Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Narios blew through his saxhorn, enjoying the beautiful sound that rang from it as he stood on the tiny podium by himself. It was his favorite spot to play nowadays—even better than his own room, which was adjacent to the classroom, making it all the more perfect.

He was about to focus on the piece's best part when he heard someone heavy running through the nearby halls. That by itself wasn't that odd. Students ran around the building at all times, even during eight-day. However, when the footsteps came closer and stopped at his door, he frowned. Lowering his saxhorn, he looked at the door at the back of the small and cluttered classroom. He recognized the specific cadence and thud of the person who had come.

He was about to ask what was wrong when there was a loud knock on the door, causing it to shudder in its frame.

"Irwin, you can-" he shouted quickly, worried the overgrown smith would just burst in.

The door was shoved open before he finished, and the towering metal smith ran inside, his face a mixture of wonder, awe, and confused uncertainty.

Well, that is new, Narios thought, suddenly worried.

He put his saxhorn on the nearby chair and quickly walked down the small, three-step staircase. Irwin hadn't been here for a while, at least not like Skylar had. Even then, each time Irwin did come, he showed that he'd been practicing a lot. Where and when Narios still didn't know, and he had thought the academy's piano was the only one around, and Irwin had just shrugged when asked.

"What's wrong?" he asked, not sure what to make of any of it.

Irwin stopped before him, then looked around as if to make sure there wasn't anyone else around.

This is getting more and more curious, Narios thought, his worry slipping when he saw the young Smith wasn't wounded.

"Teacher Narios, do you know what this is?"

Narios was about to ask what he meant when an absurdly large guitar made of gleaming metal appeared in Irwin's hands.

"Soulstrum guitar!" Narios said as he recognized the obscure instrument.

His mind jolted as he inadvertently recalled what he knew of the guitar. It was one of many instruments that were very rarely used, partially because it required an absurdly high soulforce control, but more so because unless it was a carded summon, the instrument required someone to have an absolutely massive soulscape. Something on the order of two diamond soulcards, which only a handful of people on most worlds had.

Narios instantly knew that this one wasn't any regular soulstrum either, as those were not made of metal. He stepped forward, eyes wide, and raised his hand before hesitating.

"Can I…"

Irwin nodded, holding out the guitar. Narios took it, and immediately, his eyes widened. Veins popped up along his neck and head as he felt the absolutely massive weight of the guitar try to drag his body to the ground.

"By Yilda, how heavy is this!"

Irwin quickly took it back, putting it on a nearby table, and Narios rubbed his arms, hoping he hadn't strained anything. But as he began inspecting the instrument, he forgot about that, whistling in appreciation.

"Entirely out of metal, no strings. I presume those are created from your soulforce?"

"Yes."

"Good, good- okay, whatever you do, don't use too much power when you play this! If you do, you might blow out someone's eardrums!"

When there was no reply, Narios looked up to see Irwin grimace.

"Wait… you tried it already? What happened?! Did anyone get hurt?"

"No, no! Nothing like that," Irwin said quickly. "I just… scared some people."

"I can imagine," Narios muttered. "Alright. I take it you are here to learn how to play it?"

"I am…"

Hearing the uncertainty, Narios looked back. "You don't know? Why would you slot something like this if you weren't sure?"

Had the boy just willy-nilly slotted such a rare, beautiful instrument? It might have a ton of weaknesses, its weight not the least of it, but he knew a handful of people who would have loved to have it and slotted it in one of their few remaining slots. If Irwin were to remove it now, the card would be nearly ruined.

"It didn't sound very nice," Irwin said, sounding confused and worried.

Narios blinked, then burst out laughing. "Right, well, if you don't know how to play it, that's a guarantee. A friend of mine in the city has one. Do you have anything to do? Otherwise, we can go and see her. I'm sure she'll be able to tell you how to play it and share what it sounds like."

Besides, if she heard I found someone else with a soulstrum guitar, let alone a card, and not immediately brought him over, she would never talk to me again, Narios thought.

"That would be great!"

Seeing the honest joy in the young Smith's eyes, Narios grinned. "Right, let me get my saxhorn, then we can go. By the way, where did you even find this thing?"

"I didn't. We reforged it."

Narios hand froze halfway to his saxhorn, and he looked back. There was no sign of trickery in the Smith's blazing eyes and slowly nodded.

"That's very impressive… it's Ruby rank?"

Narios quickly turned to his own instrument when Irwin nodded again, and he swallowed. It took him a moment to school his impression before cradling his saxhorn.

"Well, then, I've got a few questions for you as we walk," he said, grabbing his traveling case. "One thing. Don't tell anyone who we went to see, alright? She's a bit of an eccentric."

--

Irwin lay with his head on his arms, staring at the still-empty front of the classroom without really seeing it. His mind was still in a bit of a daze, as he'd only just returned to the academy without as much as a minute of sleep.

Narios had brought him to a house in the city that belonged to a wealthy merchant family where they had met his friend, a tall woman with glittering eyes called Rosetta. Everything after that was a blur of questions, music, and practice. If it hadn't been for his enhanced endurance he would be out cold, but even that only barely helped. He felt drained, tired and happy.

"You look more tired than they do," Skylar whispered, poking him in the shoulder.

I should have stayed in bed, Irwin thought as he raised his head from his arms and sniffed.

He'd not even noticed when Skylar had sat down beside him. Pasilha and Roubi lay nearby in roughly the same state, though their reason had been the set of hall parties that had raged through a few of the academy's buildings the day before.

"I got an impromptu lesson from Narios and… a friend of his yesterday," he said, wondering if Rosetta was really just a friend of Narios. The way they had been arguing while glaring at each other reminded him more of how siblings argued, though they didn't look a bit alike.

"So?" Skylar asked, confused. "You barely sleep as it is…"

"Yeah, well, this drained my soulcard," Irwin said.

He grimaced as he recalled the feeling of nearly emptying his energy to do the things Narios and Rosetta had asked him to do. He'd gotten a lot of practice with Vera, draining himself of energy, but yesterday had been way worse. Just thinking about it made him shiver. Still, every time he drained it completely, it seemed like the refill time became marginally faster. According to Ambraz, there was a limit to that, but he wasn't there yet.

"So you showed him your screaming guitar!? What did he say?" Skylar asked excitedly, causing even the two almost comatose Ignitzions to look up.

"It's called a soulstrum guitar," Irwin said. "And it doesn't scream... well, not all the time."

He couldn't stop a grin from popping up as he recalled the clear, haunting tones and wild, electrifying sound that Rosetta had managed to draw from her soulstrum guitar. Even now, the powerful melodies played through the back of his mind, causing him to tap along.

Skylar muttered something about wanting to hear it, but Irwin just put his head back down.

He only managed to catch part of the lesson that day, and he was incredibly glad the second lesson was metal refining. Mind on zero as he felt his soulcard fill back up, Irwin hammered the Gneisian Ore with only the power of his body.

Finally, when the day was over, and he was planning to head back home for an early rest, Skylar found him.

"So, are you going to show us what it can do!?" he asked.

Irwin hesitated, caught between his desire to sleep and to show off his new card.

"Fine, but only a little," he finally said.

Skylar gave him a double thumbs up while Pasilha and Roubi nodded excitedly.

They made their way to Skylar's chambers as Irwin's dampening runes were still busted. The room was surprisingly empty and ordered, with just a few random books lying around the otherwise austere and bare room.

"Do you even live here?" Roubi asked, dropping down on a couch and looking around in surprise.

"As little as possible," Skylar said, turning to Irwin. "Alright, let's hear it!"

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"Wait, wait! It's not going to be as loud as the first time, right?" Pasilha asked.

Irwin laughed. "No, that was my mistake. I didn't know I had to limit the energy in the snares and body, so I had too much in there."

He sat down and summoned his guitar, an act that was both new and familiar at the same time.

"Wow! It's so pretty," Roubi squealed, her eyes gleaming. "I never saw a full-metal string instrument!"

"Fitting for smiths," Pasilha agreed.

"Yes, very," Skylar said, leaning forward. "Now, let me hear it!"

Irwin calmed himself, thinking for a second before settling on a very simple song. Not that he had much choice as he only knew a handful, and most were meant for a lute. As he began plucking the snares, smooth and clear tones came out.

"That sounds almost like a lute…" Skylar said, sounding let down.

"Because I've only put enough soulforce in the strings to have them resonate," Irwin said as he stopped.

"So, put some more in!"

"I'm getting to that! I only have it for a day," Irwin said.

He plucked a string, slowly increasing the amount of soulforce until the resonance began louder and seemed more like a whine. When he knew it was at the power he needed, he took a deep breath, focusing on the only song Rosetta had taught him meant for the soulstrum. He barely knew the first part, and even that was difficult.

A soft, beautiful whine came as he started playing, and as focused as he could be, he played through the first part of the song. It was difficult and cumbersome, yet he couldn't stop grinning as he played. Something about the sound, like metal wires pulled taut, sounded right to him. The fact that he'd already found that he could now play even the odd chords and bending notes on the Galadin music sheets helped.

"I like it," Skylar said, nodding. "It's not as good as saxhorn, but you need to get better quickly! I want to play some songs together!"

"That's going to take a while," Irwin said as he unsummoned Ethereal Strings.

Roubi had been listening quietly until now, but as the soulstrum disappeared, she shot up. "Awe! Can't you play a bit more?"

"Sorry, it's really time to sleep," Irwin said. "I haven't slept in two days."

He rose, ignoring Roubi's fake pout, and walked to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" he said with a quick wave.

"You are going to sleep, right?" Ambraz asked as he walked through the hallway.

"Definitely," Irwin said, though as he said it, he felt a bubbling desire to practice just a bit more.

--

Vibru's hand rested on the pommel of his new sword, a razor-thin, hand-width beauty made of Breezium with a Frostiron edge. It had cost him half of his savings, but he wasn't willing to wield anything that wasn't up to his standards.

"Tell me that again," he said, doing his best to hold back a glare, barely believing what he'd heard.

Terlo looked back while unceremoniously picking his nose and flicking something on the deck.

"Sure. Losing your hearing? It happens to the best of us," the long-haired, handsome man said, shaking his head. So, the Currant Hunters have been gathering in or near Dimarintsia. What for, I have nooooo idea. They have tasked every small mercenary that is in any way bound to them with snatching up a whole bunch of cardsmiths—a bit like you! Again, I couldn't figure out what for, but I do know they are largely responsible for the missing smiths, which is information I'm going to be able to get a lot of money for!"

Vibru held back from dashing forward in an attempt to cut Terlo's head off. He knew he'd never make it in time, no matter how much he wanted to kill the disrespectful fool. Besides, he might need his information again if he was going to ignore the stupid order he'd gotten.

"So! Thanks for the payment, and I'd say till we meet again, but I've got a little message for you, too," Terlo said happily. "Zirt says that he'll be seeing you soon! I'm pretty sure it's not to have a drink. Now, bye-bye!"

A blinding swirl of light appeared around Terlo, and when it faded, there was no sign of him.

"Damn slippery little eel," Vibru hissed.

"Captain, this whole thing stinks," someone muttered.

Vibru turned to his waiting crew, not sure who had spoken. Not that it mattered. He could see the dubious looks in many eyes, and he wasn't surprised. Unlike most, he preferred somewhat intelligent crewmembers, even if that sometimes meant they were annoying to deal with.

"It does," Vibru said, knowing it was time for change. It took him only a moment to decide where to go, something he'd been worried about for a while.

"Which is why we are going to ignore Zirt's orders for now," he said, scanning his crew. He knew there likely was at least one among them that was selling information to Zirt, but until he could figure out which one, there was an easy way to solve it.

"Set course to the Chaos Corridors. We have provisions for a year, and we are going to use all we need," he ordered before turning to Sloudiner. The wiry, easily frightened man stood to the side, wringing his hands.

"Sloudiner, prepare to create your long-term barrier. As soon as we reach a suitable location, put it up."

Sloudiner nodded, a look of relief on his face. The rest of the crew began spreading out while Vibru walked to his barrier specialist. When he was close enough, he lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Put it on full power and block, and detect modus. As soon as you notice anyone trying to send a message, come warn me."

Sloudiner's worry returned with a vengeance, but he still nodded.

It was one of the reasons Vibru kept him around. Although he was scared and weak, he never let either of those stop him, and he had a card that most of the nobles and merchant families would kill for.

"Yes, captain."

"Good. Now, get to it!"

Vibru watched Sloudiner run away, heading below deck. Then, alone, he walked to the prow and glared at the distant harbor of Granvox. They had been observing it for a week, hidden by Sloudiner's barriers, until he'd finally managed to get into contact with his contact. Now, he was glad he hadn't contacted his informant a second time. The chances of that bastard Zirt finding out were too big. Besides, he'd already ordered tracking runes to be hidden on that Smith's ship.

I'll have some words with you about destroying my sword, Smith, he thought as a nasty grin spread on his face. I'm sure delivering you to Dimarintsia will net me enough for a true replacement.

--

Days then weeks flew by, and Irwin's skills improved rapidly, powered by his near-endless endurance. He spent nearly every waking moment practicing and reforging. The most notable growth was with his instrument skills, both on his soulstrum and on the piano—which he'd continued practicing on—though his metal purifying wasn't too far behind.

Underlying all of this was his greatly increasing control over his own soulforce.

By now, his ability to sideways reforge emerald-rank cards had improved to the point that he succeeded on half of all his attempts, which made the ever-growing lack of cards even more annoying.

Now, almost three months after they arrived, he was sitting in Ambraz's servant chambers together with Greldo and the others. Only Boohm wasn't here, still fruitlessly trying to pursue and woo Singara.

Well… she did allow him to take her out for dinner, Irwin thought. If that was to just get it over with because she had come around, or if she was going to have the relentless Onyxan bound and beaten until he promised to leave her be, he didn't know.

"-was incredible," Zender exclaimed, waving his hands around.

Irwin held back a grin, nodding seriously, looking at what had been only a boy a few years ago. Now, courtesy of his cards, he was growing at an absolutely incredible rate. Not seeing him every day made it even more visible. What pleased Irwin even more was that Zender's boundless enthusiasm had grown just as much. He was currently in the midst of telling of their latest shardworld exploration.

His eyes were gleaming, and Irwin knew he wanted to show him something as he kept reaching for his pocket before holding back.

"Earila had scouted the whole place, so we had found the perfect place for an ambush atop this old tower," Zender continued. "So, when they passed below, I struck with my whip and caught that four-horn's neck, pulling him up before he even knew what hit him! Before the others could act, Earila and her Faerit ripped into them. It only took us a few minutes to clear them all! Then we found the linchpin, which was this really weird spiral rune that was carved into a giant boulder. We actually had to roll them over until we found the right one, which took forever!"

"Everything went incredibly smooth, Captain," Earila said, smiling proudly as she fidgeted with her hair.

Irwin grinned while Rindiri was sitting at the table, arms crossed.

"And at which part did that flying snake try to eat Earila?" she asked, her voice showing she wasn't pleased by that part.

"That wasn't Zender's fault!" Earila said hurriedly. "It had been hiding in those stupid gasses that covered the sky and-"

"And the two of you were so busy congratulating yourselves that you found the linchpin that you didn't see it until it was almost too late," Rindiri said, shaking her head. "If I hadn't been there, one of you would have lost a limb. Or worse!"

Zender looked at Earila and rolled his eyes so that their mother couldn't see before focusing back on Irwin.

Irwin felt his face hurt slightly from holding back the grin he felt. He never had younger siblings, but he could almost imagine one acting like Zender and Earila were.

"Anyway, Captain, I managed to kill that flying serpent, and it dropped something really awesome!" Zender said.

"Which you haven't been willing to show me but keep implying I'll like," Greldo said, leaning forward. "So, are we finally going to see this mysterious card, or do I have to come get it?"

Zender laughed as he very slowly pulled out a card before presenting it to Irwin.

"Boohm knew what it was, and he almost went ballistic and said we had to sell it," Zender said quickly. "But when he told me what it did…" he looked at Earila, who nodded with a grin. "We decided it would be perfect for Greldo!"

"Let me see it then," Irwin said, his excitement starting to grow.

He'd tried finding hound summons for Greldo, but to his surprise, there had been none. The best he'd been able to find were two amethyst-rank snakes, a weird-looking little fish, and a frog. He'd kept them all for the people back home, but it had surprised both him and Ambraz that there were no more.

Examining the card, he saw a nondescript animal that could be a dog, cat, or rat, surrounded by innumerable shadowy copies.

"Oh, ho ho!" Ambraz said as he flew nearly on top of the card. "And this is why so many people still hunt for their own cards, kid! If this were even to reach a market, it would be sold somewhere not even Brazardian could enter to buy it. If he even had the soulshards for it. No, these are the cards that make it worthwhile to spend the time and effort!"

Irwin blinked, stunned by Ambraz's excitement. He tried to determine what the card could do, but from all he could see, it was just a card modification utility type. It seemed specific to summons and probably shadow-related, which was good, but this good?

"It's that good?" Zender whispered, echoing his own thoughts.

The young Yuurindi's eyes gleamed a purplish silver as he quickly turned to Greldo. "That means you are going to have to keep training me for a long time!"

Greldo had leaned forward, staring intently at the card, and sniffed. "Let's see what it does first," he said before grinning at Zender. "And what makes you think you are getting rid of me that easy anyway? Until you can make me go serious, there's no way you are good enough yet!"

Irwin felt a wave of happiness as he saw the honest joy in Zender's eyes.

"Now then, how about you tell me exactly what this thing does or should do to have you so excited?" he said, looking at Ambraz.

"Oh, nothing much. Do you remember that bar with the lady with the clone technique, or the barber back on Fiverio?"

Irwin's eyebrows shot up as he stared at the card. "This is a clone card?"

"Yes, one that only works on a carded summons and is shadow-typed, not that the latter is surprising as most clone techniques are either shadow or elemental," Ambraz said, grinning. "Still, every Assassins Guild, Merchants Guild, or Noble House would kill for this if they knew we had it."

Irwin whistled, then examined the card a bit more. "How rare are they exactly?"

"Well, not as rare as mind or mental cloning cards or actual cloning cards, but beyond those? This is a great find, and Boohm is right. If you would sell this, you could probably buy all of the cards in any average merchant shop and have soulshards left over."

"Then we should do that," Greldo said, though his eyes seemed locked to the card. "If we can buy that many cards, we can bring them back home."

Irwin felt his excitement drop like a brick, but Ambraz just snorted.

"Not in a thousand years, brat. This card will make you way more useful in nearly any situation, and with everything that's going on… well, let's just say it might not be as easy to return home as you seem to think right now."

Irwin looked at Ambraz. They had been together for such a long time now that he instantly recognized the worry in the Ganvil's voice.

"What's wrong?" he said.

"Brazardian called me over a few days ago to warn me," Ambraz said. "Apparently, a few of the Smiths Guild worlds have been attacked, and hundreds of smiths were abducted. It's unclear who was responsible, but a few smaller mercenary ships were found crashed. Nobody was found alive in the worlds, even the non-combatants having been wiped out or taken. This includes Vor'hest, one of Hestolgron's Proginy."

"Gelwins balls," Greldo grunted as he looked at Irwin. "Fine… reforge it. Sideways upwards, I don't care. I'll take it."