Irwin's Journey 444: Under pressure

Ambraz focused on his soulforce and the beautiful patterns deep within him. They felt somewhat similar to soulcards in nature, but unlike those, they were more malleable. Flexible. But only within certain boundaries. Boundaries he'd never really understood but which had been there for as long as his ancestral memories went back. 

Within the web-like pattern, three spots were left influx, options he'd not yet chosen from when he'd ranked up to five. Each represented an enormous array of options and possibilities, and he'd been uncertain about what to choose, weighing pros and cons for years. However, ever since he'd been locked within the kid's soulscape, knowing he might be here for a while longer, one had been gaining favor. 

He focused on the pattern, which hummed and sang to him like a song just on the edge of his memory. 

It's going to be useful in far more situations, he told himself. 

A wave of worry for the future threatened to drown his good mood, and he focused on the cause: his future growth to rank six and the ranks of world anvils.  The worst situation would be that he'd be locked away in a world… but there was a budding future he was slowly starting to unearth. It involved worldcards, the kids' ridiculous soulscape, and the messages of that titan.

Stop procrastinating, you old tool, he told himself.

With a mental sigh, he focused on one of his three slots, letting the distant song, the skill he could faintly hear, grow louder. He knew faintly what it did and wondered if he would be the first Ganvil to choose it since… well, perhaps, since whichever of his ancestors unearthed it back on their ancient homeworld.

The song went from a distant, faint memory to something playing through his own being with the snap of one of the kids' fingers. One moment, the spot in the web of soulforce patterns was in flux with near-endless possibilities. The next moment, it was solidified, and a new ability and all its implementations made themselves known to him.

Ambraz felt slightly stunned as he sensed the abilities they would give him.

Why didn't those stupid memories explain this? It would have been a no-brainer, he thought, as he flexed part of his new ability.

It integrated instantly with one of his other abilities, the one that let him watch what was happening through the kid's physical form. The integration and the knowledge blended, and a moment later, Ambraz flexed his new ability like some old forgotten muscle.

His perception changed with a slightly nauseating twitch of reality. One moment, he was a bystander, looking through a window into the classroom; the next, he was hovering beside the kid's shoulder. A slight drain came from his soulforce, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep this up for too long. That said, he could always draw from the kid's soulforce if he had to. 

I guess this is how Irwin felt when he was hovering inside his soulscape the first time, he thought, as he flitted about like a tin spec of light. 

Circling Irwin, he was surprised to find no reaction from him.

Odd… how come he can't sense me?

He looked at the teachers, none of whom seemed to see him.

A shame I can't go beyond the kid's soulforce aura, he thought. Still, that was already bigger than it had any right to be, and he flew through half the classroom, looking at the teachers one at a time.

These brats are in some real trouble…

He continued examining the teachers, and with every passing moment, his worry grew. After a short while, he moved back beside Irwin's shoulder with a sense of foreboding. 

There's not a single one here who can get close to reforging up to Emerald. Let alone creating a heartseed. Even if I create a group of rank zeros, this is not going to work. 

Which meant only one thing. The kid would have to reforge handcards, heartcards, and… perhaps even a soulcard. And he, even with his new skill, would only be able to help from a distance.

At least I'll get a good meal soon, he thought, pulling back to Irwin's soulscape.

--

"Alright, walk me through this again," Irwin said, unable to hide his surprise and confusion.

"Ugh, fine! I have a new skill that allows me to project myself anywhere within your soulforce aura," Ambraz said.

"And I can't sense this.".

"Apparently not," Ambraz said. "Though perhaps you were just too preoccupied? We can test that later. Now, be quiet, and let me explain."

Irwin crossed his arms and nodded for the Ganvil to continue.

"While projected, I can do a few things I couldn't before. One, I can create barriers. Normally, those are meant to protect you from projectiles and other things hurled your way, but in our case, I'm going to use them to create those barriers to contain the soulforce."

"Which means we can practice creating soulseeds outside of my soulscape again," Irwin said, unable to contain his sudden enthusiasm.

"Yes, and it means you can do something you couldn't because I was fully locked away," Ambraz said. "You can reforge their heartcards. But there are a few issues. One, we can't use your soulforce, or we will drain it dry. Second, I can't help you with the resonance stabilizing."

Irwin nodded slowly, thinking back to the many heartcards he had reforged.

"That means they will need to drop anything that doesn't match my typings," he said slowly. "There's no way I can do that."

"Exactly," Ambraz agreed. "They need to lose all cards that don't match with yours, which is why I suggested going with that geezer, Borekliff, and the headteacher."

Irwin nodded. Borekliff especially had a heartcard that was mostly metal and body improvement-type cards. The little part he sensed that was wrong could be replaced by something more useful to cause his heartcard to go from unstable to stable.

"I agree about Borekliff, but Flowrishin? Her soulcard is nearly as unstable as Brecka's heartcard is. Tampering with that without your full presence? Well, besides costing an absurd amount of soulforce, it could shatter, and I would be unable to prevent that.

"Why? Because she's the headteacher, and everyone listens to her," Ambraz said. "Besides, who said anything about changing that monstrosity? No, besides that soulcard, she only has one handcard, and I'm pretty sure that slotting it nearly killed her. What you need to do is create cards to balance that waste of soulforce. The first one will be the most difficult. Also, she will need to unslot that thing she has in her first slot, but-"

Ambraz fell quiet, and the two of them shared a stunned look as they watched the young Ignitzian unslot her cards and crumble to the ground.

"Hah, she's just like Scintilla," Ambraz exclaimed, laughing uproariously.

"Scintilla would never just unslot her cards without thinking," Irwin said, scowling slightly.

I hope.

"If you say so… Now, let's get ready," Ambraz said as he spun around. "We need to get at least one of those teachers a stable base so you don't have to do everything yourself."

Irwin nodded as he walked to the cardshelf. "Right, then we'd better find the best cards to stabilize Borekliff's current ones," he muttered, staring at his massive collection.

--

"You are… telling the truth." 

Irwin nodded as he watched Headteacher Flowrishin. It hadn't been a question, and he wondered if she had some way of detecting lies. If that were true, he'd have to mind his words. Beside her, Borekliff's mouth was still opening and closing, as it had for the last ten seconds. 

"You- You- You-" he finally croaked, his face going pale, then back to a dark blue hue. 

'Better keep talking before that geezer's heart stops!'

"There are a few limits," Irwin said, staring at Borekliff. "Your heartcard was made from six cards that don't blend well. One of them, especially, is like someone screaming during a soft song. So, I'll have to remove all traces of that and fill its place with something else. That means you will lose whatever abilities that card added to your heartcard."

"I. Don't. Care." Borekliff rose as he spat out the words. "I've been unable to progress for fifty years, and although I'm not as hotheaded as Jikkilia, I'd have removed it myself if I could."

Irwin raised an eyebrow, looking at the much shorter Oxarite, who was almost vibrating with excitement.

"Don't get me wrong," the older teacher said. "If I hadn't seen you create those cards and the Emerald one during the competition, I would never have even believed you. But I have, and I'm done being surpassed by these young menaces."

Irwin turned to Flowrishing, who had been quiet since her initial remark.

"Headteacher?"

She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I won't ask you if you are sure about this, but I do wonder… why Borekliff? Is it because he is an Oxarite?"

"No. It's because his heartcard is mostly unstable because of one card," Irwin said. "It means I can shatter it, remove the dissonant parts. Now, the rest isn't as well-matched as it could be, but if I add a card to stabilize the resonance and perhaps tweak a few things, the end result will be a great base."

Flowrishin stared at him quietly, and after half a minute, Irwin was starting to worry she'd disallow it. 

"Fine," she finally said before frowning. "I think I recall you said heartcards as in plural. Are you saying you can fix soulcards…?"

Yes, but not right now, he thought while shaking his head. "No. But what I can do is ask you to remove that useless handcard and allow me to create a custom heartcard for you that should balance with your first soulcard. It won't change the imbalance, but it will create a counter to it, which will allow you to continue slotting cards. Also, it should help you with your smithing."

"Very well," Flowrishin said. "Tell me what cards you require, and I'll see if we have them in stock."

Irwin, otherself, froze with a stack of cards in his hands.

Right, they have their own cards!

Irwin hummed thoughtfully as he inspected Flowrishin. "I will have to see them for myself, but for now. Can you bring me any fire or metal cards that deal with stable burning? Preferably quartz rank. Things like coals, or embers, or molten metal."

Flowrishin rose, but Irwin shook his head, pointing at Borekliff. "Can he get the? Or are you the only one allowed near the cards?"

"No, but can I ask why?" she asked.

Irwin turned to the old Oxarite. "Pick a card of the types I mentioned, and try to sense if there's any resonance from your heartcard. If there are, pick those with the strongest resonance."

"I'll be right back, headteacher! Tutor!

Borekliff was up and away, slamming the door closed while his words still hung in the air.

"You must think incredibly poorly of us," Fowrishin said as she leaned back. "Were things different long ago?"

Irwin looked at her, confused by the sudden question.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't have to deny it," she said. "Please forgive me, but I had a friend look into you. She found that you went with Fireza into the old Dwaelen grove. It's a place that she would never take anyone… I know because I asked."

Irwin shook his head. "Sorry, I'm trying to follow you, but I'm a bit confused now."

"You are from the olden times, aren't you? Either very old, or you hibernated since then," Flowrishin asked.

Irwin looked at her, wondering how she'd come to that conclusion and why she seemed so sure. 

"I… don't think I can follow," he said.

Flowrishin smiled as she slowly removed a dark green, cracked tablet from her pocket. 

'That's a central registrar connection tablet!' 

Irwin stared at the familiar tablet in surprise. He'd not expected to find anything like that after all these years.

"This is called Ledger and has been given from headteacher to headteacher for over fifty thousand years now," Flowrishin said softly. "It is the oldest known item and the most closely guarded secret we have. With it, the Carschool can keep track of cardsmiths that have joined or are known to the school. Its history is shrouded in mystery, and many of my predecessors only used it for its main task. I've been using it for a long time now, and I rather enjoy reviewing the extensive lists of ancient smiths, some of which date back tens of thousands of years. Do you know it has a very interesting ability?"

Irwin shook his head, though he had a feeling of what was going to happen.

I wonder if we can use that Ledger to find Scour's Central Registrar…

"Ledger, please identify all present smiths."

A soft, hazy, and emotionless voice came from the tablet.

"Currently present, Headteacher Flowrishin Kil'nead, amethyst-rank smith, and Irwin Roddingon, emerald-rank smith."

Irwin exalted slowly as he sat down, staring at the tablet. 

'Be happy it never got updated with your current rank,' Ambraz said. 'Imagine her reaction if the thing had said you were a diamond rank two cardsmith?!'

Irwin watched the headteacher, wondering how long she'd known.

"Every headteacher always checks on those who would join our school, then adds the new smiths, both teachers and students alike," she said, staring at the tablet. "Imagine my surprise when I tried to add your soulforce signature and was told that already added Smiths couldn't be added again. It took me a while to find you… not surprising as I had to go back forty-eight thousand years ago."

Irwin let out a long sigh.

'Well, you already told Rinbus and Fireza,' Ambraz said. 'Little harm adding another, right?'

"Let's wait for Borekliff so I can fix his heartcard," Irwin said. "After that, I'll explain what's going on."

"Very well, Elder," Flowrishin said.

Irwin rolled his eyes.

They remained silent, both lost in their own thoughts, until Borekliff ran back into the room holding a thick tome. He kicked the door closed and ran to Irwin, opening the tome.

"I sorted them to the final page, but I decided to take this one as most of them have some resonance with my heartcard," he said, handing Irwin the tome and pointing at the left page, which had slots for twelve cards, with only six being filled currently.

"Headmaster, I'll have to request my payment early this year," Borekliff said, turning to Flowrishin. "If that is alright?"

"Granted," Flourishin said.

Irwin ignored them as he examined the cards.

'Not that bad,' Ambraz said. 'It's actually surprising how high-quality the cards are and how they have managed to make so many mistakes.'

Irwin agreed, turning his attention to Flourishin. "Just out of curiosity, how many cards does the school currently have, and how many are added and removed each year?"

"We currently have roughly forty thousand cards in stock, though many of those are too high quality to reforge and too expensive to buy," she said, tapping her chin. "Our income is, however, dependant on how many Burrows appear in the desert and volcano regions. Usually, there are enough for the teachers to get paid a card every week. Most have stockpiled them by now and use them as rewards for their best students. The first-year students get a maximum of one per week, but only if the class requires it. Each year beyond that increases, though with theory classes in between, even the last years usually get to attempt no more than four reforges per week."

Irwin stared at her, slightly stunned. "And how many students are there?" he asked slowly.

"Currently, we have around four thousand active students, most of which are in the first two years. Each year, atleast twenty percent fail their exams, meaning they leave."

Irwin's mind went blank as he calculated the number of cards that would be required each year.

"You… that means you need more than a hundred thousand cards each year," he whispered.

"Is that so strange?" Flowrishin asked, looking at him in confusion. "We are the only ones that can reforge them and the only place new card smiths are taught. Also, a single Burrow that overflows can give up to ten thousand cards!"

Borekliff stood beside her, the card-filled tome forgotten in his hands.

'... Kid… That's not normal,' Ambraz whispered.

Irwin shivered.

'This is like on Giard! Are there portals somewhere, destabilizing Scour?'

"Tutor Irwin? Is something wrong? You look very worried," Flowrishin asked.

"I will explain later," Irwin said, leaning back. "But a quick question. What do you know of portals?"

Irwin knew the answer before either Flowrishin or Borekliff could speak, the confusion on her face telling all he had to.

"Portals? You mean the ones some cards can make to allow someone to teleport?"

Irwin shook his head, closing his eyes as a horrible premonition came to him.

'Ambraz, what if the portals aren't above ground,' he whispered in his soulscape. 'What if those insectoids are pouring in through a portal, deep below the ground?'

'That would explain a lot,' Ambraz said. 'There's no way creatures in a world can drop this many cards.'

'And it's not shattering because Frisyuustis and the Elder Groves are keeping it balanced,' Irwin whispered. 'How many portals can appear like this?'

'I don't know… Perhaps… Perhaps they keep appearing until so many unstable monsters enter the world that they kill whatever is keeping it stable?'

This isn't good, Irwin thought, taking a deep breath.

He opened his eyes and looked at Headteacher Flowrishin, who was looking at him with equal measures of worry.

"Has anyone ever tried going below the ground to find the source of those Burrows?"

"Every so often, some foolish adventurous people do, but if anyone found anything, they never returned," Flowrishin asked. "Irwin, why are you so worried?"

Irwin shook his head and grabbed the tome, examining the cards on the page.

'First row, third card,' Ambraz said. 

Irwin inspected the card and nodded. It had an incredibly stable resonance and matched his own first soulcard. That said, he would need to reforge it to Ruby so it would be strong enough to act as the pivotal card. Anything higher, and the heartcard would be too difficult.

"I need to reforge this," he muttered. 

"We won't disturb you," Flowrishin said.

"Thanks."

Irwin walked to the anvil he'd used before.

"Still don't see me kid?"

Irwin frowned, unlocking his entire senses. As soon as he did, he sensed and saw a tiny soulforce fluctuation hovering before him. 

'I can, but it's incredibly faint,' he said.

'Good. Now, let's see how well I can help. This will be good practice.'

Irwin was glad to hear that because knowing Scour might be home to more portals than Giard had at its worst was making it hard for him to focus.

--

Flowrishin stared at something impossible, or atleast that's what she had been through until a few days ago. Now, as she watched the smith from ancient times sing in an odd dual voice as he hammered the green-bordered card, she knew things were going to change. 

Why couldn't this have happened in twenty or thirty years? That way, someone younger would have to deal with it, she thought, glancing at Borekliff. 

The Oxarite, although old, had been no more than a child when he had joined the cardschool. She remembered the awed wonder on his face when she'd shown him how to reforge a card for the first time. Now, he had the same look of disbelief and wonder as he watched something she guessed hadn't been done for atleast forty thousand years.

Is this something all Smiths could do back then? Have we fallen this far?

She didn't know the answer and feared nobody did. The shock on Irwin's face as he learned things everyone now would learn before they were a handful of years old was not something she thought could be faked. No… for all his answers, he could likely not explain what had happened.

Perhaps it doesn't matter, she thought.

Time flowed by, and when Irwin finished, the card's border changing into a brilliant red, she sighed.

From one miracle to the next. 

Irwin looked up, the worry and confusion gone, replaced by a joy she saw in so many of their profession. 

At least we didn't lose that, she thought.

"Now, I'm going to have to ask you to come over here," Irwin said. "We are going to have to do something very… uncomfortable. If this was another time and place, I would have filled your soullake so we could use new handcards to destabilize your soulcard and recreate it. However, right now, I don't have that option, and we are going to have to do it the hard way. In a moment, you are going to feel my soulforce wrapping around yours. It's not going to be nice, but I need to destabilize it so we can shatter it and reforge it."

Flowrishin felt a shiver run through her, but Borekliff didn't hesitate as they walked forward.

"Tell me what to do."

Flowrishin saw the slight surprise in Irwin's eyes, and she wondered if he'd expected his fellow Oxarite to hesitate or change his mind. 

He underestimates what it feels like to be stagnant, never to improve, she thought.

"Just put your hand on the anvil and remain still. Whatever happens, don't resist. As soon as your heartcard is pulled out, a barrier will appear around it, and I'll shatter it. This won't feel too well, and if you want, you can fall unconscious."

"Unconcious? I don't want to miss this for the world," Borekliff said, resolutely putting his hand on the anvil.

Flowrishin felt a slight worry as she sensed Irwin's massive soulforce pressure flow forth. Was she making a mistake? What if he had ulterior motives?

Calm down, she told herself. If he had wanted to, he could have easily harmed everyone here.

Her thoughts went perfectly still as she sensed a presence wrap around Borekliff. For a moment, she thought it was Irwin, but then she sensed a tiny inconsistency. Before she could worry or wonder, Borekliff went rigid while a soft, thrumming sound came from him. A moment later, the soulforce patterns that made up his heartcard were yanked out from him, hovering above the anvil. The mere fact that this was possible caused Flowrishin to feel a fear she'd never had before. 

Someone could pull out a heartcard? Could they do that with a soulcard? How would you ever defend against that?

No, calm down. He told Borekliff not to resist, so perhaps it's not that easy.

A pulse of soulforce resonated from Irwin, and she felt the pattern of Borekliff's heartcard shiver, then start to crack around the edges.

"It's even more unstable than I thought," Irwin muttered. "That might be a blessing in disguise because we are… almost… done."

A flash of light and soulforce burst out before swirling in on itself, contained by a spherical barrier of such dense soulforce that Flowrishin wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. There was no sign of Borekliff's heartcard, and the old Oxarite seemed locked into place. His face was warped by a look of pain, but his eyes held a steel-like determination.

"Whatever happens, don't let anyone disturb us," Irwin said before raising the card and, to Flowrishin's utter dismay, tossing it into the raging storm within the barrier. Then he raised his hammer and struck the anvil while he began singing in a deep voice. The same instrument that always played as he reforged came again, weaving such a complex song that Flowrishin could barely follow it.

The only thing that made her feel like what she was seeing was in any sense normal was the look of pure focus and strain on Irwin's face. It showed that even to him, this impossible act didn't come easy.

I wonder what it feels like, she thought, as curiosity and desire to have her own lot in life changed filled her. Perhaps she wasn't too old to learn something new? To improve?

--

Irwin's fingers flitted across the soulstrum guitar as he raced to keep up with the constant permutations. Below him, his other body, with a fraction of his mind split off, kept throwing cards into Ambraz's open mouth, waiting for him to chew before doing so again. The raging soulforce that was generated, however, seemed barely enough to satiate Ambraz's need.

I need to ask Flowrishin for some cards after this.

The random thought almost made him miss a string, and he forced his focus back. His otherself was hammering and singing in the real world, using all his energy to resonate his soulcards.

Seconds turned to minutes, and soon, he lost any sense of time. A storm of soulforce howled around him as his own soulforce wanted to flow into the card outside. Irwin didn't let it, knowing that it would shorten his potential stay here far too much.

As parts were discarded and others reshaped, the new heartcard formed like a blurry outline within the barrier. Yet, the more formed it became, the more complex the song he had to play. The resonance needed to reshape it was like forging six ruby cards at the same time, and he felt his limits rapidly approach. The limits of what he could do with his guitar with one pair of hands. 

At one percentage remaining, he felt like he was climbing a mountain while pushing another mountain forward. Every tiny improvement felt like it was the last. 

He needed more. More ways to resonate, more ways to manipulate. 

More guitars!

Irwin knew it as soon as the thought came. He might be able to finish the card as it was, wrapping it up in a mockery of what it should become, but that would mean Borekliff was only slightly better off. But the risk… if he failed, he'd have to pull from his own soulforce to compensate, shortening his stay. 

'Ambraz!' he shouted, hoping his friend had another option.

There was no response, and he could sense the emotions of his friend. There was nothing he could do. 

Waiting for a rif that his fingers had a better time with, Irwin pushed more of himself into his second body. The headache grew, but he ignored it as he felt his split mind summon another soulstrum guitar. Had he been creating a diamond or ammolite card, he'd have failed then and there, as his soulstrum guitar wouldn't have been powerful enough. But for a ruby card, half of his power is enough.

Split across two bodies now, another guitar joined his. The first note was odd, wrong, and nearly collapsed everything. The second was better, and the third snare filled the hole. The part he was lacking.

By now, he felt like someone was trying to split his head with an axe. He felt some of the focus of his otherself join his, spreading across both of his split minds, creating a weird three-way entity. Each part was himself, yet two were more the same.

Time flowed by as he danced the blade's edge, his two guitars weaving a song that rapidly filled in the desired complexity. 

With the headache blinding him from everything else, his single hold was the song. 

High, long. Low and quickly paced. Winding howls that seemed to circle each other and his own deep voice. On and on it went, and at some point, he lost himself. Lost himself to the music, the pain. Everything.

When the end came, he only noticed because of the sudden lack of pressure. He continued for a few moments before following his otherself in silence. 

Irwin barely managed to move himself sideways as he plummeted down, shooting through the air. As he slammed into the ground beside his soullake, he was already unconscious. The last thing he knew was that his otherself was offloading all the rest of the stress onto this part of him. 

--

Flowrishin stared in silent awe at the towering Oxarite smith, raggedly breathing as he used the anvil to remain standing. Borekliff had slumped on the ground beside him; the only thing showing he was still alive and well was the beautiful new pattern that filled his entire being. 

It took the headteacher a few moments to regain herself, but even then, she knew she would remember today for as long as she lived.  

"Tutor Irwin," she asked, her own voice sounding tense and hazy. "Are you alright?"

“I… will be…” Irwin muttered. "I might have underestimated how difficult this is with my current limitations."

Limitations? This was with limitations?

Flowrishin wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry, and instead opted for neither.

"You succeeded," she said as she got up and walked to where Borekliff lay.

"Yes," Irwin said. "But I think before I do this again, I need to take care of some other things."

"Why did you try if you weren't sure?" Flowrishin asked, watching Irwin's shaky hands.

"I knew I could do it," Irwin grunted. "However, I had to make sure to do it in a certain way. Besides, I needed to show you what is possible because I want your help with something."

That drew Flowrishin's attention as she looked at him curiously and slightly worried.

"Help?"

Irwin looked at her, a weary smile on his face. "Yes. I need you, all the teachers, and probably all the students to learn how to create soulseeds. And I need you to start as soon as you can."

Flourishing frowned, trying to recall if she'd ever heard of the term soulseeds before and failing.

"Soulseeds?"

Something in Irwin's eyes told her she was going to get a larger surprise than what she already had.

"Soulseeds allow someone to create a card out of nothing but soulforce and intent," Irwin said. 

"..." Flowrishin turned around and walked back to the nearest chair. 

"I need to sit down for a while…" she whispered.