Rob X Punzel ~ Four!

Nearly two years later, Becca was a well-known fixture in Sorin’s Curios. She’d never once been late and often stayed well after closing to help make sure the shop was ready for the next day.

As a sales girl, all she really needed to do was greet the customers when they came in, then help them find anything specific they were searching for. She had consistently gone above and beyond, and the results of her work were easily noticeable when Sorin compared the activity of the area when she’d first started at the curio shop to the current moment.

The drip of one or two customers per hour had shifted into a steady stream of half a dozen or more. Becca had quickly discovered that she could use her hair, not just as a passive feature, but as an active tool to make sales. A flip of her hair as someone was walking past the window could catch the passerby's eye, making them curious as to what was making a light so far from the norm. As soon as someone curious walked into the curio shop… she was all but guaranteed a sale.

Very rarely did someone leave the store without parting with coin for the privilege. 

Whenever a repeat customer walked in, she made sure to weave a few casual questions into the conversation. Once she learned their favorite scents, she’d take notes on their preferences and try to match the smell whenever she saw them coming. The subtle yet personalized touch led to regular return visits and significantly increased both the number of sales and the value of each purchase.

As months passed and her conversational skills improved, so did both her confidence and her sales figures. Becca learned more about people in her time at the shop than she had her entire life, carefully watching the changes in customers’ behavior as she made slight adjustments in smells, lighting, or offered carefully timed questions to find how it would sway their decisions. Needless to say, Sorin was absolutely chuffed at the increased revenue. 

With Becca's fourteenth birthday approaching with inevitable momentum, he began asking leading questions about her plans. This wasn’t too odd, as the shopkeeper had a penchant for randomly inserting questions with open-ended answers, as they often had long intervals between customers arriving.

“Rebecca, my favorite employee, do you think your Advanced Skill will be affected by the work you've been doing with me?” 

As she had taken over more of the responsibilities of sales, he found himself with perhaps a bit too much time on his hands, and his thoughts poured out rapidly. “What would you say the likelihood of gaining a Merchant Class would be? I can't imagine your shiny, smell-good hair is more than an Uncommon skill. You think whatever the system gives you next will be bent toward improving your sales here? I suppose, that is, I mean to say… if you do manage to get a Merchant Class, and it is applicable here, I wouldn't be opposed to making you a real apprentice.”

“You’d… you’d do that for me?” Becca was deeply touched, as the whole point of taking on an apprentice was to have someone you trust take over your life's work when you were too old to do it yourself. “I would accept in a heartbeat. But…”

She felt a familiar twinge in her chest as she thought about how badly she wanted to explain some of the details of her class to Sorin. The oath she’d sworn to the headmistress of the orphanage years ago never let her even get close to explaining the subject without giving her plenty of warning. At one point, she had resented the oath; but even years later, the hollow stare and warning the headmistress had given her rang in her mind.

‘Breaking this oath will kill you, but sometimes that's the best option you have. Better to have that choice in your pocket and not need it than need it and not have it.’ 

Becca bit her tongue, choosing her words carefully. “I've been working really hard to advance my skills with my hair as well, but if they merge, and I get some kind of hair Merchant skill, maybe becoming a stylist or something, I don't want to make you think you need to make me your apprentice.”

“Bah. I’d love that.” Sorin actually grinned at the image her words inspired in his mind. “Something like that would actually work in my favor. Start getting a crowd of ladies perusing the shop while waiting for their turn to have their hair all fancied up? I can practically hear the coins singing as they pour into the safe.”

She went back to the orphanage that night with a smile as bright as her hair. As per usual on paydays, Becca stopped at the grocer and loaded up on foods that would stretch across many mouths and still keep bellies full. Then, since it was the end of the first week of the month, she made her way to a clothier on the way and purchased as many discount outfits as she could afford. One silver lining about having dozens of orphans to support was that she didn't have to worry so much about sizing: there was always someone who could wear whatever she brought home.

Pulling everything into the fortress of an orphanage she called home, Becca handed out clean clothes to her excited siblings and tasked others with turning the ingredients into prepared meals. Emma swung over, studying Becca as she cheerfully passed out the rolled up garments. “Something's got you in a good mood. Figured out where those rats were coming from?”

“No, unfortunately the dormitory is still infested.” Becca’s smile dimmed somewhat, “Yeah, that would’ve been good, too. What actually happened was… I got offered a potential apprenticeship!”

“Sorin finally broke down and popped the question?” Emma gasped with excitement. “I knew he was really happy; he's been telling everyone in town he got the best deal on an employee out of anyone in the city. Not to mention, it's thanks to your reference that Cindy, Cheryl, Jeff, Bob, and Malorne got hired near the merchant district.”

“It's just nice to see things go right for once.” Becca handed over a simple dress, “Here, I got this one with you in mind. Keeps your arms free for punching people, and I know how much you like that.” 

“Look, if it's good enough for the queen, it's good enough for me.” Emma smirked as she accepted the dress, holding it against herself to check the fit. “Thanks for this. Hey… isn’t it your birthday tomorrow?”

Becca paused, trying to think through how long it had been since her last birthday, and slowly nodded. “I guess it is, isn't it? Wow… fourteen already?”

“At least that would explain why the headmistress is looking for you.” Emma smirked as Becca blanched, the light of her hair becoming a soft robin’s egg blue. “Why’s that a bad thing? You get to go to a Class Shrine tomorrow. Unlock a new class, get a new skill? All of that is good, right?”

Becca's head swayed from side to side in disbelief, “I need to tell Herr Sorin; I'm supposed to be in charge of the store tomorrow. I can't just not show up. That would be blatant disrespect. I'll lose my job!”

As they were speaking, the sun fell beyond the wall of the city, and the scratching of a metal bar on wood and stone filled the air. Emma shrugged and gestured at the now-locked gate out of the orphanage. “Too late to go out now. Tell you what, as thanks for the dress, I'll swing by tomorrow and explain why you're not there. It's not like you have a choice; there's only one chance for you to get into the Class Shrine for free, and it's not like the Schule-tyrant is going to make an exception for you.”

“You’d do that for me? Thank you so-” Becca paused, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as the light around her hair darkened to purple tinged with shocks of red. “You're going to try and steal my job, aren't you?”

“Don't worry,” Emma waved off her concerns with a grin. “I'm not my brother. I'm not either of my brothers. I owe you, anyway. We all do. I know how hard you've worked for that job, and I've never seen you buy anything for yourself. Only the rest of us. I wouldn't mess that up for you. Plus, I don't think you need to worry so much. When's the last time you missed a day or were even late? You fought through a mugging last year and stumbled into the store still bleeding, then worked your whole shift with a cloth wrapped around your ankle to keep his floors from getting bloody. If he can't let go of one tiny missed day, I don't know what to tell you.”

“I… I guess you're right?” Becca slowly agreed, her troubled face breaking into a smile as she looked at Emma in a new light. “You're also wrong, though, I buy stuff for myself all the time.”

“Food doesn't count.” Emma held up a hand sharply realizing what Becca was going to say. “Neither do those scissors. Your hair grew the length of my hand as we were here talking. Scissors are a basic necessity for you, and I won’t hear otherwise.”

Becca could only shrug. Before she could say another word, Emma looked past her and went pale. Whirling around, the golden-haired teenager found the headmistress clomping toward her, eyes practically burning holes in her.

“You! I've been letting people know I've been looking for you all day. No, don't whine at me, I know you've just arrived.” Schule-tyrant tapped at the side of her head, reminding Becca that she had a timing-based skill. “Your birthday is tomorrow at zero-nine-forty-five. We will leave for the Class Shrine at oh-eight-hundred. You will not waste my time by being late. There's at least three guards between us and the shrine, so we're going to have to fight through, even if orphans are supposed to have free access. If I'm not back here by noon, I'm charging you for a full-priced escort mission.”

Becca rapidly bobbed her head. “Yes, Schule-tyrant. I’ll be here even earlier than that.”

“I don't care when you get here, so long as you’re on time.” With one last warning glare, the dangerous woman walked away. “Get clean tonight. You're going to be walking through the citizen’s district—there could be opportunities for you there.”

“Understood,” Becca called, but there was no indication she’d been heard. With a thin smile directed at Emma, the almost-birthday girl hurried to the washroom and propped the doors open.

For the next half hour, she shuttled buckets of water from the pump in the yard into the large cast iron tub, making sure to start a fire under it after dumping in the first bucket so it would have time to warm the water. By the time there was enough water in the tub to get clean without getting scalded, Becca started to realize how badly she needed a bath.

“My hair cleans itself, so why can't it go a little bit out of its way and extend that courtesy to the rest of me?” It was a familiar irritation, not something she could truly do anything about. Easing herself into the tub, being careful not to burn herself on the iron ridge, Becca found her tense muscles gladly soaking in the heat. For a few long minutes, she simply floated gently in the shallow water, appreciating the luxury she rarely had time for.

A bar of harsh, lye soap was always available for use. After she had allowed the majority of the caked on dirt and sweat to soak away naturally, she grabbed the bar and quickly scrubbed, careful not to leave the astringent substance on any patch of skin for too long. Once she was clean from head to toe, she carefully scrubbed her face with the soapy water, not daring to put the soap on her face directly.

After a moment of hesitation, she allowed her water to swish around and carefully scrubbed the incredibly soft mane of hair. Then, she reached over to her dirty clothes and pulled out a large pair of sharp scissors, using the reflection of the water and light from her hair to carefully trim her hair back to just under ear level.

Normally she would simply hack it off in a straight line, but the subtext from Schule-tyrant was that she should try to look her best. Becca decided to put in real effort at a hairstyle which would look good short or long—and it would be long by morning. When she finished, she inspected her look critically before nodding with approval.

“Probably should’ve washed my clothes in here before filling the tub with loose hair, but-” As Becca reached for her clothes to wash them in the now almost-too-hot water, she froze in place as a familiar sensation wrapped around her. 

The air seemed to be charged with energy, and a glance at her reflection showed that her already dry hair was lifting as though she were caught in a thunderstorm and about to be struck. The golden light her hair always shone with began extending out, surrounding her with a bright aura of energy. It swiftly contracted, turning into a pearlescent silver light blazing around her left arm.

“I reached Perfection in my Basic Class Advanced Skill? Because I tried to make it look nice?” Utterly stupefied by the realization and unexpected level increase, she swiped along the inside of her arm to see the new information. 

Advanced Skill: Tangle Tamer: Level 10/10

Tangle Tamer is a continuous, passive skill which causes the hair growing from the crown of the user's head to become [Perfectly] soft to the touch. Damaged hair [Perfectly] repairs itself, ensuring flawless strands at all times. The texture of the hair can be [Perfectly] chosen, allowing the user to go from sleek and straight to voluminous curls, and can [Perfectly] yet automatically braid itself into intricate patterns. A glowing aura surrounds the hair, [Perfectly] reflecting the user's mood, and releasing a scent the user has [Perfect] control of.

You have earned access to your Basic Class Breakthrough Skill. Touch a Class Shrine to activate it!