Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

"Alright, warn me if you see any Nyzir or Pale Imps," Irwin said as he gazed at the mass of Imps below them.

If it had been any other kind of enemy, he'd never have considered what he was about to do. Now, all he could think about was how much his flame had strengthened since he'd last used it on large numbers of Imps.

"What are you going to do?" Jort asked as his face turned pale. "Look how many there are!"

"Don't worry, my cards are practically made for fighting these guys," Irwin said as he snuck forward. "Make sure you keep hidden in case some flee past me."

"Flee…?" Jort whispered in disbelief.

Irwin ignored the rest of his muttered worrying as he continued forward. His aim was to get as close as possible, then rush forward and flame as many of the small Imps as he could. Then he'd go for the Brutal Imps and hammer them using the Kinetic energy. Taking a look at the two massive Brutal Imps, both so big, fat, and muscular that they made the other imps look like children, he was surprised to see that they were wearing a skirt, the bigger one even having a harness of leather.

Weren't the other ones without armor and garments? he thought.

He inspected them for a few moments as he continued, but there was nothing else odd about them that he could find, and he turned his attention back to the masses of Imps.

The constant giggling and shouting from below reminded him of the first-ever portal he'd gone in, and he grinned evilly. Even back then, most imps had feared him after one encounter. Now? Now, they wouldn't know what hit them.

He reached halfway down the slope, much farther than he'd expected to come when he was spotted.

One of the Imps looked up from where he'd been tossed by a larger one in what was either relentless bullying or training. As its eyes widened, Irwin rose and, at the same time, exploded forward by using a part of his kinetic energy.

He shot through the air, away from the slope, then down, drawing on his flame. A rippling mass of fire covered him, expanding rapidly, and only then did the imp manage a startled warning scream.

It was hardly needed, as the Imps had seen the blooming of fire and light and turned towards him.

Irwin didn't care, as he focused on spreading the fire as much to the sides as possible. He wanted to make sure the Imps only found out about his devouring flame when he was on them and not start screaming and fleeing too soon.

"Slaughter him!" a deep voice boomed.

Irwin knew it had to have been one of the Brutal Imps. He glanced at them to see both Brutal Imps had gotten up and were staring at him. The biggest one was frowning, then pushed the smaller Brutal Imp forward, turned, and fled.

I'll get to you later, Irwin thought, and he focused on the mass of Imps below him.

He saw two reach up as if they were going to grab his feet, and he almost felt pity for them as his heels hit, then crushed their hands and arms before he landed fully on one of them, flattening it into the ground.

The screaming around him fell silent as his billowing flames rippled out, engulfing what had to be a hundred or more of the Imps trying to swarm him. All of them stood frozen, eyes wide, mouths gaping as their red bodies turned black like coal. Tiny drips of soulforce trickled into Irwin, and he could almost feel them raining down on his soullake.

A hushed quiet fell over the mass of Imps just beyond his flames.

"Devouring flame," the remaining Brutal Imp said, his stunned-sounding voice loud in the momentary silence. Then, a cacophony of screams of fear came from the surrounding imps.

"Flee!" the Brutal Imp roared.

Irwin exploded forward, shooting towards the densest mass of Imps that were pushing over each other to try and get away. He summoned a massive hammer and, as he landed, rammed it onto the ground. All of the kinetic energy it generated that he already had flooded into the hammer, then from the hammer into his flame. The fire surrounding him billowed out hundreds of feet around him before slowly pulling back in.

Irwin felt a deluge of soulforce rain down on his soullake, and he looked around, almost hungrily. He was amazed to see dozens of shimmering cards appear above the blackened husks that now surrounded him, but there was no time to get them now. He ran after the Brutal Imp, which, to his surprise, hadn't gone into the dugout hole but was running in a straight line to the forest. He shrank his hammer, then focused on the retreating back and hurled the hammer after it. Coated in fire, it shot across the grassy planes, leaving behind a scorched path before missing the Brutal Imp by a foot.

It jerked to the side and looked back, showing an uncharacterized fear.

Irwin watched it run again and hesitated. It was moving fast, but not nearly as fast as he could, which meant he would be able to overtake it even if he took care of what remained here-

Something slammed into the back of his head, causing his eyes to flicker. Taking two steps forward, he turned and snarled at the smaller Brutal Imp, which had snuck around. It was ripping another chunk of stone from the entrance before turning and seeing Irwin's silvery glare.

Irwin growled, taking a few steps toward the imp.

"The small ones first!" Ambraz shouted from his pocket.

Irwin sniffed, then ignored the Brutal Imp and ran up the hill. Within a few paces, he began using his Kinetic energy to leap after the Imps that were heading toward Jort.

In record time, he began clearing out hundreds of small imps, running around, flaming them while hurling his hammer.

Only when a few remained, no more than shrinking figures in the distance, did he turn back to the cave entrance. He knew the largest Brutal Imp wouldn't reach the forest anytime soon, which left the one that had hidden within.

"Let's go see what's there," he muttered, not at all out of breath. A quick check showed that his card's energy was below half, but he could feel from his soullake that it had filled up a lot. He couldn't wait to take a peak.

The entrance of the dugout tunnel was brittle, but as he walked inside, he saw that it widened enough for him. It was obvious the Brutal Imps had gone in and out from the size and tracks on the ground.

Irwin followed the tunnel, which had a gentle downward slope.

"Damn… There's a topaz rank portal down there," Ambraz said, his voice still muted inside Irwin's pockets. "That's no good. Between this and the other things we saw before, it's worse than I had thought. That Beardy Face is fucking up!"

Irwin grunted as he noticed a gleam below. A few steps later, he reached a small dugout cave in the soft bedrock with a portal hovering there. There was no sight of the Brutal Imp.

"Great… It ran," he muttered before frowning. "I wonder why that bigger one didn't move here?"

"Well, if you hurry and catch up to it, you can try and ask it," Ambraz said with a snort.

Irwin blinked as he realized that was true. Perhaps he could scare it with his fire enough to make it talk? He looked around, then hummed. "What if I just collapse this place?"

"Yeah, that's fine. It would take them weeks to get out," Ambraz said.

Irwin took one last look at the portal then took a few steps back before throwing a hammer at the ceiling. There was an explosive crash as debris began raining down and the tunnels shuddered. Taking a look at the long cracks appearing in the walls, Irwin summoned another hammer, then hurled it at the ceiling again while jumping back. He didn't watch it hit but rushed up the tunnel as a second boom resounded out behind him. When he reached the outside, he was surrounded by a billowing cloud of dust and sand.

Jort stood a few steps away, looking at him in awe and fear. He held a finger-thick stack of cards in his hands.

"You alright?" Irwin asked as he took a quick look around, finding no more Imps.

Jort just nodded, before stepping forward and holding out the cards. "There are twenty-seven cards," he said. "Two-" he licked his lips nervously. "Two very rare."

Irwin took the cards, not sure if he was more surprised about the quantity or the fact that there were two Emerald rank cards. "That has to be a droprate of one in twenty," he said, shaking his head. "I heard that more cards were dropping, but this is insane."

"What's insane is one person slaughtering over five hundred imps," Jort whispered.

Irwin didn't respond, knowing perfectly well he'd never have been able to deal with as many of any other type of demon. With a shrug, he pocketed the cards, knowing that twenty-seven cards meant at least three more heartcarded. More if they were alright with being no higher than uncommon.

"Lots of Imps fled north and east," Jort said. "Do we… do something about those?"

Irwin thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No. My hope is that we won't be here much longer. It would take too long to run around getting them all. However, we are going to catch that Brutal Imp," he said before turning and hammering the sides of the tunnel until the entrance collapsed.

When he was sure it wasn't going to be broken open easily, he turned to Jort, who was pale and staring at the entrance.

"Do you have a legendary heartcard?" Jort asked softly.

Irwin sighed. Technically, he had a card above legendary, but he wasn't going to share that.

"Yes," he said.

Jort sighed, staring at the backs of his hands. "I'm starting to think I made the wrong choice," he muttered.

Irwin noticed the sadness in Jort's eyes. "Why did you accept the offer?" he asked as he walked forward and made a gesture that he wanted to pick Jort up.

Jort looked back and grimaced. "All but one of my children and grandchildren died. I want to keep her safe… I thought that with a heartcard, even at this rank, I'd be powerful enough for that."

Irwin picked him up, turning to where he knew the Gloomforest would be. With Jort quiet, he looked at the man, for the first time really seeing the wrinkles, the gray hairs, and the tiredness of the man.

"You will become much stronger when you get your soulcard," he said. "Which you will reach much, much, faster than me. You will also be able to slot new cards after that."

Jort's blinked, the dullness in his gaze lifting slightly. "Will I be able to slot rare or better cards if I find them?"

Irwin blinked, then frowned as he realized he didn't really know if that would be the case.

"I think so…" he said hesitantly, feeling a surge of relief when there was a slight shiver in his pocket.

Thanks, Ambraz, he thought before smiling as he quickly thought about the potential issues with having a tiny soullake.

"Yeah," he said, sounding more sure of himself as he thought about the likely implications. "You will just have a smaller soullake, which means you can't use your skills as often or with as much force as someone with a higher heartcard."

Jort sighed, and Irwin saw him clench his fists.

"Ready?" Irwin asked.

Jort nodded, and Irwin began running forward. As they sped up, he felt the kinetic energy flow more smoothly than on the trip there.

I can't wait to see how much soulforce I've gained, he thought.

It took longer than he'd expected before they saw the Brutal Imp's figure in the distance, and he continued until he was so close he could hear it grunt as it ran. Irwin slowed and put Jort on the ground.

"Stay here, and only come closer when it's dead."

"Be careful," Jort said before grimacing. "Well…"

"I will be," Irwin said.

It took him a short while to catch up to the Brutal Imp this time, and as he saw the massive thing trudge forward, he remembered the last time he'd seen one before or fought one.

I wonder if this one is from the same shardworld, he thought as he ran beside the Brutal Imp, which looked up in shock.

"Stop running, or I'll burn you," Irwin said as he caused his fire to sprawl around him, tendrils of flame stretching out to block the Brutal Imp.

The Brutal Imp's dangerously sharp red eyes focused on him, and he saw a snarl appear on the face.

"Don't," Irwin snapped, just as the Brutal Imp turned toward him, jumping with his arms outstretched.

Irwin's mind spun a thousand miles an hour as he released his flame, summoned a hammer, and lashed out, fully catching the incoming Brutal Imp on the side of his head. The massive imp, easily three times his girth and three heads taller, was smacked to the side, skidding across the ground before rolling over and struggling back to its feet.

The Brutal Imp rubbed its head, its eyes swirling in their sockets.

"There are two ways this can go," Irwin snapped as he walked forward, enlarging his hammer and readying his Sweltering skill. If he had to, he could try and suffocate the imp, then tie it up...

If I actually had ropes or cables, he thought.

"Either you answer my questions, and I'll think about letting you go," Irwin lied. "Or I'll burn you to a crisp with my devouring flame."

The Brutal Imp was shaking its head, seemingly trying to clear it, but as soon as Irwin mentioned his devouring flame the imp's eyes focused on Irwin, and he stopped moving.

"How did you get that vile, evil skill," the Brutal Imp growled.

"I'm the one who is going to be asking the questions," Irwin said as he flared his flame up, causing it to tower a dozen feet above them like a flaming pillar. The Brutal Imp's eyes widened as he gazed at the column of heat, before slowly focusing back on Irwin.

"Fine," it snarled. "What do you want to know?"

"Why didn't you just flee through the portal?" Irwin asked, deciding to start with the immediate things first before branching off.

The Brutal Imp barked a laugh, rising out of the halfcrouch it had been in for a while. It glowered down at Irwin. "Because I'd have been punished for failure."

"Failure to do what?" Irwin asked, raising an eyebrow and putting the hammer on the ground, lengthening the handle to a length that allowed him to fake leaning on it.

"To contact that nasty monster hiding in the forest," the Brutal Imp grunted as it jutted a massive finger at the Gloomforest.

"The Bablibon?" Irwin asked, his curiosity peaked.

The Brutal Imp lowered its head, its eyes glinting. "How do you know that name?"

"I ask the questions," Irwin said calmly as he looked at the Brutal Imp.

"Yes," the Brutal Imp said slowly.

Irwin saw the burning red gaze pass over his hammer before the Brutal Imp glanced at his flame. Then the Brutal Imp focused back on him, and Irwin saw a calculating look in its red eyes.

"Why are you trying to contact the Bablibon?" he asked.

"To have it tell us where the card smith went," the Brutal Imp said, as a slow grin spread across its face. "That's you… isn't it?"

Irwin felt his skin crawl. "There are many smiths. Which one are you looking for?" he asked, readying his flame in case the Brutal Imp made any wrong move. Although he was positive, he could easily beat it now. Something about the situation was starting to worry him.

"The smith that has been spreading information on this world about how to reforge cards," the Brutal Imp said as he leaned forward, leering at Irwin. "It's you. So, the rumors were true!"

"Why would the Bablibon know where the smith is?" Irwin said, ignoring the Brutal Imp.

"Rumor has it that it's been searching for you for a long time," the Brutal Imp said with a nasty grin.

"Rumor?" Irwin snapped. "Explain!"

The Brutal Imp didn't respond, and Irwin glared at it. A single look told him he wasn't going to get an answer to that question unless he was going to force it, and he had other questions first. Hopefully, ones that would be answered.

"Who is looking for this smith?" he asked.

"Someone very important," the Brutal Imp said, its grin widening. "Someone able to hand out worlds like lavagrapes!"

Irwin saw that any fear it had shown before was gone, and the Brutal Imp was looking far too sure of itself. Still, this was the first time he'd gotten anywhere close to more information on what was going on.

"And you want a world?" Irwin asked, trying to act like he wasn't noticing something odd was happening. He focused on his Sweltering card and began dispersing a thin mount of steam around, keeping it low to the ground and ready for anything.

"Ohhh, yes," the Brutal Imp said, taking a slow, almost threatening step forward. "I'll get a world and create a powerful family which I'll rule for a long, long time!"

"Do you think you can capture me?" Irwin asked, lifting his hammer back up and cocking his head. He had the feeling something was going to happen, and he readied himself.

"Me? No," the Brutal Imp said with a deep snarl. "But-" his hand shot up to his harness.

Irwin moved without thinking, using his remaining Kinetic energy to blast himself forward, shrinking his hammer so it would not be in the way while all of his steam moved forward. As fast as he was, he just barely managed to grab the Brutal Imp's wrist as it tried to remove something from the harness. Flames licked around his fingers, and the Brutal Imp gasped as it froze momentarily.

Irwin yanked the arm back and down before hitting the imp in its abdomen as hard as he could. With flames rippling across his knuckles, the imp gasped and collapsed to its knees. The burning eyes were now an arm's length away from Irwin's, spread wide in pain and surprise. Irwin clenched his fingers tight around the thick wrist, feeling the bones compress, while he reached up and took a slip of paper that was now partially pulled out from behind the edge of the harness.

The Brutal Imp glared at him and the paper. It started grunting and resisting harder, his arm shivering and shaking.

Irwin clenched the wrist tighter, causing his flames to lick around the arm, which made the Brutal Imp freeze again. He took a quick look at the perfectly square, card-sized piece of paper, and his eyes widened as he noticed a circle of runes on it. His finger was touching one, which was now lit up, glowing a dull blue. Those beside it began glowing softly.

"Throw it!"

Irwin jerked his hand back, throwing the paper away at Ambraz's muted warning. The runes on the paper quickly darkened. Watching it carefully for a few moments, Irwin turned his attention back to the shivering Brutal Imp. Its jaw was clenched tight, eyes wide, and everything except for the arm Irwin was holding, shivering uncontrollably. His wrist was slowly turning black.

"What is that?" Irwin snarled, pointing at the card-sized paper. He weakened his flame slightly, just enough for the Brutal Imp to respond, but it didn't. It just gnashed its teeth, glaring at him.

"Either you answer me, or I'll drain your soulpower," Irwin snapped. "It will be slow and painful!"

The Brutal Imp glared at him, but behind the deep hate, Irwin saw an underlying fear.

"Soulskill-created signaling paper," the Brutal Imp snarled through his clenched teeth.

"Who would it signal?" Irwin snapped.

"Don't know."

Irwin increased his flame momentarily, letting it lick across the Brutal Imp's arm and torso before letting off again.

"Who?!" he asked.

"I don't know!" the Brutal Imp shouted, the fear slowly outgrowing the hate. "It came with the mission and the order to use it only when we found the smith and couldn't bring him in."

Irwin frowned. "Why didn't you use it earlier?"

The Brutal Imp shook his head minutely. "Because I don't trust them," it hissed. "Many of my kind never returned from their missions!"

"Then why do you work for them?" Irwin asked, hoping the Brutal Imp would continue talking.

"Because our world is gone, the few remaining shardworlds are going to break apart soon, and my kind will perish," the Brutal Imp snarled.

Irwin frowned, wondering why so many worlds and so many different people, demon or otherwise, were undergoing the same problems. As he wondered what to ask next, a sudden thought occurred to him.

"Who shattered your world?" he asked.

"I don't know," the Brutal Imp snarled. "I was just a lowly imp when that happened."

"Tell me what you remember," Irwin hissed.

The Brutal Imp looked back, seeming more confused than angry.

"All I remember is the stories of portals suddenly appearing and Fiends like you appearing and slaughtering everyone they came across," the Brutal Imp said.

Just like on Giard, Irwin thought with a frown. Had the same thing happened to the Frozir world?

He focused on the Brutal Imp, who was glaring back, its gleaming red eyes narrow and full of hate.

"How many more of you are on Giard?" he asked.

The Brutal Imp snorted. "I have no clue. Lots!"

"Only to find the smith?" Irwin asked.

"No, to kill as many of you as we can," the Brutal Imp hissed. "You and the other smiths are just a side mission."

Irwin felt his skin grow cold as he looked into the hatred-filled eyes. He realized that although the Brutal Imps hadn't lost their intellect, they were still becoming addled. Either that, or they had always been this hateful. Then he remembered some of the stories Scintilla had told him about the imps she recalled.

"Why are you not with the others of your kind on the Ignitzion worlds?" he asked.

"We are not slaves or pets!" the Brutal Imp roared. "Those weaklings are no longer Imprish! They have lost everything that makes us who we are!"

Irwin sighed. "Tell me everything you know about those who gave you this mission."

The Brutal Imp sniffed. "I know nothing about them. Brigtha gives us the missions."

"Brigtha?" Irwin asked.

"He is our leader, the strongest of us," The Brutal Imp snapped before shaking his head. "Enough! I have told you everything you wanted to know! You said you would release me. Now do so!"

Irwin looked at him and, for a moment, wondered what would happen if he did release the imp. Then, the intense hate in the Brutal Imp's eyes told him all he needed to know, and he flared his flame. Before the Brutal Imp could react, shout in indignation or hurl insults at him, its entire body was engulfed in flames.

Irwin watched as the Brutal Imp began shaking, his skin slowly turning black. It took over a minute before the hateful life fled its eyes. His fingers closed together, the wrist he was holding turning to dust while the body slumped down into the chunks of black chunks. A slight drizzle of soulforce rained on his soullake before everything turned quiet.

He took a few steps back, wiping his hands and staring at the remains of the Brutal Imp.

Would we turn to murder crazies if we remained? he wondered. Getting no answer, he turned to the paper still lying on the ground and crouched beside it.

"Great. Now, what am I supposed to do with you," he muttered.