Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Irwin woke to a soft ambient song, and it took him a moment to figure out what he was hearing.

Right, my new heartcard!

He sat upright, swinging his legs from the couch and looking around. Ambraz stood on the table before him, yawning widely.

"Fina... ly... woke up?" the Ganvil asked, yawing and fluttering his wings before flying to Irwin's shoulder.

Irwin nodded, quietly listening to the beautiful sounds all around him. He faintly recalled hearing them before he fell asleep, but he'd been too distracted then. It somehow reminded him of the forest around New Malorin, the rustling of the leaves, the chirping of the birds, and the movement of branches… but at the same time, not at all like that. Instead, he heard faint chimes, a soft howling like the violin Skylar hadn't wanted to play, and what reminded him of bells- all of it soft and intermingled to create a beautiful background sound. Even the soft groaning of the ship seemed to perfectly fit it.

"It's beautiful," Irwin said, sighing as he looked around at the thin mist that hung in places of the room and tiny ripples of soulforce everywhere. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen all of it before.

"Yeah, it's not bad," Ambraz said. "You will get used to it, though, but it can still surprise you. Now… how about we look at how well we succeeded?"

Irwin grunted in agreement as he rose and found his booklet stuffed below one of his closets. He placed it on the table, and Ambraz landed on it, causing the familiar flash.

Still, it's a shame I can't get the card details just like the songs, Irwin thought as he opened the booklet to the newly filled-in page.

Card: Ethereal Nascent Soul Clone

Type: Heartcard, Ammolite, Sound, Soulforce, Forged by Irwin Roddington

Owner: Irwin Roddington

A unique heartcard that causes the soul of the wielder of this card to split off a tiny fragment that grows independently. It will increase the power and regeneration of the soulforce and the size of the soulscape of the person. This soul has both its own mind and thoughts while still being the same as the wielder's. If one of the souls is destroyed but the other remains, a new soul will eventually reform.

Passive: Gains a secondary nascent soul [67% complete]

Passive: Greatly increased resistance to sound-based attacks

Passive: Gains the ability to see and hear soulforce concentrations, resonances, and fluctuations

Passive: Greatly increased ability to sense and manipulate soulforce

Active: Summon a unique soulstrum guitar with strings that can be formed from soulforce. Lasts until dismissed or destroyed. [Soulforce]

Active: Summon a booklet that can record resonances in soulforce and sound, recording them in music sheet form [Soulforce]

Active: Teleport along soundwaves or toward sufficiently large soulforce resonances up to a thousand feet away

Irwin scanned his new card, and his eyes widened. "That's… the teleport changed!"

"We knew it was possible," Ambraz said, but the Ganvil's voice was nearly as excited as he was.

Irwin looked around, found a large soulforce resonance on the opposite side of the room, and triggered his card. For a split second, he felt like he was in two places at the same time, then he stood on the opposite side of the room. A sense of weakness came over him as he felt the energy in his heartcard drain rapidly, and he stumbled before he managed to regain himself.

"Okay… I don't think I can do that too many times," he grunted.

"Of course not," Ambraz snapped as he flew towards him. "It's not the main concept of this card!"

Irwin didn't react, quickly checking his new heartcard, which had thrummed with overflowing power only moments before. Now, he was pretty sure it was only just over half-full. He was about to focus back on Ambraz when he noticed just how fast it was refilling.

"I…I think it can regenerate half its energy in under ten minutes," Irwin said as he finally released his focus from the card.

"For any other card, I would have said that's insane, but it's close to what I had expected," Ambraz said. "How often can you use the sound-based movement?"

Irwin hummed and instantly followed the soundwaves that moved away from him, reappearing near the couch. The amount of soulforce it cost was so low that it barely registered.

"If I don't use it in too quick a succession, the regeneration might be higher than the cost," he said with a happy grin as he sat down and took the booklet. He absently glanced across the card again, happy with what he read, when he noticed something that he had missed before.

"It has the soulforce typing," he said, focusing on the single word that stood out to him amidst all the others.

The sound typing wasn't too odd, but the soulforce typing was one of the rarer types a card could get, and his soulscape would now gain that type which had a big benefit. When his heartcard turned into a soulcard, it would slightly increase all matching cards of that type both now and in the future.

"Great, but nothing but an added bonus compared to the power you already have. There is, however, something else," Ambraz said, landing on the page. "It now says you can see soulforce concentrations… I wonder what that does. Resonances and fluctuations, I know, but what is that?"

"It's probably just a place where…" Irwin held back. He was about to say a place with unmoving soulforce, but that didn't make sense. From his classes, he knew soulforce didn't work like that. Soulforce was always moving in some way or another.

"I wonder," Ambraz muttered, then a slow grin came to his face. "Well, there is one thing I could think of what it means, and it would make sense. Let's go and get breakfast!"

Irwin stared at him stupidly, hesitated, then ripped out the page and torched it with a quick flame jolt. As soon as he used his soulcard, he felt incredible clarity in his control of it. Surprised, he summoned his hammer, noticing that he could change its shape in far more minute details than he ever had before. Eyes wide, he changed the hammer's shape, making it larger- lengthening its handle, adding a horn-like protrusion on one side, and finally changing the shape of the head into nearly every type of hammer shape he'd ever seen. The amount of control his new soulcard allowed him was insane, and as he was busy, his second self woke. Due to how it worked, it instantly knew exactly what he did, and a sudden idea formed between his two selves.

Could I-

His other self joined him in the realworld and a moment of odd duality caused him to feel somewhat lightheaded before clearing up. Irwin took a deep breath, his mind clearer than ever as he raised both is hands, moving them independently, each controlled by one half of himself.

"Incredible," he said as he began snapping his fingers in two different, unrelated melodies.

Had he been able to do this before, or was this a new addition due to him making his heartcard? He didn't know, but he moved his fists around, blocking and attacking some imaginary enemies, and instantly understood why warriors desired mental cloning cards. As he thought about fighting, another idea bubbled up from one of his two halves, and his eyebrows shot up.

Holding up one hand, he summoned a hammer, then barely daring to breathe, he tried to summon another in his second hand. It appeared as easy as the first, and he couldn't stop a burst of laughter as he began striking with them, walking through one of Crithann's hammer stances that allowed for two weapons.

"Interesting," Ambraz said, flying around, examining him from seemingly all angles. "That's… very interesting! Can you resize both?"

Irwin stopped and focused on the hammers, one part of him on each, reshaping them and then shrinking and growing them. He instantly found a limitation, though he didn't really mind too much.

"I can only grow them to half the size I could grow one," he said as he struggled to hold two massive hammers, each with a head the size of a large person. He could grow them a bit more, but he was afraid he might damage the ship.

"Try your other cards," Ambraz said excitedly.

Irwin quickly unsummoned his hammers, and a moment later, he held two guitars, staring at them stupidly.

"Well… unless I let someone else play one, this doesn't seem very useful," he said.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Ambraz said, sounding incredibly excited. "I wouldn't say that at all! What this means is I know exactly what your third card will be."

It took Irwin only a split second to understand what he was getting at. "A body cloning one?" he asked.

"Definitely! If we can get you that card with Giantism, Exponential Growth, or, and this would be the best but also the most unlikely one, a card that allows physical growth based on soulscape size, and we couple that with Dual Body, your combat potential would more than double!"

Ambraz was almost out of breath by the end of his excited monologue—pretty impressive for a being that didn't require air—but Irwin couldn't blame him.

"Why only a dual body?" he asked, recalling the dozens of bodies the barbers had back on Fiverion and the serving women in the bar.

"It will split your power over those bodies," Ambraz said. "Besides, those are as hard to get as the mental cloning ones. Remember how long it took before we got one of those?"

Irwin grimaced, and then one of him had another idea. He unsummoned the guitars, and suddenly, two booklets appeared in his hand. Sadly, as he opened them, he saw the same song on the first page.

"Nice try," Ambraz said, grinning. "You can manipulate them both, but the songs will appear on each as it's actually the same summon."

Irwin shrugged and continued experimenting with his other abilities. He quickly found that none of his other abilities worked as well as his hammer, though his ability to control both his fire and his steam was now far greater, not to mention that he could use them at the same time.

"Okay, enough playing with yourself! Let's go get breakfast," Ambraz snapped eventually.

Irwin grinned. He walked to the door while his soulscape-self, which he guessed was now the wrong name as it wasn't limited to that place, returned to his soulscape to continue practicing with some things.

I wonder why Ambraz wants me to go and eat, he thought as he absently hummed one of the songs he knew.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

A few moments later, as he walked into the galley, he found out. He stared at Boohm, who was glowing dimly, not unlike what he'd seen with Hou'dor.

"Captain?! You alright?" Boohm asked loudly, walking over with worry on his face. "Did your heartcard turn out okay?"

Irwin swallowed, then nodded. "Yeah, it's fine," he said. "Just a bit hungry. Could you-"

"Hah! I've been trying out a new stew recipe with Everburning Peppers that you will love! Let me get you a double portion!" Boohm shouted as he walked back into the kitchen area.

"He's glowing like Hou'dor was! So… I can see the soulforce inside people now?" Irwin whispered.

"It's not that surprising, is it?" Ambraz said, sounding smug. "You have focused more on cards that allow the detection, visualization, and hearing of soulforce than anyone I know about. Why wouldn't you be able to see the pent-up soulforce of people's soulscape?"

Irwin glanced at Boohm, then hummed.

"Grel, can you come here for a moment? I want to see how-"

"Much I glow?" Greldo asked as he appeared a few steps away, a big grin on his face.

Irwin blinked in surprise, then nodded as he saw that Greldo was glowing more than Boohm had. It wasn't a lot more, but that made sense, as Boohm also had a soulcard and a heartcard, though of lesser power.

"And?" Greldo asked as he sat down, eyebrows raised.

"More than Boohm, but I'll need to experiment to see how it works," Irwin said. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"What, I'm not some massively glowing orb?" Greldo asked, sounding not at all worried.

"If that were the fact, what would a six-diamond-ranked soulcarded be like? The sun?" Ambraz snorted.

"Could be," Greldo said with a grin before looking at Irwin. "I'm heading back up, but let me know how I compare to the others, alright?"

Irwin nodded, but Greldo had vanished already. He left behind a shimmering area of dark shadow-typed soulforce that slowly dispersed. As he was still staring, Boohm put a bowl of steaming meat and vegetables in front of him, the scent of which caused his mouth to water.

"Talk later! Eat now!" Boohm said. "I'll get you some water!"

Irwin nodded, then pushed the questions he was thinking of to his soulscape-self… second self? Cloned self? He began trying to come up with a good name, but when he took a bite, all his thoughts vanished. A hot and spicy flavor filled his mouth, causing his tongue and the insides of his cheeks to tingle as he chewed on the stringy, juicy meat. When he swallowed, it burned down his throat like powerful liquor.

"This is amazing!" he said, stuffing another spoonful in his mouth.

"Course it is," Boohm said as he sat down with an almost as big bowl for himself. "And the best part is, only you, me, and the Granitians can eat it! So more for us!"

Irwin grinned as he fully focused on his meal, barely noticing how his second self joined him at some point.

--

Days, then weeks, passed as they sped along above the massive river, and slowly, the number of ships began going down. Irwin spent most of his time as he had before, purifying, reforging, and preparing cards for when he got back home. There was one thing that he added though.

"Get him! He's on the-"

Irwin laughed as he used the soundwaves to move to the far end of the hull that they used for practicing. Not that it was that far at all. Although The Concerto was much larger than The Sonata, it didn't have the large cargo hold, and both of him were looking around, each using one eye, which he'd been told was more than a little disconcerting.

Irwin didn't care, watching Selene and Montain sprint towards him, their feet thudding heavily on the floor.

Where did you-

His small-self heard something and used the abundance of sound in the hull to move two steps to the side while he kicked out. Greldo, just appearing behind him, yelped and barely managed to vanish as Irwin's foot passed through where he'd just been. Irwin didn't bother looking where the other two were but teleported to the other end of the hull again before looking.

"Dammit, Captain, that's just not fair!" Montain roared as he spread his arms.

Pebbles began forming around him, and Irwin raised his hand. "Montain! Nothing that can damage the hull!"

The massive, stone-like humanoid cursed as he lowered his arms while Selene tried to use the distraction to reach Irwin. Sadly for her, she was all but stealthy, and Irwin moved along the hull halfway to the end. He looked around just as something patted him on the head.

"Got ya!"

Irwin grunted as he lowered his arms.

Greldo appeared beside him, grinning widely.

"Not bad! You actually managed to dodge me for five minutes."

A clear bell-like laughter came from the side, and Earila jogged over, three of her Faerit hanging from the side. Irwin could swear they were laughing at him, but he ignored them.

"Greldo, are we going to go now?!' she asked, eyes gleaming.

"Sure, kiddo! But, like I said, no ice projectiles!" Greldo said as he crossed his arms, trying to look stern.

"But how am I going to hit you if you keep disappearing otherwise!" Earila cried, raising her arms in consternation.

"It's called tag, so you touch me, or one of your friends does," Greldo said. "Otherwise, we would have called it Shoot Ice or something."

"Can't we do that instead?" Earila asked hopefully.

"No, because the previous time, the two of you damaged three walls and part of the galley ceiling," Irwin said when he saw Greldo hesitate.

Earila grumbled something while Montain and Selene walked towards Irwin. Both looked heavily annoyed, though Irwin knew that part of it was because of Esther's training. They had been doing nothing but practicing, and even though Montain's resolve had grown, Irwin could see it crumbling under what he seemed to think was too much work.

"Captain, how come you can use that teleport for so long?" Selene asked while Montain clapped Irwin on the shoulder hard enough to make his body sway.

"Great job, captain!'

"My soulscape generates a lot of soulforce," Irwin said, looking at Selene. "It's why I told you, if you want to be more efficient, you should-"

"Yes, yes, yes," Selene said, shaking her head. "Never mind that I asked! I think Esther is calling!"

She turned and ran away, her massive shape causing the floorboards to flex. Greldo vanished, quickly followed by Earila.

"Have you decided on your next heartcard?" Irwin asked Montain.

The massive Granitian took a deep breath before exhaling like a bellow. "I'll do as you and Ambraz suggested," he said, not sounding too happy about it.

Irwin didn't respond except for nodding, knowing how sensitive Montain was about keeping up his combat abilities. It had taken a bit of time for Irwin to get some history out of him, and he'd have much rather become what his people called a Boulder Roller, some type of fighter that went into dangerous portals to clear them out. It was his high-level potential and his grandmother's wishes that had gotten him to start smithing.

"Don't be so down," Ambraz said, flying down from the rafters and landing on Irwin's shoulder.

Montain's own bonded Ganvil, Dar'malder landed on Montain's shoulder.

"I've been telling him this all night, but he won't listen," he rumbled. "He just can't get hurling massive boulders at unsuspecting demons out of his mind."

"Which I can fully understand," Irwin said, raising an eyebrow at Montain. "But if you focus on a card just like Teacher Vera has you will be done much sooner. Besides, if you can reforge your own cards, you can improve your strength much faster."

Montain's mouth turned into a scowl, but he nodded. "I know. I'll start working on the cards. Is Greldo going to stop at another of those drifting markets?"

"I don't-"

Greldo appeared mid-air, flipping as he did.

"I'll head to one tomorrow. If the-" he vanished just as one of Earila's summons appeared, reappearing a few feet away.

"-rumors are true then-"

"-it might be the last-"

"one!"

Irwin shook his head as he saw his friend disappear and reappear throughout the hull before vanishing, leaving angry-looking Faerits behind.

Montain shook his head. "Did you know many people can't even slot shadow-walker cards?" he muttered.

Irwin looked up in surprise. "What? Why wouldn't they?"

"Nobody knows, but apparently, it takes a special type of crazy!"

It took Irwin two seconds to realize Montain was messing with him, then he burst out laughing. He followed the Granitian out of the hull, feeling very pleased with himself. Although he couldn't catch up to Greldo, if he had to, he could move so fast the other couldn't catch him either, meaning that in many cases, he shouldn't be outrun anymore.

Part of him almost hoped they'd get into trouble soon.

He probably should have specified to himself what kind of trouble.

--

A few days before they reached the end of the river, only the occasional ship passed them, and a few came alongside to ask where they were going.

Irwin always gave the same answer.

"Slip into a side entrance that will lead to our rank two merchant guild's base before the storm hits it!" he shouted, his voice so loud it caused the hull to shiver below him.

"You might wanna hurry then, metalman!" a blueish, bird-like woman shouted back, smiling sickly. Her smile didn't reach her large, birdlike eyes. "The storm crushed two entire side-branches already, and it isn't showing any signs of slowing down! There are only a few people behind us, and they might not even make it!"

She reminded Irwin of Pieplionyr, the pirate he'd killed en route to Granvox.

"Any news from the path towards Fiverion?" Irwin roared back.

"It's gone, metalman! The portal, the branch there, everything is completely engulfed in the storm."

Irwin's hands clenched tight around the steering wheel, causing the metal-like wood to groan in protest.

"Thanks for the news!" he shouted as they passed along, and all he got was a wave as the ship continued to speed by.

"Are we sure we can even reach home?" Greldo muttered.

Irwin wasn't sure how to answer that and looked at Hou'dor at the front of the ship.

"How long could you keep us in one piece if we move through the storm?" he asked loudly.

"Months, as long as someone can weather the cold and keep the ship on course," was the immediate reply.

Irwin grimaced at the word cold. He knew what that meant. It meant that he would need to do most of the work because Earila, as much as she had improved, still couldn't stand the most intense of colds. Which was exactly what the center of a storm was like.

"We are going to try," Irwin said. "As much as I want to head to Igniz, we need to get those slumbering rank zeros home."

Greldo nodded. "I'll be able to stay around you a bit more this time," he said.

Irwin raised an eyebrow.

"From the shadows," Greldo said, grinning. "If you can create a pocket of steam every once in a while, we can even talk."

"That might be for the best," Irwin said as he stared at the still seemingly endless river. "Can you go and inform the others?"

"Sure," Greldo said as he walked away. "I'll come back later."

The day continued quietly, and by the time Irwin returned for his next shift, not a single ship could be seen. They were, for all intents and purposes, alone as they flew across the quiet and beautiful river. Another two days later, as the tension began growing, the narrow corridor they should go to came into sight.

Irwin was standing beside Earila, staring into the distance. Zender and Greldo had their arms on the railing nearby, staring into the distance.

"I'll take over as soon as we reach the bend," he said. "You make sure you rest and prepare your little friends, just in case."

"I'm sure I can help, Captain," Earila said, nodding fervently. "Mother said I can stand as much cold as she can!"

"That's great, and I'll be sure to call you when I need your help," Irwin said with a smile. "Now, go with the others. If there's any trouble, Greldo will warn you."

Earila walked away, looking slightly worried. Zender joined her, towering over his smaller sibling. He waved at Irwin before the two of them vanished below deck.

"I still don't get how you managed to become so good against the cold," Hind said, standing nearby, arms crossed. "It's not natural."

Irwin felt his building worry fade for a moment as he grinned. "We have a flame inside. What's not to understand?"

"It shrinks if it's too cold," Hind said, frowning.

Greldo, who had been standing nearby, began laughing uproariously, trying to say something but unable to get the words out. Hind looked at him, then shook her head.

"Don't bother," Irwin said, his smile fading. "Head down for now. If there's any real trouble, Montain and his sisters can help."

Hind hesitated for a bit, then walked away, and soon only Irwin, Greldo, and the rank five Ganvils remained on the deck. They remained quiet as Irwin turned The Concerto around the bend, slowing the sleek ship down for the next part of the trip.

"At least we don't have to worry about raiders this time," Greldo muttered.

"Ugh! Way to jinx it," Ambraz snapped.

Greldo snickered, but Irwin could hear there was little true humor in it. His friend fell quiet as they continued down the rapidly narrowing branch until they were in a corridor barely a hundred feet wide.

Time slowly passed by, but Irwin wasn't inclined to increase their speed, and half a day later, he was happy he hadn't. They turned around a bend, and as their view returned, Greldo cursed.

Irwin squeezed the helm, staring at the roiling blackness ahead of them. Swirls of chaotic soulforce, some dark red, others in endless shades of purple, rippled through it like lightning, occasionally accompanied by actual lightning that slammed into the ground at the bottom of the corridor. A distant rumbling came from the distant storm, and Irwin shared a worried look with Greldo.

“That's… a big storm…” Hou'dor said from his position at the front of the ship. "Get ready to put up the barrier! It seems we are going to earn our keep!"