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Irwin's Journey 380: Large scale testing
🕑 Added 2025-02-02 18:29:28 +0000 UTCGuildmaster Joulihn quietly watched the old Viridian walk out of her office. That annoying Shadowleaf Jablin glanced inside, nodding at her before closing the door, and she sat back down.
Well, that's just great, she thought, rubbing her head.
The door almost immediately opened back up, and Mazzareth glanced inside, looking worried.
"Is everything alright?"
Joulihn smiled at the younger Scrimaril, somewhat surprised at how caring she still was during her Skeilrin. Most of her people who went through the third puberty became somewhat uncaring and highly competitive, but Mazzareth had surprised her by being mostly competitive.
"Everything is fine, Mazzareth. Come in and close the door."
Mazzareth jumped inside, closing the door with a loud thud.
"What did that old geezer want?" she asked, rushing to the now vacant chair.
"Don't call him that, Mazza…"
"Why? He doesn't care," Mazzareth said as she sat down.
"Seizer doesn't, but those around him do. You know how rigid the Ruadh'trom are with these things."
Mazzareth snorted, but to Joulihn's surprise, she just nodded.
"Fine, teacher, I'll try to mind my words."
Joulihn smiled. Even after all these years, Mazzareth preferred calling her teacher when they were in private, even though she had long since become one herself.
"So, what did Lord Seizer want?"
Joulihn instinctively straightened her back, sitting upright as she recalled the conversation.
"He wants us to share that ship so his own people can research it," she said.
"I take it he agrees that we can't return it?"
"He did," Joulihn said, feeling slightly annoyed at that. Although she knew having the ship to research could prove invaluable for any attacks on Suderfuix, she despised the ease at which everyone around her just ignored the fact that they had taken something that was not rightfully theirs. As she grew older, she'd found that unlike those of the others around her, her beliefs were turning more rigid instead of more malleable.
"Don't worry, teacher. We can just give that Yuurindi some cards, and she should be well compensated," Mazzareth said.
I highly doubt it, Joulihn thought, thinking about the Yuurindi's Captain.
"Lord Seizer wants me to try and keep Irwin here," she said. "He told me the same things Irwin did, and he corroborated parts of it."
"What? How? Did he get a message from Dimartintsia? I thought we weren't allowed to due to the storm interfering-"
Joulihn raised her hand, shutting off Mazzareth's rapid-fire exclamations.
"He got a message from Dimarintsia, and no, he wasn't willing to let us use the crystal," she said. Before Mazzareth could start complaining, she quickly continued. "The soulforce required to make the connection takes months to recharge."
"Couldn't he have left us some?" Mazzareth whined. "You couldn't even verify what that Fiz'rin told us yourself!"
"No, although the storm will stop soon, it seems it's going to increase before it does. As it was, Lord Seizer barely got all the information he needed," Joulihn said. "Be grateful that he shared it with me."
Including a few things I'll keep to myself, she thought.
Mazzareth snorted. "Even after all these years, I don't understand these outer branches. How can the leader of a single world be more important than the Guildmaster of an entire branch?!"
"He isn't more important. He just doesn't defer to me as we are used to," Joulihn said.
"Well, I still think that's stupid," Mazzareth said, clasping her arms and glaring at the table. "So, now what?"
"Now I'm going to continue preparations for a full testing round to commence tomorrow," Joulihn said. "I want you to work together with the teachers to collect everyone that is ready."
"Really? I thought you were just going to test that Fiz'rin?"
"I was, but if we do that, it will cause him to stand out way too much. If we just create a last-minute testing round, it should cover at least some of that."
"Sure…" Mazzareth muttered. "Except that he's the only one to do a ruby-rank and above... to test..."
She stopped talking as Joulihn's smile widened.
"What? I thought… Who?!"
"I've told the teachers that anyone at emerald or higher is allowed to attempt to progress one time, free of charge," Joulihn said. "Including themselves."
"What? Why!?" Mazzareth shouted, pushing herself up in shock. "We don't have enough cards for everyone's standard rewards!"
"True, but Lord Seizer asked me to, and he is willing to double the cards we receive next month," Joulihn said.
Mazzareth thudded back in her chair, and Joulihn laughed softly at the antics of the younger women.
"Mazz, calm down. Lord Seizer has his reasons, and things will work out."
"Work out? But… I thought you wanted Irwin to stay here and find out where he actually went and where those other smiths he took from Granvox ended up?! Perhaps he's lying, and he's actually behind the smiths disappearing?" Mazzareth exclaimed, her voice rising as she seemed to lose control. "From everything I've seen and heard so far, he is dead set on leaving tomorrow. I don't even think he'd stay after he inadvertently fails to prove himself at diamond rank!"
Joulihn waited for Mazzareth to calm down, and when she finally did, Mazzareth's shoulders slumped.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"It's fine," Joulihn said. "Lord Seizer says we shouldn't worry about that. He has something planned that will allow him to find out where Irwin is going. He will also share what he finds, but he needs Irwin to use as much of his soulforce as possible, and the best way to do that is by causing a lot of interference. We both know how much harder it is to reforge when the ambient soulforce is riled up and muddied by so many others reforging cards. If we create a normal testing round, his soulforce signature will stand out amongst the others clearly."
Mazzareth frowned, seeming confused. Then her eyes shot wide.
"Lord Seizer is employing a Soulforce Tracker?" she muttered, turning pale.
"One that was sent from Dimartintsia," Joulihn said.
"Do… we know him?"
Joulihn nodded as she leaned back, staring out of the window.
"Terlo."
"Ughhhh," Mazzareth grunted in disgust, though her worry faded. "That disgusting… seriously? Well, I guess it's better than what it could have been. I thought he refused to work to the edges of the branch?"
"Normally, he does, but Lord Seizer must have offered him something he can't resist."
"Great… so that means you will allow Irwin to leave?"
"Mazz, not even Lord Seizer thinks he can keep him here without great effort. Besides, what use is it keeping him here if he doesn't wish to stay?"
Mazzareth snorted. "Well, it's not as if he is that great. He's just one of those hacks that use Ganvil to make up for their own lack of skill."
Joulihn nodded at that.
"Will you allow him to use that Ganvil during his test?"
"No. You know I won't," Joulihn said.
"Then he will fail. He's what, forty years old? There's no way he has reached diamond rank reforging," Mazzareth muttered. "I bet he can't even reforge a propper ruby-rank card without the help of that symbiotic toy."
"Mazzareth!" Joulihn said, frowning angrily.
"What? You know it's true," Mazzareth muttered, though she slowly deflated. "It's why you kept all truly talented smiths away from Granvox, right? Because it ruins them?"
Had it been a day earlier, Joulihn would have fully agreed. However, now she thought about what Parka Cargrum had told her. How Irwin had showcased incredible skill during one of the classes, and that without his Ganvil.
"Yes, but you also know that those bonded pairs are incredibly protective of each other," she said, trying to hide her hesitation. "Also, we still don't know if it is detrimental in the long run. So, no calling the Ganvils anything bad. Understand?"
"Fine," Mazzereth grunted. "But if we both know he will fail, why are you even allowing him to attempt? He will leave and make you look stu-"
"Mazzareth," Joulihn snapped, leaning forward. "Control your anger."
Mazzareth flinched.
Joulihn sighed and rubbed her head. "If only half of what he said is true, combined with what we know of the other outer branches, we need to find out where he is from and how he knew what he did. There are only two average powers in this branch, and the storm and the Lasther business have weakened Dimarintsia. Even if it hadn't, none of the other outer branches managed to stop the attacks from overrunning them. That means there's no way we can. Not without help, and we both know that no help will come from the central branches."
"You… think he might be from a place that could help us? That makes no sense," Mazzareth whispered.
Joulihn sighed. She'd not shared her own conjectures with anyone yet, and as much as a problem Mazzareth could be, she was also the only one she could fully trust.
"He came here with more knowledge than he should have, unwilling to explain how he got all of that," Joulihn said. "When he arrived on Fiverio, he already knew cardsmithing, or he'd never have been able to grow that fast. His cards are on a level that only the scions of the central branches have, perhaps even on par with some of those in The Heart. He isn't from there, so that means he is from somewhere else."
Mazzareth quietly stared at her, looking stunned. "But… if you and Lord Seizer have him followed, won't that cause more trouble?"
"It might. But if we don't get help, we will be overrun just like the other outer branches," Joulihn answered. "Besides, there has to be a reason we are not yet overrun."
Mazzareth stared at her, and her eyes widened. "You are going to have him succeed even if he doesn't!"
Joulihn sighed, knowing that the next step of the conversation was going to be even more annoying.
--
Rindiri tried to ignore the excited people cluttering together at the entrance to the Smiths Guild, but it was impossible. Apparently, so little interesting had happened over the last years that even the public testing of new smiths was something everyone wanted to go to.
Not everyone gets to see card reforging all the time, she reminded herself.
She carefully pushed herself through the least dense area.
"I can't believe there's someone testing for Rubyrank Smith!"
"Stop getting so excited. It's probably just a few dozen going from Topaz to Emerald, and-"
"No, no! I heard that there's one person who was asked directly by the Grandmaster herself!"
"Really? Well, I hope that whoever it is shatters the card and causes a massive explosion like that Onyxian did half a year ago! That was amazing!"
"Ugh, you are such a disaster lover…"
Rindiri agreed with the last person as she finally pushed her way through the throng. There were a few dozen feet of clear space toward the gates, which, unlike on regular days, were manned by a handful of guards. One of them towered over the others and wore the same silvery armor the Captain had worn when she'd first seen him again. The glare coming from the slits in his helmet locked onto her, and she knew exactly why nobody in the crowd had pushed closer.
"You! The guild is closed until two hours before the testing commences. Stay behind the line!"
Rindiri carefully removed the folded paper she'd been given when she exited earlier that morning and held it out toward the guard.
His eyes gleamed for a moment before beckoning her forward. As she stepped up to him, Rindiri quickly handed the folded paper, which looked tiny in the oversized, gauntletted hands. Still, the silvery-covered fingers unfolded it with surprising dexterity. A moment later, the guard stepped aside, waving her forward.
"Alright, you may pass. No more leaving until the end of these Cardsmith Testing rounds."
Rindiri nodded and quickly sped into the smith.
I wasn't thinking about it, she thought as she walked away from the gate.
The square was quiet, as were the buildings usually filled with young smiths. Still, as she moved away from the loud gate, she began hearing the equally loud celebrations that were happening deeper in the Smiths district. Every restaurant and diner she passed was filled with people, mostly Viridians, laughing and eating.
When she finally reached her goal, the restaurant with the ten-foot high entrance that was close to the Captain's temporary residence, she realized the festivities were contagious. Smiling, she entered the restaurant and quickly spotted Captain Irwin, Dagger, and Youritz. As she approached, Kes'dor flew up from his perch on Youritz's shoulder and landed on hers.
"Took you long enough," he grunted. "I was getting worried."
Rindiri smiled and gently rubbed her finger across the Ganvil before sitting down in the empty spot between Youritz and Dagger across from the Captain.
"How are the others?" Youritz asked as he poured her a drink.
"A few were sad they couldn't see the Testing," Rindiri said, taking a quick drink before focusing on Irwin.
He looked as calm as ever, showing a little indication that he was worried about the ad-hoc testing round that had been sped into life just for him. The fact that some of the most powerful people in Suderfuix were attending didn't seem to faze him either.
Perhaps when he is in the testing grounds surrounded by tens of thousands of people…
"Captain, everything is ready," she said, taking out a small crystal from her pocket. "We have enough food for ten times our numbers for close to five years, but I'm afraid it cost more than we had anticipated. I had to spend almost half of the soulshards remaining on your credit crystal."
"Good. Greldo has brought Klatzi back to the ship and should be back soon," Irwin said, nodding as his gaze scanned the table, probably for more food.
"Would you like me to order some more, Captain?" Dagger asked.
Rindiri and Irwin both looked at her at the same time, causing her to smirk. "I told you it would take some getting used to," she said, sounding smug. "Captains."
Irwin let out a booming laugh that reminded Rindiri of Boohm. As she recalled what Irwin had told her about the Onyxian man who had been their cook for so many travels, she felt a slight pang of sadness.
I hope he is fine again, she thought.
--
"We will get used to it soon enough," Irwin said, glad to see Rindiri had returned safely.
He'd have preferred to go with her, but Rindiri had said it would be best if she went alone due to how much attention he would bring.
Still wish I could have gotten all of Rindiri's people into my soulscape beforehand, he thought.
If they had to make a quick getaway, picking them up during a chase might prove far harder. He glanced around the restaurant, picking out a few of the older Viridians looking at him. They didn't even try to hide that they were keeping an eye on him, as they had been ever since he'd spoken with Lord Seizer.
They continued chatting softly for a while when the door opened, and Driseog walked in with Ambraz on his shoulder. Halfway to their table, the Ganvil flew towards Irwin.
"Kid, I found us some cards, but not as many as we need," Ambraz said as he thudded on Irwin's shoulder. "A dozen shadowcards and atleast forty that could be useful if we reforge them properly. Some that we can reforge to trade in other places. That's it."
Irwin hadn't expected anything else, and he gave Driseog a grateful look. "Thank you for letting us check between what you still have."
"It is fine, Irwin," Driseog said. "I am sorry I can't give you what you need, but perhaps after your testing, you can ask The Guildmistriss for cards."
"I was wondering, why do some people call her guild master, and others call her guild mistress?" Dagger asked, leaning forward.
Driseog looked up, his face calm and collected.
"The branch Lady Joulihn originates from calls every guild leader the Guildmaster, as in a title. However, here, we are used to calling a man guild master and a woman guild mistress. As she has been here for a long time, people have started mingling with them. However, when talking with her, most people use Guildmaster."
Irwin hummed and leaned back, listening to the others chatting softly about the oddity of everything. Slowly, his mind drifted off to what he'd be doing soon. A guild representative had found him that morning going over the rules. A large group of people would be showcasing their skills, reforging cards from quartz up to as high as they could. There were multiple moments where sideways reforges were required. To get to diamond-rank, he would be required to not only reforge a diamond card up to eighty-plus percent, but also sideways reforge it successfully atleast twice.
None of that bothered him, though when he'd been told he couldn't get any from Ambraz, he'd been somewhat let down. With Ambraz's help, he could have easily done every step, potentially getting a card up to nine-five percent or higher.
Still weird that it's something everyone gets to watch, he thought.
The guild representative had told him that it was because it proved a fantastic way to find your potential smiths. The enormous amount of soulforce resonance caused those receptive to it to resonate in such a way that it was detectable. When he'd asked how that was done, the woman shrugged and said it was a secret.
As he pondered what had happened, time flowed by. At some point, Greldo returned, explaining that everything was alright on the ship.
Irwin was eventually snapped back awake when a long, green, and yellow-haired woman appeared beside their table. One of the few humans Irwin had seen, she wore the tunic that all smiths guild representatives wore.
"Cardsmith Irwin, all smiths are to gather at the testing grounds for preparations. If you would kindly follow me?"
The soft chatter in the restaurant died down, not unlike what had happened the day before, though this time, nobody got ready to run away. Instead, Irwin felt dozens of gazes on him as he rose from his seat. He ignored them and turned to the other people at his table.
"I'll see you soon," he said.
"Make sure to keep your signing to normal levels," Greldo said with a grin. "Don't wanna blow up anything."
Irwin returned the grin.
"Good luck, Captain," Rindiri said, and Irwin nodded at her before accepting the well wishes of the other Yuurindi.
As he turned to the guild representative, ready to leave, he found her watching up at him with a weary smile. For a moment, he thought she was afraid or intimidated by the size difference. Then her gaze flicked to Ambraz.
"I am sorry, but no Ganvils are allowed, sir."
Irwin rolled his eyes while Ambraz let out an annoyed snort.
"Whatever. I'll stay with Greldo then," his friend grunted, flying from his shoulder and landing on Greldo's.
"I'll keep him out of trouble," Greldo said, which caused Ambraz to snort again, much louder.
"Alright, let's go," Irwin said.
He followed after the guild representative, ignoring the quiet people watching him. Outside, a group of three others stood.
"Follow me, please. We are picking up two more," the guild representative said.
The other three, all Viridians, looked younger than Irwin, one being just a child with pale green hair. Irwin guessed that if she were human, she would be, at best, ten years old. The two older ones quickly followed the guild representative while the girl gazed up at him in awe.
"Wow, you are as big as an elder," she whispered. "Are you going for your emerald rank?"
Irwin smiled as he followed the others, his long legs almost immediately closing the formed gap. The girl ran beside him, giggling.
"You walk as fast as my grandfather," she said. "So? I'm here for my first rank! Quartz! Mom said I would have to wait for atleast another year, but now I can try it early! If I succeed, I'll be half a year faster than my big sister!"
"That is very impressive," Irwin said. He didn't answer her question, and she didn't seem to mind, rattling on and on about how her big sister wasn't allowed to try for her amethyst, so she could now catch up.
A short while later, they picked up two more people. One was an older human who glanced at them, his gaze lingering on Irwin for a moment before he followed behind them, keeping his distance. The second was an Ignitzian who, as soon as she saw him, began smiling brightly.
"Well, hello there, tall and fiery! I haven't seen you around here," she said, walking on Irwin's other side, her eyes drifting to his arms and her smile widening. "I'm Tindria. What's a Fiz'rin like you doing here?"
Irwin held back from rolling his eyes, pretty sure Tindria was in her Heat Time. As much as he liked Igntizians, he'd not missed their constant attention.
"What's a Fiz'rin?" the young Viridian girl asked before he could respond.
"Something very hot," the Ignitzian said, grinning at Irwin before looking at the girl. "It's what he is. Part fire and part metal elemental."
"Oooh! So you can make a fire too?" the girl exclaimed, raising her hand. Tiny red leaves sprouted from the back of her hand, covering her cards before igniting in beautiful orange and yellow flames.
Irwin smiled as he raised his hand and summoned some normal fire, shaping it into a beautiful tree, which was so detailed that the individual leaves were visible.
"That's amazing! Can you teach me how to do that?"
"Perhaps later," Irwin said before turning to Tindria. "I'm Irwin. Nice to meet you."
"That's my line," she said with a grin. "You wouldn't happen to be single, would you?"
Irwin blinked at the straightforward question, then smiled. "Sorry, I'm already taken."
Tindria sighed while the girl frowned at her.
"Did you just try to ask him out? That's not how you do it! Mom said you need to get to know each other first, eat, and perhaps do some gardening!"
"I'd love to do some gardening with him," Tindria said, smiling at the girl.
She rolled her eyes and looked at Irwin.
"She's weird. I'm Wildri! So you will teach me how to make fire trees like that after the testing rounds?"
Tindria stared at the girl in stunned surprise.
"If I have time, yes," Irwin said. "But it's possible I need to leave soon."
"Ow, that's a shame," Wildri said, frowning as if trying to find a solution to the problem.
"I've never seen someone that becomes a quartz rank smith as young as you," Irwin said. "Is that normal for Viridians?"
Wildri's frown vanished like snow in the sun as she beamed up at him.
"No! My mom is a great cardsmith, and she taught my brother, sister, and me everything she knows from when we could walk! I got my first metal purifying hammer when I was three!"
"That's very impressive," Irwin said.
"It is, actually," Tindria said, looking at the girl with renewed interest. "From what I know, most Viridians aren't naturally gifted at sensing soulforce resonances."
"Well, I am," Wildri said, turning her face up proudly. "Mom said I'm probably going to be an emerald smith before I'm twenty."
Tindria whistled, shaking her head. "Well, I'm going to try for that now, but I'm already over twenty, so I guess if you manage that, you will beat me. What about you?" she asked, looking at Irwin.
Irwin hesitated and then decided it wouldn't matter much. They would see what he was here for soon enough.
"I need to prove my ruby rank, then I'm going to try for diamond," he said.
Tindria stumbled while Wildri's eyes went so wide Irwin feared they might roll from their sockets.
"How old are you?" a gruff voice came from behind.
Irwin looked back and saw that the gray-haired, rough-looking human was frowning at him.
"I don't know for sure," Irwin said with a shrug. "I've spent too much time on high time-dilation worlds."
The man sighed, looking annoyed.
"Such a big advantage, having a naturally long life," he muttered before turning his attention back to his feet.
Irwin left him in his assumption that Irwin was much older than him. It wouldn't help anyone if he said he wasn't even forty yet.
The rest of the trip was spent by him answering an incredibly excited Wildri's question about how it felt to reforge cards up to diamond, what the best cards he'd ever made were, and how reforging with music was different from using fire and heat. Tindria joined in with the occasional question, and Irwin made sure not to tell them about any of the really crazy stuff he'd done.
After a long trip, they reached a walled area, which they entered through a massive gate. Two guards let them through with a nod at the representative leading them, and Irwin hummed in appreciation at what he saw.
Inside was a large oval area filled with smithing furnaces, anvils, and racks of hammers. Hundreds of people were milling around, while all around was a stair-like tiered seating, forty rows high.
"It's called an amphitheater," Wildri piped, looking around. "After we are all inside, Mom said that only after that people watching will be allowed in. They will see how we succeed or fail."
Irwin saw that her smile had faded, and she looked incredibly nervous.
"Don't worry," he said. "Just remain calm and just focus on how you were taught by your mother. If you get really nervous, close your eyes and think about your brother and sister and how tonight you will be in your bed sleeping, no matter what happens."
Wildri looked at him and smiled. "Mom said almost the same! If both of you say so, it has to be true. Do you want to have the forging area beside mine?"
Irwin smiled and nodded, following her as she headed towards an empty area.
"You have children?" Tindria asked.
"Six," Irwin said with a nod.
Tindria smiled as she looked at him with a slight wistfulness. "Yeah, I thought as much with how well you handled that. Guess you are older than I first thought you were. Pretty hard with you, Fiz'rin."
Irwin smiled and followed Wildri to some of the still-free forging areas.
"I'll take this one," she said, smiling wildly. "Mom and the rest are going to sit over there, so this way they can see!"
Irwin nodded as he looked at the rows of seats. He wondered if Greldo and the others would find a place so they could see him, then he shook his head. It wouldn't matter. Greldo could just take them into the shadowrealm and give them front-row seats if he wanted to.
He walked to the anvil that would serve as Ambraz's replacement, tapping it with his finger and causing it to ring out. The sound was pure, and he didn't hear or sense any weak spots.
Tindria moved to another nearby smithing area, and Irwin looked around to see that just over half of the potential spots were in use.
Damn, so there could be over a thousand smiths here at the same time…
He wondered how the teachers would even figure out if the people were successful. Did they seriously have over a thousand teachers? As he looked around, he saw that people had begun filing the stands all around. He wondered how many were smiths themselves.
When roughly half of the entire stadium was full, a deep booming voice resounded throughout the stadium, drawing his attention to the previously empty center between the smithing stations.
"Alright, everyone! Most of you know how this will go, but just to be sure, I'm going to tell you all one more time!"
Irwin turned to where the voice came from to see Mazzareth, grown to her large form, staring straight at him from a position in the center of the smithing stations. As soon as they locked eyes, she turned her head around, staring at the other smiths.
Weirdo, Irwin thought as he looked around.
A group of smiths stood just outside of the smithing areas, and Irwin recognized both the Guildmaster and Parka Cargrum, the teacher who had invited him for a drink. Both were watching Mazzareth, and Irwin joined them when the not-a-vice-guildmaster began talking again.
"In a moment, every one of you will be given a shard of soulcrystal which will record your process. It will be able to work up to topaz rank and will show the percentage of your reforging. We will all start with a quartz-rank card in a minute, and everyone will get three cards. You need to reforge atleast one of those successfully, but if you succeed with all three, you will be allowed to take all three to the next step. This continues until you don't have any cards left. To grow from one rank to the next, you must successfully reforge at least one of the cards to that rank. When we reach the step from topaz to emerald, very few of you will be left, and at that point, the teachers will take over from the soulcrystal. Now, are there any questions?"
Irwin wasn't sure he understood everything that would happen, but from what he'd heard before, he just had to reforge three cards in steps, waiting after every step till everyone else succeeded or failed.
"Verry well! Now, you will be handed your soulcrystals in a moment. If there is anything you need to be able to reforge, ask them. As long as it isn't counter to the rules, you will be given it."
I wonder what the limits to that are, Irwin wondered.
He watched attendants walk through the smithing stations, and a short while later, one moved towards him. The green-leafed Viridian held out a small, perfectly square crystal shard on a long rope.
"Please hang this on your chest, and don't remove it until everything is done," he said. "These are your three cards."
Irwin accepted the soulcrystal and the cards, wondering if it was connected to the central soulcrystal network.
"Are the cards alright, and do you need anything else ?" the attendant asked.
Irwin quickly scanned the cards to get a general feel for them. One was a utility summon vile, the second surprised him, as it allowed the wielder to draw moist out of the air into their hand to drink, and the last one allowed the wielder to walk across vertical surfaces.
"No, these are fine," he said absently, focusing on the second card.
Irwin barely noticed that the attendant nodded and walked to Wildri.
He felt an immediate sense of kinship from his sweltering card, and he hummed thoughtfully. Of the three, that one actually had a lot of resonance with his own cards, and he knew it would be the easiest of them. The vile wasn't too bad either, but the final one felt… different. He inspected it for a while when Mazzareth called out again.
"Is everyone ready?" she shouted, looking around.
There were a handful of nods and some mutters of agreement, but overall, Irwin got a feeling of tenacious anxiety from the people around him. Either it was because he wasn't planning on staying even if he failed, which he highly doubted he would, or it was because he was so sure of himself, but he didn't feel one bit anxious. Instead, he calmly waited.
"Very well, then you can start!"
Irwin pocketed the vile and sticky cards before placing the easiest on the anvil. As he did, loud slamming, humming, and dull explosives came from all around him. He looked around to see that nearly all of the smiths were using fire in some form, either by wreathing the cards in flame or by actually holding them in the furnaces.
Wildri was looking at one of her cards, holding a small hammer with fiery leaves wrapped around it. Her focus seemed completely on the card, and Irwin watched as she struck down. The resonance he heard from her card showed him that she was slightly offkey, but she didn't seem to be listening. Instead, she looked intently at the tiny fiery leaves, which were nearly identical in color but with only slight changes.
Going to check how that works before I leave, he thought while quickly scanning the rest of the smiths. He was the only one that hadn't started yet, and everyone seemed to be in a hurry.
Fine, let's get started then, he thought.
He focused on the card as he summoned his hammer. Closing his eyes for a moment, he focused on ignoring all outside influences, then he opened them and struck down, only listening to the resonance of his card.
Comments
Josh McDonnell
No bonus chapter sad
Albert Benny Oliyakkattil
Tftc! Vile -> while
Not Me
If you want more near-homonyms, "viol" is an instrument, which would have nonzero synergy with some of Irwin's musical cards.
Not Me
If Scour is 2000x-3000x time dilation, that lets you fit a year into the space of about a week. Driseog could have gotten a century ahead of Irwin if he stayed in Scour for a couple of realtime years, even considering that Irwin spent some time in mildly faster zones himself. Frankly, I'm surprised he only stayed long enough to get to 15 years in his own subjective time, considering that the threat to smiths was ongoing when Irwin left Scour, and thus it would be risky to leave a stronghold just a few realtime weeks into what seemed to be a very ongoing problem. Driseog surely had the lifespan and business on Scour to wait many more years. Peeking back at older chapters, I wonder if Irwin's charter affiliation with Tensor and/or 10 year work debt will boomerang back into play, or if the serf system is at play in this city.
Not Me
Oh yeah, totally. One of the major themes of this entire story is how the protagonist exceeds expectations, and we've gotten our low expectations in this chapter, so we're pointed pretty squarely at that theme again. And I think the comment about them being better together is interesting. Like, how would you prove a counterfactual, that if the two were apart, they'd be better? Because the real perception-buster is not just proving that he's more skilled than people expect, but showing in no unclear terms that they're better because they've been together, even while they're apart.
Eric M
Just my two cents here to an interesting conversation. Am'braz is at the very top end of all Ganvils as far as training, potential, etc. Irwin was also at the very top end as far as potential when the two met (even if it wasn't known at the time). They have pushed each other until we have Am'braz breaking all the rules as far as advancement speed, the number of skills he is able to unlock, etc. and Irwin's advancement might be even more ridiculous with the growth in his skills, soul space, etc. Either one on their own would have been exceptional, but the two combined have reached stages that even a smith guildmaster might never imagine. I expect she will be duly impressed by Irwin, even with Irwin not using all his tricks and tools, and without Am'braz there to back him up. With Am'braz and him pulling out all the stops, I think she may have to reassess her opinion of Ganvils.
Not Me
Alternatively, it could be poisoned by the fact that a lot of the students probably died in the meantime, leaving behind bitter or sad Ganvils who have a lot of time left to influence our 1000-year-old's perception of what Ganvils are like. And grieving widows and widowers are hardly a fair representation of any community. I'd imagine that since they're similarly long-lived, they could nurse a grudge just as well. If Mazzareth somehow alienated influential Ganvil(s) when they were at their lowest, or committed some sort of doctrinal heresy hundreds of years ago (maybe during their 2nd or 3rd puberty or something) they would have centuries to poison the whole Ganvil community against her. 1000 years is also a lot of time for something to change. Just 500 years ago, there was a Protestant reformation in the real world, about 250 years ago, there were new revolutionary governments without monarchs. Mazzareth could be an old-guard part of a faction that advocated independence from Ganvils in the way that people wanted independence from monarchs or the Catholic church or whatever. Or the Ganvils themselves could have reorganized and changed their methods, and Mazzareth's concerns might actually just be wildly outdated.
Not Me
I'd imagine that a 1000-year-old would have a response based very deeply in past experience, even accounting for the number of outliers someone stationed in a populous trade city might meet. Said millenarian would probably have enough breadth of experience to understand that outliers exist, and perhaps enough enough to know how frequent they are on an experiential basis. But bad experiences have a way of sticking with people more than good ones do, even if they come in equal numbers, so it wouldn't be surprising if she met too many Ganvils that were a bit snooty, secretive, and superior like early-installment Ambraz, without the talent or actual knowledge to back up their position. The sort of ones that would withhold information not just because the plot was still in development, but because they wanted to maintain an unequal relationship with their smith, or because they genuinely didn't have that information and didn't want to demonstrate a lack of understanding. I think the 1000-year-old might also be meaningfully older and/or possess more worldly experience than some of the Ganvils in question, so it might be like a professor or team lead talking down a student or younger coworker who thinks they have the world figured out, when it's clear that they don't. And since they're over 1000 and exist in high contact with these sorts of people, this could be an set of ongoing interactions for centuries. She could have enough experience with the whole teaching process to see where everyone is going wrong (at least in her eyes), over and over again.
Antony Claughton
How is the guy travelling through the storm though?
Antony Claughton
The Ganvils do provide an advantage when smithing, but Ambraz at least certainly also provides insights and guidance. So part of the boost is contingent on the Ganvil, but it likely also improves a smith compared to where they’d otherwise be. Totally fair to test the smiths without them though.
Dao of Fried Foods
That's actually hilarious. 1 guy following irwin all over the place and everywhere he goes, he gets hired, over and over again to follow the shifty smith. It would be even funnier if the ride together on the same ship. Greldo totally needs to get in on this action!
Dao of Fried Foods
Shes actually probably right. Ganvis probably increase the average tier of a smith by at least 1 tier. It'd be like sports doping or any other similar comparison. The "best" smiths achieve the same results without a crutch. The average 'ruby-ranked' (bonded) smith is probably on par with an amethyst smith in a test like this, and yet they doubtlessly do not act like it.
Robert Reilly
You have a good point. They would obviously have a very reasonable basis for their high opinion of themselves… and in all fairness a LOT of things with Irwin are so outside of the norm that he can’t be judged fairly without him revealing important secrets. He IS suspicious. And by his tame reaction to their mistrust is an indication he knows this as well and accepts it. As an avid fan of Irwin it’s sometimes hard for me to separate what I want to happen with what should naturally happen🤦♂️
Carrarn
You peeked my curiosity, :) how do you think a 1000 year old smithing master should have acted/responded to come across as normal ( not positively or negatively biased)
Antony Claughton
All the techniques provide more information on the cards information and the progress of the forging. Music allows a smith to hear the card, and guide it. Giantism allowed you to see the card in more detail, allowing you to spot disharmony and forging routes. Flames also gives information, and I suspect like music helps guide the forging (heating various parts of the card). Soulforce gives you info and allows you to push the card the way you want it to go. They’re all aids and have their own techniques.
Nicholas Del Rossi
Also, I remember calling the fifth technique coding, but I think the author corrected me when I was asking about it and called it puzzles or painting or something. I went back to try and find it, but I couldn’t find the chapter on and it seems like the site the author had up that he was putting the information on had an issue based on what I read on Discord they’re looking to fix it, but that was discord conversations not an official statement by the author, so I’m not sure exactly where to look for that tidbit but I know what you’re talking about. It just hasn’t had much place in the story yet although I’m pretty sure the giant forge master from Granvox used that method and was only demonstrating the force method, the only diamond drink Smith. We know that uses the force method that I can remember is from that planet with the incredibly high time dilation we met on.
Nicholas Del Rossi
I think the difference lies in how much of it exist’s inside your head, on one end you have tools then you have aids then you have techniques, techniques are entirely based around your mind, they are knowledge and decisions, premeditated and learned, and then applied to the craft, and they can require tools & aid’s but It’s how you use them that makes them a technique, an aid isn’t something you add with your mind, but it aids the force technique, a technique based around using available method’s to increase the force behind your forging, this can including tools and aids like growing in size.
Dao of Fried Foods
Card readers are only being used for the low rank tests. Irwin's test will be conducted by a certified smith, likely the GM. Based on the way they are conducting each round, it sounds like irwin might be the only ruby smith still in at that time. It will be fairly obvious if he succeeded or failed. Also, i need him to cram a soul card's worth of energy into one of those cards and freak the hell out when he realizes he doesn't have any place to put it. Big boom for that one guy. Make Bhoom proud.
Robert Reilly
I REALLY don’t like Mazzareth and Joulin the guildmistress also annoys me with their arrogance towards Irwin and Ambraz! God I can’t wait till he slaps his phenomenal results in their stupid faces
Antony Claughton
Aren't they all 'aids', these methods? Its not like Irwin was originally using any of them. The ones I remember are music, giantism, fire and soulforce. But I thought there were five... Even if there is more output, he should be able to insist that the test conform to his needs. Just because he's bigger than anyone's experienced before shouldn't limit him!! :)
Antony Claughton
It could be that third card, the vertical walking. Irwin noticed something up with it but he hasn't yet looked at it closely (or we haven't been told the results).
Josh McDonnell
They control the card readers so it would be easy to just till people a fake report on the cards
Eric M
That last comment by Mazzareth when she was talking to Joulihn makes it sound like they are rigging it so Irwin succeeds, maybe a card with the hidden subtype inspired or something similar? If that is true I hope he takes all three cards to Diamond, to show he didn't need help and he is in fact the real deal.
Eric M
He could always switch it up once the prelims are out of the way.
Josh McDonnell
No this is diffent ship then sonata. The sonata left to demistra and concerto headed home. Then afterword the concento left again to agnize world and irwin had to fight to leave agnize. The concento and a agnize ship I think was owned by scintilla mother tricia left together. So we have sonata concecto and the agnize ship.
Antony Claughton
Rindiri had the Sonata to get her people, and escaped with it and the dead pact mercenaries’ ship during the battle. The sonata was being tracked, but they left it behind because it was damaged or slow. Lasther’s shadow automation tracker then stayed with the Sonata because it didn’t have any other orders.
Caleb Kerei
Greatest characterization for a species ever, gardening is a part of the dating rituals, laughed so hard.
Nicholas Del Rossi
so we have vile as in vile creature's, vail/veil, a shroud to conceal or piece of clothing, vine's due to being in a Viridian settlement, or vile as in unpleasant/evil.
Nicholas Del Rossi
if i am remembering right, Irwin gave it to his second so she could find her people and bring them to Eluther there new home world, but it was lost during the battle with Lesther, they changed ships to the one that was sunk in the storm when a group or dead mercs got into a battle with the invading slave's of the guider, i can't remember the finer details but i am pretty sure that's around when they changed ships. note this was the first fight with Lesther before i think we even got his name, and is where The Father who's name i can't remember lost 3 of his limb's and all but Irwins second (who's name i can't remember how to spell, i am bad with name's,) crew, managed to escape with some smith's and then fled into the after changing chip's.
Nicholas Del Rossi
i remember the barrel and the yuurindi bit, but i can't remember who placed a rune on the ship, which lord at which port escape's me, they have had so many people tracking them at this point keeping track of them all and who is current is overwhelming my poor head.
Josh McDonnell
Chapter 184 a soft breeze - grado stated that Daubutim figured the time dilation was 4 times.
Nicholas Del Rossi
size was an aid not a full forging technique i think, also Irwin is more then a bit bigger then even most master using that technique if i am remembering his comment about comparing his size to the master who used it back on Granvox, can't be 100% sure without going back to check which i might just do but can't while typing this, also i might be wrong but he can get kind oh overwhelming in terms of soul force and sound when he grow's, at least i am pretty sure both output's increase when he grow's and this audience includes people who probably can't handle that even with some shielding from the more powerful people there. i am not sure about the master smith on the world with the massive time dilation, can't remember how big he got to use the force technique.
Josh McDonnell
No they found the rune and it was stated that most likely tracking any ship with Yuurindi on it
Antony Claughton
I might be remembering wrong. Its been a while. I might do a re-read at some stage and build up the timeline. Roughly.
Antony Claughton
The pirates (or was it mercenaries) I think got dealt with/destroyed. Lasther's rune ended when the Sonata was abandoned. I can't remember the noble, unless your talking Dimentsia, in which case it was the tracker who followed them.
Antony Claughton
Or get good compensation.
Josh McDonnell
Yes but way before a noble in a small port put a tracker on a barrel of supplies to track the ship. I think another time they put a rune on the ship itself or was that time lasther? Also remember the first pirates that used a person who could teleport across branches to track the sonata?
Josh McDonnell
The fifth type to refill soul is when gas giant sends off a plum of chaos energy and it is filtered by the moons atmosphere though extremely rare can fill up your soul lake.
Josh McDonnell
Okay so I am re reading the story and think I missed something. Like 80 chapters ago they left ignize with two ships the concerto and a small escort class ship. They hooked it onto the concerto but it did not have a shield and was hit by a bolt damaging it and it was stated that it would not survive but what happened to it? Was it destroyed? Abandoned?
Antony Claughton
I think he'd head home. Its been a while since he saw the kids, he doesn't have enough cards to get good value from the gas giant (and the chaos whales might not be there/hard to find) and they really need to get Rindiri's people home so they can start breeding! A Yuurindi army with the Galadin's providing smithed cards (assuming they've found a farming site on Eluathor for cards) is probably their only hope of success. They might be planning on picking up more Yuurindi along the way though. They did pack 5 years worth of food!
Josh McDonnell
I am confused because when they first found eluthar it stated it was 4 time dilation then after it became confusing with 3 and then 2 time dilation.
Antony Claughton
As Josh McDonnell said, one tracker at the moment who is representing 3 different factions/individuals.
Antony Claughton
Actually, it was Lasther who was tracking the Sonata.
Antony Claughton
It depends on how many years he added with all that smithing on the gas planet away from the kids/family. If he was technically away for years during that period, he could have added a chunk. Even time spent with the family on the gas planet's moons would have been a chunk, since that is also sped up. He also would have an extra 2.3 years from Scour. Eluathor is also double time. That said, 15 years for the gap between leaving Scour and now does seem big. As it would only include a fraction of the time spent on 'faster-time' planets. What has happened in that period? - time to get from Scour back to smithing planet, tiny. - time spent to find Eluathor? Longer, but not too long as their home planet hadn't collapsed. - some years around Eluathor searching inside and outside it? - travel to find his kids, then to Gravanox, then to Dimsentia, then here. Am I missing any trips in the portal gallery? Is the above really 15 years since Driseog had seen him?
Antony Claughton
I assumed 'a vile' was some type of creature. Carrarn did use 'vile' in several different places, so I assumed the spelling was deliberate.
Antony Claughton
But 'size' was one of the standard approaches to forging that was taught on Granvox. I can't remember all the techniques (music, fire, size, um ...), but one of Irwin's teachers definitely used it. Mazzareth can increase size, so she probably uses that approach. And Blossom's mother was very tall by memory. So, I think it is a common technique. I would think they would have the facilities to cover this.
Josh McDonnell
Only one person is following irwin through its now 1 person hired by 3 groups the lord in diminastra the lord in supflux and then the smith guide. There have been attempts to track the soranta but they changed ships to the consinto split up and then left the soranta in a middle of a storm. So any one now tracking soranta will find it abounded. As for the smith test the prize is for when reaching diamond rank. Form the looks of it reaching that rank is so hard amd difficult that any one reaching it is celebrated. It also gives the diamond smith a lot of political capital because the powerful people in charge need the diamond smith to stay in power.
Eric M
I assumed it was supposed to be vine since that would fit more with the Viridian vibe.
Nicholas Del Rossi
Also are the current plans to head to the time dilation world or home first? I remember Irwin needs to fill his soul lake forging, with the whales or by doing heart cards, Feel like I need a list of all the ways Irwin figured out people or more specifically Irwin can fill a soul lake, Irwin’s first imp eating card, reforging heart cards, forging with the chaos whales, forging chaos whale cards, was there a fifth one? Were these all completely correct or did I make some memory on how they worked, hmmm.
Nicholas Del Rossi
How many people are following Irwin’s group at this point, There is the soul tracker we learned about this chapter, the guider lost them with the death of there leader, the lord of, and I am going to spell this wrong, Dimistrey’s lord who hired the same tracker as the pirates from before, were they Pirates of mercenaries? Galdwin isn’t tracking them as far as I’m aware, Shadow workers are following them around, but I don’t think any of them are currently tracking the group in such a way that they would be able to follow them across the portal gallery, they’re mostly following Greldo, I feel like there should be more? Am I forgetting some groups, the whale killers only followed for a short time before the groups clashed, or well before Irwin’s aura crushed there will to fight, anyone I am missing?
Nicholas Del Rossi
I wonder how the next chapter is going to be shown is gonna be a heavy Irwin perspective, heavy outside perspective even mix or solely one or the other, I’m also wondering how what the foreshadowing on the moisture gathering card means for the next chapter, Irwin won’t slot it or use it for soul force assuming the smiths get to keep the cards they were gifted to forge, and also wondering what they get given if they succeeded, based on the earlier chapter of the guild, master and vice Guild Master talking about the head families offer to fund the successful Smith cards, I think those succeeding up are given a bunch of cards to work with although I can’t remember if that was a thing in the past, maybe it’s something only this head branch does, (Yes, that was a quadruple branch pun,) or maybe it’s just something I forgot being done in the past or that couldn’t be done due to circumstances around whatever we were doing when Irwin reached a new rank.
Lenora
The ship stealing is infuriating. Hoping they take it with them when they go.
Nicholas Del Rossi
Without Ambroz he might not have an anvil big enough, there might also not be enough room where he is the description made it sound like there was room for plenty of Smiths. There wasn’t necessarily a lot of room between the stations, It would also be much more showy during the early stages and could disrupt the other Smiths more than his music already might, none of these reasons 100% wouldn’t stop Irwin from using it, they could all be solved, but these are the reasons that popped into my head while I was thinking about your question.
Adunn
Pretty sure Irwin probably isn’t even 30 yet. Also they’re gonna need to figure out how to deal with Terlo before they make it back.
Stephen Pearson
Thanks for the chapter! :-)
Antony Claughton
Ironically, Irwin should go for broke though he doesn’t know it. Forging an amolite card or named diamond card would possibly make others revise the assumption he got given his cards. If he can forge that level, then there isn’t necessarily some “power” they belong to, it’s just that Irwin is really good. Also, what is a “vile”?
Antony Claughton
It takes the time it takes. Not that waiting until Friday won’t suck!
Antony Claughton
Why wouldn’t Irwin do the forging in his big size? Doesn’t that make forging easier? Not like it’s a secret after the battle in Dimarsinta.
Tetrasimplex
is it meant to be vial instead of vile?
Carrarn
5500 chapter and I still only just reached the start of the testing - that's how it goes sometimes I guess. If I find some time over the week I might do a bonus chapter, but no promises :P
