not having many others to talk to, as most people simply couldn't understand what they did to thrive and survive—or perhaps they couldn’t be trusted. At first, the small gathering had been awkward, with each of them  only sipping at their drinks and making basic small talk. 

Then a young, wild-eyed blonde woman had burst into the building and locked eyes on Tauren. The huge man had wilted, shrinking in on himself as his face flamed with embarrassment when she stomped toward them and immediately began shouting accusations, pointing at Goldie and claiming the mountainous man certainly had ‘a type’. At first, the others sat back in shock, which slowly turned to laughter as they enjoyed the show. The fun had lasted all the way until the intruder started demanding that Tauren leave with her and stop hanging around ‘unsavory types like these’.

Goldie had simply stood up, smiled at the fuming young woman, then jumped up on Tauren, wrapping her arms over him and acting like a backpack, while draping her hair over his head. Thanks to the sheer volume of her wavy locks, he was covered from head to stomach. Then she’d gently kicked him in the sides, steering him out the door like a pony as the rest of the room looked on silently, jaws dropping as they found themselves caught between amusement and shock. 

As soon as they were outside, the interior of the building had erupted. The intrusive young woman ran out and down the street without a word, absolutely crimson with embarrassment at being laughed out of the establishment.

Not only had the night moved the group from work friends to real friends, but Goldie had gained two skill levels just from being silly: one in ‘Hair Do’s and Don'ts' for helping someone escape by hiding them under her hair. As it turned out, everyone could know exactly where that ‘hidden’ person was, and it would still fulfill the skill’s requirements. The other had been fulfilled seemingly by causing a situation that caused a large group of people to laugh, including herself.

The ‘ha’ requirement of Ponytail Pixie. 

Then, one day she’d woken up and fulfilled the next final requirement to achieve level ten, Perfection with Ponytail Pixie, which unsurprisingly had just been… ‘H’. As best as Goldie could tell, she had slept with her arms above her shoulders, and her legs slightly splayed; holding a position as an ‘H’ for multiple hours overnight. She had been woken up by a blaze of silvery light, confused and questioning what was happening.

Goldie shook her head and tried not to be annoyed at the memory of the bizarre requirements—as thankfully they hadn’t been repeated in her other skills. Instead, she excitedly focused on the rest of her status.

Advanced Class: Golden Locks

Basic Skill: Hair Do’s and Don'ts: Level 10/10.

Advanced Skill: Dreadful Locks: Level 9/10.

Requirement to advance: Sense danger before your hair does. 44/50. Stop people or yourself from being poisoned by food or water. 50/50. Remain underwater for 240 continuous seconds. 0/1. Absorb a full lightning bolt’s worth of energy. 990,247,568/1,000,000,000 watts. Unlock Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Epic locks in any circumstance. 50/50, 25/25, 5/5, 0/1.

Breakthrough Skill: Locked. Reach level 10 with Dreadful Locks to unlock this skill!

“Don't even know where I could find an Epic-ranked lock, but it's certainly not going to be anywhere lower in the city than the citizens’ district.” Goldie looked up in surprise as her feet came to a halt, having brought her to her destination while her mind was miles away. Glancing around to ensure she hadn't been followed, she lifted a hand and knocked on the door.

It swung open almost instantly, Cutter’s grizzled face glared at her for a long moment before motioning for her to enter the room. “When are you going to give up on this?”

“When I'm awesome at it.” Goldie flicked a silver coin at the trainer then stepped into the dedicated training room. With a flourish, she produced two pairs of battle scissors, one for each hand. Shifting her fingers into the grips, she parted both as if she were about to start chopping up some cloth into confetti and stared at the man looking at her with a weary gaze. “Well?”

“You've paid for my time, so I'm not going to kick you out, but even from here, I can see those ones are only going to be dangerous if you catch me on the tip.” He gestured at the scissors in her left hand, then waved at the others in annoyance. “Those ones are barely better. What have you been doing to your tools? These aren't cheap, you know.” 

“Yeah, I do know. I pay for them.” Goldie’s eyes flickered to her arm, where she knew a long list of immunities to damage could be found. Chiefly among them was her ‘Masterful’ immunity to slashing damage, which meant she needed to use an immense amount of strength to force her scissors to cut through every individual hair when she wanted to trim it. It was getting to the point where she only cut her hair on special occasions, for fear of attaining a Perfect immunity and being unable to shorten it at all.

Now the bulk of her hair was done up in elaborate braids, held in place only by itself, so that it could be extended or shortened as needed. If it was fully extended… she wasn't certain, but Goldie was pretty sure it was currently somewhere around four or five times her total height in length.

“Well, if you've got enough money to buy new weapons once a week, you might as well save some time and get yourself a proper piece of magical equipment.” Cutter’s words didn't quite register at first, not until he handed her a thin sheet of wood with directions written out on it with charcoal. “Burn that when you’re done with it.”

*Pah.* Goldie scoffed after memorizing the directions with a glance and tossing the wood into the fireplace. “You think someone up in the artisan’s district is going to make me a magical pair of battle scissors? First off, they won't let me near the building, let alone into it. Not to mention, every magical item has to be registered with the kingdom to make sure it's not Fairy-touched. Couldn’t let something so dangerous to the Brute Queen get this close to the palace, right?”

“The word you're looking for is ‘enchanted’, and yes, they tend to be extra effective against witches.” Cutter dashed at her and swung his blades with two differing vectors, planning to open up a slice on her shoulder and thigh concurrently. “That’s not all they are good for. Never know when you’ll need armor that lets you walk through dragonbreath.”

Against conventional wisdom, Goldie didn't dodge out of the way of the blades, instead using her parted scissors to catch both of them in the ‘V’ where the paired blades met. “Sure thing, not that it’ll ever matter to me.”

“This all leads me to one question: do you think I'm stupid?” Surprising her with a kick, Cutter pulled his blades back and moved again, this time nearly twice as fast as before. “I gave you his name for a reason. This guy does good work, and he's not above being paid a little extra for a special commission. Savvy?”

Goldie's only response was various grunts and groans as she did her best to block the barrage of metal, barely able to keep up with the flashing steel. Finally, she caught on to his rhythm and started to return attacks instead of merely defending. 

When their hour was up, Cutter stepped back, fully disengaging and putting his knives away in the same motion. As Goldie stood there, breathing heavily and only slowly and reluctantly putting away her scissors, her trainer gave her a once-over and nodded.

“Consider that information a graduation gift.”

“What do you mean?” Goldie inquired as a slow, creeping fear made itself known. 

“Exactly what I said.” Cutter shrugged and offered a hand, this time without a blade. When she looked at the extended limb like it was a snake, making no move to take it, he rolled his eyes, “It's a handshake. A sign of… let's call it respect. You've learned everything I can teach someone without having an actual Blade Mastery skill of some kind. I wasn't holding back here; I was fully matched at the maximum output someone without that skill can attain. The only way I’d be able to beat you is if I used my skills at a higher level… but then you’d just die.”

“That’s… that’s it?” Goldie smacked the proffered hand to the side. “I can't get any better at this?”

Cutter glared at her, gently rubbing his hand. “You have ridiculous grip strength. Probably from hanging on to the edge of buildings and constantly cutting through things with those scissors. Hey, instead of slapping someone who didn't carve you up just for kicks, maybe next time be a bit more polite? Also, yeah. That’s all I can teach you. The fact you could go even this far tells me you have a crazy high affinity for this specific weapon.”

Goldie blinked, thrown back to the moment when she was getting her Advanced Class, and ‘Shear Sorceress’ was scrubbed off her status, only to be replaced by her hair abilities. 

“-only so far that can take you.” Cutter finished, and Goldie blinked as she realized she’d missed some of what he had said. “Even so, it's impressive. I think you could match anyone in your guild right now, and if you take the time to get some proper equipment… you’ll be second to none.”

“Tha-”

“You’d still get cut down in about three seconds in a real fight against someone with proper skills for it, but against other non-combatants? Yeah. I’d bet on you.” Cutter pointed at the door. “Enough with the sappiness. Time for you to go. Normally I don't have to do this, but as of tomorrow, I'm changing locations so you stop bothering me. Goodbye forever, have a life.”

“A good life?”

“…sure.” 

As the door slammed shut behind her, Goldie could only helplessly stand there, staring at the thin wooden barrier with a bittersweet ache zinging through her. The resentment she had used to feel about the grueling training had long since passed, becoming a part of her life—giving her a goal, something she could always improve upon. 

As she turned away, Goldie found herself glancing over her shoulder, her eyes filled with an unexpected longing, and a strange sense of loss growing with each step. 

“I guess… I’m finally awesome at this, huh? Goodbye, Cutter. Thanks.”