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Irwin's Journey 398: Aligned with the Shadow Lord
🕑 Added 2025-03-16 20:00:06 +0000 UTCIrwin almost absently slammed his hammer on the card, barely noticing how he perfectly struck another patch of dark blotches. The soulforce in the card swelled as its resonance became more refined, and with barely any effort, he resonated his own cards to compensate.
Part of him scanned the card, sensing the potential in the still only amethyst ranked card. He continued to hum softly as he looked at the image of a simple lute, fuzzy and unfinished.
Almost a shame to keep it at Emerald, he thought.
The only sounds in the room were the clanking of his hammer, the whine of his soulstrum guitar, and his own humming.
He could faintly sense the young snake-tribe teenager's soulforce, busy putting the first of the three cards he'd made into her hand and absorbing it. It was the easiest of those he would gift her: a pure body improvement card meant to bridge the gap between her existing cards and those he was making.
It was a hundred percent, as was the second one he'd made, a metallic body-changing card that should blend well with the scale aspect of her serpent card.
As he struck again, he thought about the second card, almost nodding to himself.
Initially he had been uncertain if he should use Breezium or Whispersteel. Both were metals he had very little affinity with compared to Coperrion and Firesteel, but seeing he didn't have to go beyond emerald, that would be fine. In the end, he'd chosen Whispersteel, mainly because it would harmonize perfectly with the third card he was making now, creating a powerful base for the heartcard, but also because he only had a few Breezium cards.
A slight lilt in the resonance he was working on pulled his attention back, and he focused on it fully for a moment. Changing the resonating song slightly, he compensated for a small oddity, and then he continued. He was currently at the step of forcing the as-of-yet Amethyst card sideways toward the faint Whispersteel affinity Ambraz had told him was contained within. He could sense there was metal in it, as it resonated better with him than he'd expected. Well, better even than he'd expected that a card with an instrument would resonate. All three cards had been working to his strengths, even with the oddities in types.
Sensing the card shape up nicely, he felt another bout of annoyance and pressed it down.
After starting and finishing the first card, he'd come to a realization. Knowing he wasn't going to reforge a card to its peak changed how much he enjoyed reforging. Initially it had seemed interesting: to make a custom card for someone but limit himself to Emerald and see what he could do. However, as he'd finished the first card and examined it, he'd felt annoyed. There was still potential in the card, potential to grow to diamond, and that would now be lost.
Irwin knew he was partially to blame for it, as he was the one reforging the card up to a hundred percent, but somehow, knowing he would give it to the girl while she could also get a diamond-rank card…
Maybe she reminds me of my daughters, he thought, knowing that wasn't it.
Trying to keep himself focused, he continued.
Half an hour later, he was reforging the card upward to Emerald, and he felt Ambraz's hilarity at his annoyance.
'Kid, we can't start giving everyone diamond cards,' Ambraz snapped in his mindscape. 'But if you feel this strongly, try to push in more soulforce.'
Irwin frowned and didn't immediately respond. If he pushed in more soulforce, he would destabilize the card. Why would Ambraz want him to…
Because it will be stronger but also limited to this rank.
Feeling a slight interest grow in him, he let his own soulforce ooze out of him, focusing on the part that held his own copperion, firesteel, and utility typing. He started slow, feeling most of the utility-typed soulforce mesh easily. His own metal-typed soulforce didn't work as well. Most of it was quickly rejected by the card he was working on for being the wrong type, but a small amount remained—the overarching metal type.
More metal, less utility, Irwin mused as he stopped pushing in the utility-typed soulforce and let far more of his two metal types poor in.
It was inefficient, to say the least, as only a tenth of the soulforce he used actually remained, but that was fine. The emerald card couldn't hold that much, and he had soulforce to spare.
As he felt the limits of the card approach, sensing it rebel under the staring of this much power, he increased the resonance of his soulcards, the volume of his soulstrum guitar increasing in tandem with it.
By now, his full focus was on the card, his previous annoyance and boredom forgotten as he continued filling it, pushing what the emerald card could hold to its absolute limits.
When the card was finally finished and as powerful as he knew he could make it, Irwin almost felt sad. Watching the card's border flash into a beautiful green, he sighed.
'After she's gone, let's reforge a few cards as far as we can,' he said in his mindscape. 'Then we see how much soulforce we can stuff in them.'
'Brat, did I ever tell you that you have a tendency to go for the extremes?'
Irwin grinned as he picked up the new card. As he inspected it, he felt his lips curl up at the raging power held within the card. It wasn't enough to destabilize it, and it never would, but he was already looking forward to what was coming. What would happen if he'd got this much more soulforce within the card when he reforged it to a heartcard?
Okay, perhaps I've been looking at this the wrong way, he thought, examining the image.
It showed an image that was rather sharp for an Emerald card, the lines of the lute almost as clear as a ruby-ranked card. The instrument itself was smooth and streamlined, less bulbous than the lutes he'd seen before. Unlike his soulstrum guitar, the lute had normal strings, but he had the feeling they would create a very powerful sound.
As he looked at it, Irwin recalled another thing he'd wanted to do. Find more soulstrum guitar cards.
I'll have to ask Greldo for that, he thought, as he hummed thoughtfully.
Turning his attention to his guest, he found Su lying on the couch, unconscious. Her body was shuddering, the faint scales that had covered parts of her cheeks and neck becoming slightly more prominent, the edges gleaming.
"Right… I forgot about that," Irwin muttered as he sat down on the opposite couch.
Slotting body-altering cards usually had a larger-than-average effect, causing many people to go unconscious. He still recalled how he had felt when he'd slotted his own.
There was a flash of light as Ambraz shrunk down and flew to his shoulder.
"Are you going to do anything with that horribly mangled shadow card she has?"
Irwin hummed as he examined the unconscious teenager. Her first card, topaz-ranked and the best out of the bunch, had a shadow ability that should let her move through the shadows… he could sense it had probably started with pretty good potential, probably atleast able to reach ruby rank, but whoever had reforged it, had ruined it.
"She didn't mention it before, but let's just ask her," he said. "It might be a nice challenge to shatter it and see what would happen if we try to rebuild it."
"I wonder…" Ambraz muttered. "Is Greldo around?"
Irwin frowned, wondering what Ambraz had in mind.
"Grell, can you join us for a moment?" he said, knowing his friend would either hear it himself or be told by Coal's shadowclone, one of which was definitely around somewhere.
A minute passed before Greldo appeared out of nowhere, thudding on the couch beside Irwin.
He yawned widely, rubbing in his eyes.
"Okay, what's so important that Coal had to wake me for it?" he grumbled.
"Weren't you in the city?" Irwin asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Came back and fell asleep to you reforging," Greldo said, stretching himself. "So, can I go back to sleep, or…"
"Shadow brat, do you know how to move your soulforce around?" Ambraz asked.
Greldo blinked, then rolled his eyes at Ambraz.
"I do, and what did I do to annoy you this time?"
"Nothing. Move some of your shadow-typed soulforce toward me," Ambraz said.
Greldo frowned, then shook his head. "I can move my soulforce, but I can't split it up like that… is that what you two do?"
"Just move some of your soulforce to me then," Ambraz said, seemingly ignoring the question.
Irwin saw Greldo's face go still, and a moment later, he sensed his friend's soulforce flow forward. It was an uncontrolled, jittery motion, and it wasn't that much, but it was moving.
"Alright, not bad," Ambraz said. "Yes… this should do."
"You want him to add his soulforce in the mix?" Irwin asked, starting to see where Ambraz was going.
"Yes, and before you tell me, I know you have never done that. It's because you don't have any issues with your soulforce capacity. However, most regular cardsmiths do."
Irwin nodded, leaning back. He recalled having seen smiths working together, some feeding in more soulforce while the others helped with stabilizing the resonance. He'd never needed either, as Ambraz could stabilize more soulforce than any ten smiths he knew and share his soulforce.
"Wait, so you guys can reforge cards with my soulforce?" Gerldo asked, eyes widening.
He was fully awake now, Irwin saw, and curious.
"Is it for her cards?" he asked, pointing at Su.
"Yes," Ambraz said. "Her shadow card is weak, fragile, and poorly made. Irwin is going to break it apart when creating her heartcard, but if he wants to keep the shadowtyping, he is going to need more shadow-typed soulforce."
"I never heard you guys use other people's soulforce," Greldo said, eyebrows raised.
"It's because usually we just discard the weakest parts, or if we don't, they become only a minor part of the heartcard," Ambraz explained patiently.
Greldo rubbed his hands together, grinning widely. "Should I ask Gloom to come here and help too?"
"No, his shadow-typed soulforce is different from yours," Ambraz said. "It's both purer and more diluted at the same time."
Greldo and Irwin shared a look, and Greldo shook his head. "Did that make sense to you?"
Irwin hesitated, going over what he knew of cards and soulforce. "I think it's because the soulforce becomes purified when we reforge the cards, but perhaps it loses something when it does?" he said hesitantly.
"Almost," Ambraz said, sounding smug. "You are right that the soulforce in cards is purer because, but it's also influenced by any other types that are there. That said, they don't mix well; they are more like water and oil. Gloom's soulforce is a combination of shadow mixed with a few other types and some chaotic soulforce. It creates a unique blend specific to him. So, even though the shadow soulforce within that is even purer than what Greldo has, it's so mixed with the rest that it's useless to us."
Irwin frowned as he let his soulforce senses spread out. He quickly found Gloom standing on deck, and he tried to feel what Ambraz was describing.
"It's like mist," he muttered as he observed the Nyzir's soulforce. "I think that which makes it dark is the shadow-typed soulforce, and the rest is something else?"
"Correct," Ambraz said, grinning.
So, he is still more sensitive to soulforce than I am, Irwin thought, wondering what the world must look like to Ambraz. To him, if he used all of his senses to the max, it already looked like a kaleidoscope of colors, sounds, and soulforce resonances that overlaid the rest of the world, giving it unparalleled depth and detail.
"Alright, now let's wait for the girl to wake up," Ambraz said, sounding content.
--
Su slowly woke, her body feeling different from what it had before. Slotting the first card had been an experience she'd never had, as she'd almost felt her bones strengthen, her muscles tighten, and her skin change. When it had finished, she'd thought that she'd never forget it…
Now, as she awoke from the excruciating pain of having her entire body remolded, she barely recalled it. All she could think of was that she hoped she'd never have to go through that again.
You know you would; a tiny part of her corrected the sentiment.
"Finally awake?" the Ganvil -Ambraz?- snapped from nearby.
Su shot up, her eyes wide as she looked around. The smith was sitting opposite her, side by side with Greldo, the monstrous shadewalker that had been the cause of everything.
"Yes," she said, her voice faltering as she heard the sharp clarity it had gained. She swallowed, raising her hands to see the faint scales she'd had, which were now much darker and had silvery edges.
Clenching her hand, she felt… strong. Stronger than she'd ever had before.
"Alright, I have your third card here," the cardsmith said, causing her to look up.
Her eyes widened as she saw the beautiful image of the lute. She'd gone unconscious before he'd finished the card, and she had no idea how long she'd been out.
With how little time he needed, they must have been waiting for a while, she thought, feeling her worry grow. She'd seen one card be reforged before, and it had been a long-winded, almost boring process where the Onyxian cardsmith had been constantly fiddling with a large sheet of translucent paper he'd summoned. It had been nothing like the beautiful music she'd heard now.
"I'm sorry-" she began.
"Don't be," the smith, Irwin, said, waving his hand at her.
He leaned forward, holding out the card, and she took it almost reverently.
"Now, I have a few questions while you slot that card. Also, don't worry, you won't go unconscious again… probably."
Su shivered, and she looked at the card for a moment. Would she have to go through that pain right away again? And she still had to combine them into a fullhand! Before she could overthink it, she put the card above her final hand slot and let it slide in.
Unlike the previous two cards, she didn't feel the instant surge of power coursing through her body. Instead, she felt something come to her awareness within her mind… a sense of something growing.
"Alright, it will be a few minutes before you can try to summon your Soullute," Irwin said.
"Soullute?" she muttered in awe, looking at the back of her now-filled hand.
I've done it! Finally, I will have a heartcard! Dad can start teaching me now.
It should have happened half a year ago, but after her father had been attacked, his hands shattered, the smiths on Urlar had become unwilling to help.
"I'll explain more when you have your heartcard," Irwin said. "But there's little use for more details as I'll be breaking them apart soon enough."
Su felt a shiver run through her at that, and she instinctively cupped her hands to her chest. The smith laughed softly, shaking his head.
"Don't worry. Your cards will only become better. Now, my question. You have a shadewalker card. Do you wish to keep that ability when I make your heartcard?"
Su frowned. She knew from what her father had told her what to expect- how she would have to choose a few abilities to keep and leave the rest. How many were supposed to be determined by the quality of the card and the skill of the smith?
Her shadewalker card was the first one she'd gotten, and it had let her flee to safety on multiple occasions, saving her life. She glanced at her scaled hands and finally nodded.
"If it's possible," she said before continuing hesitantly. "I don't know… what are my options?"
"We are going to need one card to be the focus of your heartcard," Irwin said. "With your heartcard being emerald, you will be able to take four of the abilities on your cards with you. I would suggest rolling up most of your physical enhancements into one. It means you will get less of them, but those you get will be stronger. Now, I'll be trying to blend most of the things together, so it's possible that you can get more, but for now, you need to choose. Between shadewalking, the scales, the metallic body altering, and the lute, which one would you like to be your core?"
Su licked her lips. Although she knew the new cards were more powerful than the others, the idea of having her first card relegated to a sidenote made her cringe. What would that mean… that she was going to be something else? No longer a shadewalker?"
"Is… is it possible for it to be my first card?" she whispered.
The smith's face softened, his eyes radiating a warmth that almost made her choke up as they reminded her of her long-dead grandfather.
"Of course," he said. "Now, try and summon your lute."
Su nodded, feeling a massive sense of relief from his words. She focused on the new sensation she was feeling in the back of her mind, wanting it to manifest.
--
Irwin watched quietly as Su sat there, her face scrunched as she tried to summon her lute. He knew firsthand how hard it could be, even after all these years. Only after someone got their first soulcard would it become easier to find and use a newly slotted card.
Minutes passed by, and finally, close to half an hour later, a beautiful, oddly gleaming, dark wooden lute appeared in her hands. There was a luster to it that Irwin recognized from his own Soulstrum guitar, and the sense of power surprised him. It was easily as strong as some of the weaker ruby-rank summoned items he'd seen, and that got him thinking. How powerful could he make an Ammolite card? Were those he had already at the maximum potential, or could he make one much, much stronger?
Something to experiment with when I can even reliably forge one, he decided.
"It's beautiful," Su whispered, and Irwin could tell she was itching to try it. He hesitated, then leaned back.
"Why don't you give it a try," he said.
Su didn't even ask if he was sure, but she put the lut on her hip, gently letting her finger strike the snares. A beautiful, clear sound trickled from the lute, and Su's smile widened. Without hesitation, she began playing a simple but cozy song that Irwin hadn't heard before.
It's been too long since I heard someone else play, Irwin thought, as he suddenly felt a sense of longing for his days in the Golden Friction Academy, making music with Pasilha, Roubi, and Skylar.
As he listened to Su play, he felt his mood lighten, as if something heavy that had been bogging him down became just a bit lighter.
Ten minutes later, Su stopped and smiled at him, for the first time meeting his eyes without either hidden fear or a sense of insecurity.
"Thank you! It is amazing!"
Irwin smiled back, nodding in agreement. "Now, I think it's about time to create your heartcard! That does mean you will need to combine your right hand…"
Su's face fell while she shuddered.
"Yes, I will do that right now," she said as her lute vanished.
Before Irwin could even ask her to wait for a moment, her eyes closed, and her face turned pale. Her arms began shuddering as her fingers dug down into her upper legs.
Irwin shared a quick, surprised, and slightly worried look with Greldo, but his friend was only frowning at Su.
Halfway in, Su began shuddering, sweat pouring down her face, and Irwin grimaced at her pain. He wished there was something he could do to help her with it, but unlike most things that dealt with cards, combining them would likely forever remain something that had to be done by everyone.
Twenty minutes later, Su sagged into a heap on the couch, and Irwin felt sorry for her.
"If you want, you can sleep for a while," he said.
The girl's eyes snapped open, bloodshot but steely, and she struggled upright.
"No, it's fi- fine," she croaked.
Greldo snorted and jumped from the couch, causing her to dodge back into her own, but the hairy shadewalker just strode to a nearby desk and returned with a large mug of water.
"Drink," he ordered.
Su nodded and drained the mug so fast that Greldo hadn't even returned to his own seat. He blinked, took the mug, and refilled it for her twice. During her third time draining it, he looked at Irwin, raising an eyebrow.
"This is oddly familiar… What cards did you give her?"
"It's normal to be thirsty after that," Irwin said, frowning at his friend. "Anyway, check if there's some sweets left in the mess. A bit of energy will do her good."
Greldo barked a laugh and vanished.
"I'm alright, really," Su muttered, and she actually did look better this time. Just very tired.
"Don't worry," Irwin said. "Have a bite first. After that, we will make your heartcard."
Su looked at him worriedly before finally slumping down.
Irwin watched her eyes flutter closed, and when Greldo returned five minutes later, Su had fallen fast asleep.
Greldo blinked, then sat down beside Irwin, putting two arms full of sweets and a bottle of sweetened wine on the table.
"So… do we wake her?" he asked.
"No, let's just let her sleep. Tell me what happened with Terlo, and we can wake her in an hour or so."
Greldo leaned forward and grabbed a squarish cookie before leaning back.
"Well, Bleak came and got him a few hours ago," he said. "He's going to hold him for atleast a few months, so that should allow us enough time to get far away."
"So you didn't kill him?" Irwin asked, pouring them both some whine, then sipping it and frowning. It was too sweet and had too little spice and sharpness.
"What? Of course not," Greldo grunted.
Irwin glanced at his friend, sniffing.
"Well, okay! I had planned it at some point," Greldo exclaimed. "But we had a chat, and by the end, I didn't think it was needed. Anyway, how long are we going to remain here?"
"We are going to leave as soon as the others return with the trade," Irwin said. "With some luck, those old Yuurindi will join us too."
Greldo looked surprised, motioning him to keep talking, and Irwin slowly told him about what had happened. He kept an eye on Su, but he also knew that Greldo would tell him if she woke up. From what he'd learned of his friend's ears, he could even hear someone's heartbeat.
Over an hour later, and with some new sweets on the table because they had finished them all, Irwin gently prodded Su's shoulder.
She snapped awake, huddling inward as if expecting a beating.
Irwin took a step back, more than a little surprise. "Everything is fine," he said quickly. "You are still on the Bigbelly, and we are going to make your heartcard in a minute."
Su looked around, and slowly, the fog faded from her eyes. She turned somewhat red.
"Sorry, Cardsmith Irwin. I had a bad dream."
I don't think so, Irwin thought, but he kept his opinion to himself.
"Have some food, and then we will get started," he said.
Su's eyes widened to saucers as she saw the food, and she almost lunged forward. She barely seemed to catch herself at the last moment, blushing again.
"Thank you," she said, taking a bread roll and visibly straining to eat it slowly.
Still, her speed didn't prevent her from demolishing most of the food on the table, though Irwin noticed she seemed to favor the cookies and bread rolls over the sugary sweets.
When she finally finished, Su looked down, somewhat uncomfortable, and Irwin decided it was about time to get her the heartcard.
"Alright, follow me," he said as he walked to the center of the room.
Ambraz flew from his shoulder, landing in front of him and changing to his working size.
Su stood beside them, looking at the Ganvil worriedly.
"Put your hand on his back and summon all your cards," Irwin said.
Su bit her lip but did as asked. Still, it took her a few minutes to manage to get all her cards hovering above her hand. Irwin knew that Ambraz was helping her a bit by smoothing out the soulforce resonance all around her so it wouldn't interfere, but it was still on the faster side of things.
"Now," Irwin said. "I'm going to begin, and you don't have to worry. I know most people say it hurts more than creating your full hand, but that's not always the case."
Su was staring at him, tense and unblinking. "Alright. I'm ready."
Irwin nodded, focusing on her handcards. He'd already created a rough plan on what to do, and with her cards being Emerald at the highest, he didn't worry too much. No, the only interesting thing would come close to the start.
"Greldo, join us here," he said. "Remember what we talked about? Move your soulforce forward when we start. Just keep going until Ambraz tells you to stop, alright?"
Greldo was already standing beside him, looking highly interested.
"Got it!"
Irwin took a deep, calming breath, then struck his hammer down, letting his soulforce ripple outward and surround all of Su's cards. He noticed her flinch when the hammer landed beside her hand, but she didn't pull it back.
"Alright, I'm staring now," Irwin said calmly. "So I won't be able to talk anymore, alright? Just keep your hand there, and everything will be fine."
Irwin heard a muttered reply, but he was already fully focused on the six cards. He could instantly sense issues with the initial three. Especially two and three were so poorly made that they were already shattering without him even doing anything. For a moment, he pondered, letting them and trying to throw another card in the mix, then he held back. He had no idea if that would even work, so he clamped his own soulforce around two of the worst cards he'd ever seen.
Now, let's make some pretty, he thought, as he felt Ambraz pull Greldo's soulforce into the mix.
--
Su tried to stay as still as she could, ignoring the thundering clangs only inches from her hand and focusing on the six images of her cards. They started off as she knew them: her first card was a small shadowy snake, faint but clear enough, and her second and third cards were fuzzy, barely distinguishable from what they were: a clenched hand and what looked like a pair of legs. The other three images were bright and clear, like crystalline statues. A small silhouette of a woman that seemed to be climbing something, a silvery statue, eyes closed and crouching, and her lute. Just looking at it made her want to smile.
She knew her father would probably have something to say about it, but she didn't care. All she needed to learn from him was a heartcard at Topaz or above, and she'd finally have one soon.
Mom would have loved it, she thought, as she stared at the lute.
As she watched the image begin to ripple and spread out, she almost panicked. Was that normal? It had to be, right?
He has to know what he is doing, she thought, thinking back to how he'd reforged the cards. It had looked as if he'd found it so easy. If that was how some cardsmiths worked, why couldn't more people have heartcards? Why did it have to be so expensive…
She pushed her old annoyances away and listened as the smiths began humming a soft song, the mysterious, beautiful instrumental sounds starting up again.
I guess that Ganvil is doing it, she thought as she slowly got used to the clanking. Even better, after a few minutes or two, the song seemed to incorporate the clanking, like a harsh drum.
At some point, Su closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation. She'd expected some discomfort, pain even, from what her father had told her, but Irwin had been right. There was none, just a slight tension as she felt her cards being stretched and changed, slowly fading together into a single whole.
She had no idea how long it took, but at some point, she felt power built up inside her, and her sense of her cards had changed, turned into a single powerful entity. As the power continued to increase, her eyes shot open, and she saw a beautiful image before her. A nearly black body and neck with brilliant silver strings hovered before her, but there was one thing that instantly caught her eye. The neck and the head of the lute were shaped like a snake, the strings ending inside its mouth, while its eyes stared out like silvery beacons of light.
As she watched in awe, the large card floated toward her, speeding up until it slammed into her chest.
The last thing she thought was if she'd just been killed by her own heartcard. Then everything went black.
--
Irwin was glad that Greldo caught the girl before she slumped to the ground, as he was still recovering from what had happened.
"That was… incredible," he muttered. "Is it always like this if smiths forge together?"
"No, it was because the shadow-typed part of Greldo's soulforce was incredibly potent," Ambraz said. "That, and you are just annoyingly good at creating weird new cards."
"New?" Irwin asked, staring at the card and sensing the beautiful pattern resonating within her. Even if it was only an Emerald card, it was more complex and powerful than most ruby-ranked heartcards he knew, and the resonance song that it created was beautiful.
"Show me the card," he said, quickly summoning his booklet and putting it on Ambraz back.
"Sure. Also, you did record this, right?" Ambraz asked.
Irwin nodded as he opened the book. "Yes, I-"
His voice fell quiet as he read the card, then his eyes widened as he looked at Greldo.
“What?”
Card: Mooncoil Requiem
Type: Whispersteel, Shadow, Heartcard, Emerald, Mutation, Forged by Irwin Roddington
Owner: Suein Va Dolira
The wielder of this card may summon Mooncoil Requiem, a lute made of the embodiment of the shadowrealm mixed with Whispersteel. While playing on it, all weaker shadow beings will feel a sense of well-being and bring no harm to the wielder or those around it.
Passive: Increased increased agility, endurance, and speed
Passive: Resistance to physical and shadow damage
Active: Greatly improved shadowrealm movement[Mutation]
Active: Summon Mooncoil Requiem
[Mutation]: You are aligned with the potential Shadow Lord Greldo Domnir
Comments
Carrarn
Suein - Usunica was the initial name I gave that character if I recall. Looks like I forgot changing one. Thanks for pointing it out, fixed it in the previous chapter!
Mariusz Klimczak
Card description states that the girl's name is Suein Va Dolira, but in the previous chapter the narration referred to her as Usunica. Which one is correct?
Antony Claughton
If the old Yuurindi can communicate with all her descendants, if the storm lets up should they start getting the Yuurindi to congregate for easy pick up?
Albert Benny Oliyakkattil
Tftc!
Eric M
I'd like to check in on Scintilla and the kids and everyone else on the Concerto, maybe see them arrive safely and hear about the journey, plus interaction with Irwin's Family. If not that then maybe a Trimdir/Hodor segment.
Not Me
Question that came up from seeing that Su's father got his fingers smashed: what happens to someone's ability to slot cards if they get dismembered and lose a hand? Does the card slot still exist, just invisibly? Does it creep up to the next available spot on the arm? Do the cards get retained, or dropped, or vanish into the ether? And if there are serious card-related consequences to losing one's hands, are there laws or punishments around it? It seems like it could be a near-capital punishment to permanently lose access to one's card slots and future growth, assuming that cutting off the hands entirely stops people from slotting and using cards. Or it could be an effective way to literally disarm enemy combatants until they gain access to some form of regeneration, if cutting off hands unslots the cards or merely impedes their usage until the hands are back.
Not Me
Yeah, it's not yet slotted. But it seems like it would a good idea to consult new-Gelwin on the concept first. Irwin is already cleaving pretty close to Gelwin's self-cloning specialization by having a soul clone card, and being able to consult a millennia-old true expert on self-resurrection would almost certainly give Irwin new insights that let him get more out of the card combination. Of course, new-Gelwin probably has no idea that Irwin exists, so that might be an interesting conversation if it ever happens.
Not Me
Thanks for the chapter! I really enjoyed seeing Irwin's progression progress and shore up his lower-level skills. His thought about going for "only" Emerald is a long way from where he was just a few years ago, where going from Topaz to Emerald was an achievement. There's a lot of room for growth in improving his foundations before taking his next steps. I wonder how long it will be until he can one-tap reforge Quartz to Topaz, maybe even doing so by hand without his hammer - just slap the card into a higher grade. I'm also curious if his knowledge of card overcharging is something he can leverage in other directions. Would overcharging his own non-Ammolite hand slot cards make his future heartcard/soulcard better, or just more unstable and difficult to craft? Perhaps he could somehow reduce the soulforce in a card to reduce its complexity and number of abilities, and take it below its most natural path, to increase its stability and ability to reforge to a higher grade. This might be useful for giving people higher-grade first soulcards while only having access to lower-potential cards, which is certainly a going concern on Eluathar. Or potentially even reducing the soulforce in a card to non-destructively downgrade it and make it possible for people with weaker soul capacity to slot. The ability to maximize a card in a rank seems like it might not be really uncommon knowledge among Ruby rank smiths and up, especially ones that do cooperative smithing, just an uncommon practice because it requires a lot of extra soulforce on hand and a deliberate destabilization of the card. But it's also probably not something that ever came up because Irwin has a lot of room to grow upwards, whereas this ability seeks to maximize results within a limited space - something an experienced medium-grade smith who is trying to stretch their skills and resources to deal with practical realities might have. I wonder if there's practical experts of this vein who Irwin can consult, people who aren't superior smiths because they lack the cards or natural talent or drive or whatever, but have accumulated experience and techniques to get a lot out of a little, and would be willing to share that with Irwin.
Not Me
Probably? I'm sure there's plenty of comments that are things other people have thought too. I just love the worldbuilding and the fact that stuff exists beyond the reader and what we immediately see. But thanks!
Eric M
Fascinating twist. I wonder what Gloom will know about being a potential shadow lord. I suspect Gloom already knew actually.
Nicholas Del Rossi
Not me, have you ever left a comment that did not make readers minds start to explore new wonders about the story in question? Like ever leave a basic one that won’t make me start wondering my own trains of thought for a good 10 to 30 minutes? Good comment by the way. You might not have guessed but it got me thinking for a bit.
Nicholas Del Rossi
No they are saving that for the next slot.
Not Me
How is life going for the left-behinds? For the other people in Irwin’s sorcerer abduction group and/or pre-card village? Like Clarish or that one ex-bully ranger who spent a couple decades in a portal or that one water mage Ambraz crafted a card for? It would be neat to hear about Daubutim or Doomblades’ story through a secondhand source that way. Also, what’s up in Irwin’s soulscape? Surely the Yuurindi have spent enough time in there to have started colonizing the place, swimming in the soullake, or at least let their little ones build stick forts in the sheet music forest. But is spending months inside another being’s soulscape doing anything to their own? Or are they able to get any special insights on Irwin or his forging from the outside looking in (inside looking out?) because they’re standing inside and observing his soul?
Naglis Brizgys
Question unrelated to this chapter; did Irwin slot the card he got for saving the lords nephew? The "false life" card?
Nicholas Del Rossi
So what we are saying is we all want different pov’s hope this helps.
Govir Drauka
If they’ll be back to the home world in a chapter or two, I don’t think we need a PoV of what’s happening there. Since it’ll just be explained once they get there. Doomblade would be interesting if his story isn’t going to intersect for a bit, but also I think there are some dangling threads around Irwin that could be tied up. 1. What’s up with the father and Su? Are they staying behind, or being swept up by Greldo. 2. Are the old Yuurindi coming, and what do they know about the grandmother? 3. Was there more with the smiths of this world, or was that all resolved?
Stephen Pearson
Great chapter, thanks! :-)
GeneralDuck
TFTC, I'd like to see if scintilla and the kids got back already and/or what happend at the exit portal that was being attacked, also in the card description:
Antony Claughton
We need to see what happens with Su and her father, find out exactly what a runesmith can do, we should see how many Yurindi arrive and their reactions to being stuffed inside Irwin, see if there is any final negotiations to get ship building expertise and finally find out what they plan to do with all of those ships.
Antony Claughton
Ha ha ha!
Black Rose
Gloom interacting with su
Shiva Kumar
Irwin's nephew perspective maybe
Nicholas Del Rossi
Hhmmm, I like all those pov’s if I have to pick one, Daibutim was up to some stuff with the first wave of the invasion force, and it’s been a while sense we got an update to that.
Black Rose
Scintilla interacting with MIL
Rielgesh
Some sense of how Eluathar is doing would be nice, maybe from one of the kids perspectives? I'd not expect to see another Doomblade perspective until they make it through the glacial region to Eluathar, unless something happens. Might also be interesting to see if there's any sense of the new "allegiance" from Greldo's perspective?
Nicholas Del Rossi
The card? It showed up in the chapter it was created in? That’s not how this works! What next, will we start getting 4 chapters a week? Are blessings going to start falling out of the sky? Is a wizard going to knock on my door and teach me magic?
Carrarn
Been having some issues with my grammar software again lately - I'll try and find some time to read yesterdays chapter, and see what is wrong this time. Also - see? I don't always forget to add the cards! :P (And no, not going to give you all the handcards. Those weren't nearly as interesting as the heartcard: ) We are going to be heading back into the storm midnext chapter, and I'll probably be doing some timeskips. What perspective do you guys and girls want to see? It will probably take them a chapter or a bit more to get back. You can pick from Doomblade, Daubutim on that side of things, Rindiri or Greldo on the ship, or... well suggest something and I might be able to fit it in :)
