Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Greldo leaned against the wall of the smithy as the beautiful, deep song continued to resonate throughout all the surrounding buildings. He felt the soft vibration in his shoulder.

"Do you think I will ever be able to do this?" Endil whispered.

Greldo looked at the young smith, wondering when he'd started thinking of Endil as young.

"I'm sure if you can bind to one of those Ganvils and practice long enough, you can do this."

Endil nodded, swaying along with the melody. "It's so much louder than anything else he did."

Greldo listened, then laughed. "You should have been there when he was doing his own card. Some of the surrounding buildings actually cracked and broke down!"

"Really?!"

"Yes. I wasn't there, but I did hear the stories and saw the after-effects."

Gredo smirked as he saw the deep desire in Endil's eyes.

Well, I guess there's definitely going to be a smith here after we left, he thought.

He looked around, staring at the young, burgeoning city around him. Although it definitely reminded him of Malorin, having much of the same architecture, the quality of the buildings was much better, and the streets wider. Everything felt safe, light, and happy, and he wouldn't have minded staying for a while longer.

A foreign feeling grew in his chest, one he'd not felt before, and he smiled ruefully. After only being here for a year, he was already starting to feel more at home in New Malorin than he had ever been in any place on Giard. Part of it was because he could come and go as he pleased and hunt in the forests with Coal without any issues, but there was something else, a feeling he couldn't put his finger on no matter how hard he tried. It was as if… he just fit here. As if something that had been bothering him forever wasn't here.

The sound built into a crescendo, and he looked up. Red light was leaking through the creaks of the shuddering doors and shutters. A deafening thud punctuated one last high note, then everything was quiet.

"He finished," Endil whispered excitedly.

"Yes, but we should probably wait before going in," Greldo said as he watched the smith inch towards the door.

"Right, right," Endil said, biting his lip and wringing his hands.

--

"It looks incredible," Irwin said as he looked at Daubutim moving around the smithy.

He was wielding a black bastard sword with an odd red gleam on the edge, swinging it around so fast Irwin only saw a blur. Then he zipped through the smithy to the other side, leaving a trail of red lightning behind. A foot-tall raven sat on a nearby table, examining everything calmly. His eyes were silver, while a few bright red feathers sat in haphazard places around it's body.

I really want that fire dash now, he thought as he crossed his arms. That, or perhaps one that worked with fog? At the same time, the two cards Ambraz had said he should take were burning a hole in his pocket. He wanted to reforge both up to Ruby and slot them, then start searching for the best growthcard. Perhaps he could find one that he could upgrade to Ammolite.

"It feels incredible," Daubutim said, ripping out of his daydream.

Irwin looked up to see Daubutim staring at him. His friend's eyes were swirls of silvery lightning with occasional red bolts rippling through.

"Alright, I'd like to see the complete card now."

"It's in the book," Ambraz said before yawning. "Also, I'd like to point out that it's amazing!"

Irwin quickly grabbed it, tossing it open on the newest page for both him and Daubutim to take a look.

Card: Twyll the Blood Lightning Raven

Type: Heartcard, Ruby, Forged by Irwin Roddington

Owner: Daubutim Coulwater

The wielder of this card has bonded with Twyll the Blood Lightning raven and has his body changed inadvertently. With increased speed and agility, the wielder of this card has speed that defies reason.

Passive: Increased dexterity, strength, and constitution

Passive: Increased movement, thought and reflex-speed

Active: Blood Lightning Dash

Active: Summon Bloody Bastard Sword

Active: Freeze a target's blood, slowing its movements and thoughts

"It's a named card," Irwin nearly shouted as he stared at the name in disbelief.

"Like I said, amazing!" Ambraz said, flitting to Irwin's shoulder. "Do you have any idea how rare those are? You can't just try to make those, it involves the right type of summon, the right type of owner, and insane luck!"

Irwin nodded, slowly reading the card. As he counted the passive and active effects, he sighed wearily. He had felt annoyed when he made his own first heartcard and was able to get seven options. Some were even multi-layered.

"Sorry I couldn't fit your armor in," he said.

"Don't be," Daubutim said. "I would have been alright with everything gone as long as I could think clearly."

Irwin nodded, inspecting the card a bit before sighing. "It still lost nearly all of its water and ice typings."

"Not all," Ambraz muttered, yawning again. "The water turned to blood, which made everything a lot easier to combine, and it still has the ice typing. You will see when it becomes a soulcard that it's pretty useful."

"The card is perfect," Daubutim said, staring at Irwin. "Thank you."

"It's fine, don't thank me," Irwin said quickly, turning to the massive and very quiet raven. "How is…"

"Twyll thanks you for not reforging her away in favor of the chestplate," Daubutim said before frowning. "She says that she could feel how difficult it was at some point…"

"She could feel that?" Irwin said in surprise.

The door behind them was opened, and Greldo looked in. "Sorry, but someone is almost dying with curiosity out here."

Greldo barely finished when Endil slipped in.

Irwin quickly closed and pocketed the book before turning to Daubutim.

"I'm going to explain some things to Endil. I'll return home when we are done."

"Alright, make sure not to forget the time again," Daubutim said as he walked to the door.

Irwin saw Endil approach, eyes wide with curiosity.

This is going to take a while, he thought.

--

Irwin quietly opened the door, the dark city behind him illuminated by some torches. The house seemed quiet, and he snuck forward only to stop at the entrance to the large kitchen. His mother sat at the table, looking at the door with a weary sigh.

"You are very late," she said, sounding annoyed and weary. "Daubutim had to leave, and he said you and Greldo should meet Lord Bron at Portal Keep early tomorrow."

Irwin sighed as he sat down opposite her. He leaned forward and summoned a tiny flame to light up the candle on the table. Candles were still a luxury, but at least he was going to leave his mother with a lot of them.

"I needed to give Endil enough cards and explanation to reforge them," he said.

He didn't mention the two Ruby cards he had in his pocket, seeing as those had cost most of the time.

"Will you be careful out there?" his mother whispered.

"Of course I will be," Irwin said, giving her a reassuring smile. "I've got a soulcard, and Ambraz and Greldo will be with me."

"Don't let yourself get a bighead! That's how people get killed," his mother said with a frown.

Irwin smiled as he leaned back in his chair. Although he was tired, his endurance could stand another long night, and his mother was right. Who knew when he would see her again?

"What are you going to do while I'm gone?" he asked.

His mother seemed stunned, looking at him in surprise before sniffing.

"I'll make sure Bronwyn, Drum, and Carla are alright and hopefully take care of their other children," she said. "Maybe I'll let Bronwyn give me some of the cards you have given him for us."

"You knew?" Irwin muttered in surprise. He'd only give them to Bronwyn that afternoon when his brother came with some questions.

"You boys still think you can hide stuff from me," his mother said. "You may be twice as big as me, but I'm still your mother, and I know exactly when you are skulking about."

"Skulking…" Irwin grinned, laughing softly.

He remained talking with his mother for a long time, and only when he saw her start to doze off where she sat did he end up with the excuse that he was tired. It worked like a charm as she hustled him to bed. When he was finally lying on his bed, he was staring at the two cards in his hands. Their description was in his book, beyond the ripped-out page that had been Daubutim's heartcard. That had been safely burned just in case, which was what would happen to these two after he slotted them.

If he slotted them.

He took out his book and gazed at the two side-by-side pages.

Card: Incandescent Eyes [bound sense]

Type: Ruby, Reforged by Irwin Roddington

Owner: -

A powerful utility card that allows the wielder to see one [bound] sense. While active, the normal sense is disabled.

Passive: Increases the [bound sense] when not using active ability

Passive: Visualizes one [bound sense]

Active: Focus the bound sense to as far as the wielder can see.

Single Use Active: Choose one sense and bind the card to this.

Card: Soulforce Hearing

Type: Ruby, Reforged by Irwin Roddington

Owner: -

A card desired by all musicians and singers. Allows the owner to hear nearly every tiny wrongness in any tune, melody, or harmony.

Passive: Small increase in constitution

Passive: Increase the ability to hear soulforce resonance

Active: Temporary boost sensitivity to soul resonance fluctuations. Greatly decreases resistance to soulforce resonance attacks while used.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" he whispered so he wouldn't wake anyone.

"Kid, what is holding you back? Both of these cards will greatly increase your smithing abilities…" Ambras replied as he flew down to land on Irwin's chest.

"Neither will help if I need to fight," he said.

"So? I don't know if you have noticed, but most of your first soulcard is very suited for combat already!"

Irwin hummed, thinking back to his fight with Doomblade. The five-horned Galub wasn't even the strongest one, and he'd had enough trouble with him already. What if he had to fight someone like Greldo?

"Ugh, why will I remember how little you know," Ambraz muttered. "Let me teach you of something or remind you of it if you have forgotten. You can never be strong enough to beat everything. There will always be someone with the skills to beat you. Even if you only focus on combat skills from now on, any sufficiently fast semi-teleporter with enough piercing skills will kill you in close range."

Irwin dumbly gazed at the tiny Anvil, who continued talking with surprisingly soft, genuine care.

" Any enemy with really strong ranged attacks will kill you from range, and in your case, anyone that has enough cold to overpower your heat will be the end of you. Now, even if you somehow manage to become so strong that none of that would work, which I can tell you right now is impossible, what if there are two of those? Or ten? Or a hundred? Do you know why the Smithing Guild is deemed as one of the, if not the most powerful group in the known Portal Galery?"

It took a few moments for Irwin to realize he was actually supposed to answer that. He thought about it for a bit.

"Because they have the most powerful cards?" he asked.

"No," Ambraz whispered. "Because they have the most cards."

Irwin stared at Ambraz as he slowly understood what the Anvil was telling him.

"You mean to say that I should focus on making more cards," Irwin said. "I thought you told me it was impossible?"

Ambraz snorted. "Who knows what is impossible? I know nobody managed to do it before."

Irwin hummed as he stared at the ceiling, staring at his left hand. "So, what about a flame dash card?"

"There's nothing stopping you from finding one and slotting it after," Ambraz said. "Now go and sleep on it."

Irwin nodded, then pocketed the two cards.

It took him a long time before he finally fell into a restless, shallow sleep filled with horrible dreams. Most were vague and kept changing until he suddenly realized he was running across a dark, flat sheet with odd cracks from which yellowish fumes rose. Far ahead, his mother, who was fleeing from a horde of giggling Imps and he was running after them, rapidly catching up. A pained shout from behind made him look behind in the midst of running.

The world behind him showed a dark, windy forest with trees covered in nasty green and orange fungus.

Bronwyn and Greldo were dodging around the trees, trying to stay away from a mass of faint shapes that could be Nyzir.

Irwin's heart was thudding insane, and he wanted to call out to them when more shouts came from the side. Without really wanting to, he spun around to see Scintilla running across an ice sheet, being harassed by a dozen laughing Frozir. Before he could even react, another scream from behind me made him turn around to see Daubutim fighting with what looked like three versions of Doomblade. More screams came, and he was spinning around as more people he knew were running around, too far for him to help all of them. A piercing scream made him turn back to where he was running, only to see the Imps catch up to his mother, topping her over.

Irwin jolted upright in bed, looking around to see the simple, nearly empty wooden bedroom. It took him a few moments to understand it had been a nightmare.

Mere seconds later, most of the dream had faded away, leaving him nothing but a beating heart and a sense of palpating fear. Blowing out his breath angrily, he lay back down. There were no sounds from below and only very few from outside.

Great. Barely any sleep and all of it filled with nightmares..

It took him a short while to calm down. He barely recalled the nightmares, which surprised him. It had been ages since he'd last had one, and usually, he could remember them.

Still, without recalling what they were about, his thoughts drifted to the two cards.

He pushed himself up, sat on the edge of the bed, and took the two red-bordered, ruby cards out. With a little thinking, he took the Incandescent Eyes card and put the other back in his pocket. Part of him wanted to ask Ambraz one final time, but he shook his head. It was his choice...

I have more soulcards I can make, he thought, making his choice.

Staring at his left hand, he slowly put the card above the slot. For a short moment, he worried his soulcard would reject it for not being compatible, then a shiver ran through him as the card shrank and sunk down into his hand slowly. When it was gone, his cardslot flashed red twice, and he slowly felt something appear in the periphery of his mind.

"You won't regret it," Ambraz said.

Irwin looked up and saw the Anvil sitting in one of the smooth nooks made for him.

"I can always create more soulcards later," Irwin said with a grin.

"That's the spirit!"

Irwin snorted, then gently prodded his new card. The connection was incredibly faint compared to his soulcard, but even then, he did remember when he'd slotted his first few cards. Back then, it had taken him far longer to sense them anywhere near as good as he did now. Most likely, the benefit of having a soulcard and one that dealt with sensing soulforce. Still, his new card felt like a foreign thing, more like a glove or a shoe than something part of him.

"So… how do I bind my resonance sense?"

"Focus on the card, but very gently. You should feel a certain desire to connect to something. Most likely, the first thing that pops up will be your hearing. Make sure not to focus on that. Although it would help you, as soulforce resonance sense is a distant relative to hearing, it's too general. Instead, just use your resonance, focus on the song I'm humming, and let it connect to that."

Irwin heard Ambraz very faintly resonate in a song that reminded him of one of the cards he'd reforged the day before.

Closing his eyes, he focused on Incandescent Eyes, and almost immediately, he felt the card's desire. It was as faint as his connection was, and he didn't understand what it wanted, but he suddenly noticed the soft sounds of shuffling downstairs. Immediately, the card targeted it, seeming to want to do… something.

No, Irwin thought, quickly focusing on Ambraz's humming.

As soon as he did, the card slowed whatever it was doing and turned its focus away from his hearing and to something else. It closed in or focused on what Irwin was doing, though he had trouble understanding exactly what was going on. He knew cards weren't conscious or sentient, but they did have elements that made it almost seem like they did. Right now, Incandescent Eyes was focusing more and more on whatever it was that allowed him to sense the resonance of the soulforce.

It focused and seemed to close in on his sense. Then, with a jolting shock, he felt the card connect to his resonance sense. Immediately, Ambraz's hum seemed to become slightly louder. Not massively so, but enough that Irwin was surprised by how many tiny fluctuations there were in it that he'd not heard before.

Curious, he opened his eyes.

The room was filled with very gentle pulsing waves of pale, purplish light that originated from Ambraz. They seemed to ripple through something he couldn't see but which he instinctively knew had to be the ambient soulforce. He also knew it wasn't really light, but the way Incandescent Eyes made it appear to be.

The gentle pulses of soulforce touched the wooden walls, flattening out before fading away.

It didn't move through the wall? Irwin thought, not fully understanding what he was seeing.

"Can you see this?" he whispered.

"What? Of course not. I can sense the soulforce, probably better than you can, but I can't see it," Ambraz said, landing on his shoulder. "... What does it look like?"

Irwin looked around, then focused on his soulcard and very softly hummed a tune. Waves of fiery red spread out from him, much more powerful than those Ambraz had done.

"It looks like waves on a river, but then as if it is made from light," Irwin said, using his hands to trace the waves as they moved around him. "But it isn't actually light, but soulforce… I think. It's hard to explain?"

Ambraz sighed. "I'm actually jealous now. Next time I rank up, I'm going to choose something that allows me to see it!"

"You can do that?" Irwin asked, looking up in surprise.

"Yes," Ambraz said, flying towards him. As he did, Irwin saw tiny ripples of soulforce around him that disappeared as he landed on his shoulder.

So he does use soulforce to fly, he thought.

"Okay, let's go and see how the active ability works," Ambraz said.

Irwin nodded. He cleaned up as fast as he could, then put on his shirt and headed downstairs.

His mother was sitting on the table, holding Drum. A large plate filled with nuts, dried meat, and what looked like carrots lay on a plate.

"Eat," she said, waving at the plate.

Irwin quickly washed his hands, then sat down and gratefully smiled at his mother.

"Did you sleep well?"

Irwin hummed as he began stuffing food in his mouth. There was no use worrying his mother about these things, especially if they were going to leave soon. He saw her eyes narrow as she stared at him, but she remained quiet.

A few minutes later, Greldo, Bronwyn, and Carla joined them. After handing Drum to Carla, his mother gave everyone food, and they quietly finished their breakfast.

When Irwin was done, he leaned back and looked at his family. He knew they were all worried about him leaving, but nobody said anything about it. Drum was chewing on mushed vegetables, making a mess, while Bronwyn finished the last of his food. He waited till everyone was done before rising.

"I'm going to check one thing, then I'll be leaving," he said, looking at his mother.

"I expect you to return back here when you can," she said.

"I will, but… I could be gone for a year or longer," Irwin said.

Everyone was quiet, and then Greldo rose and stepped up beside him.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of him!"

Irwin's mother frowned, then shook her head. "You two need to take good care of each other!" she said. Then she rose, gave Irwin a strong hug, and turned to clean the table.

"Bye," Irwin said, waving at Carla before rubbing Drum's head. The little boy looked up, staring at him and spluttering something, causing bits of food to spray out.

Irwin grinned before beckoning his brother. Bronwyn nodded, and a minute later, Irwin, Bronwyn, and Greldo stood outside.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of Mother," Bronwyn said.

"I know you will," Irwin said before turning to Greldo. "Can you get Clarish here?"

Greldo frowned, then nodded and vanished in the shadows.

Irwin turned to his brother and quickly told him about his new card.

"That's great!" Bronwyn said.

"I'm going to ask Clarish to teleport us around a bit so I can check if there are any adjacent world portals anywhere nearby," Irwin said.

"That's good. Just make sure not to be too late. If that soulshard thing, tablet, or whatever it is loses her patience, we are going to be in trouble."

"We will go to the Portal Keep soon," Irwin said.

They continued chatting for a few minutes when a swirling mass of dark green soulforce waves appeared a few feet away, causing Irwin to stop mid-sentence.

"Irwin?" Bronwyn asked, stepping forward.

"Nothing, I think it-"

Clarish and Greldo appeared in a mass of swirling green and silver soulforce. Irwin saw a look of surprise in Clarish's eyes when she saw him looking at her.

"Are you ready to leave?"

Irwin nodded and quickly explained what he wanted to do.

"We can do that," Clarish said. "I've only teleported here so far, so my energy is nearly full. I can take us to some of the places with the furthest view."

"Thanks," Irwin said before turning and hugging his brother.

"I'll be back," he said softly.

"You had better!"

Irwin took a final look around. He was sad at having to leave, but not as much as he had expected. Although he would miss his mother and brother, they were safe, and he really wanted to see more worlds.

Grinning at his brother, he stepped up to Clarish. "Let's go."

Clarish nodded, and the world turned into a swirling mass of green soulforce. They reappeared on a high hill bordering the forest a moment later.

"I'll need five minutes, then I can teleport to the next spot," Clarish said.

Irwin nodded, but he was already walking around the ledge. He heard Greldo follow him, but he ignored him, focusing on his new card. The card resonated softly, and focusing on the distant planes beyond the hills and beside the forest, Irwin triggered the active ability.

It felt like the constant, soft resonance of the world's ambient soulforce vanished, pulled into his eyes. He felt a tingling sensation, then faint ripples of soulforce appeared all around him. There were so many that it almost felt like waves of translucent fog were swirling wherever he looked. Most were green, pale to dark, with white and brown mixed in. None of the ripples and flowing waves were as strong as even those Ambraz's soft hum had produced, but these were everywhere!

Irwin almost held his breath as he looked at the beautiful, thin, swirling waves taring around.

"Do you see a portal?" Greldo whispered.

Irwin shook his head, slowly waking up out of the trancelike state he'd been in. He looked around, examining the incredible amount of soulforce, searching for something that could be an adjacent portal.

"Nothing," he said after a while. "And… I'm not sure I can actually find one. There's so much, and I have no idea what to search for."