Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

The first thing Irwin heard was rustling at the door and soft talking.

"-been quiet for a while."

Daubutim? Irwin thought as he wondered why he was feeling so hot.

Especially his back.

Not painfully so, just slightly hotter than was comfortable. He felt incredibly relaxed and, except for the discomfort on his back, more comfortable than he had in weeks. No lingering muscle aches or even any real cold, nothing. To his surprise, the memories of the intense pain weren't as intense as he'd feared. No more than memories, and though he couldn't hold back a shudder if he focused on them, that was the worst of it.

I guess everything worked out, he thought as he opened his eyes.

Right above him sat a dirty, grimy black metal sheet with a hole in it. He could touch it if he wanted to.

Why does that seem so familiar? he thought.

It took him two whole seconds to realize he was looking at the inside of a forge. With the realization came a jolt of fear, and he rolled over and away from the coals, thudding on his back on the cool ground below. He looked to the side, staring at the rumaged-looking forge. The coals had been shuffled about, and a person-sized indent was in the middle.

I can actually lie in a forge now? Irwin thought, barely believing it.

"Finally awake?" Ambraz whispered, swirling down to land on his chest. "Daubutim is outside, and I think that girl's with him."

Irwin stared up at him stupidly, then the words registered.

"Lamia?" he whispered.

"Yes, her! You might want to combine your cards before you open that door."

"..."

"What? Don't look at me like that. That's what all of this was for, right?"

"I just woke up from a pain-induced sleep," Irwin whispered, almost angrily. "I need a moment!"

"Bah.. compared to what you just went through, combining your cards will be easy for you."

Irwin's eyes narrowed as he glared at the Anvil. "Just like you once said, reforging doesn't hurt?"

"When are you going to let that drop? And no… I'm serious. It won't hurt half as much as a single hit."

Irwin grunted and pushed himself up to his feet. As he stood, he swayed as he stared around stupidly. Everything seemed a little smaller, and the ground seemed farther down.

"What…?" he muttered. How much had he changed from just reforging his Eyes of Blaze? Technically it had body strengthening effects before... had turning it rare turned it into a true body enhancement card?

His gaze fell on the pile of clothes to the side. Right, he'd undressed! Looking down, he saw he was stark naked. No hint of his underpants remained.

Flushing, he stepped to the pile and grabbed his pants. It was slightly uncomfortable without his underpants, but he'd prefer that over Lamia coming in and seeing him butt naked.

"I think I heard something!"

Irwin looked at the door. That had definitely been Lamia.

"Irwin? Are you alright? Please open the door!"

Irwin hesitated, then remained where he was, staring at his arms. His muscles had grown again, and as he flexed, he stared at his biceps.

I think I'm bigger than Bronwyn now…

"So…" Ambraz whispered, hovering around him. "Done admiring yourself?"

Irwin hesitated again. Should he combine them now? Trimdir and Basil warned him that it was difficult, but Ambraz was right. He had gone through all the pain so he could combine them.

Still...

Irwin looked around, then at himself again. If reforging one of his uncommon cards to rare had done this much, what would reforging Coperion Body do? He shuddered as he recalled the pain he'd gone through. Then he thought about his family. The pain was... fleeting, but if he wanted to save them?

"I... perhaps I should wait and do my other card, too?" he whispered.

"What? And risk this backwater place being overrun by surges and dying tomorrow?" Ambraz retorted, landing on his shoulder.

Irwin grimaced and hesitated. Ambraz was right... but getting a second rare was just so close. He ignored the muted voices from behind the door. If it had only been Daubutim, he'd have let him in instantly, but with Lamia there?

"Are you sure you can't do one now?" he asked. Ambraz didn't look as tired as he had the previous time.

The Anvil remained quiet for a while, then snorted softly. "Fine. Feed me all the remaining common cards, and I'll try."

"All of them?" Irwin muttered as he thought of the half a dozen cards he had left.

"Yes- all of them," Ambraz whispered as he flew back to the center of the room. With a thud, his large-sized form appeared.

Irwin hesitated, then grabbed his tunic and recovered the cards. Staring at the small stack, he hesitated again. Perhaps he should risk it? Wait for tomorrow?

No. I can always get more cards, he thought as he shoved his worry about feeding so many cards away.

He stepped towards the Anvil and threw the cards inside.

Ambraz grunted as he began chewing.

Irwin stared at him quietly, his body starting to shiver uncontrollably at the prospect of having to hurt himself again.

"Alright. Do you want to upgrade to Dense Coperion Body or a Hardened Coperion Body? Dense means you will be heavier and stronger but slower. Hardened means tougher skin, even less penetrable than now, but with reduced regeneration when cut."

"I- I think Hardened?" Irwin muttered. "What would you suggest?"

"Dense," Ambraz said. "You have enough body strengthening cards to overcome the heaviness and reduce the impact of the slow."

Irwin tried to think about what would be best, but he just couldn't keep his mind away from the imminent pain. Ambraz has proven right enough times, he finally thought.

"Dense," he whispered.

"Smart move, kid! Let's go!"

Irwin shoved all fears to the back of his mind, focusing on what it would feel like to wake up after the pain.

--

Daubutim slammed his fist on the door as another pained moan came from the other side.

"What is happening? We need to get someone... break open this door!" Lamia cried. "Someone is torturing him!"

Daubutim sighed as he stared at the door. There was a dull thud, then another high, piercing scream.

"No, he is practicing," he finally muttered.

"Practicing?" Lamia hissed, shoving him to the side with surprising strength before glaring at him with her tear-stained face. "What kind of practice does this?"

"The one that involves cards," Daubutim said softly. They both jolted when there was another scream, unrestrained this time.

"This... this is stupid!" Lamia shouted. "How long will this take?"

Daubutim stared at the door, trying to recall how long the previous reforging had taken.

"A few minutes," he said.

There was a soft muttering from the other side of the alleyway, and he looked up to see people staring inside.

"Can you go and tell them to leave? Orwin will open the door when he is ready."

Lamia stared at him, then rubbed her eyes and stomped off.

Daubutim turned to the door, staring at it dully.

--

Irwin woke with a jolt, lingering memories of pain slowly fading. He was curled up in a ball, his back against an Anvil.

Two times in a day is too much, he thought as he slowly unfurled. Each of his movements felt slow and ponderous, but also as if nothing would stop his motions.

It took him a few seconds to get to his feet, and when he did he saw Ambraz sitting on a nearby anvil. He was quiet, his wings unmoving, and his lips pressed tightly together.

"Ambraz?" Irwin whispered.

"Ah, you're back," Ambraz responded softly. "Listen, kid. This took way more out of me than I'd anticipated."

Irwin took a slow step forward, noticing he was already getting used to the odd sensation of being heavy and ponderous. It reminded him of when he'd first gotten Coperion Body.

He took a glance at his hand, then stared back at Ambraz while trying hard to ignore the memories of the pain. Something about the second time had been even worse, but he had done it to become a full-hand before tomorrow.

"Are you still able to help me with becoming a full-hand?" he asked.

"Yes, but... you are going to have to do the heavy lifting."

Irwin swallowed, the pain of having both cards reforged mixing with the stress of what still lay before him.

"Don't give me that look," Ambraz grunted, sounding slightly more energetic. "It should be easy enough for you. Your cards have so much overlap that I don't think you could fail even if you tried to!"

Irwin looked around, then at his hand, noting the changes to his two no longer uncommon cards. The tattoo outlines were far more evident than before, and both had small flames etched around the edges. He wanted to see what they were called now, what his Eyes of Blaze -was it even still called that?- showed him. But that would have to wait. He heard muttered voices outside of his door, and he was surprised they hadn't broken the door down yet.

"Okay, what do I do?" he whispered.

"You need to focus on all three of your cards in order of importance. Try to make them appear above your hand. Then you need to force them together. Create a unified whole... I'll try to guide you as much as I can."

Irwin closed his eyes and focused on his first card. It responded instantly, and he was surprised to sense a slight resonance before it appeared. He didn't even have to look to know that it was hovering above his hand. Eyes of Blaze was slightly harder, and he sensed its greatly increased power.

"Good, two… one more," Ambraz whispered, sounding surprised.

Irwin wondered why, but he had no time to ponder it now. Trying to keep both his cards in focus and out, he focused on Coperion Body. It felt like he had to split his mind three ways, and he felt his focus on Eyes of Blaze slipping. He struggled to keep it from disappearing again, and just as he feared it would vanish, he felt the resonance from his first card.

They need to combine so... they should resonate the same, he thought.

Letting his focus on Coperion Body slip slightly, he tried to force Eyes of Blaze to resonate with his first card. It took barely any effort, and to his shock, the cards began almost humming. Forcing his confusion away, he focused on Coperion Body again, and this time it instantly snapped into focus, humming along with the other two.

"Insane," Ambraz whispered weakly, but Irwin ignored him. He opened his eyes to see three cards hovering above his hand. They were spinning slowly, backs together.

"Alright, keep them there," Ambraz said, sounding resigned as he flew above the cards. He hung there for a bit, then sniffed. "Try to force them together, but make sure you move them evenly! I'll warn you if you pull on one too much."

Irwin licked his lips, not sure what to do. He tried to will his cards together, but nothing happened. Sensing his cards gently revolving around each other, humming along, he noticed they were almost exactly in tune. Almost.

Perhaps...

Irwin focused on the resonance of his first card, then tried to force the other two to join in, slowly ironing out the tiny difference.

All three cards shivered, then the cards began inching closer together.

Irwin stared at them in wonder, ignoring a surprised whisper from Ambraz. He continued removing the tiny discrepancies, the cards moving closer and closer, then with a jolt, they touched, and as they did, a painful tearing sensation pulled at his hand.

It wasn't enough to make him worry, especially compared to what had happened hours prior, but it was far from comfortable. At the same time, it felt like the humming became clearer, almost like he had moved closer to the source. With the clarity came the realization that there were still dozens of tiny inconsistencies.

"Good, now pull them together into a single whole," Ambraz whispered. "Ignore the pain, and keep going!"

Irwin nodded, gritting his teeth, and continued forcing the cards to resonate together to create a single, uniform hum. With each tiny fix, the cards seemed to pull closer, and the pain increased.

He had no idea how long it took, but when he finally fixed his Coperion Bodies final tiny flaw, the three cards disappeared in a flash of light.

Blinking away the blurry spots, Irwin saw a large, card-shaped golden glow hovering above his hand.

The tearing increased exponentially, and Irwin clenched his teeth, all the muscles on his body rippling. He lost control of his focus, but the cards remained there, and all he could do was keep their hum in line.

"Almost done," Ambraz whispered. "Keep doing what you're doing!"

The glow intensified, and as it did, the humming became louder and louder until it seemed like a roaring. It almost felt like three giants were humming inside his ear. At first, it seemed perfectly in unison, but then he felt it. A tiny dissonance was between his main card and the other two.

Before he could worry, he sensed his first card do... something with the other two. Instantly the final flaw disappeared, and the humming changed, turning into a soft song as it increased and decreased. It almost seemed like his cards were... happy?

Any hope that it would alleviate the pain vanished as the tearing sensation increased together with the complexity of the song. It wasn't enough to make him scream and cry, but he couldn't help his teeth from grinding together.

It continued for a few long minutes, then the humming song came to a crescendo, the glow faded, and the pain disappeared.

The card-shaped golden glow dropped into his hand, and as it did, he felt a shiver run through his body. Something heavy seemed to weigh his body down as the pain disappeared, replaced by an odd itching. Staring at his skin, he saw the top layer turning white, tiny cracks running across it.

He shivered, and flakes of skin came off, slowly falling to the ground. The skin below had a metallic gleam and a very pale copper color. His muscles cramped, and it was as if it snowed inside as the skinflakes flew away from him. A sense of a single, aligned resonance came from his three cards as if they were a single entity.

With it came a feeling of strength. A sense that he could do anything if he wanted to!

"Well, congratulations, you are now full-hand," Ambraz whispered, his lips in a tight grin. "Told you it wouldn't be too bad?"

Irwin snorted. Technically the Anvil was right, but that didn't mean it hadn't hurt horribly. Still, if he had to compare it to reforging his card, he had to agree that he'd prefer going through combining his cards every day.

He stared at his hand and smiled at the thin, beautiful lines running along and around them. They vaguely reminded him of flames. He couldn't help the smile from growing into a wide grin.

He was a full-hand!

Three cards, all combined, each empowering him and each other. He wished he could show Bronwyn and his mum. As he examined his cards, he saw each had changed slightly. Their details were a bit clearer, and all of them seemed like a single coherent image due to the lines connecting them. He could also sense the echo of the hummed song, still lingering inside each. And they had become more powerful, especially his first card.

I wonder what happened to my flame, he thought, unable to resist.

With barely any focus, a flame longer than his arm and twice as thick roared to life above his hand. It was so bright that the yellow was almost white, and he felt the heat coming from it in waves.

"Careful that you don't light the place up," Ambraz muttered as he landed on his shoulder.

Irwin was about to snort at the joke when he saw a nearby table begin to smoke. He quickly decreased the flame's heat, noting how much easier that was too. The light coming from it dulled the heat now no more than from a fireplace.

Wondering what else he could do, he changed the shape of the flame and stared in stunned silence at the sword shape hovering above his hand. It had felt so easy... natural! He slowly moved his hand, and the sword moved with it, roaring as it moved. Curious, he tried other shapes, and within moments a shield, a hammer, an anvil, and the shape of a bird appeared. Then he dug deep into his mind, and the flame warped and shrank, and a moment later, a woman hung before him.

Mum... Irwin thought as he stared at the face he'd not seen in what felt like ages. He looked at her for a while, then released his flame with a slightly sad feeling.

It only lasted for a moment as he realized it wasn't just his flame that had improved! If that had, how much would his Coperion Body have improved?

I hope my cold sensitivity has become less bad, he thought as he looked at his arm.

"Orwin? What is going on?"

Daubutim's voice came from the door, sounding worried and weary.

Irwin jolted, completely having forgotten his friend was standing outside. Then he realized there had been voices for a while but had been ignoring them.

I can't let them keep worrying, he thought as he unsummoned his sword.

He would have to check the effects of the combining as well as practice with his abilities later.

And his physical strength. The way his body moved was smoother than before, slower too. Though, he had the feeling that part of that was because of how tired he was.

"I'm alright," he said, then blinked.

His voice was deeper than it had been and had a smooth hollow quality to it, almost like he was speaking from inside a bell.

"Orwin! Open this door. Let us in!" Lamia shouted, her voice cracked.

Irwin moved to the door, removed the bars, and pulled it open. Daubutim stood before the door, and as Irwin looked at his friend, he couldn't help a startled hiss. He could almost look Daubutim in the eye! How much had he just grown?

"Orwin…. Is that you?"

Irwin looked to the side where Lamia was staring at him. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy. A cold wind poured in, whipping around his body, and he shivered.

"Better come in," he said as he stepped back.

Daubutim and Lamia hesitated before stepping inside, and with a quick look behind them, he shut the door. The cold still felt freezing but… there was a change. It didn't hurt him as it had the day before.

I'll have to check how much I've improved on the way to the tower, Irwin thought.

"What- why-" Lamia stuttered as she stared at him.

"You've combined your cards," Daubutim stated, staring at his hand.

His words elicited a surprised shout from Lamia, who jumped forward and grabbed his hand.

"You… You are crazy! Why did you do that alone?" she whispered. "Don't you know it could be dangerous? I've heard about people fainting from the pain… are you alright?"

Irwin grinned as he flexed his arm, copying the move she had used on him weeks -or was it months?- ago.

"Strong as a charbull," he said.

Lamia snorted, then shook her head as she stepped back and inspected him. "Your voice changed, and you grew," she said, and Irwin saw her stand a bit straighter. "You also look like you are made from metal! This isn't normal! What did you do? Did you find another card somewhere?"

"No, no. It's just my body improvement card," Irwin said with a shrug.

"Don't act like I can't be surprised! This is way more than should happen when someone becomes a full-hand," Lamia said. "I've never heard of someone growing a hand length with just an uncommon body improvement card!"

Yes, well, mine's not uncommon, Irwin thought, holding back a grin.