Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Irwin hummed contentedly as he stepped back from where Zender knelt on the ground. The boy's eyes were burning orbs of silver while he was looking in wonder at his own hands.

"Ohhhh!"

A soft, impressed crooning came from the Ignitzians who were watching. Irwin glanced around to find a few of the younger ones whispering excitedly, their eyes locked on Zender.

I'm going to have to teach him what to expect, Irwin thought.

He looked at the now lean and tall youth as he got his feet under him. Although not as great of stature as most Fiz'rin, he was still atleast a head taller than the tallest Igniz and would tower over his mother and sisters. His skin, already slightly silvery before, now gleamed like it was made of metal. This contrasted strongly with his hair, which had turned almost black until the light from the lightning reflected in it, showing a mixture of purple and silver gleams.

He's going to need new clothing, Irwin thought as he looked at the taut tunic, which barely fit his new physique. His pants also crawled up above his ankles, and Irwin wondered if his feet weren't cramped.

"I feel incredible," Zender said, his eyes widening in shock, likely from his voice that had become deeper.

Irwin almost whistled as his otherself scanned the card's specifics, which were showing up in his tablatures.

Card: Stable Silfzeron Body

Type: Heartcard, Emerald, Forged by Irwin Roddington

Owner: Zender

The owner of this card has a partial Silfzeron Elemental body with an incredibly stable core temperature. With an uncanny connection to Silfzeron, they can manifest a whip with a maximum length of a yard.

Passive: Increased dexterity, strength, and constitution

Passive: Stable Core: Greatly increased resistance to heat and cold

Active: Summon an up to a hundred-yard-long whip that can move as they will it

Active: Manifest their body on any point along the whip's length

As he read it, Zender raised his hand, and a whip coiled around his arm, looping around his arm and his shoulders before crossing across his chest.

"This is incredible," Zender blurted, turning to Irwin, his gleaming eyes already slowly losing the intense bright glare of a recently made heartcard. "I can sense all of it! Look!"

The whip uncoiled and swished up into the air to the tip of the sail, and Zender vanished, reappearing on the edge.

"Wait, you-"

Irwin grimaced as Zender tried to adhere to the sail, only to slip down, letting out a startled yelp.

"-can't do that anymore."

The whip zipped down, and a moment later, Zender reappeared on the deck with a heavy thud. Shaking his head, he rose and looked up, then at his hands. A momentary sadness crossed his eyes before it vanished.

"I couldn't keep it in your heartcard," Irwin said calmly. "It was either the stable core temperature or the adhesive power."

"It's fine, no, it's perfect!" Zender said, looking at Irwin. "I'll just have to get used to it. Besides, my dream is to get my own ship, and a captain shouldn't be the one to clean the sails."

Irwin grinned as he raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And who will be doing our sails from now on?"

Zender's mouth opened, then closed, before he looked up at the sails appraisingly.

"I can still do it," he said, raising his whip. "Just going to be a little bit more involved."

"It's fine. I was just teasing you," Irwin said, putting his hand on Zender's shoulder and squeezing a bit. He instantly sensed the much sterner flesh, and he was surprised at how much harder he could squeeze. "There are a few of the Ignitzians who have the ability to help."

There was a surprised shout, and Irwin looked at the grouped Ignitzians, focusing on Nisziz. As her eyes widened in worry, Irwin slowly raised an eyebrow.

"What? Everyone on my ship helps where they can, and that includes cleaning the sails."

The Ignitzian shared a look, then sighed and nodded.

"Is Dad bullying them?" a soft voice asked from the side.

"No, Mia. Nisziz needs a good scolding so she stops being lazy," Scintilla said, causing Nisziz to let out an annoyed shout.

Irwin glanced over his shoulder to where Scintilla was standing, Mia on her arm, and Flux and Glow beside her—all three were wearing very simple leather tunics and holding wooden swords. He grinned at them before turning back to Zender, only to see him staring off into the distance without seeing anything. It took Irwin a few moments to realize that he was probably in his soulscape, and with Sting nowhere in sight, the bird was likely with him.

I wonder what his soulscape is like, Irwin thought.

Deciding to ask Zender later, he turned to Nim'ron. The Ganvil was surrounded by a swirling vortex of soulforce that was generated by creating the heartcard. It wasn't nearly as intense as when he'd made the ruby-rank heartcards, but even then, he could see Nim'ron struggling to absorb as much as he could before it all dissipated. Without Hou'dor's ability to create a small shield to contain it, he wasn't able to benefit as much, but Irwin knew he was still growing stronger.

"Nim'ron. How long till you can absorb the second?" Irwin asked, glancing at where Earila stood, almost bouncing up and down as she waited for her turn.

"Give me an hour," Nim'ron grunted. "Also, after you do the second one, we should head out. The ambient soulforce will be able to power the shield for days."

"We will," Irwin said.

A chatter began around him as the Ignitzians talked about what they had just seen, and Boohm moved around with snacks. Irwin watched him grin at one of the taller, more muscular Ignitzians and hand her a meat-filled flame pepper.

Before he could wonder if that might cause problems later, Dahlia stepped beside him.

"From what I can tell, Zender's heartcard is stronger than average. I thought you said he couldn't hold too much soulforce?"

"His soulforce stability has increased, and while I was reforging it, there was a slight increase," Irwin said, thinking back to when he was creating Zender's heartcard. It had been easy compared to most others he'd done, with less soulforce, tension, and parts involved.

"That's because Sting did something similar to what I was doing," Ambraz interjected, sounding very intrigued. "It wasn't to the level of what even an average Ganvil can do for their bond, but it was enough to take the edge off and increase Zender's heartcard from roughly eighty to eighty-five percent perfect, to close to ninety-five."

Irwin nodded, but Dahlia gasped.

"You can read the percentages of heartcards?" she asked, shaking her head in disbelief. "That's something only a few Ganvils and smiths in the academy were capable of!"

"First off, I'm not just any Ganvil, and secondly, neither is Irwin, just any smith," Ambraz said, mock haughtily.

"You focused on soulforce sensitivity during your last rank-up?" Juul'rish asked, sounding slightly aggrieved.

"Yes," Ambraz said, his lips curving up in a wide, toothy grin. "And before you tell me that is stupid because more control and power is always better, you are wrong. I've already got more control than you or anyone else of your generation, and my bond gives me more power than you can imagine."

Juul'rish snorted as she flew off Dahlia's shoulder and circled around Ambraz.

Irwin instantly knew the two were going to start arguing again, and he quickly walked away, heading to the helm where Greldo stood. His friend nodded, his hands skillfully flitting across the runes on the helm while compensating for the drifting caused by the powerful gale howling around them.

"So, is Zender a silver version of you now?"

"A little bit," Irwin said. "I guess there might be Silfzeron elementals out there somewhere. That said, he isn't as strong as I am, but more agile and faster."

"Good, that means I can continue teaching him sword fighting instead of having to switch to maces or hammers," Greldo said. "Anything else changed besides that he lost his walk-on-walls ability?"

"He grew a bit, so he might need some time to get used to the increased reach," Irwin thought as he thought about Zender's new heartcard. "Beyond that? He lost his shape change ability, but his passive shape should be about eighty percent as strong as that was, and it's always active now. He can't increase his temperature so high that he can hurt others, but that might actually be a good thing."

Greldo nodded, looking at Zender.

"Alright, I'll talk with him later. You think Earila's heartcard will be as easy?"

Irwin shook his head, glancing at the girl who was chatting with Scintilla and his children.

"No. Even with the increase in stability Sprig will give her, her card will need to have far less soulforce than Zenders."

"Does that mean she will be less powerful?"

"A bit, but it mostly means she will have less endurance. Luckily for her, she is very summon-based, like you. So, when she shifts into her other shape, she should be able to make a very good scout."

They continued chatting for a bit until Nim'ron called out that he was ready. The conversation ground to a halt, and Greldo let out a soft snicker.

"Hope you can perform well when people are watching," he said.

Irwin snorted as he walked back to Nim'ron while Ambraz changed to his working form. Earila walked forward, looking excited and nervous. Sprig twittered something on her shoulder, and she looked at him.

"What did he say?" Irwin asked curiously.

"That I shouldn't be so worried and that with him there, nothing would go wrong," Earila whispered.

Irwin inclined his head at the tiny Leafarit, glad he was helping with calming Earila.

"Sprig is right. Don't worry, Ambraz, and I will make you a great heartcard," he said.

Earila nodded nervously. "Should I pull up my cards now?"

"Yes," Irwin said as he summoned his hammer while his otherself prepared the soulstrum guitar.

Irwin took a deep breath as he sensed Earila's cards. Their song was slightly disjointed and faint to the point of being weak. Especially compared to his own, the word that played through his mind was fragile.

It's a good thing we are going to fix this a bit, he thought. Otherwise, any chance of her having any subsequent cards would be close to zero.

Irwin struck down on the cards, keeping his own resonance as soft and controlled as possible as he gently pulled Earila's only emerald card forward. The Faerits, which had saved her when she'd been all alone, were such an integral part of her that although it wasn't her first card, her connection to it was deeper than to any of the others. He'd expected as much, but even he was surprised by just how ingrained her second card was in her own soulforce.

"Ambraz, you sense this?" he whispered, blocking out all other things but the cards, the resonance, and Ambraz.

"It's impressive, to say the least," Ambraz said. "It will also help a lot, but we will need to make a few changes to the plan."

Irwin hummed, then struck again, gently pulling the card into the resonance of the song he was creating. Unlike with many other reforges or any other heartcards, he wasn't using a powerful, highly emotional song. Instead, a soft melody began spreading from him as he worked, focusing on keeping the gentle balance of the card intact while pulling out the things that would become the base of Earila's heartcard.

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Halfway through the first card, his focus was strained to the limits of what he could do. Even with the assistance from Ambraz and the soothing influence that he guessed came from Sprig, keeping his natural tendency to be explosive and energetic at bay was more difficult than he'd imagined. If the Faerit card hadn't shown an almost acceptance of what was happening, he might have had to cut corners. As it was, Irwin sang a soft song, his voice higher than it usually was, while the soulstrum guitar's strings created a canopy of resonances that pictured a spring morning- the sky slightly cloudy, with beams of sunlight flowing through the forrest and onto a narrow stream that gently rippled along.

As the first card was incorporated, the heartcards outlinings blazed into life above the card.

One down, five to go, Irwin thought as he focused on the second card, letting the resonance of the start of the heartcard guide his choice. A tiny part of him knew that he was growing and learning from this reforging, more than he had in a long time. Something about having to limit his own power, guide and control it…

His hammer swung down, and the thoughts vanished as he continued the intricate process of creating Earilla's heartcard.

--

"Do you think I learn to do this?" Flux whispered, and Dahlia glanced to the side.

The young Ignitzian male, unique if not for his brother beside him, was staring up at his mother. His eyes were wide in awe as the beautiful, gentle song flowed around them. The resonating soulforce, made audible by Irwin in song and tune, was even more incredible as it stood out against the backdrop of the constant storm. Although she couldn't see or sense the soulforce in the clouds beyond the barrier, Juul'rish had described it to her many times.

Unlikely, she thought, trying to imagine copying what she was sensing.

Even more so than with the other times she'd watched Irwin reforge a card, she was stumped. The delicate manipulation of soulforce she sensed was at a level that she could barely follow, let alone immediately. It wasn't like she hadn't grown and learned a lot over the last few months, but every time she thought she gained a bit, something like this happened.

'We need to focus on soulforce sensitivity with our next heartcard,' she said in her soulscape, knowing Yuul was listening.

'If we do that, we will become a lot less powerful,' Yuul'rish replied.

Dahlia felt a tiny stab at that before suppressing it.

'I know, but Grandfather said that Irwin is only just on par with the better junior cardsmiths he'd seen during his time beyond the Langost Branch! If we follow him, the chances of us going there will be large, and I don't want to be told I'm not good enough to learn from the true masters.'

Yuul was quiet for a bit as the two of them listened to Irwin fuse the third and fourth card into the growing heartcard.

'We can focus on sensitivity, as it would match with the original plan of Dean Salwek,' Yuul said, sounding slightly reluctant. 'But I thought you wanted to focus on more than just smithing…?'

Dahlia sighed, listening to an especially beautiful section of the song as the fifth card was mixed in.

'I did, but that was when I thought Grandfather was trying to make me believe there were people my age who were so much better just to get me to work harder,' she said, knowing her Grandfather would laugh if he heard her admit that.

Yuul'rish laughed softly, and Dahlia couldn't blame her. If she hadn't been confronted with Irwin, she might have never understood this much. Thinking about how lucky it was that her Grandfather hadn't given her cards to fill her soullake again, she wondered if the old man had known this might happen.

Probably just hoped it, she thought, feeling a warm joy as she pictured her Grandfather smiling at her.

Focusing back on the parts of the reforging that she could sense, she hoped her card's diagrams would be able to gain more details than she could sense herself.

With a growing desire to learn, she clasped her arms and tried her best to keep track of the minute little changes the other young smith was making.

--

Irwin struck the final blow, sensing the heartcard solidify while the remnant fragments of the cards crumbled. Purified soulforce gushed out from them as if the previous solid card matter had been nothing but concentrated soulforce.

I can see why people think that, Irwin thought. According to what he'd learned in the academy, there was a massive debate on the subject, with some saying it was actually matter that was converted to soulforce, while others said it was soulforce all along.

Weary in mind and body, he watched the soulforce. It spiraled around him, increasing the already high ambient soulforce as it was diluted by the more chaotic soulforce already present on the deck. A funnel seemed to lead to Nim'ron, causing a portion of the soulforce to be absorbed by him, but it was only a small part.

Earila sat on her hands and knees on the deck, no different from how Zender had before. But instead of his surprised elation, she rose, and worry filled her now silver eyes as she raised her arms. Seven Faerit appeared, hovering in front of her, their previous translucent pale purple-blue bodies covered in dense pale purple fur. They had atleast doubled from their previous size of large rats to that of cats and seemed as physically present as Coal did. Irwin sensed a unique soulforce resonance from each of them.

As he watched, his otherself quickly looked at the card he'd just made.

Card: Frostmirrage Faerits of Resilience

Type: Heartcard, Emerald, Forged by Irwin Roddington

Owner: Earila

The owner of this card has bonded with a small pack of Frostmirrage Fearit on a physical and mental level, giving them the Frostmirrage Faerit's enhanced sensitivity and agility.

Passive: Increased agility, dexterity, and strength

Passive: Listening to any form of music will grant greatly increased mental ease and healing

Active: Summon up to seven Frostmirrage Faerit

Active: Change all physical attributes to match those of the connected minions. Grants access to one of the minions' active abilities. More minions do not increase effectiveness.

What… mental ease and healing? Irwin scanned the card, noticing mostly things he'd expected. All but the second passive. Earila's last card had been with her only shortly, but it had given her the ability to summon a reedpipe. Now, none of that had seemingly remained. Instead, she had to what? Find a non-carded instrument and learn how to play it?

"They are the same," Earila whispered, tears pouring out of her glowing silver eyes.

Irwin pulled himself back to reality and quickly smiled at Earila. He remembered just how happy Greldo had been when he'd found that Coal had retained his personality after becoming a heartcard. Thinking of Greldo, he realized that Earila's second active resembled the one his friend had.

As Irwin focused on Earila, his otherself began pondering Earila's card, looking at the differences and wondering why all parts of her card were in the actives and passives while his own and some of the other higher rank heartcards had gained the occasional free bonus abilities.

"I told you," he said. "Now, how do you feel?"

Earila rose, and Irwin saw she had grown tall enough to be considered an adult. She also looked older, somewhere in her late teens, if he had to guess. Her hair was still purple, but its tint had become darker and less intense.

Indigo, Irwin thought, recalling how his mother had once told him about the colors the king wore.

He blinked, stunned as a memory of so long ago rose to prominence. He'd not thought about Giard in years and definitely not about such minutia.

"I feel stronger," Earila said, raising her hand. Her nails slid out like the tips of curved daggers, gleaming dangerously. "Captain, can I try my shapechange?"

"Of course you can," Irwin said.

Earila frowned, and a moment later, a ripple ran across her as her body grew taller, and dense, dark purple fur grew from her hairline down across her face. More fur rushed out from her sleeves, covering her hands, as her eyes became more slanted and her ears larger and pointed up. She also grew more, and now barely fit her clothing.

"I… this is incredible," Earila said, smiling and revealing two dangerously sharp canines. Then she vanished from where she stood, reappearing on the other side of the deck beside a few of the Ignitzians. Her smile widened, and a moment later, she reappeared beside Irwin.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she shouted, hugging Irwin before he knew what was going on.

She squeezed him tight before letting go and spinning around.

"Zender, look! I'm not weak anymore!"

Zender had been watching her from the side, and he snorted.

"Who said you were weak before?" he said, walking up to his sister.

Earila barely reached his shoulder as the two hugged.

As Irwin watched the two siblings, he heard someone step up beside him.

"That was impressive," Dahlia said, looking at him with an odd glint in her eyes.

"Thanks," Irwin said. "And thank you again for helping them combine their cards."

"That's fine. I'm sure you will learn it if you practice a few more times," Dahlia said, looking at him for a bit longer before turning and walking away.

Irwin watched her walk into the cabin, leading down, and wondered why she seemed annoyed.

"Dad, Dad! Can you teach us how to do that?"

Irwin turned to Flux and Glow as they ran up to him, jumping forward and climbing into his arms, one each.

"I can try, but for now, you need to learn how to use those," he said, tapping the Flux's sword, which was jutting harmlessly against his ribs.

"Do we have to?" Flux muttered. "It's way less fun than smithing!"

A few of the Ignitzians let out a disgruntled snort, but none said anything.

Ambraz flashed, turned into his smaller shape, and flew to land on Irwin's shoulder.

"That is definitely true," the Ganvil said, sounding very pleased. "But you will need to get way more control over your own soulforce and get atleast one or two cards. Then you need to learn metal purifications, which might be difficult as we don't have metal right now."

The latter wasn't technically true, as Irwin had some metals, but none of those were low enough rank for any starting smith's apprentice.

"Awww, Uncle Ambraz… But that means it's going to take forever!"

Irwin carried his two sons back to Scintilla, who was smiling and talking with Mia. She looked up when they reached her.

"Dad, when are we getting our first card?" Mia asked, eyes wide.

"Not for atleast a year yet," Scintilla said, answering before Irwin could. "It will take some time before you are strong enough!"

Mia looked at Irwin, her eyes wide and innocent.

"Your mother is right," Irwin said. "Now, let's go and see what kind of meal Boohm made us. After that, it's time to head into the storm."

There was a shout of joy, and both boys struggled free before running toward the door leading down.

An hour later, Irwin stood behind the helm. His stomach filled with food that would have burned a hole through a normal human, and he felt happy.

"So, ready for another few weeks of raging storms?" Greldo asked, leaning on the railing beside him.

"Definitely," Irwin said. "Though I hope after we drop off Gi and Bri and reach Graboul's Teeth, we can hopefully manage to find a calm world. I could do with a few weeks of peace and quiet."

"Dream on," Greldo snorted. "Between you having three more kids ready to hatch soon-"

"They don't hatch!" Irwin exclaimed.

"-massive tentacle monsters roaming around, some odd purple-blooded demons nobody knows about, and your incredible ability to draw in trouble, we are likely going to have to run for our lives and fight demons at every corner."

Nim'ron let out a low, rumbling laughter, and Irwin groaned.

"Fine, let's just see what happens," he said, flying The Concerto through the barrier and into the raging storm beyond.

--

Close to four weeks later, Irwin stared at the distant line that was slowly closing in. The storm was no more than a distant whine far away, while the ceiling of the Portal Corridor was miles above them. With the walls being even further away on either side and none even visible in the distance, he almost felt like he was flying through an open world.

Greldo's worry had proven wrong for once, and they had managed to drop off Gi and Bri with zero troubles. The only sad thing had been that neither Irwin nor Scintilla had been welcome on-world. Scintilla had accepted it without any visible reaction, but it had taken over two weeks for her to stop staring off into the distance every time she thought she was alone.

Atleast Helm came along, Irwin thought.

"They look really creepy."

Irwin glanced at Mia, who was standing near the railing, looking down at the Addled that raced across the rocky wasteland below.

"They are creepy," Irwin said. "It's a good thing the Portal Faction Alliance armies remove them when they come anywhere close to portal harbors."

"They are also really dangerous," Earila said, her eyes never leaving Mia.

She hovered a few steps behind her, looking ready to haul her away to safety. Over the last few weeks, she had rapidly bonded with Irwin's young daughter, treating her like a younger sister.

Mia looked at Irwin. "Are they more dangerous than the bad fishies?"

Irwin snorted. "Mia, they are called Earth Titans, you know this. And the answer is difficult."

Mia crossed her arms, frowning at him as she had started doing when she didn't like an answer. She also didn't like difficult.

"Earth Titans will usually leave people alone, and they are only found on worlds," Irwin said. "Addled, however, will always search, hunt, and attack lifeforms with soulforce."

"I still think one Earth Titan could eat them all," Mia said before turning away from the railing and running toward the center of the deck. Flux and Glow were over there, climbing up the sail before sliding down Zender's rope, which the young Yuurindi coiled around to the loud joy of the two boys.

"Captain, if you want me to take over…?"

"It's fine," Irwin said, waving Earila away.

She was running before he finished.

Irwin watched them play for a bit, feeling a slight sadness that they weren't with his brother in a world with more to do and less danger all around. Eventually, they ran back down, probably to bug Boohm for more food or ask Greldo to let them play with clones of Coal.

'Can you let me out?'

Irwin was startled by Scintilla's voice, then pulled her out of his soulscape. She landed on the deck beside him, looking around.

"They are playing below," Irwin said.

"Good," Scintilla said, looking at him. "Soot, Zan, and Ti will solidify in a few days."

Irwin stared at the distant mountain range, humming thoughtfully.

"We need to find a way to get them to my brother," he finally said.

"I know, and I agree, but how?" Scintilla said, rubbing her head. "I love them all, but it's barely doable entertaining three of them on this ship. What do we do now that all six are out?"

"First, we go and find a safe world for them, your Bladesisters, and… probably Hind and Helm to guard them," Irwin said. "Then we go and do what we need to on Dimarintsia, and we head back."

"But-"

"I know," Irwin interrupted her, thinking about Gelwin's warning. It had hung above his head for weeks now as he began understanding what it really took to have children on his ship. "That just means we need to find a way to detect if someone is following us."

"Is that even possible?"

"We will have to see," Irwin said as he scanned ahead. He had some ideas, though most involved Greldo finishing his heartcard and getting a bunch of cards they didn't have yet.

"For now, let's find that world."

"You really think you can find one? There were probably special carded sent here to find them."

"Where they smiths?" Irwin asked. "Smiths focused on soulforce sensitivity?"

Scintilla shrugged, but they both knew the answer. The chances of that were very close to zero. Close enough to risk searching here for a few weeks.

"If we don't find one, I'll have to keep them in my soulscape for the rest of the trip," Irwin said.

"They will make your otherself go insane," Scintilla said with a snort.

That would make me go insane, Irwin thought.

He didn't bother telling her. He'd tried explaining how that worked a few times, but even Greldo had a hard time understanding how you could be in two places at the same time and still be the same person with the same memories.

"I'll go and get you some food," Scintilla said, kissing him before wandering away, very obviously moving her hips more than she needed to. When she reached the door, she threw him a kiss. "And pretty eyes? Tonight, we sleep in your soulscape."

She slipped through the door, and Irwin ignored Nim'ron's laughter.