Chapter 492 - Old Friend (Patreon)

Hera's Status

It was a slow day in the shop. There were a couple of customers early on, but it was nowhere near as busy as she wanted. The problem wasn't her service or what she could do but the few new salons in the neighborhood. Each of them had hired someone who leveled up a few times and even managed to get some skills to improve how they worked. She had a few regular customers, but most of them were talking about travel and moving away, meaning that in the end, she wouldn't be able to keep her shop unless something changed. She was never interested in the MAZE or leveling up, but after the guild removed the fee to level up, it became clear that she was getting behind the times.

The bell above the door rang, and her last customer of the week walked in, even though it was only Tuesday. It was a light-skinned woman, but she had an odd tan. The color seemed a bit off as if she either had used one of those lotions made to help you tan faster, or she had used a tanning bed. Most people wouldn't realize that since the difference between a normal tan and that color was very small, but as an owner of a once thriving hair salon, she had an eye for that kind of thing. The woman's eyes were light brown, and she had soft features, but even with a smile, her expression was sharper than what she remembered. To complete the look, she wore some loose jeans, a simple black t-shirt, and a black beanie.

"Hera! It's so good to see you," the owner of the salon put the broom aside and went for a hug.

"Quinn! It's been so long," Hera hugged her friend back.

"Too long. It's a shame you guys went deeper into the MAZE. If you were a bit closer, coming here might not be that complicated," Quinn chuckled and gestured to one of the chairs.

"If I'm being honest, I could come here once a month or something like that, but I get so swept away with everything that is going on there that I end up forgetting," Hera replied as she sat on the chair.

"You are not the only one. A lot of people stopped coming here," Quinn sighed.

"Really? Why is that?" Hera asked.

"Oh, it's just business. I guess that despite everything, I'm having trouble keeping up with the times."

"Why are you talking like an old woman? If you think things are moving too fast, you just have to be faster than them," Hera replied.

"That's easy for you to say. I'm not as flexible as you think, despite all the yoga. Anyway, can you take this off so I can see what we are working with?"

Hera let out a long sigh, "Ok, but I promise I didn't do this on purpose. I ended up getting my ass handed to me by a dude made out of fire," she waited for a moment to gather some courage and then removed the beanie, revealing the mess that was her hair right now. Patches of thin hair spotted the sides of her head, and some of the longer areas were cut unevenly. Not to mention the number of knots and split ends that resulted from someone keeping them under the constant heat of a volcano for months.

"... Hera.. be honest with me. Do you hate me?" Quinn asked with a serious expression.

"No! Of course not. I didn't do this on purpose," Hera gasped, but Quinn just laughed.

"Don't worry. I know that. Now, do you have an idea of what you want to do? We have to keep some parts short. I don't think extensions are a good idea for explorers."

"Yeah… I was thinking about that. Maybe we could shave the sides and make the top a bit bigger than the rest?" Hera asked meekly. She always admired those hairstyles but doing it to herself still felt weird. Yet, she could no longer think only about herself in those situations. Now, she was going to be the leader of a group. Someone they looked up to. The least she could do was make sure looked the part.

"Oh, like the one you were thinking about the first time you came here? That takes me back. Let's see," Quinn started pulling Hera's hair up to see where the damage was. To her luck, most of the shorter parts were to the sides. The middle was already longer than the rest, so when Releon grabbed her hair, he didn't burn the roots, "We could make the classic shaved sides but let a bit more on top. Then you can pick if you want to pull the hair back or let it go towards the front. Or pull it to the side. That's also an option. If you want, we can make a pattern or something like that too."

"A pattern? Can it be anything? For the top, I like how it is now. Kind of going forward and up," Hera asked, an idea coming to mind.

"Nothing too complicated, but yeah."

"Ok… are you afraid of snakes?" Hera turned to Quinn.

"Weird segue, but no. I'm not. Why?"

Hera tapped on her necklace, and Daskka came out, first as the purple mist, then taking her corporeal form, "This is Daskka. She's an item I got in the MAZE, but she is sentient, and we can even talk to each other."

Quinn smiled and approached Daskka, "Hello there. I hope you can understand me because you are adorable."

"Mum, I like her," Daskka wagged her tail.

Hera sighed, "Really? One compliment is all it takes to win you over?"

"So he can understand me?" Quinn reached out but stopped before touching the snake, "Can I pet him?"

Daskka nodded vigorously, and Hera replied. "It's her, and for the questions, yes, and yes. You can pet her, but I'm going to do a thing with her while you cut my hair. Is that ok?"

"Sure, can I know what it is, or is it a secret between you two?"

"You know what a spell circle is?" Quinn shook her head, "Ok, so when you want to use magic, you have to guide the mana in a certain way. You can use a spell circle for it if you want to make it easier. I say a circle, but the actual shape doesn't matter all that much. It's what's inside that is important. So I thought that maybe we could make a spell circle on my head. That way, if I need to activate that spell, I can just put in some mana to activate it."

"Oh.. that seems like an interesting idea. What kind of spell do you think you could make?" Quinn asked as she started to prepare Hera's hair.

"I'm not sure. I need to see if it can fit in the shape of my head somehow. That's why I'm asking Daskka for help. If you excuse me just for a moment," Hera turned to the herald and quickly conveyed her intentions. It was quicker than speaking. Daskka nodded and floated behind Hera before making a mold out of her head with the mist. It wasn't completely opaque, and one could easily see beyond the smoke, "Could you show her where you are going to shave? Just so I know the area I'm working with."

Quinn nodded and trailed her finger on Hera's head, explaining what parts she would shave and what would be longer. As she did that, Daskka removed the mist from the frame until Quinn explained how the canvas would look. Next, the snake moved that piece of mist without letting it change shapes to the mirror in front of Hera.

"Ok, I'll try to make something work here, and then we can put the mist back on my head to be a guide for the pattern. Is that ok?"

"Sure, I can't promise it will work, though. I never tried doing something like that," Quinn was hesitant, but there was something about this idea that sparked a flame in her heart. She always believed that hair and makeup were more than just something to make you feel pretty or empowered. It could help you see a side of yourself that you didn't know. Changing your hair was like changing who you were as a person, and if this idea of allowing someone to use magic through their  hair worked, it would only increase that capability. Not to mention, this would be a way to stop playing catch up and actually run ahead of her competition.

Quinn started cutting Hera's hair, doing her best to fix the mess in front of her. Two more things were happening at the same time. First, Hera tried to work out a spell to shave in her head. Since it was the first time she did something like that, she decided to go simple. What she was trying to make right now was a basic light spell to be cast about half a meter above her head and follow along with her. Doing it like that would allow the light to actually show dark places for her entire court and it wouldn't end up causing problems for anyone to see. As long as all the elements of the spell were in place, she would be able to trigger it without much issue. The whole point of this wasn't to make something useful, not now, at least. But just know if this idea was something viable. If it was, she would talk with Bonnie and Helena, who surely would love the concept, and they might start looking into actual helpful spells to engrave on someone's hair. Second, was the conversation between Quinn and Hera.

They were mostly catching up, and Hera explained about her new job and how she would help the people of Boothudurn learn more about the MAZE. She didn't mention anything about the legacy, of course. But she talked about her travels and the places she visited. Quinn showed some interest in the Moon Base room and some of the triton-based baths. On the other hand, the hair stylist had less to talk about, but she had some news of her own. After the guild removed the fee to level up, Quinn went there, and she even went through the basic training a few months ago. She went as far as getting the crafter role. She never went inside the MAZE since she still believed it to be too dangerous of a place for her. Her intention with that was to get some skills and be able to compete with the salons that were opening around her. Unfortunately, her leveling speed was extremely slow since she was still on Earth. Not to mention that because she didn't have enough customers, she wasn't able to get any of the skills she was looking for. Quinn also talked a little about her dating life. There were a couple of dates here and there, and even a more steady relationship started brewing, but that didn't pan out. To make matters worse, Helena had been harder to reach these past months, which made the hair stylist feel somewhat lonely. She had a lot of friends, but Helena was the oldest and best friend she had despite the lack of communication in the recent past.

"And why didn't you get the skills you wanted? I mean, being a hairdresser is a sure-fire way to practice doing that. Or is it because you have to buy the compendiums?" Hera was looking in Quinn's eye through the mirror.

"I got a couple compendiums, but I don't actually have that many customers these days. You are the last one I have for the whole week. Honestly, if it wasn't for my savings, I wouldn't even be able to pay the bills. I'm lucky that my landlord took a down payment for a full year for this place, so I don't have to worry about rent, but I don't know how I will make it in the future," Quinn continued to work on Hera's hair.

"If you had the skills, would that make a difference?" Hera asked.

"Maybe. I would be, at least, on the same level as my competitors."

"What if you come with me to Boothudurn for a few days? I'm sure the dwarves there would love to have a 'human' haircut. Not to mention we have a big event coming at the end of the week," Hera suggested.

"I don't know, Hera. The MAZE is a dangerous place. I lost a few friends there. I don't want to go somewhere and end up dead," Quinn stopped for a moment, "Is this length good? Or do you want it to be shorter?"

"A little bit shorter. I don't want it to fall in front of my eyes by accident. And back to the MAZE issue. Boothudurn is 5 rooms away, but only two of those actually have monsters. The rest is pretty peaceful, and the dwarven city is a bunker under a mountain. Nothing would get to you. Not to mention that none of the rooms will have a rampage for a while," Hera continued suggesting. She wanted to help Quinn, and having her reconnect with Helena would be an added bonus.

"I don't know…." Quinn still felt uneasy. She never liked the idea of being in danger.

"What if I promise to keep you safe? I can even give you an item that can protect you if something happens."

"And can you? Protect me from anything in those rooms?" Quinn chuckled while remembering Hera's graduation.

"I can. I'm positive about it. And, Daskka, can you grow without losing the spell circle?" Hera turned to the herald, who nodded and took the form of the giant mist snake that now towered over both of them, reaching the ceiling with ease, "And I won't be the only bodyguard you will have."

Quinn froze for a moment, but the giant snake's eyes were still the same, and the tail was still wagging like a dog. Finally, the stylist chuckled, "Tell you what. I have to check on a few things, but I might be able to go. It would be nice to see Helena and maybe get some customers before that event. Losing my fear of the MAZE would also help. I know that. It might be time to adapt to this new world."

"Really?" Hera smiled and turned around.

Quinn forced Hera to look back in the mirror, "Really. I just need to be sure I won't have any more customers this week. And stop squirming. You are making this harder than it has to."

Hera chuckled and did as she was told. If Quinn went to Boothudurn, she would be able to surprise everyone. Not to mention she could talk to Fethy about cutting people's hair. There was also the benefit that if she figured out the shave spell as she was calling, having someone with the ability to make the spell circles would be invaluable. She only hoped that Quinn would end up deciding to go with her.