Irwin's Journey 468: Aura

Authors note: I added an entire section to this chapter to hopefully better explain what Irwin's new heartcard does. Well,the Aura soul part at least. I usually don't alert people of changes to chapters, but because its not the last chapter, and a substantial edit, I'm making two exceptions. One for this chapter, and one for the next which I'll be editing later today. The new part is in the interlude where part of Irwin is waiting in the Portal Gallery while the other part of him is saying goodbye to his family. It should be roughly at 4/5 of the chapter.

--

Esmee stared at her son quietly, watching him hug his children as he laughed. She let them continue for a while, as she slowly came to grips with what she had to tell them. Only when the children had moved to Ambraz, dangling from his sides as he hovered in the room, did she know it was time.

"You can't bring them," she said softly, her voice ripping through the silence. "At least not yet."

Six pairs of startled eyes looked at her, but she ignored them, holding Irwin's gaze. She would have preferred talking to him without the kids here, but that wasn't happening. He was leaving in a few minutes, and they wouldn't want to lose sight of him until he lay back in his bed.

"I know it's going to be hard to go back," she said. "But you need to make sure it's really safe if you do that. Go back and make sure it's all safe."

"What could possibly be dangerous if Dad is with us?" Flux asked, crossing his arms angrily, not unlike she herself sometimes did.

Esmee smiled thinly, part of her enjoying just how much the boy copied her own mannerisms. 

"There's no reason to bring them now," she said, seeing Irwin calmly looking at her. "You were gone for hours, right? Just return, make sure everything is safe, and then return for a quick trip. For us, it might be only a few minutes. The kids could even go and start packing."

Esmee saw the instant reactions as the annoyed eyes suddenly turned hopeful.

"Dad? Can we!?" Glow asked, eyes gleaming.

"I… Grandmother is right," Irwin said, his deep voice resonating through the room.

Esmee felt a stab of pain, knowing just how hard this had to be for Irwin. Why couldn't he just stay here? Couldn't someone else go to Scour?

"And you are sure you have to return?" she asked, unable to stop from wringing her hands. "Perhaps someone else…"

"I can't let someone else do this and potentially fail…  Besides, they are learning so much, just like I am," Irwin said. "We need what those cardseeds can give us, and if I can learn to make those on Scour, it will save us years, perhaps decades. Then there's the potential of an army… Even if they only defend their own section of the Portal Gallery, it will be good for us."

"I thought they were going to come help us?" Scintilla asked, hugging Zan, who had moved back to her, looking worried.

"They were when I left," Irwin said, untangling himself from his children. "But it's hard to say how things will be when I return, or in a hundred years."

"A hundred?!" 

Esmee flinched at the startled shout, and she saw Zan stare at Irwin in horror.

"Will you have to be alone there for that long?" she asked, her eyes turning watery.

"I'll make sure it's safe, and then come get you," Irwin said. 

"I… you, you can't leave yet! You promised to show me your new card," Zan shouted, as she shook her head angrily. "I want to see what to aim for!"

Esmee saw Irwin's smile widen, while the other children dashed around him, looking incredibly curious.

"You are right," he said, kneeling beside her while a small booklet appeared in her hands. "But remember. Don't tell other people about my cards!"

"We would never," Glow said, sounding horrified.

Esemee couldn't stop a smile, knowing full well that it mattered little to their father. Besides, they had found many carded by now that could read others' cards.

"This card was only made an hour ago," Irwin said, flipping open the page.

Card: Surging Soul Aura

Type: Heartcard, Ammolite, Aura, Fire, Soul, Mutation, Forged by Irwin Roddington

Owner: Irwin Roddington

A mutated masterpiece of Aura manipulation, this card allows the owner to use an Aura clone. 

Passive: Greatly increased strength and physical density

Passive: Aura clone [True clone]

Passive: Greatly increased aura control

Passive: Greatly increased aura size

Passive: Greatly increased control over flames

Active:  Surging Growth [21x] 

[Active][Mutation]: Summon Aura Gauntlets

There was a moment of quiet, then the children began clamoring, with Flux and Mia's voices ringing out about the others.

"Can you make me one like those?" 

"Not yet," Irwin said with a smile. "You are too young for heartcards. But don't worry, I've been collecting a lot of cards. As soon as you are old enough, I'll make you great cards."

Esmee grimaced, knowing immediately what Irwin's misguided message would get. A split second later, she was proven right.

"Can we see them?"

"Are there a lot?"

"Do you have any sword cards?"

Irwin let out a roaring laugh while his booklet vanished, only for Zan to let out an angry shout.

"You can see it again soon enough," Irwin said, staring at them.

Esmee could see he was pondering something, and from his slightly fragile look, she guessed he was discussing it with Ambraz. 

"Before I leave, I can show you one more thing," Irwin said, seemingly finishing his quick talk with Ambraz.

He knelt back down, and as he held out his hand, two beautiful, gleaming gauntlets appeared in his hands. Each was far too big, but as he handed one to a confused-looking Zan, it glowed and shrank until it was a size that fit her.

"These are your heartcard gauntlets," Zan shouted excitedly.

Esmee barely held back a muffled shout of warning. Most of the others didn't hear it, but she saw Scintilla look at her with a weary, understanding smile. She smiled back before watching how Zan put on one of the gaunlets and Glow the other.

"What does it do?" Glow asked, waving it around with a wide grin.

"Except for the fact that it's almost indestructible," Irwin said. "If you could use Aura, these gauntlets would increase your ability to do so."

Esmee had no idea what that meant, but Scintilla clearly did.

"They improve the aura skills of someone else?" she exclaimed.

"Yes," Irwin said, grinning at her. "Do you want a set? I would have thought you would want a sword?"

"Yes, no… I… Yes, I would want an aura sword if you can even make one," Scintilla said, putting her hands on her hips. "And you just make me a promise!"

"I did?"

"Yes," six children shouted at the same time.

"Well, I guess I'll have to make you all an aura sword then," Irwin said, rubbing his chin.

"No! I want an Aura hammer," Zan exclaimed, shaking her head. "Swords are only for fighting."

"We need them to protect people," Mia said, her burning eyebrows shooting up. 

"Now, now," Esmee snapped, her voice lashing out across the children before they could continue. "Irwin will have to leave soon. Let's not start fighting now. Okay?"

The children deflated instantly, and Esmee saw the gauntlets vanish.

"Grandma is right," Irwin said, smiling at her for a moment. "Every moment I stay here brings the chance that Scour's time dilation causes an issue."

Esmee saw how he took a few steps back, towards the door of the bedroom, where his body had been lying for the last couple of days. It seemed so short, yet knowing how long each moment was for him made her shiver.

Can't show the little ones, she thought, as she walked forward.

"You are right," she said, pulling Irwin into a hug. "Be careful, and if you can make it safe, come and bring us there. Even if only for a short time. You can bring us there and back here again, right?"

"Yes, but each time I'll have to go through the exit corridor," Irwin said, hugging her back, before stepping away.

Esmee held back a grimace at the image of thousands of those tentacle monsters wrapped around that portal corridor. Just the idea made her sick.

She absently watched as Irwin hugged his children, then hugged and kissed Scintilla, which caused the little ones to erupt in shouting laughter. 

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Irwin said as he opened the bedroom door.

"You all be good," Ambraz shouted. "Keep practicing your cardsmithing!"

"You will be back in a few hours, right?" Soot asked, shaking his head. "How are we supposed to practice like that?"

"Just give it your best," Ambraz snapped, as his lips were curved in a wide smile.

"Make sure Dad is alright," Flux shouted.

"Don't worry, there's nothing there strong enough to harm us," Ambraz said before he vanished.

"But if you are the strongest, why can't we come?" Mia asked again.

Esmee walked forward and put her hand on the little girl's shoulder. "Because he might not be able to protect you from everything, everywhere," she said, looking up at Irwin, who gave Scintilla another kiss before stepping into the room. "I'll be back before you know it," he said, closing the door.

I just wish it were before you knew it, too, Esmee, though sadly.

--

Irwin stared at the door, listening to his children, Scintilla, and his mother continue talking. 

It's best like this, he told himself, turning around and walking to the bed. Besides, Mom is right. If everything is safe, I can just come get them quickly.

He lay down, closed his eyes, and moved his new Aura soul out of his body and back into his soulscape. Although the distance was immense, and even the way his own soulscape was somehow hovering somewhere, the movement felt almost effortless. Just a slight tremor, and some pulling, and he was back in his soulscape.

He hovered above the massive landscape, lingering in the form of his Aura soul before releasing it back into his soulscape. The part of his mind that had been split off flowed back into his two regular bodies, while the slight time discrepancy caused his head to throb.

"Why is moving my Aura Soul so much easier?" he asked, as he looked at the new heartcard hovering above his Soul Lake.

"Because it's not a normal soul," Ambraz rumbled, flying around him. "I take it you remember what it felt like when we were making that card?"

Irwin shivered as he recalled the way his two souls had been almost pulled apart halfway through. Until that point, it had been an easy reforge, for as easy as any Ammolite hardcard could be. After that? It had been like he had to forge with one arm tied behind his back.

"Yeah, that," Ambraz said, and Irwin felt a similar wave of disgust from his bond. "The Aura cards connected to the parts of the Greater Emnon Body Split and the Dual Soul Slivers after we split them apart. Usually, an aura has no true focus, but because of those parts, yours gained the ability to condense itself into one of those souls. One for each of your current souls… The result is the card you have now, one that allows you to split part of one of your souls and have it function like both a soul and an aura."

Irwin nodded as he continued examining his new heartcard.

"So, what can I do with it except move it across vast distances?"

"Yes, that part is only useful if you already have two bodies far apart," Ambraz grunted. "Though I guess you could put one in a body and move it as far as you want now without consequences. For the rest? You will have to experiment. I don't know exactly."

Irwin hummed, taking a moment to focus on his new heartcard and trying to get a feel for it. One thing was instantly clear to him.

"I still can't move things into a world from the outside if that world's time dilation is too strong," Irwin said dully. "Like with Scour."

"Exactly… anything below seven or eight should be doable. If it's higher?" Ambraz snorted. "The Aura Soul will probably not form, and you would have to use one of your two normal souls, and I don't have to tell you how well that will go?"

Irwin nodded, pondering what was happening while his otherself talked with Brecka and Nimlarel.

-- Real World - one hour earlier --

"You are sure you shouldn't stay a bit longer?" Brecka asked.

Irwin smiled at her, knowing she meant well, even if it made it even harder. It took him all of his effort to keep this part of him here instead of moving it to where his children were.

"It's too dangerous," he said. "Without knowing what is going on with the time dilation and the instability, who knows how much time has passed since we were there?"

"Fine," Brecka said with a sigh. "Fine… and you are sure all of those spores are gone?"

Irwin glanced at the piles of bodies in the distance. It had taken him half an hour and a lot of power to burn all of the hidden Oculithar Spores away, and even now, he wasn't sure what to think of it. He focused on his senses, trying to pick up any little bit of the dissonant soulforce resonance that might indicate one of the spores.

"I don't hear anything," he muttered. "Ambraz?"

"It's clear from what I can see, though it's hard to be sure," Ambraz muttered. "Try what I suggested."

Irwin looked around before turning to Brecka and Nimlarel. They had only been here for a bit, but it was too much of a risk to leave them here.

"It's time to head back in my soulscape," he said.

"Okay," Nimlarel said, sounding far happier than Irwin would have expected.

She grimaced when she saw his surprise, and shrugged. "It's not that great here, and those things smell," she said, pointing at the bodies in the distance.

Irwin agreed, while Brecka let out a weary sigh. "We will come back in the future and travel," she said. "Most of the Portal Gallery isn't like this-" she waved at her surroundings. "-dark, gloomy, and with dead things everywhere."

"It's not?" Irwin asked, with mock shock.

He didn't let her respond as he quickly pulled her and Nimlarel into his soulscape. As soon as they were there, he scanned them to make sure there weren't any spores on them.

"They seem clean," he said, scanning the surroundings. "Okay, now I just have to spread out my aura?"

"Yes, use the strongest you can and force it over this entire area and everything else you can. I'm not entirely sure it will work on Oculithar Spores, but it wouldn't surprise me either. Besides, you need to learn how to control it. If you accidentally spread your Aura too far when we are on Scour, you could cause a lot of accidents."

Irwin nodded, changing into his giantself while summoning his gauntlets around his hands. It took him a moment to shake off the slight dizziness, then he looked around. The soulforce from his heartcard seemed to spread through his soulscape like a hazy fog, and he wondered for a moment what it would look like when he filled its soullake.

Then he took a deep breath and focused on his new abilities. A swirling surge surrounded him as his body grew, and when the sensation ended, he looked around the now tiny Portal Gallery.

"Barely any soulforce drain," he rumbled. "I can probably keep this up ten times as long as before."

Ambraz landed on his shoulder, changing into a larger form and letting out a contented sigh.

"Longer," he said. "The Ancestral Copperion, remember?"

Irwin looked at his bond, suddenly thinking about something. "You don't have to go into my soulscape?"

"No need. My soulforce resonance is identical to yours," Ambraz said. "Your Aura won't affect me."

"Does that mean that if someone has a card that could fake someone else's resonance, that they would be immune to that person's aura?" Irwin asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

"I have never heard of a card that can do that," Ambraz grunted. "But yes, I guess if a card like that exists, it would make someone be able to sneak through your aura."

Irwin nodded, but he decided it would be a good idea to always keep an eye out. Just because Ambraz hadn't heard of card, didn't mean it didn't exist.

"Now, stop procrastinating," Ambraz snapped.

Irwin held back a laugh as he focused on his heartcard and its ability to manipulate his Aura. The reaction was instant and explosive as a torrent of soulforce roared out of him; the pressure caused everything around him to shimmer and wobble. 

He hadn't expected that, and as he sensed his soulforce flowing around him, causing an ever-increasing pressure outward, he wondered how far it would go.

'Keep an eye on the pressure,' Ambraz grunted. 'Although not as good as your Sweltering steam, you should be able to sense if someone enters it.'

Irwin focused on the sensation of pressure that was radiating from him. It seemed unable to penetrate the barriers, instead flowing along the Portal Corridors and outward. At one point, he thought he sensed something, but it was gone before he could focus on it. 

Perhaps something moved into my Aura and back out?

He didn't know and instead waited till the Aura had fully expanded. When it had, he could faintly sense everything in the Portal Gallery around him, and he instantly moved to an Oculithar that had fled before he killed it.

"I sense it," Ambraz grunted. "Try and focus your Aura on it for a moment."

Irwin did as asked, sensing his Aura shrink slightly as the pressure in front of him began rapidly increasing. The tiny Oculithar Spores fizzled in the soulforce prossure before he even got close to his maximum.

"Oh!" Ambraz exclaimed. "You should-"

Irwin was already moving before Ambraz's words were finished, pulling in the pressure inward until it was at least as powerful as what he'd just used. It took a few seconds, and when he was ready, the pressure aura was only half as big as before, but he didn't mind. 

Instead, he calmly watched how dozens of tiny spore resonances fizzled out. It took barely a minute, and when he finished, Irwin let out a weary sigh.

"I think we can add another type of card to our list of cardseeds," he said. 

"Kid, you have no idea what you are saying," Ambraz said wearily. "It took you two years to get only a few aura cards, and only that because you can reforge them yourselves. Aura cards are among the most useful cards, and they are rare. If you can make cardseeds from those, helping people deal with Oculithar Spores will be the least of the benefits."

Perhaps, but it will be an important benefit, Irwin thought, as he recalled the many people who had suffered and died from the Oculithar Spores Curse.

"Now, let's see how much control I have over this," he said as he began pulling in his new soulforce Aura.

For almost an hour, he continued practicing while watching his otherself with the children, and it quickly became clear that his new Aura souls weren't exactly the same as his regular ones.

"I think I have a good idea what's going on," Irwin said, as two near-identical copies of himself hovered in his soulscape. Both were enormous, and the only physical difference was that one had a chain around its waist and leather pants, while the other had a smith's skirt. The non-physical differences, however, were far greater.

"Well, don't keep me in suspense," Ambraz said, flying beside him.

Both Irwins grinned, and the one with the chain raised his hand.

"So, this body isn't completely the same. It used to be the Emnon Body Split body, and it's now the Aura clone body. I couldn't really sense the difference before, but I can now. Using it with Aura will increase the effectiveness, but... I get the feeling that if I run into something with a stronger Aura pressure, it's best to keep it in my soulscape."

Ambraz hummed, hovering in front of the body Irwin had indicated.

"Interesting. I don't sense any difference... What about your new True soul?"

"So, the Aura souls are a bit fuzzy," Irwin said. "And I mean that literally. It feels like I have a constant layer between my souls that wasn't there before. It's actually a bit harder to keep them apart. It almost feels like they are hovering somewhere between my bodies and my normal selves. Like we already noticed, moving them around is far easier, as the one on Eluathar now is an Aura soul, as is the body."

"Wait, so the body on Eluathar isn't your original body?" Ambraz asked, sounding interested.

"No, from what I can tell, this-" Irwin raised the hand of his giant smith's body. "-seems to be my original body. It's still growing by the way."

"Yes, we knew that," Ambraz grunted, hovering before him. "So, the small one was the first clone?"

"It looks like it," Irwin agreed with a smirk. "The two Aura souls can work like either of my normal selves, moving my bodies around, but they can also do this-"

The body with the chain lowered itself to the ground and into a seated position before slumping down. A moment later, a glowing, smaller version of Irwin appeared in the air.

"This is the Aura soul if it just moves about," Irwin said, speaking from the Aura soul body. "It's really odd. All of these are me." He waved with his physical and Aura souls arms. "Yet, I don't really feel like there's more of me. Just... more positions and sensations."

"Can you move it out of your soulscape?" Ambraz asked curiously.

Irwin frowned, and his Aura soul vanished for a moment before returning.

"I can!" he said, sounding surprised. "But only within my own Aura."

"That makes sense, I guess," Ambraz muttered.

Irwin nodded when he sensed something.

"It's time to leave," he said, feeling his joy fade.

Irwin moved most of himself, as many of his senses as he could, to his one body on Eluathar for the final hug. A few minutes later, he was back in the Portal Gallery, staring at the exit portal.

'It's time,' Ambraz said. 'Don't worry, your mother was right. If everything is okay, you can return them in a few weeks.'

Months, Irwin thought, knowing that he would need to do a lot of things when he returned.

He hesitated for only a moment, then clicked his tongue, shooting through the soundwaves and into the exit portal.

The world swirled around, and like before, he didn't see any massive Oculithar. What he did see were the same nearly innumerable smaller Oculithar, all wrapped up around the corridor.

'Well, let's get back,' he muttered.

Ambraz let out a weary sigh, and for the next few hours, they rushed through the corridor. 

The only interesting thing Irwin noticed was that the time-dilation that was needed to force his soulscape closed was far higher than it had been the first time, especially now he was actively keeping an eye on it. 

If I have to, I could force myself back halfway through the corridor, he thought, wondering what would happen if he did something like that. 

When they reached the end of the exit portal, he summoned his new gauntlets. Smaller than they had been, they looked sleek and deadly, but that was only part of their use. The really important part was that they increased not just the Aura of others, but also his own.

'Remember, kid, don't blast the entire area with your Aura if something jumps you, or you might knock out everything weaker than you across half the desert,' Ambraz shouted a moment before Irwin hit the exit.

He was fully prepared to see the enormous Oculithar again, and he wasn't disappointed. The pressure washed over him like a tidal wave, with one big difference. Unlike the first time, it slammed into his Aura, which was flowing around and through his soulforce. In a flash, he saw thousands of eyes suddenly snap open and focus on him, then the world spun black, and he stumbled forward in the thin sand.

"Well… that was great," he muttered, shuddering at the memory of what he just sensed. "I wonder how strong I need to be to fight something like that."

'My guess? Stronger than you can be with soulcards,' Ambraz grunted. 'Which reminds me, we only have one more heartcard to form after this… then we need to find that Titan.'

Irwin looked around the rough molten sand pillar and let out a weary sigh.

Right, there's also something more to do, he thought.

"Let's see what happened while we were gone," he muttered.

--

Irwin slowly walked through the bustling city, heading towards the towering Smith's Guild that now dominated the entire long side of the stone platform. Thin layers of sand now lie on the roofs, while the first signs of wear could be spotted on the edges and surface. 

"I… don't understand," Nimlarel whispered. "It looks like it's been here for hundreds of years."

Irwin felt a stab of sympathy, and he saw Brecka put a hand on the young Oxarite's arm. He saw an older Oxarite merchant stand at a dilapidated wagon, selling pieces of charred meat on thin metal stakes. A quick check showed it was six for a soulshard.

"Can I have six?" Irwin asked, removing a soulshard from his pocket and holding it out.

"Yes, yes," the man said, his eyes widening with joy. He quickly snatched six of the metal stakes and slid them into a bag that he held out. "It is my pleasure to sell my great wares to you," he said, taking the soulshard and making it disappear in his pocket.

Irwin grinned back before he waved at the large Smith's Guild building.

"We are new here, could you tell us a bit about that place? We only heard about it from stories."

"The great Smith's Guild," the man said, smiling as he looked at the building. "It's where most of the truly great smiths have come from, like Borekliff the One-eyed, and-"

Irwin blinked, listening to how the man ran through a list of names, most of which he'd never heard before. 

"-and as always, the great Flowrishin Kil'nead will find and train the best of Scour!"

Irwin saw Nimralel almost jump at the name.

"Is it true that she used to be the headteacher of the Cardschool?" he asked, deciding to get some more info now that he had the chance.

"Ahhh, yes- a rather unfortunate bit of history that," he man said, shaking his head while his eyes were scanning around for other customers. "You know about the Smiths' war, right?"

It took Irwin all his calm to merely nod, but it was a good thing the man barely looked at him.

"Well, little was left of the Cardschool after those," the man said, waving at someone to try and get their attention. "But yes, as far as the stories go, she used to be the Headmistress there."

Irwin was about to ask something else when the man started waving and shouting someone's name. He continued for a few moments before turning to Irwin while he began gathering his cart.

"My apologies, dear customer, but I need to leave now! If you wish to learn more about our beautiful history, you can find me on the eastern bridge later today!"

He managed to grab all his things and start walking away before he even finished talking, leaving Irwin, Brecka, and Nimlarel alone. 

Irwin took one of the chunks of charred meat from the bag before handing it to the others. Brecka took one for herself, but Nimlarel was still staring at the building.

"How long ago was this? Is anyone still alive? How… how could this happen?"

Irwin chewed on his charred meat, looking at the only slightly familiar streets.

"I don't know the answer to those questions," he said. "But I know someone who does. Let's go and see if Flowrishin remembers us."