Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Irwin walked through the massive shop, scanning for useful cards. Far behind him, Boohm was holding a shouting match with the shop owner while the sales personnel were hovering around wide-eyed.

He'd watched it for only a minute before quickly setting out in search of cards.

His head was almost brushing against the low ceiling as he looked around the shelves, bookcases, and crystal-covered tables. The entire room was filled with powerful soulforce ripples, and a chaotic soft cacophony of sounds rang out from everywhere, almost like a busy square with thousands of whispered conversations.

Greldo was moving around nearby, humming happily. He already had a dozen cards in his hand, all shadow oriented and priced around a thousand soulshards.

Far away, Rindiri was talking to her kids sternly, shaking her head.

Irwin picked up something about no more than five thousand each, and he grinned. He had told them they could pick out something, but Rindiri seemed intent on curbing their enthusiasm.

Let's see if I can find some cards for beginning smiths, he thought.

He wanted to have enough for Trimdir to start a proper Smith's Guild at Eluathar, one that wouldn't be dependent on anyone else. At least not until they were strong enough to guard their world.

"Make sure you don't buy too much in one spot," You'gyn whispered. "It's going to draw attention."

Irwin's hand stopped before he could take another two amethyst hammer-summoning cards.

"Take those and stop," You'gyn said, seeming to feel his hesitation.

Irwin did as asked before looking around. Greldo was looking at him with one raised eyebrow.

"Get the rest. We are leaving as soon as Boohm is done," Irwin whispered, getting a quick nod.

A short while later, they were back in the crowded streets, Boohm grunted unhappily.

"Captain, why did we have to leave already? I could have knocked off another thousand soulshards!"

"I believe you," Irwin said. "But there's far more places to visit!"

Rindiri was holding both her kids close to her, though, with Zender already as tall as her, it looked slightly odd. Still, they both didn't seem to mind, sharing happy grins as both had found another card.

"Okay, let's continue till afternoon, then find a place to eat," Irwin said as looked over the mass of people. He was usually the tallest around, but in this place, there were plenty of people his height and a few Viridians that towered over all.

--

"Are you sure it's them?" a man whispered softly at a hooded figure beside him.

He had long brown hair tied into a ponytail and wore simple clothes that led him to blend in with the surrounding crowd without drawing attention. Nothing about him seemed out of the ordinary except for when he bit into an oddly gleaming red fruit. Then, a set of razor-sharp, completely black teeth appeared, slicing through the metallic fruit's skin as if it were no more than an apple.

They were staring at the odd group moving into another card store. It was the sixth one, and they didn't show any sign of stopping.

"Yes, the warning we got from Proadon Three said it was a Loydin, or something like them, and three Yuurindi. How likely is it that another group like that is around?" a soft female voice replied icily.

The man didn't seem to care about her tone and just snorted.

"With how hateful most Loydin are, not. Besides, I've never seen Yuurindi just walk around like this," the man said. "And the information was sure the tall one was a smith?"

"If not yet, he will be soon. The information says that the Ganvil was searching for someone to bond with…"

"Alright, then, keep an eye on them. If he shows any indication of being a smith, we take him now. Otherwise, get a ship ready to trail them. I'll make sure they have a tracking rune on them."

"What about the Ganvil?" the woman hissed.

"I've got a rune that even it won't be able to sense," the man said with a snort. Besides, it's great that it's there. I know of a procurer who loves oddities. I'm sure he would be interested in another dead Ganvil."

"He pays well?" the woman asked curiously.

"Yes, but nothing compared to what another smith will fetch. Now go. I need to contact my contacts in the Dead Pact Mercenaries."

The hooded woman was quiet, seeming to examine the man. "Are you sure it's wise for you to be out here doing this?"

"Why? Do you think there's someone here that could hurt me?" the man asked, turning his startling brown eyes on her.

The hooded woman let out a cold grunt. "Whatever. Just be careful," she said before turning and vanishing into the throng.

The man snickered but kept his eyes on the door, leaning against the wall and taking another bite from his glistening red fruit.

"You take a little break of a few decades, and suddenly, even young pups worry about you," he muttered in disgust.

--

Irwin and the others walked back to The Sonata, their stomachs, and backpacks full. Greldo was walking beside Irwin, humming softly. The soft chattering of the crowded street wasn't as interesting as it had been initially. All of them were smiling, which he guessed was normal as they all had gained cards from their trip. Most had gone to him and Greldo, though many of those were meant for other people or Greldo's soullake.

Not that Irwin had gotten nothing for himself. He wished he was somewhere to reforge the two short-range burst teleports he'd gotten. Neither was as flexible as Greldo's shadowstep, but both had the potential to change his movement potential more than even his Kinetic Energy had.

"That guy is still following us," Greldo whispered softly, ripping him out of his daydreams of reforging both Topaz cards up to Ruby.

'He's right. I can sense his soulforce lingering behind us, just out of reach of the usual scanning cards,' Ambraz agreed in Irwin's soulspace.

"Then this will be a shorter stop than we had planned," Irwin said.

"What does it matter," Greldo said. "We have everything we need, and soon I'll be a lot stronger."

Irwin shared a happy look with his friend. "You are sure you have enough?"

"Definitely. I actually bought too many, just in case. Those we have left will be a good gift for Daubutim. I'm sure he'd love to create some group of shadowwalkers," Greldo said, a dangerous smile on his face.

They continued towards the edge of the shopping district, where they would find sloops to bring them back to the docks.

When they reached the final square, they saw a group of people standing together, talking loudly.

"Oh, interesting," You'gyn said, flying forward so fast Irwin only saw a blur.

"What is he doing," he muttered.

Turning to Greldo, he saw his friend looking at the group of people, seemingly confused.

"What are they talking about?"

Greldo shook his head. "Not sure. They are talking about rumors of a war on the outskirts of the central branches. Apparently, some long-distance merchant came from beyond Dimarintsia with some vague set of rumors, and now they are all gossiping about it."

He barely finished when You'gyn returned.

"Well, that was a waste of my time," the Ganvil muttered as he landed on Greldo's shoulder. "Who would believe those shoddy lies? As if there's any race that finds their own Exit Portal that can put up any sort of resistance against the combined, even the weakest of the Hegliron Armadas. Even those upstart Kraniox and the Terullians of legend failed."

Irwin hummed in agreement, recalling what he knew from both of them. Just as they were walking away from the square, Greldo looked over his shoulder in surprise.

"What?" Irwin whispered.

Greldo shook his head, his gaze flicking to You'gyn before turning back ahead.

"Let's head back and get out of here," he said. "That person following us is still there, and his constant chewing is getting on my nerves."

"Good idea," Irwin said, knowing that Greldo would tell him what was up later.

Still, as they found another small sloop to bring them back, he couldn't help but wonder what it could be. There were only a few things You'gyn didn't know, meaning it probably had something to do with either their new homeworld or the Galadin empire.

When they reached the harbor, the many lights in the city began dimming, signaling that night was coming.

The Sonata looked untouched, but as they boarded her, Irwin looked at You'gyn.

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"Can you see if anyone added anything new to the cargo?" he asked.

"Afraid someone put some trackers on you?" the Ganvil said with a grin. "Sure, if there are any here, I'll find them."

He shot away while Boohm happily stomped to the cabin.

"I'll get some food ready! We eating before or after departure?" he asked.

"After," Irwin said as he turned to Rindiri. "Get us on course."

"Yes, captain," she said, handing some bags to Zender. "Please put that in my cabin, and no snooping."

Zender laughed as he headed inside, followed closely by Earila.

A moment later, Irwin and Greldo were alone on the lower deck.

"So, what was wrong?" Irwin whispered as he removed the chains that bound them to the dock.

"That merchant wasn't just spreading rumors of war," Greldo whispered. "Apparently, Oculithar have been attacking exit portals of fringeworlds."

Irwin couldn't suppress a shiver as he recalled the massive monstrosity that had attacked the corridor when he had been inside.

"Let's be careful for a while," Irwin muttered. "Stick to exploring portals we open ourselves or that others are actively going through."

--

As the small, banged-up scout-class merchant ship flew away from the dock, a pair of cold eyes stared after them.

"Send word that they bought a massive amount of cards, most smithing oriented," the man hissed at a figure crouching on the roof above him. "Also, a surprising amount of shadow-typed cards. They might have a shadowwalker among them, so tell Vibru to be extra careful. I want the smith alive and the Ganvil in one piece. They can keep the cards they find and do whatever they want with the rest of the crew as long as none stay alive to tell about it."

"I'll let Vibru know," a whisper came from the hood.

There was a soft rustling, then the cloaked figure vanished, leaving behind a gleaming section of air that rapidly returned to normal.

"One more smith and I'll have enough soulshards to get back home," the man muttered. "I've had about enough of the Langost branch."

--

Two days after they left Proadon One, Irwin was intently watching Greldo. They were sitting in one of the few cabins that remained unoccupied.

"Alright, the last one should do it," Greldo whispered as he held an amethyst card in front of his chest.

Irwin watched as it turned to flickering lights before a dense wave of dark soulforce vanished inside Greldo's chest.

"Remember, stay-"

"In my soulscape, and don't touch the borders!" Greldo said. "Yes, Dad, I know. You have- Ah! It's happening! Time to catch up to you!"

"Good luck," Irwin muttered as Greldo's eyes snapped closed.

'Look closely, most people never see someone change to soulcarded like this as it's a vulnerable moment. Sense the resonations and try to feel what is happening,' Ambraz whispered in his own soulscape.

Irwin took a deep breath, then closed his own eyes, focusing fully on his senses and ears. He'd found that although seeing the soulforce was useful for reforging and other things when it came to sensing the minute fluctuations, he preferred his ears and soulsense.

At first, Greldo's resonance was a jumbled mess, but as he focused on it, he began making out the underlying hearcard's song. It was oddly somber, with more depth than Irwin would have expected, and the vibrations sometimes seemed to almost make his own chest resonate with their power. Greldo's own soul resonated in a slightly different timbre, creating a song that was similar but just out of line with the heartcard.

As seconds, then minutes ticked by, the heartcard's song and Greldo's soulresonance began changing. The song became clearer as ever more clashing harmonies seemed to change to resonate in line with each other.

It's not just the heartcard that changes, Irwin thought, somewhat surprised.

He had somehow thought that the heartcard would be perfectly formed by someone's soulscape and could just be absorbed, but nothing seemed further from the truth. At least not if Greldo's heartcard was a normal occurrence.

Irwin didn't know exactly how long it took, but eventually, a beautiful, deep, and soulful song emanated from Greldo. A last cacophony of thrumming bases seemed to call out in defiance of some unknown slight, then the resonance faded until it was barely perceivable.

Irwin opened his eyes and saw Greldo take a deep breath before blowing it out through his nose. At some moment, Coal had appeared, now lying beside Greldo.

Both of them opened their eyes as one, and then Irwin was looked at by two pairs of burning red eyes, glimmering with joy.

"This is amazing," Greldo whispered. "My soullake is… beautiful. Empty, which sucks, but so beautiful! I think I need to get some vegetation cards, and then I can just rest inside."

Irwin grinned, noticing tiny changes besides Greldo's eyes. The facial features he'd always had since gaining Coal were slightly more visible: the prominent jawline, sharp canines, wide, gleaming eyes, and long pitch-black sideburns that seemed just a bit thicker and denser than normal for a human. Beside him, Coal's change was far more pronounced, as he had grown from the size of a pony to that of a charbull.

"Well, perhaps you can show me sometime soon," Irwin said. "Ambraz told me it's possible to bring people into your soulscape."

'Of course it is! How do you think You'gyn came there? He's about as strong as a one soulcarded,' Ambraz said with a snort.

Irwin cocked his head. "Does it work like that for him?"

Greldo raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

'Not exactly. It would be easiest if I bring him, and the other way around, but let's wait till his soulcard has stabilized. Remind him not to slot new cards until that happens!'

"Ambraz says you can show me your soulscape after your card has stabilized," Irwin said. "Also, don't slot any cards until then because they might be forcefully rejected by your heartcard and explode in the process. Trust me… you don't want to be around when that happens, and we don't need holes in The Sonata."

Greldo grinned, shaking his head. "Don't worry. I can feel it pretty well. I'll just get used to it for now, because-"

He vanished from his spot and reappeared on the other side of the room.

"-moving through the shadows is-"

"-so much-"

"-easier!"

He ended up next to Irwin, grinning as he grabbed Irwin's shoulder.

"Let's see how much better this works!"

Irwin rolled his eyes, regretting it as he was yanked into the shadowy realm, his senses roiling at the sudden change. A moment later, he appeared in the overfull cargo hold, Greldo looking elated.

"This is fantastic!"

Before Irwin could stop him, they reappeared in the shadowy realm and, the next moment, appeared above deck, next to a surprised Rindiri.

"Okay, enough," Irwin said, stepping away.

Greldo looked at him as if he was a spoilsport before snorting.

"Suit yourself! I'll see what Zender is doing!" the next moment, he was gone.

"Don't worry. It's normal for most people to become exuberant after gaining their first soulcard," Rindiri said, smiling knowingly. "Just let him shadowstep around for a while. I'm sure he will be-"

Zender and Greldo appeared mid-air, close to the tip of the mainsail, and dropped out of the air with a loud whoop. Before they could hit the ground, they vanished again, only to reappear back at the mast just to drop down again amidst bursts of laughter.

Rindiri's eyes were twitching, and Irwin sighed.

"It's good you think that. I'll leave them to you then while I practice some more," Irwin said as he quickly walked away, ignoring Rindiri's softly growled curses.

--

Days passed as they continued further into the central region. Corridors became wider, with some looking nearly endless. They began encountering other ships, mostly large merchant vessels, some with squadrons of escorts, though, on occasion, they were passed by sleek, deadly warships.

Just over two weeks after they had left, Irwin turned The Sonata into another seemingly endless area. Green and purple jungle covered nearly every inch of land, and those near the Gallery Barrier sometimes touched it, causing the occasional sizzling and snapping.

The barrier reached so high that even a hundred feet above the ground, he could barely see it. Pale clouds, tinted blue, green, and purple by the barrier above, hovered high in the sky, while the temperature was comparable to an early spring day.

As incredible as that all was the thing that surprised Irwin was a long, winding river that continued into the distance.

"A river! I didn't think those would be here," he said.

"The Dimarintsia River," Rindiri said. "I've only been here one time, long ago when I was young and sailed with my mother. Technically, if you follow it for a few years at this speed, you will reach Dimarintsia Port. Legend says that the first people to come here found a portal from which a seemingly infinite stream of water poured. There are supposedly stories about the time when the portal finally exploded, causing a massive tsunami that continued on for thousands of miles in both directions, destroying multiple port cities."

"Incredible," Irwin muttered.

After looking at the river for a while, he looked down at the mass of vegetation below. Tiny ripples of soulforce, oddly pale, moved through the top of the canopy.

"From here on, we have to be extra careful not to go down," Rindiri said, walking to the side. "Bellow is one of the largest known jungles on the Langost Branch, and it's filled with Addled."

Irwin frowned as he gazed down, but he didn't spot any movement.

"How long till we reach the next world?" he asked.

"A week at this speed," Rindiri said. "We will need to get a better map when we get there because the one we have now might be outdated. Many of the worlds along the The Dimarintsia River are only rank one, and it's always possible that portals have blown up. We don't want to waste time going down a side branch only to find it's gone."

"Definitely not," Irwin said.

He enjoyed sailing for the rest of the day, and to his surprise they even overtook many ships. Especially the slower large merchant ships, and many other small scouting vessels. When he asked Rindiri about it, she laughed and said he was underestimating what rank three sails meant.

Moving further to the center of the massive branch, soon the edges were so far they looked like distant blue and purple lines and the smell of water and leaves permeated the air.

Weeks passed, only the occasional detour to small harbors for maps, the occasional supply and cards breaking the daily routine.

--

"Vibru, we've caught up!"

A tall, sharp-faced man looked up from a plate filled with squirming squid. The skin around his silver eyes was covered in narrow, crisscross scarring that expanded across his forehead, pulling through the side and turning into a massive scar that covered the left side of his head. A short crop of black hair covered the rest.

"You better be sure this time," he snarled, tiny morsels of dark purple flesh spraying from between his razor-sharp, triangular teeth.

The man in the door opening swallowed, then nodded.

"I am. And I've figured out why we couldn't catch up. For some insane reason, they have a rank three sail!"

The Emnonriz's extra eyelids closed in an odd form of blinking. Then he rose.

"Do they now? Well, that's nice of them… That means we will be back much faster than planned. Where are they going?"

"They took the corridor to Haum Three. Do you want us to go after them?"

"No, are you crazy?" Vibru snarled. "You can't possibly be suggesting that we try and attack them here?"

The man hurriedly shook his head.

"Keep going forward and bring us to the side branch that leads to Granvox. The first part is a five-week straight, and they will have to go through to reach Granvox. Get us there before them… or else…"

The man's eyes widened, but he merely nodded and closed the door.

Vibru listened to him run away and up the stairs to the deck. He turned to look out of the crystal port, one of the few luxuries in his otherwise sparse cabin, and laughed softly.

"My, my. A smith, a Ganvil, and a rank three sail?"

He laughed before focusing back on his still-living meal, ripping into it mercilessly.

--

Irwin looked at the sixty-foot wide corridor leading away from the main branch they had been sailing across for almost two months. They had managed to gather hundreds of cards, mostly low rank, that Irwin and Ambraz thought had potential, either for the crew or for back home. The rumors of war had been growing louder, and many voices had begun wondering if it had something to do with the still-absent cardsmiths.

Zender and Earila sat high in the sails, talking excitedly. Both were now a card away from their first heartcard, something Irwin had promised to help them with when they reached Granvox.

Boohm and Greldo stood on the prow. Greldo was still undecided on what he wanted, and with how powerful he was right now, Irwin couldn't blame him. Boohm, like the kids, was ready to get his next heartcard while also having a nice amount of cards already on hand to start filling it. It was far from enough, but ever since he'd begun buying them from the profits he got from the deals he did, his mood had been beyond good.

Only Rindiri had wanted no cards. After long prodding, Irwin had found that she only had room for six more, which would only become a heartcard. Her topaz-ranked soul was below deck, sleeping after her long shift.

"Six more weeks, and you will be home," he whispered, knowing Ambraz was listening.

Over half a year had passed since they had left Eluathar, and they were finally on the last stretch to Granvox.

'Don't make it sound so sappy,' Ambras said. 'The only reason we are going there is for as many rank zeros as we can convince Brazardian to let us bring. I'd rather continue to Dimarintsia or Suderfuix. Those are the true cities on the Langost branch, and I've never been to either! Or beyond!'

Irwin nodded, but he didn't believe Ambraz. They had been together for a long time now, and he could hear the hidden longing.

"Well, you better introduce me to Des'braz," he said.

Ambraz didn't answer as they sailed away from the bright Dimarintsia River and into the darker, familiar corridors of the Portal Gallery.

Let's hope we get there without any more trouble, Irwin thought.