Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Irwin woke to the sounds of laughter and shouting, and as he sat up, he looked around the room. His room. Given to him by his brother, it was the same one he'd stayed in before he left. Clean and as empty, he knew his mother must have kept it like that for him.

Swinging his legs out of bed, he gazed out of the window as images of traveling through the storm-filled Portal Galery played through his mind for a moment. It was cold, loud, and dangerous.

I wonder if this will stop whatever is chasing us, he thought. Perhaps whatever had ended the Galadin empire would be stopped by it?

He got up and shook his head. It seemed unlikely that something capable of finding and hunting an entire species across a seemingly infinite Portal Gallery that led to innumerable words would be stopped by a storm.

Which means it's a good thing I brought some cards, he thought.

He walked to the empty area beside the table and focused on himself- one part inside his soulscape, the other outside. Then he stretched his hands out, and a large pack appeared.

The headache, which had been gone, resurfaced for a moment before fading slowly. He ignored it and began taking out stacks of cards packaged in thick paper and covered with names, types, and other words.

He had thousands, more even probably, and he'd stopped counting at some point. Most came from those he'd bought during his travels, using the money or other cards and Boohm's impressive help at negotiating. Those were all low-rank, not very valuable to most, and perfect for experimenting and training for him, Trimdir, and the many other prospect smiths.

We need to get the best of us to a point where they can start getting ruby rank heartcards, he thought.

"How are you going to divide them?" Ambraz asked, landing on the table.

Irwin rubbed his chin, then took out a few smaller packs, all filled with the best of the cards he'd found. Many were gifts from Brazardian, while some were rare finds during his travels.

"Most of this-" he gestured at the large amount of cheap cards. "Will go to Trimdir, Endil, and the headsmiths of the other cities."

"Right, but that's all relative junk. What will you do with the good stuff?"

Irwin heard the desire in his companion's voice and knew what he was getting at. The more he reforged, the stronger Ambraz would become- and, by extension, he himself.

"First, we need to find out which of these we want to use to fill soullakes and get more people their first soulcard," he said as he looked at the massive quantity of cheap cards.

As he thought about that, he could only sigh. Though he had a lot of cards, compared to what he'd need to get somewhere, it was a drop on a hot plate. What they really needed was a portal leading to an unstable world to get more cards.

Or a way to make them from ambient soulforce, a tiny, insistent voice whispered.

He pushed his dissatisfaction away. He had gotten an enormous number of cards, and even if he could have gotten more, it hadn't been the main goal while he was out there. No, those were the rank zero Ganvil's in his soulscape.

"Kid?!'

Irwin looked at Ambraz and nodded.

"I'll be keeping the high-quality stuff for myself, at least at first," he said. "I'll have to talk with Daubutim and find out what we need so I can reforge them to the best of our abilities."

"Good!" Ambraz said. "You should get Montain and the others to help train any promising young smiths. That way, you can focus on that!"

Irwin hummed, agreeing with Ambraz. He had too much to do, such as helping to locate closed portals to adjacent worlds, reforging cards for important people, creating heartcards, and helping Trimdir and Endil.

He put most of the cards back inside the massive pack, putting the more important stacks in his jacket.

Ambraz snorted, then laughed softly.

"What?"

There was a soft knock on the door, then a slightly louder one.

"Uncle Irwin! I'm hungry! Are you coming?"

Irwin grinned as Drum's voice came from the hallway. Picking up the pack, he hesitated, then decided to keep it out. He needed to start sorting and dividing them as soon as he was in his smithy. Opening the door, Drum stood there, looking at him with a big grin.

"Are you going to play on the gweetar again?!" he said, eyeing the pack. He seemed to think Irwin was more than able to carry it and some more and climbed up Irwin's left arm with surprising dexterity before sitting on his shoulder.

"It's a guitar," Irwin said, holding Drum's leg while walking down the staircase.

"Right, a gweetar!" Drum said, nodding seriously. "It's really great! I want one like those when I get cards, okay?"

Irwin laughed, shaking his head. "I don't know about that. Guitars are pretty difficult to get, and it might take me a long time to find another one. But I'll try my best."

"Can't you make a normal one?" Drum said. "You know, with metal?"

"Maybe," Irwin said, thinking about it. Perhaps it could be done with runes? Or a carded crafter focused on instruments?

Irwin thought about it as he carried his nephew and the massive pack into the kitchen. He stopped as he saw Greldo and Bronwyn sitting there and grinning at him. Carla and their mother stood in the kitchen and were filling more plates.

They let me sleep in?!

"Drum, wash your hands!"

"Yes, gramma," Drum shouted, sliding down from Irwin's shoulder and landing on the ground. He ran to the kitchen, his slightly stubby arms waving around.

"So you did bring gifts?" Bronwyn asked, looking at the massive pack.

"Not exactly," Irwin said, acting innocently and waiting for his brother to take a bite. "These are just cards, that's all."

Bronwyn breathed and swallowed at the same time, then began coughing. Greldo gave him a hit on the back, struggling to suppress his laughter.

"How- how many are there?" Bronwyn asked, wiping his mouth and eyeing the pack.

"Probably close to ten thousand," Irwin said.

A gasp came from Carla while Bronwyn looked at him in abhorrent disbelief. His mother just sighed, shook her head, and continued filling the tables with plates.

"That's… how did you get them all? Did you raid an entire world?"

"I bought them," Irwin said, causing Greldo to sniff.

"Right, right," Irwin added as he laughed. "Traded bought, and in some cases stole them."

"From bad people and demons?" Drum asked excitedly, running to the table while flicking his wet hands about, causing drips to fly everywhere.

"Drum. Towel!" Irwin's mother shouted, throwing a towel at the boy's head.

Drum laughed as he took it. "But they are dry now, gramma!"

Irwin felt a sudden desire to find Scintilla and their children. The feeling had come and gone in waves over the last few years, but lately, he'd felt it again- burning in the back of his mind.

I'll head there and see if she's even there, he thought, focusing on his brother while pushing the desires to the back of his mind, surprised when his other self took them and began pondering on them in his soulscape.

For a moment, his focus and attention merged and split, and a sudden balance appeared as it happened. Where before both his selves had been roughly equal, suddenly they were the same. As it happened, his true self, the thing that both were part of, grew, and the part of him in his soulscape saw the surrounding soulforce billow and grow. The dense fog that was around his still-building heartcard turned a bit denser, and the speed at which the tiny drops of soulforce dripped into his lake sped up.

What… just happened? Irwin thought, both his minds in harmony for a moment before one focused on his worried-looking family while the other flew towards his soullake.

"Irwin? What is wrong?" his mother asked, putting a plate down and walking worried, a tiny bit of panic in her eyes.

"Nothing! Don't worry, it… my next heartcard just became stronger somehow," Irwin said, smiling reassuringly.

He felt Ambraz vanish from his shoulder and appear in his soulscape. As he spoke with his mother and the others to tell them everything was fine, he also watched Ambraz. The split was so fluid that he barely noticed how he was doing both things, and as the moments continued, he felt his card's Nascent Soul become an integral part of it.

"You're soullake didn't grow, but your heartcard's natural growth is almost doubled," Ambraz exclaimed as he flew beside him. "I can't tell if it's because your Soulclone grew in some way or if it's a mental thing, but this is incredible. I can't wait to see what will happen when you finish it!"

"It felt like something completed," Irwin said.

He felt as excited as Ambraz sounded, and they continued talking for a bit, flying around the heartcard while the other part of him was eating and chatting with his family.

It was as if he was doing both things at the same time, with two separate parts that were fused in the center, and the memories were there for both to use. Emotions were shared, but from his amplified curiosity, he knew there was more than there had been.

I wonder what will happen if I get angry, he thought before getting worried. What if he got sad? Would that also double? His mind raced along as he thought of other emotions that would impact him if it increased like this, and his excitement died down as he decided he was going to have to experiment with this. He couldn't allow himself to be overcome by something in dangerous situations.

When Ambraz left again, and the part of him that was inside his soulscape relaxed, he felt the part of him with his family become more aware- more focused than he had ever been. His joy at seeing his family increased.

Slightly worried, he enjoyed eating, drinking, and some banter. As he did, he saw Bronwyn glance at the pack filled with cards every so often. When they were done eating, his brother leaned back and looked at him.

"So, what are you going to do with them?"

Irwin quickly explained what he'd decided, and his brother nodded.

"We actually have a list of people that we would like you to help get either one or more cards, and some that are ready to get their heartcard," Bronwyn said. "I also think creating a smithing academy is a great idea. You could teach the others!"

"Who says I've got the time to do all that?" Irwin asked, raising his eyebrow.

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Bronwyn barked a laugh. "What? Do you mean you aren't going to be focusing on smithing for most of the time you are here?"

"Of course, he will," Ambraz said. "We need to get better so we can get stronger!"

"That's all nice," Irwin's mother said as she tapped her finger on the table. "But I haven't seen you in two years. You had better make some time for me so you can tell me how you are really doing."

Irwin smiled at his mother, who had worriedly listened to him the day before when he spoke of some of the things that had happened to him. He'd tried to focus on the better things, like his stay at the Golden Friction Academy and Skylar, Roubi, and Pasilha, but he knew she wouldn't believe him if he said everything had been easy and fine.

"And you have to play more gweetar!" Drum shouted through a full mouth.

"Drum, no talking with your mouth full," Carla said, wagging her finger sternly at her son. She was holding Celeste, her almost a-year-old daughter, who was babbling just as much as Drum had when he was at that age.

"Don't worry, we will have plenty of time for that," Irwin said.

"Until you leave again, you mean," his mother said.

The others fell quiet, Bronwyn's smile turning slightly ugly, while Carla focused on Celeste.

"Greldo told me some more about what happened and what you are planning," she said.

Irwin glanced at his friend, who was focusing on his food as if it was suddenly the most important thing in the world.

Irwin looked back at his mother and nodded.

"There are things we need to know, and I want to stop whomever is after the cardsmiths," he said. "Also, I want to go to Igniz and find Scintilla and-"

"Your children that are in some lava stream," his mother added, nodding sagely. "You will bring her here? Them?"

Irwin thought for a while before answering.

"We haven't seen each other in a long time, and I have no idea if she would want to," he said.

He felt a tiny bit of worry worm his way into his mind. What if she'd found someone else or, worse, not survived the storm? It took him some effort to push both worries away.

"If she does, I'll make her a card that allows her to resist the cold, but she would need a free socket. She might be working toward her soulcard, which means it might take a long time. I don't know if our children-" he felt odd saying that. "- have matured enough, or if they will be in the stream still. If they are out, they won't be able to come…. I think. I mean, they can't slot cards yet, so they wouldn't be able to…

He trailed off as he saw his mother shake her head with a despairing grin.

"It is good to see you have thought about this," she said with slight sarcasm. "Now, that old man has been very patient. Go and see him in the smithy, and make sure you are back in time for dinner!"

Irwin finished his last water and rose from his seat, followed by Bronwyn and Greldo.

"I'll come with you," Bronwyn said. "If you two decide to create a smithing academy, I'll need to find out where it has to go."

Irwin was pretty sure that there was another reason, as he'd seen Bronwyn fidget when he'd asked him how things had been here. Something was definitely going on, but he had enough things going on for now that he was more than happy to wait till Bronwyn told him by himself.

"Can you also find a spot for Esther and the others to stay?" he asked.

"Already have a place in mind," Bronwyn said as they walked out into the hallway.

They continued discussing logistics as they walked through the busy town.

As they walked, Irwin noticed again the difference with his soulclone. Part of him smoothly focused on the things around him, causing what felt like his main focus to feel less intense as he spoke with Bronwyn.

"It's good to see that everyone looks healthy," Greldo said.

"We have enough food for everyone and then some," Bronwyn said. "Beyond that, Daubutim implemented a plan he called Minimal Survivability, which means even those who are having trouble sustaining themselves get what they need to survive. Beyond that, all of the city councils are using some of their income to use caravans to share the different types of food- not that we will need to continue that much longer. A few merchant guilds have begun appearing, and according to Daubutim, the economy is close to being healthy enough for him to stop micromanaging it."

Irwin looked at his brother in surprise.

"What?" Bronwyn said before sighing wearily. "You didn't think I'd just be out hunting all day, did you? As much as I hate it, New Malorin needs to be run, and even with the Ranger Council sharing the burdens, I still need to make a lot of decisions. Luckily, just like the merchants are starting to take care of things, the Ranger's Council and the other groups in the New Malorin are beginning to take less important matters into their own hands. With some luck, I'll just have to focus on the rest soon."

Bronwyn looked ahead, his mock annoyance fading for a more serious look.

"Trouble?" Irwin asked.

"I'll tell you after you deal with all the smithing business," Bronwyn said quickly. "Don't worry, it's nothing that needs your attention. Daubutim and Lord Bron have it all well in hand."

Irwin hesitated, then decided that Bronwyn was probably right. Whatever was happening, if Daubutim couldn't deal with it, and it didn't involve cards, it could likely wait. Daubutim would have told him otherwise.

They walked into the large square that bordered the large stone and wooden building with the sign that read: Volcano Smithy.

As he looked at what was, in essence, his own smithy, Irwin saw the changes that had been made. The top floor was finished, shutters open on the higher floor, while the shop-front looked well kept. The door was open, and he saw a few people walking around inside.

The dull thudding from the open smithing area told him that at least two people were at work, and from the lack of soulforce resonances, it was regular smithing.

He increased his pace, but as focused as he was on the smithy, the other part of him kept an eye on his surroundings. He noticed some peculiar stares and curious mutters, and then a few people began talking excitedly as they pointed at him.

As he walked into the smithing area, most of it hidden from view by a wall, he was surprised by what he found.

When he'd left, there had been only one real anvil. Now, there stood a few dozen of varying quality. Together with the line of forges in the back and tables filled with half-finished works, the entire place looked like a proper smithy now. A double door now led into the interior, which had tables filled with notes and dozens of works in progress amidst crates and some anvils.

Amidst the forges, Endil and Trimdir stood together with a group of young men and women. Trimdir was talking as he used some tongs to hold a chunk of metal into the glowing forge. The anvil before him was worn but well-maintained, and as he put the now orange glowing metal on it, he focused on the young ones.

"Always make sure the metal is heated through before you start! Until you get better, purifying it unheated will take you far too much time and energy. Now, sense what I am doing."

Trimdir raised his hammer and struck down at a slow, meticulous pace. He looked up between two hits but didn't stop when he saw Irwin and the others. Instead, he continued for a while longer.

"I forgot how ridiculous he was," Ambraz muttered.

Irwin didn't respond but watched as his old teacher worked. He could sense the metal from where he was standing. Trimdir's soulforce was infusing the hammer, and with each strike, it pushed the imperfections out of the raw ore. The soulforce, too weak even for him to perceive from outside, was resonating with the metal so perfectly that Irwin knew that he couldn't do it much better. The only reason he could do it faster was that he had far more soulforce than Trimdir.

It's slowing down as the metal turns colder, he thought as he held back his desire to walk forward and start working.

"Alright! All of you go back to your anvil and try again. Make sure to properly sense what you are doing. Those who are able to purify a crate of ore properly will be with the first group!"

The first group? Irwin thought.

There was a hushed excitement as the group of smiths turned, and then they all stopped.

Irwin saw their eyes widen as they stared at him.

"Yes, yes. Irwin is back," Trimdir snapped. "Very interesting, I am sure! Now get to work, and I'm sure he will show you all something later. Move!"

The young men and women jolted, then sprinted towards their anvils, though most kept looking at Irwin.

Trimdir waved at him and pointed at the inside of the smithy before heading there with Endil.

"He didn't change one bit," Greldo said happily. "He should really bond to You'gyn. I can't wait to see his smug smile break as he realizes he is going to be worked to death."

Irwin grinned, agreeing with his friend.

To his surprise, Ambraz just hummed, his lips pursed thoughtfully.

As they entered the smithy, Endil closed the doors before turning to Irwin.

"It's so good that you are back," he said, taking a card from his pocket and handing it to Irwin. "I managed to make this!"

Irwin looked at the Amethyst card, and his eyebrows shot up.

"This is nearly a hundred percent!" he said, turning to Endil. "That means you are already an Amethyst rank smith!"

Endil's eyes were glittering before they focused on the pack Irwin was carrying.

"Did you bring metal?" he asked.

Greldo snorted while Irwin walked to the table beside Trimdir. As he put it down, he clasped hands with the older man, feeling incredibly happy to be back.

"Master Trimdir," he said. "It's great to be back!"

Trimdir's eyebrow rose. "It's great to see you too, Irwin. Now… why don't you tell me why I feel more soulforce coming from that pack than I've ever felt in any single place before?"

"You can sense soulforce?!"

Trimdir snorted. "Of course I do. I've managed to create a few hundred percent topaz cards and have been debating if I should create my heartcard or wait for you to do it."

"If we can keep all of you alive, the Smithing Guilds are going to have a heart attack in a few years," Ambraz said before letting out a weary sigh.

Irwin blinked stupidly, then couldn't hold back a happy laughter. Trimdir was already a Topaz rank smith, and that was without a Ganvil or all the help he'd had.

I wonder what would have happened if he had been the one to find Ambraz, he thought.

"The reason you feel so much soulforce," he said as he opened the pack and began removing stacks of cards. "It is because I brought some cards."

As he spoke, he continued pulling more and more stacks from the pack, placing them in rough order in groups on the table.

Endil was making choking sounds, while Trimdir's eyebrows shot up and his eyes began glowing as if a fire had been ignited from within them.

Irwin continued until he had pulled out all the cards that would be either used for training or for absorbing and filling up soullakes. He left those he was planning to reforge himself.

Or with Trimdir's help, he thought.

"How many are there?" Endil asked.

"No idea," Irwin said. "But there's not enough."

"Not enough for what?" Endil exclaimed, shaking his head.

"Not enough for all of us," Trimdir answered before Irwin could. "You are planning to divide these around for practice purposes?"

"Yes, and a part will be needed to be set aside so we can get a few people's heartcards and turn them into a soulcard," Irwin said.

"Then I'll go through them to see which are useless now and after being reforged," Trimdir said as he picked up a stack of cards and hummed thoughtfully. After a few moments, he put it back down and focused on Irwin.

"So… did you succeed?"

"Yes. I have over a hundred rank zeros and some others in my soulscape," Irwin said.

Trimdir raised his eyebrows again but didn't comment on that. Instead, he nodded thoughtfully.

"There are currently fifty people able to reforge amethyst cards, but only seven of those can do topaz. I would suggest those seven bond as fast as they can, while we let the other fifty have a competition. That should get them all properly motivated."

Endil cursed, then laughed. "Trimdir, they are all motivated! Its just that you have been doing nothing but purifying and reforging for the last few years." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Irwin blinked at that and turned to his old master.

"Where did you get new cards? Or did you only reforge one card each month?" he asked.

Trimdir looked at Bronwyn, who had been quietly staring at the cards.

"You didn't tell him?"

"Not yet. I want him to deal with the smithing academy, the Ganvils, and all these cards first," Bronwyn said. "If he hears this, it's just going to distract him."

Trimdir snorted and shook his head. "Right, and you think his curiosity isn't going to do that?"

He turned to Irwin, who by now was in full agreement with his old teacher. As much as he wanted to focus on other things, this was getting ridiculous.

"Remember those green birds? Well, they are from another portal - the first one we found that leads to an adjacent world. They are intelligent, soulskilled creatures that live together with a bunch of tree-folk that call themselves Sylvaneth. The birds are called Leafarit, and when they die, they sometimes drop cards. Most have been slotted by Sylvaneth, but-"

"What?!" Ambraz shouted. "The Sylvaneth have cardslots?"

Trimdir laughed. "Yeah, Daubutim was about as surprised as you were. It gets weirder. Apparently, the Sylvaneth used to be people from the Galadin empire, but they used cards to change their entire species into what they are today in the hopes of escaping the Timeless Hunt."

Irwin gaped at Trimdir, then turned to Bronwyn, who shrugged and nodded.

"So… we found another one of those groups of Galadin that fled then?" Greldo asked.

"That's what Daubutim thinks," Trimdir said. "Anyway, the Sylvaneth became a bit… different. You will see it when you meet them, but don't expect any invigorating conversations with them unless they are about trees and plants. For that, you need the Leafarit. One of those bonded to Yort, and through them, I got in touch with another one called Zegritar. He was willing to lend me the cards he could get his hands on so I could practice. "

"Lend?" Irwin asked, trying to wrap his head around everything he had just heard. He was starting to see why Daubutim and his brother didn't want to bother him with it yet. It was a lot to take in.

"Yeah, the only cards they have are from dead Leafarit, and each one is seen as a priceless treasure to them- even more than how it was back on Giard," Trimdir said. "So, Zegritar comes and gets the cards I manage to reforge after I'm done, bringing new ones as he does."

"To the fear of nearly everyone in Degonda," Bronwyn said with a grimace. "I'm glad he hasn't come here."

Irwin looked at Bronwyn. "They are the green birds, right?" he asked, not sure why that would cause a problem.

"Yeah, but the ones you have seen are the young ones. The adults are… big," Bronwyn said, spreading his arms out. "I don't think Zegritar could even fit in here, lying down."

Irwin took a deep breath while he heard Greldo mutter something unintelligible.

"Alright. I think I'll have you explain all of this to me again afterward," he said, looking at Bronwyn. "But for now, I think we should figure out what to do with the rank zero Ganvils and You'gyn."

“You’gyn?” Trimdir asked.

Irwin was about to say he should be a good candidate to bond with Trimdir when Ambraz coughed, drawing his attention.

"We can talk about You'gyn later. For now, I have another idea," Ambraz said. "It might be a bit of a stretch, but I think you should meet Hou'dor."