Irwin's Journey 505: A demonstration?

"So… I guess she isn't coming," Hilbarin grunted.

Irwin didn't react, already sensing both Salezina and Vaidara moving through the city towards them. He didn't tell the Oxarite, the only one not yet in his soulscape. Instead, he turned to one of two leaders of the empire who would both be leaving with him.

"I'm going to move you into my soulscape now. You are still sure?"

Hilbarin barked a laugh, then nodded. "I am. Also, thanks for this-" he padded his chest, though Irwin knew what he meant was the card he'd moved into his own soulscape. One that would allow him to become a Crathan if he wanted. "Now, let's get out of here!"

Irwin grinned and pulled Hilbarin into his soulscape. Hilbarin vanished, and Irwin quietly stared at the spot, waiting for the two women, while thinking about Hilbarin. He was still surprised by the request for a Crathan card. Hilbarin had been clear that he'd not been interested in any previous situation, but when asked, the Oxarite had just called it insurance. 

'It's not that hard to understand,' Ambraz said, sounding slightly distracted, likely from having to monitor the small group of rank zeros he had brought.

'What do you mean?'

'How many Oxarites are anywhere beyond Scour?"

Irwin frowned. There were none, as they had come from one of the shardworlds that had connected to Scour eons ago, during the uncontrolled time dilation surges. They and the Parealion were possibly the only ones of their kind alive within the Portal Gallery, and either had much knowledge about their old homeworld. Or homeworlds, as nobody knew if they originated from the same one. The thing was that Irwin knew that Ambraz was aware of this. So why was he asking?

'He fears he might feel lonely,' Ambraz said, sounding slightly smug. 

Irwin took a deep breath, then exhaled explosively as he realized he'd overlooked that part. Worse, he'd been in Hilbarin's boots not that long ago. Being the only one of a kind made you feel… lonely and alone sometimes.

'You think it's in case he doesn't ever want to go back to Scour,' he said, seeing Salezina and Vaidara walk through the mass of people on the square.

'Exactly. I-... no, don't! Oh, those little…'

Irwin sensed how two of the small rank zeros had gone to the Caldera and were going inside, likely curious. Ambraz rushed after them, berating them. He smiled, then pulled his attention to Scour and the two women walking towards him, one slow and with care, her body clearly unable to move faster, the other with a frown on her face.

"Guildmaster," Vaidara said, stopping where she stood and smiling at him. "Thank you for waiting for us."

"Us?" Irwin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I fear I'll have to ask if you can bring me along," Vaidara said, shaking her head ruefully. "This foolish woman was planning on staying here, so she is leaving me no other choice but to just go with her."

Irwin's other eyebrow shot up as he saw Salezina cross her arms, shaking her head angrily.

"It's not smart," she muttered. "We have no idea what all of this will do to you."

"Oh, and ignoring my wishes to remain here while you clearly need to do something else is?" Vaidara asked, her eyebrows raised. "I sometimes feel that without the physical aging of a body, wisdom does not accumulate with the years."

"Are you calling me stupid?" Salezina asked.

"Foolish, perhaps," Vaidara said, before turning to Irwin. "I know I ask much, but would it be possible?"

Irwin nodded slowly, examining her and her soulforce resonance. Although her body was old, her soulforce signature showed plenty of stability. 

"You are welcome to join… if you are sure?"

Vaidara walked a step closer, her weathered face lighting up. "Oh, I'm ready. Could you move me into your soulscape before this foolish woman bursts a blood vessel?"

Salezina rolled her eyes, her lips pursed, but Irwin just smirked as he wrapped both of them in his soulforce and brought them into his soulscape. He moved them into the new house below the shipwright tower, where Rindiri, Brecka, and Blade had been chatting calmly with one of his aura clones.

With them sorted, he looked around the square. Thousands of people milled about, going about their lives, and when he returned in what would be a week to him, they would nearly all be gone. Having grown old and died. As he spread his senses, he focused on the small anomaly that he'd been sensing for a while now, and he sighed as he prodded it.

A moment later, the shadows parted, and Rinbus appeared beside the building. He'd grown old, like the others, and as he walked closer, Irwin couldn't help but wonder if he would ever get used to seeing people he knew grow old and die. 

Probably not.

"Irwin," Rinbus said, his voice creaking like a rusty old door hinge. "You are leaving."

It wasn't a question, and Irwin waited as he could sense Rinbus had something more to say.

"Do you remember when we first met?" the ancient Crathan asked. "I was still a Centi back then, or Accenti as you always called us."

Irwin nodded.

"I never thought things would go as they have, that I'd become this-" Rinbus waved at himself while staring at the people milling about. "Or that I'd have a family. I know you won't agree, but I have you to thank for that. So… there's something I would like to give you."

Irwin held his lips tight, wanting to say that it wasn't needed, but knowing it wouldn't help. 

Rinbus raised his hand, and a large, thin book appeared, which he presented to Irwin.

Slightly confused, Irwin took the book. Simple letters spelled the word "Scour," and he opened it only for his hands to still. A small painting, likely created by a carded painter, covered the two pages, showing a scene in Scour where he, Rinbus, and Brecka had been in the small city he'd first arrived. It looked almost real, and he stared at it as his memories moved back to that moment. 

"There are a few carded painters that can see memories and create paintings for them," Rinbus said as he reached out and gently flipped the page to another one, which depicted Cindergrove. 

Irwin didn't react, watching as Rinbus flipped through the fifteen or so pages, each depicting a scene. The final one showed the entire group during the party they had the day before, and Rinbus snorted.

"Hard to believe how old I've become. Either way, there's also a card-" he put a card on the page. "-that I found a couple of hundred years ago. I think you will like it."

Irwin glanced at the image, which depicted a simple lute-like instrument.

"Thank you," he said, realizing his voice was raw. 

"Well, I'd better be off before Nim thinks I died on the way back," Rinbus said, grinning widely. "Don't forget us!" He vanished into the shadows that Irwin himself cast, and a moment later Irwin sensed him shoot through them, away, while he stared dumbly at the book. 

"Thanks…" he whispered again, before pulling the book into his soulscape and moving it to his own private chambers. 

Taking a deep breath, he clicked his tongue and shot up the side of the tower, reaching the room Rindiri had prepared for him. It was locked with runes and thick walls, but he barely noticed as he slumped on the bed. 

He took a final look around, feeling a mix of emotions roiling through him, then pulled his self into his soulscape, leaving the body alone for a final time. 

As soon as he was in his soulscape, he focused on the resonance from his soulcards, letting them stabilize Scour's ambient soulforce and, with it, normalizing the extreme time dilation. It was easier than ever before, in part because of his new soulcard, but also because of the great number of portals that had been closed over the years. A moment later, he focused on his other body, the one on Eluathar, and he moved into it, sensing the strain it still put on his soulscape.

It should be fine in five hundred years, he thought, as he pushed himself up, still feeling odd. 

"I hear him! He's back!"

The high-pitched shout from outside was from Flux, and as the door was shoved open, Irwin smiled as his son sprinted into the room, a moment later followed by the others.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" he asked, as he lowered himself to his knees as a bunch of incredibly excited children slammed into him, climbing onto his shoulders, head, or into his arms.

"We were just eating," his mother's calm voice came from the door. As he met her eyes, he saw how her joy faded slightly. "Are you alright, Irwin?"

Irwin felt his children still in his arms, and he pushed aside the slight lethargy he felt.

"I'm fine," he said, as he rose, lifting his children up, walking to his mother. 

I will be, he thought, smiling at her.

--

Rindiri sat in the clean kitchen, watching her son, the only one she had left, stare at the table. Sting sat on a nearby wooden railing attached to the wall like a giant green shadow. 

"I…" he muttered, taking a soft breath, before looking up. "We always knew this might happen," he said, glancing at the door that led out of the roomy house he and his family lived in. "Her daughter is really this angry with you?"

"Zai blames me," Rindiri said softly. "She feels I would have been able to save her mother, and if not that, should have been there for her. She isn't wrong, I-"

"She is," Zender snapped, a flare of anger burning in his eyes before fading as fast as it came. "She is wrong," he said softly. "Worlds like Scour are dangerous, even this one is dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. Even if you do, they are dangerous. People die. Nobody can be everywhere at once. Had you been there, something else would have happened. I… what Zai's children and grandchildren?"

Rindiri watched her son for a few moments before smiling. "One of them, Berjin, reminds me of you. He's energetic and wants to become a smith. I… guess when Irwin returns, he will have become one."

If he is still alive, she thought.

Zender nodded slowly. "This will be the final time Scour will change this much?"

"The Captain says that if the portals continue to close while we are gone, the world will be far more stable. He said that Urdwel and Frisyuustis will be able to stabilize it after he leaves actively, and the time dilation should be around one in forty."

"One in… that's still incredible," Zender said.

"It will become less as time progresses," Rindiri said. "Besides, compared to Eluathar, it is one in ten."

Zender was quiet, and she watched him ponder something. Eventually, he looked at his hand, which held two cards he'd gained from Irwin, to him, only a few months ago. One made him a Crathan, the other gave him a body double. 

"Irwin gave more of these body double cards to others, and some will be moving back and forth to Scour? Like he was?"

"Yes, though they can't move as many people and things," Rindiri said, wondering what Zender was pondering.

"Would they be able to move Berjin and a few others here?"

Rindiri stared at her son. "Perhaps. Why?"

"Well, after Irwin returns there, he will be five hundred years or older, right? Probably able to go where he wants?"

"Yes…"

"I'm going to ask Irwin to give him a message," Zender said. "If he wants to, he should come here, together with some of his family."

Rindiri stared at her son, still not sure what he was planning.

"Scour isn't real," Zender said, shaking his head. "Well, it's real, but its time makes it almost fake. Everything that happens there flows so fast that it's completely unrelated to the grander scheme of things. I'm going to offer him to come here and learn more things, see more things. Besides, it's good to have more family here."

"Scour's time dilation doesn't make what happens there less real," Rindiri said softly, only for Zender to shake his head.

"I know, I'm not explaining this right. What I mean is, if someone lives there for their entire life, they will have been unable to experience what truly exists. Like the portal gallery, the other worlds. They also can't really help with the Guidar problem."

Rindiri sighed, having a feeling she knew what Zender meant, but was not sure she fully agreed with it. Still, she didn't see any harm in his plan. 

"Will Zai still be alive in five hundred years?" Zender asked, making her look back up.

"Probably not," she said.

A slight sadness flashed across Zender's face, then vanished. "Perhaps that's best," he muttered, before focusing on her.

"You are really going back out with The Captain?"

Rindiri noticed how he went from Irwin to The Captain suddenly.

"Yes," she said. "He plans to use his sound-based movement to cross the entire breadth of the Langost Branche, but that will probably not work as he plans. I fear we will have to use the Caldera to cross certain parts, and he can't just go out on his own."

Zender's lips pursed, and this time Rindiri clearly saw the desire in them. She also saw the conflict.

"I wish I could go," Zender said, staring at her. "But I can't. I can't leave Ihrana and the Embers."

"I know," Rindiri said, smiling at him. "I would have liked it if you could come, but there will be a time for that again."

"If we survive the Guidar," Zender said, looking at her. 

Rindiri just nodded, knowing she couldn't promise him they would. Instead, she smiled and changed the subject to his Embers.

As Zender told her how close some were to solidifying, Rindiri pushed away her worries, focusing on the here and now.

--

Four days after he returned to Eluathar, Irwin sat with Daubutim in the kitchen. At the same time, his otherself was talking with Ambraz, Scintilla, Pur'am, and Brecka in his soulscape while Rindiri and Blade were working on the Caldera.

"You are sure this will work?" Irwin asked, pondering the plan Daubutim had just told him.

"It will, but we need to make sure Scour remains safe," Daubutim said.

Irwin shook his head, staring at the documents on the kitchen table. "You are sure you have enough cards for this?"

"More won't work," Daubutim said. "There is a balance we can't break. For one, we can't keep pushing Scour's time forward. Eventually, the people there will forget about the Guidar, or we need to rule with an Iron Hand, which will cause them to eventually rebel. That means we need to preserve the balance as it is when you return, which will hopefully be in our favor. Even with a forty-to-one, we can't create ships at a speed beyond that number."

"So," Irwin muttered, leaning back. "I go back to Scour and bring all of the body doubles there. If the Guidar attack, a large group of our fighters, if they die, will go to Scour, which, with its time dilation, will give them enough time to recover their second body, and those who can, will return them to Eluathar."

"Exactly," Daubutim said, tapping his finger on another paper. "We only need to do this for those who got cards that require time. Those who regain their new body almost instantly will keep their body double within Eluathar."

Irwin sighed. "We need more of those cards."

"Yes, as we do more fighters to slot them, more ships for them to sail on, and weapons to wield," Daubutim said, looking up. "There is no need for you to make more. Our armies are growing at a pace that is unprecedented, and it will take time to integrate and house everyone. Train them in ship combat. Even if we could, speeding it up more will cause more problems than it could solve."

"After I find Greldo and speak with the titan sliver," Irwin said slowly. "I'll see if I can use the time-dilation on the gas giant to make more cards."

"Crathan and body doubles," Daubutim said. "If you can create soulforce increasing ones that would be great. But most importantly, find out what you can about worldcards. If we can get even one of those, a power beyond what even the Guidar possess, we will have a trump card."

Irwin nodded, glancing at the door to the side where his children's room was.

"I can't believe it's almost over," he said. 

"You are sure you can be present both here and on the other side of the Branch?" Daubutim asked.

"Not constantly, and the further I move, the harder it will be to move large numbers of people and supplies, but yes… Without having to deal with Scour's time dilation, I can keep in constant control of both of my normal bodies."

Daubutim was quiet, his eyes like pits of stormy lightning, for a few minutes. When he looked back up, Irwin knew he had another thing to ask.

"You are planning to head to Granvox?"

"We are," Irwin said.

"Be careful when you go there, but if you manage, ask Brazardian if you can bring cardsmithing teachers here. As many as they can spare."

Irwin needed only a moment to ponder the request before nodding. "I'll try, and if we get a chance to go to Suderfuix, I'll-" he fell quiet as Daubutim shook his head.

"Don't. We can't entirely trust the people there. Not like those on Granvox," Daubutim said. "The Golden Friction academy is on a world, while the main Cardsmith's Guild of Suderfuix is within the Portal Gallery. We can't be sure if the Guidar infiltrated them, but it's highly unlikely they managed to send any chained onto Granvox."

Irwin recalled the rank five and six Ganvil protecting the exit portal of Granvox and agreed.

"I'll stick to getting all the cards I can, especially anything not heat-related," he said, knowing they had plenty of those now.

"Focus on water and anything dealing with cold," Daubutim said as he picked up another paper. "Also-"

Irwin listened quietly as Daubutim continued filling him in on what they would need. As he did, a tiny part of him began growing ever more excited. He was going to set out in a few hours!

--

"You are going to be here again soon?" Zan asked, hugging Irwin.

"Yes," Irwin said, smiling at his daughter. "I will be back tomorrow, and after that, I'll be here. Sometimes I might be a bit unfocused, or staring off into the distance-"

"Like Sootahr!?" she squealed.

Irwin raised an eyebrow, flicking a gaze at his most rebellious son, Soot, who stood to the side.

"I guess," he said, noticing that Soot suddenly seemed more interested in the ground and the walls. 

What is that all about?

"How about you tell me about that tomorrow morning?"

"Okay!" Zan said.

Irwin put her on the ground, smiling at the others before moving to the room he hoped he'd not have to appear in after tomorrow. 

Scintilla's main body was waiting for him there, and she smiled as she walked forward. With a quick jump, she dangled from his neck. 

"Be careful when you go outside, and make sure to come out of here as soon as you can," she said, before kissing him.

"I will," Irwin said, giving her another quick kiss. 

A few moments later, he lay on the bed, both selves in his soulscape. He focused on his body on Scour, the room still dark and quiet, the only change a thin layer of dust that had settled. The board that he could see was still white, meaning Flowrishin hadn't determined anything she couldn't handle. 

Let's see what happened while I was gone this time, he thought with a mix of worry and curiosity.

--

Berjin groaned as he watched the group of young, wannabe cardsmiths attempt to purify their metal bar. 

I told them striking harder isn't all there's to it, he thought, watching one chunk fly from the anvil and against the nearby wall, barely missing a young girl.

"No, no!" he shouted. "Focus! Sense the resonance of the metal. Don't just strike it as hard as you can without control!"

A second girl, the one responsible, lowered her shoulders, but Berjin saw the hidden grin as she picked up the chunk of ore.

Perhaps I should quit, he thought. 

It was a thought that had passed through his mind many times over the last ten years, or if he was truthful with himself, from the first day he'd joined the small school in the eastern residential district of Blackglass City. 

The only reasons he'd remained were the ten free cards to practice with each week, more than his family could afford, since the number of portals being closed had dropped again.

Perhaps I should just join the Portal Closing Guild, he pondered as the lesson ended and the children ran out of his class. 

Another class with only so few prospective smiths, he thought, wondering why only so few seemed to have both the interest and the skills. Most of those who could learn it seemed more interested in the Portal Closing Guild, the prospect of fighting, and more cards like lures.

He walked through the classroom, picking up a discarded hammer here and some ore there, when the door was swung open. A blur rushed through the door, and he instinctively raised the hammer, dropping into the combat position his long-dead grandmother had taught him. 

"Berjin, the Guildmaster has returned!"

Berjin lowered his hammer as he saw Uvra, the only other teacher who remembered the Guildmaster staring at him with a wide-open grin. 

"Irwin?" he asked, not sure he had heard right.

"Who else do we call Guildmaster?" she snorted. "Did old age finally catch up to you?"

"I'm fifty years younger than you," Berjin said, quickly putting the hammer and other things away. "You are sure it's him?"

"Oh, definitely! Even if I didn't recall what he looks like, he looks exactly like the statues in the Cardsmiths Guild. I was eating across from Shipwright Tower, and he just strolled out, looking around as if he was lost."

Berjin followed her out of the room, closing the door behind him. A moment later, they were walking through the bustling streets.

"I take it he's heading for the Guildhall?"

"I think so," Uvra said, rubbing her hands. "It's about time he returned. Things have been so boring!"

"Boring…?" Berjin muttered, looking at her from the side. "You call a hundred-year war, the destruction of half a desert, turning it into a glassed wasteland, and another century of whittling down the hordes of Insectoids that came from that out-of-control diamond-ranked portal boring?"

"Bah! The Mountain Wars were three hundred years ago, and the Great Breaking over sixty," Uvra said, rolling her eyes at him. "Besides, what did we really notice about it?"

"..."

"What?"

"You do remember why we have walls around Blackglass now, right?" Berjin muttered, wondering if she was being annoying on purpose.

"I do," she said defensively. "Anyway, we've had barely anything of interest happen after."

"Guildmistress Flowrishin created the third cardseed…" Berjin said as they almost ran around a corner and onto the massive square filled with small ships. "There-" he said, pointing at a free Commuter Boat, a young man waving at people, shouting he was the fastest, most knowledgeable guide.

"I hate using those."

"I know. You remember right? He wouldn't be here long if he returned."

"Those are just rumors."

"No, I was there when they said so," Berjin said.

"Pfff, that was seven hundred years ago," Uvra said.

"Just over five hundred, and I don't think I could forget those few days if I wanted to," Berjin snapped, feeling himself grow angry.

"Oh, fine, you old geezer," Uvra snorted just as they reached the Commuter Boat.

"Ah, such a beautiful couple," a young man with dark-red eyes with a single tiny flame in the center said, smiling widely. "Where would you like to go?"

"We are not a couple," Uvra snapped.

"The Cardsmiths Guild, please," Berjin said.

"Ah, another pair," the young man said, taking everything in stride as he let them onto the small six-person sloop. "Before they even sat down, his hands were zipping across the rune controls, and the ship shot up."

"Hate these things," Uvra muttered under her breath.

Berjin ignored her as he focused on their helmsman. "You have brought more people to the Guildhall?"

"Yes, it started about an hour or so ago. Mostly smiths like yourselves," he said, not looking up but expertly weaving through the air between the towering buildings, dodging the many other ships.

I guess something happened to warn the others, Berjin thought, looking at Uvra.

"Don't look at me, I came straight to you!"

Berjin didn't respond, and he quietly waited for them to rush through the city. 

When they finally reached the city center, he saw a host of people rushing across the enormous square in front of the Cardsmiths Guild. 

"Get us as close to the main gate as you can," he said, leaning forward and recognizing dozens of smiths.

The young man didn't say anything, but a moment later, they landed in a small, cleared area to the side of the gate, a set of guards stomping towards them angrily.

"Here's your payment," Berjin said, tossing the helmsman a small bag he'd prepared. 

The young man weighed it, smiled, and shot back into the air moments after Berjin and Uvra jumped from the sloop. The guards reached them a moment later, one of them glaring up at the sky while the other looked at them, seemingly debating if he should say something.

Berjin didn't bother waiting, knowing full well that the guards had no way to act. A moment later, he reached the main gate and slowed as the mass began pulling him forward.

"Why is everyone rushing here?" he asked a young Viridian smith, one of the few he saw.

"Ah, elder, you didn't hear? Guildmaster Irwin returned! A message went out that he will be demonstrating the crafting of diamond-rank cards and cardseeds! Isn't it amazing?!"

Berjin's eyes shot up, while he heard Uvra curse in excitement.