Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

"It's probably because some of those traders prefer trading lots of these useless cards for one or two high-quality ones," Ambraz said.

Irwin gazed at the sorted stacks across the table, shaking his head.

Over the last few months, Gadorley had returned twice more. Besides news about some heated conflicts and the eviction of a group of merchants that had been found selling illegal memory-alteration cards, Irwin was shocked by the number of cards he gave. Although nearly all of them were what was commonly deemed 'useless' or close to, the sheer quantity of them made Irwin wonder how many demons must have been hunted and killed for them.

"Perhaps, but there's nearly a thousand cards here," Irwin said, looking up. "Imagine if we reforged them all, and I handed them out in my hometown?"

"To do what? Create a town filled with people using cards to increase their baking skills or with the ability to wash a dozen sets of clothes in a minute?" Ambraz said with a loud snort.

Irwin sighed, staring at the card in question.

"Alright. Enough procrastinating," Ambraz said before he began humming an incredibly intricate song.

Irwin nodded, got up, and began pacing through the room as he listened to the hum. The melody seemed to flow through him, almost sounding familiar in its beauty. At one point, Ambraz's hum became a melodious rising and falling, and as much as Irwin enjoyed it, he grimaced as he recognized it from the previous times Ambraz had hummed the entire tune.

"So, we got to this part," he muttered when Ambraz stopped.

"Yeah, after this, there are two variations of things you've already learned. Now, try and do what I just did a few times. I'll correct you after a while."

Irwin nodded and stood still in his smithy. Closing his eyes, he recalled where Ambraz had started and tried to recreate the hum. Within moments, he knew he was making dozens of mistakes, but for now, he focused on the main rhythm. As with most songs he heard, he managed to roughly complete it, the sounds somehow seeming to linger in his mind. It also helped that his cards vibrated happily along with him.

"You keep surprising me, kid," Ambraz said after he finished.

"It's not that hard," Irwin said, shaking his head.

Ambraz snorted, and they continued until Irwin managed to recreate the hum, albeit with a generous helping of errors and flaws.

"Alright, now, let's pick a few cards and attempt to use this," Ambraz said.

Irwin nodded with a wide grin. One of the ways that helped with both learning and remembering was just using the hum while reforging cards, and it helped that he enjoyed it greatly.

Ten minutes later, he hastily grabbed the pulsing card from Ambraz's back, chucking it into the Anvil's open mouth. A moment later, something exploded.

"Is it possible to find new paths like this?" he asked as he thought about the card's reluctance to vibrate along with his hum.

"Definitely, and with the number of cards we have now, it wouldn't surprise me if we did. Though, how useful they would be depends on luck."

"I wonder how the Galadin smiths figured out these things," Irwin muttered.

"Probably by experimenting for a long time," Ambraz answered. "Now, begin from the start and hum everything. I'll correct you when needed."

Irwin nodded.

--

The days continued to flow by, filled with smithing practice and humming. Soon, he was able to hum the entire tune, though with plenty of tiny mistakes.

Besides this, he continued to attempt to purify the ever-shrinking piece of Purperion. The now finger-sized piece of metal had turned nearly completely purple and so rigid that it barely seemed to register even Irwin's most powerful strikes.

Finally, late in the afternoon, a few weeks till the year of celebratory auctions would end, Irwin glared at the piece of Purperion. It lay on Ambraz's surface, the same size of a pinky that it had been for over a week, and refusing to shrink. If it had been finished, Irwin wouldn't have minded, but there was still at least twenty percent non-purple metal within the tiny thing.

Worse, from what he could tell, his hope of having his cards grow to Ammolite hadn't worked.

"So… any ideas?" he asked. "You wouldn't happen to be close to another rank-up?"

Ambraz was quiet for a bit, then sighed. "I have an idea, but you won't like it."

Irwin frowned. "Does it involve me using every bit of energy in my cards?"

"It's the only thing I can come up with," Ambraz said.

"Yeah… well, let's try that in a few weeks after the final Auction then," Irwin said with a sigh. "Can you determine how close my cards are to becoming a higher rank?"

"No. I can tell you that they are all much stronger than a year ago, especially your hammer card. It should be very close to becoming Emerald. It could happen any day now."

Irwin grimaced, not enjoying the idea he was about to share.

"So, should we reforge it then?" he asked, staring at the hammer in his hand. "Otherwise, it might upgrade naturally along the wrong path."

Ambraz was quiet for a bit before replying.

"Normally, I'd agree," the Anvil said. "But even though the Purperion isn't becoming any more pure, your hammer card is still slowly becoming stronger. Well… stronger isn't the right word. The energy it can hold is still expanding. Besides, there are only two paths it can go along, and both are beneficial to you."

"Oh? Which ones?" Irwin asked, curious.

"One will change it to be quickened, increasing the speed with which you can wield it. The other will allow you to increase its size another half."

Irwin nodded as he thought about the options. If he had a choice, he'd prefer the attack speed, as it would probably help him most in battles. Then again, the larger the hammer, the more force he could apply.

"Don't think too much about it," Ambraz said. "When we forge your heartcard, you will likely lose some of the functionality. "

"When do you think we can attempt Crithann's card reforge?" Irwin asked, humming the song.

"At your current speed, I'd say in less than a month," Ambraz replied.

"Great. I can't wait to see Lord Urdwellan create a heartcard," Irwin said.

"Then you had better continue practicing!" Ambraz said.

Irwin sighed as he closed his eyes and began humming.

--

"Irwin!?" Greldo's voice echoed from outside.

"Coming!" Irwin said, not bothering to shout as Greldo would pick it up anyway.

Pocketing the Purperion, he walked out as Ambraz landed on his shoulder. The Galadin hum was playing through his mind, as it usually did over the last few weeks. Ever since he'd started practicing it in its entirety, the speed at which he learned it had increased, and according to Ambraz, he should be ready soon.

Greldo stood outside, rubbing Coal's side.

"I knew you would be in here… don't you ever get tired of just working all day?" Greldo asked.

Irwin didn't bother responding, noticing a fresh bandage on his friend's arm.

"Did you go and play with knives again?" he asked.

"Found a smaller version of Coal over here, but it didn't like me getting too close," Greldo said. "Anyway, that's not why I'm here. Gadorley returned, and he is waiting at Crithann's place."

It didn't surprise Irwin in the least. The last day of the auction year had been a few days ago, and he was actually surprised he hadn't come sooner.

"Let's go and see what he has to say," Irwin said.

"Probably here to take us to Cinder Grove now the festivities are finally over," Greldo snorted.

During the short trip through the ever-growing town, Irwin noticed another group of people moving into one of the previously empty houses.

"More people from Cinder Grove?" he asked.

"Yeah. Apparently, the news of the Heart Tree is still spreading, and lots of them prefer the quiet here."

Irwin nodded. He couldn't blame them, though if more and more came, the quiet would become less. Still, he wouldn't mind if Grianfál became a bit busier. Knowing nearly everyone around by name was starting to get old, as was having everyone come up to chat. Especially the newer people who all wanted to have him reforge their cards after they heard what he did a year ago.

When they entered Crithann's house, the towering Viridian village leader was standing in the entrance hall, talking with Gadorley. As they walked in, Irwin saw Scintilla standing to the side, and he grinned at her.

"Smith Irwin, it is good to see you again," Gadorley said as he bowed his head. "Lord Urdwellan has asked for your presence in four days. With the last of the offworlders gone, he will hold a final, smaller celebration after which everything should finally return to normal."

"Tell him I will be happy to come. So, how did the last week of auctions go?" he asked, more than a little curious.

Gadorley looked back emotionless. "There was a small issue when the Dead Pact Mercenaries refused to leave. They attempted to start a new mission center, trying to use a technicality to remain behind. Lord Urdwellan had to come to get them to leave. However, Master Driseog thinks there might be a few that somehow managed to hide, which is one of the reasons I came early."

"He thinks they are there for me?" Irwin asked with a frown.

"The last month saw your name spread even more, and some of those mercenaries came by the master's mission center a few times, asking about you. Master thinks there's a large chance that if he is right, they might try and find you."

"To do what?" Irwin asked, wondering again if those mercenaries had anything to do with the missing smiths and the imps.

"Unsure," Gadorley said. "Master Driseog just wants you to remain careful when you return. Now, I'll be back in three days to get Crithann, you, and anyone else you wish to bring."

"Thank you," Irwin replied as he followed Gadorley back outside.

A few moments later, a small patch of plants was all that remained of the old Viridian. Irwin moved back inside.

"How far are you with that song?" Crithann asked.

Irwin saw a slight hope and gleam in his eyes, and he shrugged.

"Ambraz said I'm almost ready. I'll stop the other things and focus fully on it."

Ambraz snorted but said nothing.

Crithann's eyes began gleaming. "Then I'll bring you the card in two days. It would be best if you could reforge it before we head back. That way, Gebladir can make my heartcard!"

"I'll do my best," Irwin said. "But no guarantees."

"I trust you," Crithann said. "Now, I need to take care of some other things."

Irwin got the hint, and after a few short words, he left with Greldo.

"So, does that mean you can reforge my card to Ruby soon?"

Irwin looked at Greldo. "Do you have any idea how difficult that is?"

Greldo smirked. "No, luckily, you take care of those things."

Irwin laughed and shook his head. "I have made a lot of progress, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for that."

"Not on your own," Ambraz said. "But with some help…"

Irwin looked at his shoulder, more than a little surprised. "Seriously?"

The Anvil's gray lips quirked up. "It might cost you a dozen cards, but it's not like you don't have enough."

"Alright, let's focus on one thing first," Irwin said as he rubbed his hands, ignoring Greldo's hopeful look.

"Yeah, fine. Well, I've gotta go to the mission center to let the old geezers know I can't take the new mission after all," Greldo said as he moved in another direction. "I'll see you tonight!"

"Will do," Irwin shouted as he turned and headed back to the smithy.

The remainder of the day, a part of the evening and all of the next day, was fully dedicated to practicing the Galadin song. When Irwin went to bed the day after, the song was constantly playing through his head.

That night, his dreams were filled with images of silver-eyed, silver-haired smiths, singing and humming in tune as they worked in tandem, striking onyx-colored anvils with golden hammers. A sense of joy and exuberance came with the images, though there was an underlying fear.

--

"Ugh…" Irwin groaned as he pushed himself up, looking around his room.

His mind was slowly clearing up, the dreams clearing out like dust swept by a broom, slow and haltingly.

"What's the matter, kid? Nightmares?"

Irwin frowned as he looked at Ambraz sitting on the table nearby. The hum was moving through his mind while his cards were vibrating in tune.

"No. Just weird dreams about silver-haired smiths," Irwin muttered, the dreams already vanishing as he fully woke up.

Ambraz hissed something, but when he looked up, the Anvil was flitting towards his shoulder.

"Well, that sounds like a perfect beginning of a day to attempt and reforge that card!"

Irwin blinked, a jolt running through his system.

"You think I'm ready?" he asked.

"You managed to hum the song perfectly multiple times yesterday, and that's without me helping," Ambraz said. "Go get some food, shave off that horrible stubble, and meanwhile, hum the song!"

Irwin grinned as he surged up. The idea of finally finishing something he'd been practicing for such a long time made him feel energized.

Ten minutes later, he was standing in the smithy, eyes closed, finishing the song a final time. When he opened his eyes, he realized it had been much, much smoother and easier than the day before.

"Alright. Let's do this," Ambraz whispered. "Put the card on my back, then start. You remember when to start hitting?"

"You only told me a hundred times already," Irwin said with a grin as he took the card from his pocket and placed it on Ambraz.

The card's green borders were bright against the Anvil's nearly black surface. They had reforged it to Emerald the days before, which had been remarkably easy and had resulted in a ninety-nine percent flawless card. It had involved a tiny fraction of the song, but Irwin hadn't noticed anything odd when doing it. Still, he was slightly annoyed that it wasn't perfect.

Ambraz had laughed when he'd said that, telling him he was way too spoiled.

Well, it's not bad to wish for perfection, Irwin thought as he recalled the moment.

Taking a deep breath, he summoned his hammer. Flexing his fingers around the ribbed metal grip, he triggered Coperion Body. He'd found that using it during smithing made everything go far more smoothly, and if there were ever a moment for that, this would be it.

Staring at the card, he began humming, his deep voice, deeper even in his Coperion Body form, rumbling through the smithy. Without having to do anything, his cards began resonating in tune with the song, and his hum became louder.

As the initial part of the song wound up into a slight crescendo, he brought the hammer down with pinpoint precision.

The first strike was always important, and he was glad to see the slightly dull and misty image appear without any shaking. It meant his hit had been perfect. An image of a tiny nut, similar to an acorn, hovered before him, two lines like closed eyes in the center of its smooth surface.

He continued humming and slowly began striking the card in tune with the song. As he did, he felt Ambraz do… something. It was hard to say what exactly, but whatever it was seemed to make the process even more smooth than it had been.

As time passed, he felt his mind slip into a state of tranquility. It was something that had happened many times but never as strong as right now. Each strike seemed almost effortless, and his cards, all six, hummed in perfect harmony.

When he reached halfway in the song, a flash came from the card, and some of the bright specs, impurities that led to energy leak out, vanished. Irwin forced himself to continue, but it shocked him as he'd never had anything like that happen before. Immediately, he felt Ambraz do something again, and his concentration returned. Quickly shelving it for later, he tried to let his mind flow back to the state it had been before, but although it was still easy, the tranquility didn't return.

When he reached the point of closing the final blotches, the song moved onto a crescendo, and the hum reverberated through his chest so hard he felt it in his hands.

As he struck the first of the few remaining blotches of potential, energy drained from his cards nearly as fast as when he was working with the Purperion.

That's a lot of energy, Irwin thought as he forced his sudden worry away.

Striking the next one, in tandem with a rise of speed, he sensed a slight disturbance in the way his cards resonated. Using a slight bit of will, he forced them to stay with his hum. More energy drained away, leaving his cards just over three-quarters filled. He quickly counted the remaining blotches. Three to go, meaning he should be fine.

As he struck again, his latest card, Vaelite Body Enhancement, rebelled, and it took all of his willpower to keep it from interrupting the melody. Ambraz again helped, and this time, he could better sense the Anvil's actions. It was as he smoothed over the ripples of his card, removing the tiny waves it had created in the overall song.

Fully focused now, Irwin struck again, and his Vaelite Body Enhancement balked, nearly ripping from his control. His Sweltering Heart reacted, and Irwin heard a soft groan from Ambraz, followed by the two cards being jerked back in line. Still, a tiny, minuscule inconsistency had slipped into the hum.

One more blotch, ten more strikes, Irwin thought, his jaw now locked tight as he was unable to relax.

Striking down, he was slightly more prepared when all of the three cards on his right hand jolted, especially his Vaelite card, seeming to bounce. Their resonance became jumbled, and Irwin sensed the melody begin to turn ugly. He barely noticed as Ambraz intervened, instead focusing on his own hum, making it louder while forcing the cards on his left hand to resonate more. Louder. Very slowly, the melody returned, though a tiny dissonance remained as if the melody had turned agitated.

Irwin gritted his teeth, willing the cards in his right hand back in line. As he struck again, this time not on a blotch, there was no jolt, but the cards still resisted him. With each subsequent strike, Irwin wrestled with the cards while a sense of foreboding grew in him. The song should be joyful and exuberant, but currently, it felt more like a battle hymn.

As he reached the final, hardest strike, he slammed the hammer down, instantly blinded by a flash. For a few moments, he feared the worst, and then a gong sounded, mostly clear. Blinking away the white spots, Irwin looked down on the Ruby-bordered card before him.

"Damn…" he muttered.

"Kid- card," Ambraz croaked.

Hearing barely suppressed pain and weariness, Irwin cursed and spun to the table, snatching a half dozen cards. Without even looking at what they were, he tossed them in Ambraz's mouth before quickly removing the now Ruby Dryadic seedling card from the Anvil's surface.

Loud crunching and slight explosions followed for a while as Irwin stared at Ambraz. Recalling what the Anvil had done made him realize just how much energy it must have taken to keep his cards in line. Even he couldn't, and they were his own cards!

When the crunching stopped, Ambraz let out a shivering sigh.

"You okay?" Irwin asked softly.

"Yeah. Sleep," Ambraz croaked, and with a bright flash, he turned into his tiny shape.

Irwin expected him to flit to his shoulder, but Ambraz dropped to the ground with a tick and remained there. Slightly worried, Irwin moved forward and picked him up. Only when he heard the soft snoring did he realize the Anvil was in a deep sleep, as it had said. Taking a sleeveless jacket from a chair, he quickly put it on before putting Ambraz in the deep pocket.

"Sleep well," he muttered, patting his pocket. "You've earned it."

He looked at the card in his hand, and he couldn't hold back a wide grin from creeping up on his face. Even though he knew the card wasn't anywhere in the nineties, perhaps not even an eighty percent one, it was still a ruby rank card.

For a few moments, he felt exuberant. Then he sighed as reality reasserted itself. It wasn't like he could have done it without Ambraz or the song. As he thought of the song, he suddenly realized it had stopped playing on repeat in his mind.

He hesitated, then called up his Eyes of the Blaze, wondering what was so special about the card now.

Card: Embryonic Dryadic Symbiote

Type: Ruby, Galadin, Hidden, Reforged by Irwin Roddington

Owner: -

[hidden]

Passive: [hidden]

Active: [hidden]

"What the…"

Irwin frowned, trying again, but with a similar result.

That's new, he thought as he looked away from the hidden values. Besides the odd name, his eyes fell on the Galadin type.

He hesitated for a moment, looking at the door, then sat down at the table. Crithann would only need a few hours to slot it and get used to this card, but if he gave it away, he wasn't going to figure out what was up with it. Ambraz could probably figure out what was going on with it.

--

"Think he failed?" Greldo asked as he leaned against the wall, gazing at the door that led into Irwin's inner smithy.

"Dunno," Scintilla muttered, pulling her sword out before slamming it back in the sheath nervously.

"He's been in there for a while now…"

"Yeah."

"That last bit of humming sounded weird. Almost like a battle?"

"I know."

Greldo looked at Scintilla, noting her gaze seemed to be burning holes in the door, and he shrugged.

"Think we should knock?"

Scintilla looked at him, then at the door, obviously hesitating. Then she sighed.

"No. If he failed, he might want to be alone for a bit. You know how much he and Crithann were fussing over that card."

"Yeah," Greldo said, looking at the door. He saw Scintilla look at him from the corner of his eye before snorting.

A long time later, as the sun was setting down, he let out an annoyed grunt.

"Did he bloody fall asleep in there? I'm done waiting. Let's go check-"

The door was pushed open as if on command, and Irwin walked out. He was wearing the sleeveless part of his armor, the front open. Wondering what that was about, Greldo rose and walked to his friend.

"You okay?"

The surprised look made him quickly reassess his initial idea.

"So, you succeeded?"

"Of course!"

"Then why did you stay inside so bloody long?" Greldo asked. "We were getting worried!"

Irwin blinked, then gave Scintilla a quick hug.

"Let's go and see Crithann," he said before turning and stomping away.

Greldo raised his eyebrows at Scintilla, who looked as surprised as he was.

Now what?

--

Irwin frowned as he headed towards Crithann's home. After waiting for a while, he'd finally risked it and tried to wake Ambraz. He hadn't actually expected anything, but apparently, the cards he'd fed the Anvil had helped enough, and after some prodding, Ambraz had awoken long enough to investigate the card.

How come not even Ambraz can't see what it does? Irwin thought.

The best Ambraz had been able to see was that the card was eighty-one percent, which was higher than Irwin had thought with how the ending had been botched.

Arriving at Crithann's, he knocked on the door. The door almost instantly opened, revealing a worried-looking Crithann.

"Did.. did you succeed?"

Irwin felt slightly bad at the incredible worry on his friend- and teacher's face. Instead of answering, he just held out the card, hiding his worry about the fact that he had no idea what it did.

"It didn't become a very high percent," he said.

Crithann didn't even respond but took the card, his eyes gleaming and a wide smile appearing.

"It doesn't matter," Crithann said before turning to Irwin. "Thank you so much! You have no idea how much you have helped me. I need to slot this and create my fullhand! Find me tomorrow, and I'll thank you properly!"

Irwin blinked as the door was shoved shut in his face before turning to the others.

Greldo was laughing sheepishly, and Irwin shrugged.

"Time to eat?"