Irwin stared out across the busy square, where people walked around the stalls, buying and perusing. A happy chatter came from all around him, with close to a hundred other people sitting around tables that seemingly haphazardly covered the terrace of one of New Malloron's largest restaurants.
A day had passed since he'd successfully made the last card, and he had left that morning to roam the streets to think. His otherself was still examining the card, as was Ambraz, but he knew it wouldn't bring up anything new. The three of them had checked after he woke, and there were no mistakes that he could find. If any did crop up, it would be after he slotted all six and went through the difficult process of making his sixth soulcard.
If I slot these, there's no going back, he thought, taking a sip from the massive mug of Burnem Wine.
The hot drink burned through his throat, though he knew the alcohol in it would do nothing to him. Not that his mother would approve if she saw him drinking it this early. Putting the mug back, he took another Udnit Root, wondering how many other places in the Langost Branch had restaurants that served Ignitzian and Ganvil food. Probably not many.
"Are you not happy with the twelve cards we made?"
Irwin snorted as Ambraz appeared on his shoulder.
"It's not that," he said. "It's just that if we slot these, we are at a point of no return. Right now, I could still focus on any of the other types I have, create a different final symphony. But if I slot the first six, even if we do change things later, it will be far more limited."
"You are already limited," Ambraz snorted. "You can't become a shadewalker anymore, or a treeshaper. You couldn't fully convert to water, or any of the other more basic elements. Perhaps you could focus more on music and sound, or more on fire or metal, but in the end, what you will make is just a variation of these things."
Irwin hummed in agreement, finishing his final Udnit Root.
"Are you afraid of making the Worldcard?" Ambraz asked softly.
"A little," Irwin said, honestly. "Everyone seems to think we will just do it without problems, but we both were there when Exarg told us how difficult it would be. Even with the best preparations, many attempts result in death."
"That's Worldskills, not Worldcards, though," Ambraz said. "We have a far greater ability to manage what we eventually end up with."
"I know," Irwin said. "But none of the Galadin managed, and they had incredible cardsmithing skills, and an Empire that spanned tens of thousands of years of history. I know we talked about this before, and that they might not have known, but…"
"You think they would have?"
Irwin stared at a group of young children rushing a vendor who sold small wrapped honeyrolls.
"I don't know. Maybe."
"Even if they did, the cards we needed to get here were difficult to find," Ambraz hummed. "Also, they didn't have bonded Ganvil. You are a fantastic cardsmith, and I don't think they will have had any that were a great deal better, but even if they had, don't underestimate the benefit you have had."
Irwin smiled, downing the last of his drink.
"You are right. Besides, I am not afraid that we will fail so badly that we will die," he said, looking around until he found the Ignitzian waiter. She saw him looking at the same time and walked forward with a wide smile.
"Cardsmith Roddington, was everything as you wished?"
"It was," Irwin said, removing a simple heat-based emerald-rank card from his soulscape, one of the many thousands he had, and handing it over.
The Ignitzian's smile widened, her eyes glittering.
"Thank you, but your children's tab was still very low," she said. "Though Mia and Flux seem to be trying hard to eat through all my Puari when they get here."
"It is fine," Irwin said.
"Kid, you have to be the only cardsmith that pays for a meal with an emerald card. That thing was worth more than her restaurant!"
"Only if we weren't on Eluathar," Irwin said as he nodded and walked away. "Besides, I told you before. This gives me the ability to spread more cards around."
Ambraz let out a mental snort, and Irwin smiled as he walked through the crowded area of the city. After a few minutes, he reached the crafting area, which had grown greatly.
Besides him and Endil, a few more cardsmiths had set up shop in the crafting area, and over the years, a new balance had grown. Endil made the more difficult cards that didn't deal with fire and heat, and most of the simpler heartcards. Irwin only made cards he wanted to, and heartcards, and all other cards were made by the less experienced cardsmiths.
Then there were the woodshapers, regular smiths, and a great deal of crafters for very specific items. Many people recognized him, but except for some excited conversations, nobody moved to talk with him. He preferred it that way.
He didn't stick around and headed back to his home, finding that it was empty. A quick check told him that his children were spread out across the city, with Zan and Ti in one of the small shops that also sold books, Soot at Greldo's house, and Mia, Flux, and Glow on the edges of the city near the forest. Scintilla was with his mother and Carla, heading for the training grounds of the rangers, where he also sensed Bronwyn.
Irwin moved to the central courtyard, sat down below his tree, and summoned a thin stack of six cards. Cards that together had cost him over a year to make, some even requiring the use of a template card. Together with the other six cards, they were likely the most valuable cards he had right now.
"Let's slot Sweltering Vapors, Pyroflux Wellspring, and Kinetic Resonance," he muttered, taking the top three cards and staring at the first one. The resonance he sensed from it perfectly matched what he and Ambraz had planned.
Now, let's see if they don't change when I slot them, he thought.
Holding the first card above his hand, which had been empty for a long time now, he felt his existing cards almost shiver in anticipation. The Sweltering Vapors card, which wouldn't be the main card of his new heartcard, but which would be responsible for a very important change when he would finally create his worldcard, sank down smoothly.
Irwin focused on the card, finding the resonance within himself within moments.
Such a big difference from the first time, he thought.
It took him only a few minutes to feel the resonance with his soulscape and soulcards finish, at which point he slotted the second card, and the one he was looking forward to the most.
"Finally," he whispered as he let the Pyroflux Wellspring card slide into the card socket.
"I am fully expecting half your soulscape to become Pyroflux when you finally make the soulcard," Ambraz said.
Irwin snorted as he focused on the card.
As he did, he sensed Ti and Zan move back into the house. He had slotted the third card, Kinetic Resonance, before they walked out into the courtyard.
"Dad! You are slotting your cards," Zan shouted as she ran forward, Silv'am flying from her shoulder to sit beside Ambraz on one of the tree's lower branches.
"That I am," Irwin said, as he raised his left hand to show them the three cards.
"But you said you would tell me what they were," Zan complained with a pout.
Irwin smiled as he removed a small booklet from his soulscape, handing it to her, on the correct page. Ti stepped up next to her, eyes gleaming as the two began reading the two cards.
Normally, it wasn't a good idea to share the details of his cards with other people, but even among his children, these two were unlikely to accidentally share them. Besides, if they did, these were just the cards. It was his heartcard that would really matter.
He glanced at the book as they read, his gaze passing over the first three cards.
--
Name: Sweltering Vapors
Type: Diamond, Heat, Liquid, Forged by Irwin Roddington
Owner: -
A complex card that constantly draws heat from ambient moisture while allowing the wielder a limited control over ambient moisture. !Warning: can greatly reduce the ambient temperature. Requires a body that can resist extreme temperatures.
Passive: Increased fire resistance
Passive: Draws heat from moisture
Passive: Sense liquid vapors
Active: Draw ambient vapors together to form clouds
---
Name: Pyroflux Wellspring
Type: Diamond, Pyroflux, Heat Forged by Irwin Roddington
Owner: -
A rare card that binds stone, earth, heat, and metal, to allow the wielder to create Pyroflux. Scales with soulforce.
Passive: Greatly increased fire resistance
Passive: Increased agility
Active: Minor Pyroflux control
Active: Generate Pyroflux [Soulforce]
---
Name: Kinetic Resonance
Type: Diamond, Kinetic, Sound, Forged by Irwin Roddington
Owner: -
A very rare card that causes soundwaves to be turned into kinetic energy, which is contained within the wielder's body. !Warning: potential for kinetic overload.
Passive: Increased hearing
Passive: Increased ability to separate sounds
Passive: Generate kinetic energy based on sound waves
Active: Project kinetic energy into a soundwave
--
"Are you going to allow us to play in more pyroflux again?" Zan asked, looking up happily.
"Yes," Irwin said with a smile. "I'll ask one of the earthshapers to create a chamber deep beneath our house and make a pool."
"Today?!"
"No," Irwin said, noticing that Ti was frowning as she examined the cards.
"Itirilla?" he asked, knowing she preferred being called that, even though she allowed her siblings to call her Ti.
"I thought you had to have as few types as possible," she said. "But you already have a lot across these three. The implicit ones alone…"
Irwin wasn't surprised she had noticed, nor that Zan seemed to already know why.
"I am not going to use all of them," he said. "Some will be merged when I create the heartcard, while others are just there to allow me to create the exact resonance my eventual symphony needs."
"So, does that mean that what you have now isn't actually what you need?" Ti asked, staring at the three cards.
"Exactly," Irwin said. "You see-"
With a smile, he slowly explained the details to the two girls, who enjoyed it for different reasons.
"How long till you make your heartcard?" Zan asked when he finally finished, causing Ti to shake her head.
"Dad has to combine them first, and that hurts, remember?"
"Oh. Right…”
Irwin sighed as he saw the worry in Zan's eyes, knowing that Ti was likely just as worried, just hiding it better. Most of his children hadn't had to deal with much physical suffering, and even if they had, he knew the stories being told.
It's not like the stories are wrong either, he thought, recalling his own first time merging a card. It had been years ago, in what the older people now called Old Degonda, and he could vividly recall his own screams.
He shivered, and instantly Zan walked forward, hugging.
"It's fine, Dad," she whispered, eyes very worried now. "You don't have to."
Irwin stared at her, and he knew he had just inadvertently made things just a bit worse.
Can't let this stand like this.
"It is not that bad if you know what to do," he said, raising his hand as he focused his soulforce on the three cards. If this had been his first, or even his second card, and if he'd not had the soulscape stability and soulforce power he did, he knew he would never be able to do what he was going to do now.
But he did.
Forcing the cards in his hand together felt simple compared to making them, and as he watched his hand, he felt the pain grow into a mild, tearing sensation. It didn't grow any more, though, as his overbearing soulforce stability compounded what would normally be a long, grueling period into what he guessed wouldn't be more than just a minute of a rough time.
"Right now-" he said, holding up his hand so they could see the lines that moved between the cards start to ripple and move together. "-I am combining the three cards, and I have already decided which parts to merge. In this case, it's the passive soulforce steam that is on the card, but too weak to actually register. It's not something you can do yet, but you will with time."
"Dad, no! Do I need to call Heatmother?" Zan cried, and Irwin calmly put his other hand on her shoulder.
"It is fine, little one. Just watch."
"But the teachers said it hurts a lot?!" Zan said, looking at him with worry etched on her face.
"It does, but you can make it less painful by knowing exactly what to do beforehand and having a powerful soulforce stability. Also, each time you do it, it becomes easier."
Under the scrutinizing eyes of his two daughters, Irwin quietly felt the cards finish their connection, and almost immediately, the pain began to fade.
"All done," he said, smiling at Zan, who cocked her head in confusion.
"So… I thought you needed to have your cards for a while? And shouldn't this take closer to an hour?" Ti asked, frowning deeper.
"It depends on whether it is your first card, and how strong your soulscape stability is," Irwin said, seeing that they had both calmed down again.
Guess we can just continue now, he thought, as he examined the three combined cards' resonance.
They were perfectly as he had imagined, and he felt a slight sense of relief as one of the potential worries was resolved.
"If you have cards with overlapping resonance types, that also makes it easier. Neither of you two will be able to do it either this painlessly or fast, but you also don't have to worry. I will be there when you combine your cards and help you manage the pain."
"We won't feel it?" Zan asked, sounding hopeful.
"You will," Irwin said, with a sad smile. "There is nothing I can do to fully prevent the pain. Also, you need to learn how it feels. What if, in the future, you have to do it and don't know what to expect?"
Ti was nodding, though Zan looked worried.
"Will you slot the other three cards and make your heartcard now?" Ti asked.
"Yes and no," Irwin said as he removed the next three cards from his pocket.
Ti took the booklet from Zan and flipped to the next page curiously. Irwin knew what it would say as he slotted the fourth card.
Name: The Cadence of Fire
Type: Unique, Fire, Sound, Growth, Diamond, Forged by Irwin Roddington
Owner: -
A unique card made by Irwin Roddington that allows the wielder to hear fire as if it were a song. Fire generated by the wielder produces a harmonic hum that stabilizes the surrounding fire-typed soulforce.
Passive: Increased fire resistance
Passive: Wielder's fire has a soulforce stabilizing hum
Passive: Hear fire in its true form
Active: Increase the frequency of the hum to amplify the intensity of the surrounding fire
--
"Oh, you made another unique card! You can hear fire after this?" Zan squealed in excitement. "I really want to know what that sounds like."
"Yes," Irwin said. "But I won't keep that part. I never expected it to become unique, and technically it doesn't have to be."
"Well, it made things a lot easier," Ambraz snorted from above, seemingly done calmly observing. "Because of the stability it gives, we were able to get the rest of the cards of this hand faster than we had anticipated."
"You aren't keeping the fire hearing?" Zan asked, sounding disgruntled.
"No. I needed the resonance song that gave me, so I can condense the other sound parts of my next heartcard. It proved to be the only way to get the completed heartcard's song. Besides, hearing fire might actually cause some issues for me because it will interfere with my soulforce hearing."
As they spoke, the card finished slotting, and he waited calmly as he felt something… change in the way the sounds occurred around him. It began with an increased clarity, as if the rustling leaves and the chatter from the city changed from a homogeneous background noise into clear and distinct sounds.
Oh, this is going to take some getting used to…
Irwin turned his head, angling it around a bit, as he toyed with the way it changed the sounds. Depending on what he was looking at, the sounds seemed to almost separate from the others. It wasn't as if they were louder either, but as he looked at a wall, the talking of a couple of older women that moved along it became crisp, as if the rest wasn't interfering with them.
"- say what you will, but there's no better place. I heard from my cousin in New Degonda that cards there are far harder to get. Here? All of the Smiths, not just him-" A sound of a sleeve rustling painted the picture of someone pointed in Irwin's mind. "-have this funny tendency to just use cards to pay for things. Did you hear that Amanda actually got a body improvement card last week, and she looks like she's two decades younger! She's hiding it below-"
Irwin grinned as he focused on the sounds of the leaves behind him, instantly losing the conversation.
"Is it fun? Can you hear the fire?" Zan asked, now bouncing up and down.
"I was listening to a conversation beyond the walls," Irwin said, though he agreed with his daughter.
Even if he didn't need it, he would need to know how fire sounded. Between that and the oddity of how sound now seemed sharper and split, he would need to practice his reforging and singing so it didn't interfere.
He raised his hand and summoned one of his flames, and instantly, a beautiful, crisp voice began humming a fast, jittery song. Below the hum was a deeper droning sound, and Irwin blinked as he stared at his flame. Moving it around changed the hum, causing it to speed up or slow down, and as he watched it, he realized something.
It's the fire-typed soulforce that I am hearing!
He pushed some more soulforce into the flame, and the song became far louder.
"Is it nice?" Zan asked, eyes wide with desire.
"It is," Irwin admitted, letting his flame vanish.
"Can you make me one for my second card?" Zan asked, leaning forward. "I know what it should be! A Chaos Whale, my Flute, hearing fire, and soulforce and soulscape strengthening!"
Irwin looked at what he had begun to feel was his youngest daughter and felt a wave of pride. Besides having found something she loved at an early age, she had even managed to determine how to get there.
"I take it you also know what your first set will be then?" he asked with a smile.
"Yes, I-"
"Not now," Silv'am shouted from the branch. "I want to see the other cards being slotted!"
Zan huffed as she looked up at the tree.
"But-"
“No buts, little Ember! You said we would show him tomorrow, so we will!"
Zan's shoulders drooped down, but she nodded. "Fine. But I am going to tell him as soon as I wake up."
"Don't wake up too early," Irwin said, smiling as Zan raised her eyebrows at him. "I might be sleeping in."
"You never sleep in," Ti said, shaking her head.
"Exactly!" Zan agreed.
"Well, I feel like I might tomorrow," Irwin said, rubbing his chin.
Ignoring their scowls, he took out the fourth card, and Ti and Zan immediately looked back at the book. Their attention switched between looking at it and the card now sliding into the middle slot of his right hand.
"Oh! Soulforce regeneration based on temperature," Ti said, eyes glittering. "So, when you are in a volcano, you will never be out of soulforce!"
"I wouldn't say never, but it will definitely help a lot," Irwin said, as he recalled the card's details.
--
Name: Soulforce Combustion
Type: Soulforce, Heat, Diamond, Forged by Irwin Roddington
Owner: -
A very rare card that increases the wielder's regeneration and soulforce regeneration based on the ambient temperature. Higher temperatures give a greater increase. Excessive cold decreases the regeneration.
Passive: Greatly increased fire resistance
Passive: Increased regeneration
Passive: Slightly increased soulforce regeneration
Passive: Increased soulforce regeneration based on ambient temperature
---
A card with a negative part to cold, he thought, and not for the first time, he recalled his very first card.
Part of the time he and Ambraz had needed was to try to find a way to remove the cold part of the card, only to fail repeatedly. No matter how many times they tried, there just wasn't a single card they could make without it that would give the minute parts of the completed resonance pattern his worldcard would need.
I guess it's not too weird, Irwin thought as he sensed the slight changes in his body. A moment later, there was a jump in his soulforce regeneration.
Time for the last one, he thought, glancing at his daughters to see their reaction as he slid the card into the final socket while they flipped the page.
---
Name: Augmented Soulcastle
Type: Diamond, Summon, Soulscape, Forged by Irwin Roddington
Owner: -
A very rare card that allows the wielder to create a castle within their soulscape. The size of the castle increases the size of the soulscape. The Soulscape Castle costs soulforce to create, with more soulforce increasing its size. !Warning: the soulforce used has diminishing returns.
Passive: Greatly increased soulscape size
Passive: Increased soulforce capacity
Active: Creates a castle within the soulscape that boosts soulscape size
--
"Oh! You will get a castle!" Zan shouted, her excitement growing again.
Ti's eyes always gleamed, and Irwin could see the wheels behind them start spinning.
He almost felt bad as he smirked and shook his head.
Ti immediately understood and sighed. "You will not keep that either?"
"No. I needed that part for both the soulforce resonance and for what it will allow me to do with the Pyroflux."
"With the Pyroflux?" Ti asked, eyes widening.
"You will find out soon," Irwin said as he felt the last card settle into his mind. As the sixth in a short time, he knew that his initial idea had been too optimistic. He would need to take at least some time to get used to them before making his heartcard. A day, maybe two, if he guessed right.
"So, you are not going to make your heartcard now?" Ti asked.
"No," Irwin said, cocking his head as she stepped forward.
"Are you going to experiment with your castle?"
"I… hadn't planned on it," Irwin said. "I won't keep it, so-"
"Please! I want to see," Ti said, eyes wide.
Beside her, Zan grinned. "Do you want a castle in your soulscape?"
"Perhaps," Ti said.
"You do know that if you take soulforce and soulscape cards each time, you can create either fake soulforce constructs like Ambraz showed you-"
"Hey!"
"-or real ones, like the ones the Shaidin taught us," Irwin said, ignoring his Ganvil's outburst.
"Yes," Ti said. "Which is why I want to see what the differences are. Also, I am hoping that with the proper other cards, the summoned building might be able to be put outside the soulscape."
Irwin hummed in surprise as he realized what Ti was thinking about.
"Is something like that possible?" he quickly asked Ambraz, realizing he'd never encountered a card that allowed him to move something outside when it was meant specifically for his soulscape, which, to be fair, was already incredibly rare itself.
"No idea… but I'll do some searching later," Ambraz said, sounding as curious as Irwin felt.
"Fine, let's go and try," Irwin said as he got up and felt the changes to his body. Although only one of the cards had an improvement to his body in the form of an agility increase, the slight increases that every card always gave to strength and many other things, compounded with those he already had, and as he rolled his shoulders, he knew he'd become stronger again.
Still, the changes are minor compared to most of my previous soulcards, he thought, something that he had known would be the case as it would with his final set of cards. The main goal for them was to smooth and connect and give him the resonance patterns he would need for his worldcard.
He pulled his two daughters into his soulscape, where they arrived on the shoulders of his giantself while he walked back to the house.
-- Irwin's Soulscape --
"Can you make it bigger?" Ti asked as she stared at the enormous black stone building with spiraling towers, multiple large courtyards, and walls over fifty feet high.
"Does it have to be black?" Zan asked at the same time.
Ti heard her father laugh softly, a rumbling deep in his giant chest that she felt as much as she heard it.
"It drew material from the bedrock of my soulscape, which is why it is black and gray. If you want another color, you will need to make sure there is a different type of rock in your soulscape," he said, before turning to her.
"Yes, I can make it bigger, but I won't. Right now, each increase is costing so much soulforce that I'd be draining myself dry. Besides, it's the size of a small city already."
Which is good, Ti thought, examining the size and pondering how many people could live in it. But if I want to have it as a summonable city as I travel around, it might have to be even bigger. Besides, it needs to hold a lot of books.
"Does it have cellars?" she asked.
"Yes, it's about thirty feet down. What are you even planning for?"
"I will tell you later," Ti said, crossing her arms as she inspected the castle. "Do you know if there is any rock that is golden and red?"
"Yes, that would be so much better," Zan exclaimed as she hugged her arm.
Ti smiled at her sister, while she saw her father nod.
"Probably, but you could ask Tang. He knows a lot about the different types of stone that exist."
"What about metal?" Ti asked after a moment. "Could it be made of that?"
"No, I tried, but the drain for even a small room was almost as much as the entire central building is now."
Interesting, so metal changes how much soulforce it drains?
"Now, let's head back. The others have returned home."
Ti, or Iterilla, as she was slowly trying to think about herself, nodded.
"Can we watch when you make your heartcard?" she asked.
"Of course. It won't be tomorrow, though. Probably the day after, if the changes to how I am hearing aren't too much of a distraction."
The world around Ti changed, and she reappeared in the courtyard already hearing the excited shouting of Flux, Mia, and Glow.
"Dad, can I talk with Tang after dinner?" she asked.
"Probably. I'll ask him. Now, let's go and see what your grandmother cooked for us!"
Ti smiled as she saw her father and Zan excitedly head for the building. Both liked food more than the others, which was probably why Zan was growing as fast as she was. Not that she would likely catch up to Mia, and Flux, let alone Glow. Well, not until she got her Crathan card.
I wonder if my plan will work, Ti thought, as she followed the others, lost in her thoughts.