Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Irwin was surprised by how empty and desolate the town felt. There were some people wandering around, but they all looked like guards that were off-duty.

"Does nobody live here?" he asked, looking at the guard beside him.

The man looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Never been to a central world's guard station?"

Irwin frowned. "I'm pretty sure there were merchants there. And some shops?"

The guard snorted. "Lucky guards. Well, not here. We are at the proper edge of civilization here, and with so few merchants daring to cross the Chaotic Corridors, there are only guards or guards in training here."

The deadly tone of the guard made Irwin keep any potential questions he had to himself as they were led to a large, quiet building. A sign read 'The Inn', and they walked inside the desolate large first room. Tables with chairs upside down on top of it made the place feel abandoned. If not for the lack of dust, Irwin would have assumed it was.

"Coming!" a dry voice shouted from the back. A moment later, one of the oldest Ignitzions Irwin had seen walked towards them, her entire body and oddly shimmering robe covered in tiny flames.

"Sebahl? Did a merchant ship arrive!?" the woman asked, eyes bright, and her smile caused her face to turn into a wrinkle of valleys where flames trickled along.

"No, Zarina. Lord Ganvil is acting up again like he did a few years ago. Making their lives more difficult than it has to be," Sebahl said as he waved Irwin and the others forward. "I'll leave you here. Don't attempt to go back to your ship and fly off until you get permission."

The guard smiled at the Ignitzion before turning and walking back out of the Inn, closing the door behind him.

"Ah, well, I guess that means you are going to be my guests for a few days to a week," Zaria said with a smile. "I can understand it's not what you had planned, but I'll do my very best to make your stay as pleasant as possible!"

"Thank you," Irwin said as he looked around. "Perhaps we can have something to eat and drink?"

"Of course! You would be the Captain? Or…” Zarina looked at Rindiri, then at her kids.

"Captain Irwin," Irwin said with a smile. "She is my second in command, Rindiri."

"Good, good! Let me clear the table for you," Zarina said, and she moved easily to the table nearest the bar.

Irwin was about to move to help her when he heard Rindiri mutter something. A moment later, Zender and Earila moved forward, quickly helping Zarina to put the tables down.

"Such nice children," Zarina said with a smile. "I've got nearly a hundred living children and grandchildren, you know? They never really come visit, but sometimes I get news from them."

Irwin blinked as Zarina began wiping the table with a clean towel while talking about her children. Before Zarina left to bring them some food, he had heard and forgotten dozens of Ignitzion names.

"She talks a lot," Zender muttered. "Are we supposed to remember all those names?"

"No," Rindiri said calmly, looking at her son. "Zarina might be a bit lonely, and it seems she hasn't talked with other people than the guards in a long time."

"Right," Zender muttered. "She seemed really proud of how many children she had… I thought other species didn't want to have too many children?"

"It's not want, it's cant," Rindiri said. "From what I know, the only other species that regularly have more than between ten and twenty offspring are the Ignitzions. There probably are more, but they probably don't live very long."

"Like us," Earila said softly, looking at the table.

Irwin grimaced as both young Yuurindi looked at each other.

Rindiri sighed. "Don't worry. With the cards you have now, both of you will live at least to a hundred, and if things continue like this, you will likely get a high-rank heartcard. That should increase it to close to two hundred. That's older than the large majority of our species will ever become."

Zender's somber mood was wiped away instantly, and he grinned at his sister. "Can you imagine? What will we even look like in a hundred years? Perhaps we can have children of our own?"

"I don't want children," Earila muttered. "My genes would set them back behind the others so far they would only be barely better than me. Besides, who would want to have children with me?"

Irwin felt massively uncomfortable, but Rindiri just snorted and then laughed, causing Earila to glare at her.

"You are so young! Don't worry about these things yet," she said, looking at her daughter with bright eyes. "You have cards that will allow you to slowly become an adult now and enjoy life. Besides, who knows? You might return home and think differently!"

At the mention of home -the way they had started referring to Eluathar- Rindiri smiled. The warmth removed some of her usually stoic outlook, making her seem younger even with her partially gray hair.

Irwin leaned forward curiously about something. "What happens if one of them gets a soulcard?" he asked. "Will they be able to become even older?"

Rindiri smiled sadly while Zender and Earila shook their heads.

"They aren't strong enough to hold a soulcard," Rindiri said. "Only Ibiri would be able to."

Is that why she only had Ibiri with her when we found them? Irwin thought.

It surprised him how they hadn't spoken about these things over the last few months and only did so now.

He leaned back, ignoring the dangerous groaning of the chair, and gazed at Zender and Earila. Now that he focused on it, he saw the weak soulforce ripples and waves around them and the soft humming of their cards mixed together.

Why would they be able to hold a heartcard, but not a soulcard, he thought, pursing his lips. The only real difference was that the card was moved from their bodies into their souls, though he had no idea what that really meant. Ambraz had said it was the seed in all of them that bound their minds and bodies together and allowed all life to generate a tiny amount of soulforce.

Did that mean their weakness was more than just physical?

I wish I could see what their soulscapes look like, Irwin thought. Perhaps there was something wrong with it? Thin barriers, perhaps? He decided to ask Rindiri about it.

Zarina returned with plates filled with food, most generic. There was one tiny plate with a few Ignitzion dishes, and without paying a lot of attention, engrossed in thoughts, Irwin took a thin slice of heavily spiced meat chewing on it.

"Oh, dear, how did that remain there?! I'll get the water," Zarina said, sounding worried and ripping Irwin out of his thoughts.

The old Ignitzion was looking at him worriedly, and Irwin looked around to see the others smile or grin.

"Don't worry, Zarina. Our Captain doesn't just look like metal. His mouth is actually made of it!"

Irwin looked at the tiny plate, suddenly realizing what it was.

"Ah, don't worry! I love these," he said, taking another piece of meat. "Perhaps I can have some more?"

Zarina's eyebrows had risen almost to her hairline, but she nodded. "Of course, Captain!" she rushed away, and the others grinned.

"I wonder if there's anything you can't eat," Greldo asked.

"I don't like cold things," Irwin said as he began mixing different dishes.

The rest of their meal went by without any interruptions, and when they finished, Zarina brought them to a hallway with three rooms. Irwin got his own, while Zender and Greldo shared the one on his left, and Rindiri and Earila the one on his right.

Irwin would have been fine to share a room with Greldo and Zender, but his friend had said it would be best if they kept up appearances. With Rindiri agreeing, Irwin had just accepted the arrangement.

"Thank you for the meal. Do you know how long all of this will take? I heard that the Ganvil has done this before?" he said.

He was looking at Zarina, who had brought them to their rooms. The others had already left, but he wanted to try and glean some more information from the old Ignitzion.

"Yes, it means that one of you has the potential to become a cardsmith," Zarina said excitedly. "Lord You'gyn has been searching for a smith for as long as he was here. Sadly, with the Smiths guild pulling all their smiths back, the chances are even smaller now."

'Ask her how long he's been here!' Ambraz said.

"I see," Irwin said thoughtfully. "How long ago did You'gyn come here then?"

"Oh, that has to be almost fifty years ago now? Merchant Timescale, mind you," Zarina said. "Rumor has it that he was sent here as punishment for some transgression, but nobody really knows for sure. Lord You'gyn doesn't really come here and talk with us."

"What happened the previous time?" Irwin asked.

"There was a young girl with a heartcard that interested Lord You'gyn, but in the end, she ended up being the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Her ship was allowed to continue on a week later. It happened a few more times, though, and one time, we all thought Lord You'gyn was going to keep a young sail-scrubber here. He had an open cardslot if you can believe that, and his other cards seemed compatible. Only due to a lack of a propper sixth card did You'gyn finally let them leave."

Zarina leaned forward with wide eyes. "One of the guards once told me that he heard lord You'gyn mutter something about the boy needing Purperion!"

Irwin raised an eyebrow; his curiosity peaked. "What's that?" he asked, deciding to act as if he didn't know what Purperion was.

"A not very well-known metal that is said to be able to help smiths become really powerful, though I have no idea how," Zarina said. "Back when I was a little girl on Igniz, there were legends about it. It's said that eons ago, shortly after our people found the Exit Portal and the Portal Gallery, it was used in the most special jewelry."

'Interesting,' Ambraz muttered. 'See if she knows more about that! If we can find more purperion, that would be fantastic!'

"How do you know about it if it's that long ago?" Irwin asked.

"I've always had an interest in history," Zarina said with a sad grin. "It's why I'm here and not back home."

Irwin waited for her to continue, but Zarina just smiled and turned back to the stairs.

"Now, have a good rest! I'm sure Lord You'gyn will come and see you soon!"

"Rest well," Irwin replied as he moved into his room and closed the door.

'Meet me in your soulscape,' Ambraz said as soon as the door was closed.

Irwin took a quick look around the sparsely furnished room. It had a bed, a closet, and a single shuttered window. Moving to the bed, he lay down, and a few moments later, he appeared inside his soulscape.

He was momentarily taken aback by just how large it was. The steamy clouds moved around up high while the mountain towered before him. The lava lake had increased in size, covering one section of the foot of the mountain, and the energy barriers that surrounded him were dark but slightly opaque.

"Alright, we need to figure out what to do!" Ambraz said, flying up from below. "You'gyn is going to try and persuade you to bond with him, which can't happen because we are already bonded."

"What does it mean that we are bonded," Irwin asked, flying along with Ambraz across the landscape of his

Ambraz was quiet for a while, then snorted. "I guess it's about time we had this conversation," he said. "Remember when I explained to you how Ganvils require energy? Well, what we really need is the changed and purified soulforce that is created when cardsmiths reforge cards, either by upgrading them or changing them sideways. Unlike people that have cards, we Ganvils can't just harvest the Ambient Soulforce of a world until we are rank six."

Irwin nodded, recalling what Ambraz had told him before.

"So, to actually be able to use the purified soulforce the cardsmith creates, we need to match our soul's resonation to theirs," Ambraz said with a weary hum. "It's a one-time thing, so if we bind to the wrong smith, we could be locked from becoming the higher ranks."

"Wait, so your soul is resonating with mine?" Irwin said in surprise.

"Well, with your soulforce, but yes, I guess it's roughly the same," Ambraz muttered. "The thing is, I don't know all of the details because I hadn't planned to bind with anyone until returning home."

Irwin watched the tiny anvil quietly. "So why did you bond with me then?"

Ambraz's lips quirked up in a massive grin. "What do you think? Because you are almost as talented as I am! It's guaranteed that I'll be able to reach rank seven, and it wouldn't really surprise me if we manage to reach rank eight! I'd love to see that old iron monstrosity's reaction when another rank eight world anvil appears!"

"Who?" Irwin asked.

"Gynerigon, the only known rank eight world anvil," Ambraz said with distaste. "A self-righteous, annoying old bastard and the Progenitor of You'gyn."

Irwin frowned as he thought about the two names, and then an idea cropped in his mind.

"So that's why he's called You'gyn? The last bit of his name is the first of Gynerigon?"

"Yeah," Ambraz said with a snort. "And before you ask, yes, my real name is Am'braz, after Brazardian."

"So he's your father or Progenitor," Irwin said, hesitating before asking something he'd been wondering about for a long time. "How do new Ganvils get created or born then?"

"Progenitor, we don't have fathers or mothers like you fleshies do," Ambraz said before sighing wearily. "Kid, you and your questions are going to be the death of me someday! Anyway, I'm not sure why anybody would be interested in this, but fine!"

Irwin held back a grin, knowing full well that Ambraz was fully enjoying himself.

"Ganvils can take the excess soulforce we have accumulated towards our next rank up and use it to create new Ganvils. Because of how much-refined soulforce is needed, every Ganvil above rank four donates half their gained refined soulforce each month to the collective, and we create rank zero Ganvils from that. It takes a lot to create a new Ganvil, so it's going to be many years before we ever reach the same numbers as we did before our world was shattered," Ambraz said, sounding sad.

"I wasn't created back then, but the stories I've heard indicate there were millions of us! Anyway… most Ganvils are limited in their growth because of this. Being created from so many different resonating soul energies isn't optimal, and they are usually limited to rank four, sometimes five if they find an exceedingly powerful smith. Technically, one could grow to rank six and beyond, but the chances are too small to count. Luckily, after rank seven, a World Anvil has so much energy that he can split off enough to create an entire Ganvil. As you can probably guess, that's what I am! My Progenitor is one of the Monarchs, the third by age and power, and that means my entire being was formed from a single intake of purified soulforce, all resonating at the exact right and perfect frequency!"

Irwin grinned at the smugness in Ambraz's voice, though he did understand why the Ganvil felt superior to others. He'd probably grown up being told he was better.

"Does this benefit the cardsmith?" Irwin asked, guessing it probably would.

"Of course! Because I have only a single, pure resonation, I can far better help you reforge the most difficult of cards. It's the only reason you ever managed to create your own heartcard! If I'd been just any regular Ganvil, it would have been impossible, and it would have shattered."

They continued flying around for a bit, Irwin mulling over what he'd heard.

"So, what do we do now?" he finally asked. "I don't know about you, but I don't very much feel like giving away The Sonata. It might not be the best ship, but it's grown on me."

"You should learn not to care for objects too much," Ambraz snorted. "Anyway, there are two things I can think of. We can grab him when he arrives, force him into your soulscape, and scare him until he does what we want…"

"We can do that?" Irwin asked in surprise before thinking about the other part. "What do you mean, scare him? Wouldn't he just detain us after he gets back out?"

"Dammit, I had thought you had stopped asking so many questions for a while," Ambraz said. "Yes, we can do that, though without my help, it would be impossible. Also, You'gyn is super annoying! He was like that when he was just rank zero, always flying around, telling others he was the best and would become a World Anvil before even his elder siblings! Scaring him a bit will be good for him!"

"Right," Irwin said. "What's the other idea you had?"

“We offer him Zender,” Ambraz said. "The kid has potential, though not nearly as much as any of those smiths from your world."

Irwin thought for a bit, then shook his head. "No. Zender should be allowed to decide for himself. Besides, that would mean You'gyn would be coming along with us for the foreseeable future."

"UGH! Right, I hadn't thought of that. Forget I said anything," Ambraz exclaimed.

They continued flying around when Irwin thought of something else.

"What if we just tell You'gyn you are here and that we are on the way to Granvox," he said. "Would he rat us out with the Smiths Guild or do something else bad?"

Ambraz's mouth opened, then closed, and he was quiet for a bit.

"I don't know… You'gyn is annoying, headstrong, and feels too good about himself… but he wasn't ever a bully or nasty," he finally said. "The problem is, I haven't seen him in a very long time. He could have changed. Become bitter from being sent here. Besides, we don't know what he did to be sent here."

"Do you think he will give up if Zender and me aren't interested?" Irwin asked.

"Not quickly," Ambraz said. "If he has reached rank three, he will have been held back from improving for a very long time and probably won't be easy to dissuade."

Irwin was about to say something when Ambraz grunted.

"Dammit, head back out! He's heading to your room- the window!"

Irwin closed his eyes, and a moment later, he was back in his body, looking around the still-empty room. He barely managed to get up when a rustling sound came from behind the shutter.

"Captain Irwin, open this shutter, please!" You'gyn's voice came from behind the shutter.

Irwin sighed, wondering what he should do as he opened the shutter. The silver Ganvil shot inside, hovering around.

"Thank you! I decided to check if you were comfortable and needed something," You'gyn said as he landed on the table.

As he sat there quietly, Irwin noticed a few differences with Ambraz. Besides the color, You'gyn was slightly larger, and his etched lips were a bit thinner. His wings had another pattern, and there were some barely visible, tiny symbols etched around the bottom side.

"I'm pretty comfortable," Irwin said, honestly. "Zarina has been incredibly nice."

"Good, good," You'gyn said, his lips curving in a happy smile. "Say, I was wondering, have you ever thought about becoming a cardsmith?"

Wow, he really doesn't waste any time, Irwin thought, staring at the Ganvil in surprise. He hesitated about how to respond, then decided to start with a question of his own.

"Am I understanding it right that you are looking for someone to bond to?" he asked.

"Yes, yes!" You'gyn said, flying back up and circling the room. "I've been here for a while, and I've decided that it's about time to take the next step! You've got a lot of potential, though you will have to show your exact soulcard for me to make my final decision, but I'd love to!"

'This little punk,' Ambraz growled in his mind. 'Did he forget the proper ways already!?'

"I see," Irwin said, trying to ignore Ambraz's angry rattling. "I'm afraid there's a misunderstanding here. I'm not looking to become a smith," he said. Because I already am one.

"Ah, because of the current trouble with the Smith's Guild, I take it!" You'gyn said. "Don't worry! If we bond, we can just go to Granvox, and we will be fine. Nobody would dare abduct smiths from there, and the Smith's Guild has brought a lot of smiths so you won't be alone!"

Irwin grimaced at You'gyn's tenacity. "That is only part of it," he said. "The thing is that I have a mission to finish, and we need to return the ship to the Casnar Merchant Group. I'm also not sure smithing is the thing for me."

The last was an outright lie, but he hoped he could somehow talk You'gyn out of it.

"Well, I wouldn't mind coming along on a mission! I've been cooped up for so long; anywhere is better than here, really," You'gyn said. "So, how about you show me your soulcard so we can wrap this up?"

'This, rusty little-' Ambraz shouted.

Irwin winced, almost expecting Ambraz's voice to be audible beyond his mind. When he didn't respond, You'gyn's lips turned into a straight line.

"Do you know the benefits of being a cardsmith?" You'gyn said. "You will become insanely rich, be able to make all your future cards much better, and… if we are bonded, I can change some things and easily let you and your crew leave."

There was no denying the slight threat in You'gyn's words.

"I went to check on the kid, but his potential is hampered by what those Yuurindi call poor genes. As good as his cards fit, he can't even slot a ruby rank card," You'gyn continued, landing on the table. "And I've been here for long enough. I'm not staying here any longer if I don't have to! Now, show me your soulcard!"

'Enough!' Ambraz snapped. 'This punk has annoyed me too much. Get ready to grab him!'

Before Irwin could even react, he felt Ambraz exit his soulscape, and a moment later, he struggled out of Irwin's pocket.

"You'gyn, you annoying rusty tool," Ambraz snapped as he flew up in the air.

You'gyn's mouth fell open, and his wings fluttered.

"Who…. Am'braz? What… You're dead! What are you doing here?"

Irwin had moved forward, but he didn't know what Ambraz expected of him. Luckily, it became clear almost immediately. Ambraz rushed forward and collided with You'gyn.

"Now!"