Irwin's Journey 430: Work, work

"Is it always this loud?" 

Dahlia looked at the older woman, pulled out of listening to the beautiful sound that came from above. She wished she could have joined to see, but with Irwin having zero overlap, she knew any distraction might become ruinous.

"It is when Irwin works," she said before correcting herself. “Well, him and Trimdir and Endil.”

"Those are the musician style cardsmiths, right?" Koudi asked.

"They are," Dahlia said.

"And you are not?"

Dahlia shook her head. "No, I am analysis and diagram-focused. Music is one of the artistic paths, and all of those require a specific talent. I prefer reasoning out where to go."

"Is there a difference in the cards reforged by someone with another style?"

"Not as far as I know," Dahlia said. "But over the last few years, I've found out that I know very little about cardsmithing, and some of the things I thought I knew have proven to be wrong."

"That reminds me of nearly everything I thought I knew," Koudi said. "I guess no matter what you learn, there's almost more to life."

Dahlia didn't respond, though she wondered how her grandfather would have reacted. He'd said similar things to her long ago, and she'd always thought he was exaggerating. 

If he ever learns of what Irwin discovered, I wonder if he will be surprised or more confused as to why it took so long.

The two women remained where they were, quietly listening to the heavy thudding of the hammer that created a beat for the slow song of mixed voices and soulstrum guitar.

Over an hour later, the hammering finally stopped, and Dahlia focused all her senses to try to detect anything. She wasn't worried… not exactly. She knew Irwin would never do anything to harm Greldo, but still- he could have made a mistake.

A few minutes later, heavy footsteps came down the stairs, and Irwin pushed the door open with his shoulder. He was carrying Greldo, and Dahlia's heart skipped a beat. Then she heard Greldo's soft snoring as Irwin placed him on a couch in the corner. She wanted to rush to his side, but she knew it wouldn't help. Instead, she looked at Irwin as he walked towards them.

"How did it go?" she asked.

--

Irwin sighed, rubbing his face as he sat down opposite a worried-looking Dahlia.

"Incredible. It's only ruby rank, but that might be for the best," he said. "Though we will have to wait for him to wake to find out how good it really is."

"For the best?" Dahlia asked, her worry growing again. 

"It's powerful, and if it had been diamond, the risk of him overdraining his soulscape would have been too great," he said. "This card isn't like his Scathnaicht Blade. It has far more active abilities that are hard to control."

"Wait, you succeeded? Can he teleport to those markers?" Dahlia asked, her eyes widening.

Irwin wasn't surprised she'd grasped part of the issue. She was a cardsmith, after all, and they both knew how easy it was for teleporters to drain themselves dry. With a diamond card and a ruby-ranked soullake? They would overdrain, which would result in horrible consequences, with things like soulscape instability being the least of the worries. Technically, someone could die from that. 

"That and some other things," he said as he looked around for another carafe of water. 

Although he had long since outgrown his insistent thirst, he found he still felt better after some water. Finding only the empty one, he grabbed it and focused on his sweltering card. He rarely used it anymore, only for steam baths for himself and Scintilla, and as he pulled on it to refill the glass container, he wondered if that was going to be a problem. He had multiple parts of his soulcards that he rarely used, and as he learned more about how much purifying a card's ability increased its power, he wondered if he had weakened his overall combat abilities in the long run.

Well, who knows what the worldcard does, he thought.

As he drank, he thought about Greldo's new card. Ambraz had been able to create a page for it, and it was one of the weirder ones he'd made.

Card: Slice of the Shadow Domain

Type: Shadow, Heartcard, Ruby, Mutation, Forged by Irwin Roddington

Owner: Greldo Domnyr

The wielder of Slice of the Shadow Domain has gained a malleable and vastly more powerful shadow pocket. They have gained the ability to create inanimate objects and great control over anyone inside. They can either put them to sleep or decrease or increase their healing and soulforce regeneration. 

[Mutation] As a member of the Scathnaicht, the wielder has gained their own emblem. 

Passive: Greatly increased shadow pocket size and control

Passive: Increased soulforce regeneration [Boosted inside Void Mansion]

Passive: A large boost to all physical abilities while inside Slice of the Shadow Domain

Active: Reshape Shadow Domain

Active: Create shadow emblem [3]

Active: Teleport to shadow emblem [Soulforce cost based on distance]

Ever since I ran into that Titan card, I've been seeing more and more Mutated cards, he thought, finishing the carafe and refilling it. 

"Are you alright?" Koudi asked. "I can give you a quick check-over?"

Irwin smiled at the older woman who had been quietly watching and observing so far.

"I am fine, just tired," he said.

As he said it, he realized just how true that was. Even with his giantself sleeping, he felt hollowed out from the last week.

Guess no matter how strong you get, there's always a limit, he thought.

He was just thinking about how great it would be when more smiths could do these things when there was a scuffle from behind. Turning around, he saw Greldo raise himself on his ellbows, his eyes wide.

"Gelwin's balls," he grunted, swinging his legs over the side and looking at his hand.

Irwin lowered the carafe as he felt Greldo concentrate a massive amount of soulforce and do something incredible, intricate with it. It happened so fast that he barely managed to follow it.

A small, oval stone appeared on Greldo's palm. Etched in the shimmering surface sat a shadowy head that looked remarkably like Coal. The amount of soulforce locked inside was so great that Irwin found it hard to believe.

"Well, this is going to be useful," Greldo muttered.

Irwin saw his friend's eyes gleam as he looked up, tossing the mark toward him in a lazy arc.

"Here."

Irwin snatched the coin-like stone out of the air, his curiosity growing. The mark was warm and pulsed with the soulforce locked within it. Strangely, looking at it gave him a sense of being watched.

"You can create marks on stones now?" Dahlia asked.

"Oh, I can do so much more," Greldo said, getting up and swaying slightly. 

He had grown a few inches, and his build had become slightly more lanky. Those weren't the only changes, as his face had become sharper and even more canine. His eyes were glowing a dull silver; pupils elongated like those of Coal. All in all, they weren't large by themselves, but all combined told Irwin just how powerful the card was. Any non-body morphing card that changed someone's body was a powerful one.

He hummed, making to throw the stone back, but Greldo held up his hand and shook his head.

"Keep that. I have no idea how long the range is, but I have a feeling it's a lot further than my normal shadow step. I'm going to keep sending Coal's shadow clones to you to check how far the range is. Also, after I'm out of range, the stone will remain and will reactivate if it gets within range of me again."

Irwin whistled, carefully putting the shadow emblem into his soulscape. 

He was about to suggest bringing Koudi and Greldo into his soulscape and finding Rachias when Greldo surprised him.

"I don't think you should fill my soullake completely."

"Why not?"

"Why not?"

Greldo barked a laugh, looking at Irwin rather than Dahlia. "Did you two practice that?"

Irwin shook his head. "Why not?" he asked again.

Greldo rubbed his stubbled chin before shrugging. "Hard to say, but I feel like I need time to learn how to wield my new heartcard. It feels… unstable? I can sense that if I were to fill my soullake now and turn it into a soulcard, things will go wrong."

Irwin focused fully on Greldo's new heartcard. 

There's nothing wrong with it. No dissonance, and it's close to perfect.

"It makes sense," Dahlia said slowly, and Irwin blinked as he realized what she meant before she could say it.

"Like with handcards," he grunted.

"Exactly," she agreed, focusing on him. "We don't really know what will happen if you fill it this fast after reforging it. Right?"

"Right," Irwin thought, leaning back and rubbing his head. 

I might have gotten a bit carried away, he thought, turning to Greldo, who was watching him with a wide grin as if he knew exactly what he was thinking.

"I'm happy you worry for me," Greldo said, his grin widening. "But you know I'm a big boy now, right?"

Irwin barked a laugh while Dahlia snorted. 

Irwin turned to Koudi, who had been watching quietly. "I think the same will go for you."

"I don't have a reference to what it should feel like," she said slowly, making Irwin remember this would be her first soulcard. "But I think it might be for the best to do what Greldo does."

Irwin nodded, turning to his friend.

"Do you want me to not fill your soullake at all?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Now, now, let's not be hasty," Greldo said, rolling his shoulders and stretching his arms. "Let's say, fill her up to ninety-nine percent? Leave just enough for me to need to fill the last bit with a few cards so I can just do it when I'm ready."

Irwin hummed, pondering the previous time he'd filled soullakes. It had been like filling a bucket with a tub, with very little refinement.

"I'm not sure I can get it that close," he said, his grin fading. "I can probably do ninety percent, but if I try for that, I will probably overshoot."

Greldo rubbed his chin. "Well, there goes that plan. Still, I guess ninety is better than nothing."

"I'm starting to see the difference between the wealthy and the poor now," Koudi said softly, causing Greldo to look at her with a hurt expression. 

Irwin held back a snort and just nodded. "Better get used to it. Now, are you two ready? "

"Of course," Koudi said, while Greldo just walked forward with a nod. "Sure."

Irwin pulled them into his soulscape, and as he did, Dahlia got up, watching him. Her smile had faded, and she looked fully focused and serious. Irwin frowned, wondering what was wrong.

"I have handed over all my work to Montain and Esther, but neither is exactly the same type as I am," Dahlia said. "I have a few students who are, however. Can you keep an eye on them? I know they don't use the same cardsmithing style as you, but nobody is as sensitive to soulforce as you are. You should be able to detect if they are making mistakes."

Irwin thought about the long list of other things he had to do, but he still nodded. 

"I can't promise I'll have time for them every week," he said. "But I'll try to see them atleast once a month."

"That's all I can ask," Dahlia said.

Her smile hadn't returned yet, telling Irwin there was more.

"I know how busy you are and how much time you are lacking," she said. "But Hind and Brecca have been meandering. The others easily integrated, with Helm moving to the mines, and the Ignitzians have joined their sisters at the guards and the rangers. But those two aren't sure what to do. Brecca still feels uncomfortable around your mother, while Hind… well, she is bored."

Irwin felt slightly stunned as he realized he had forgotten about his crew. He'd been so busy that he'd barely had time to see his family, let alone any of the others. Rindiri had been incredibly busy herself, but because of the body-altering cards he would create for her and the other Yuurindi who were staying, she had looked him up at home multiple times. The others… he had somehow thought they would be fine.

"Don't worry too much," Dahlia said. "Everyone knows the responsibilities put on you, which is why I didn't come to bug you, but came to me and Greldo. However, now that we are leaving, I decided to tell you."

"You did the right thing," Irwin muttered, wondering what to do about this. 

The easiest was Brecca. He could just invite her to eat at his house, together with his mother. With him present, things should be fine, and he knew his mother. She wouldn't make things difficult anyway.

"I asked her if she wanted to join me and Greldo," Dahlia said. "But she doesn't want to leave her father."

Irwin rubbed his chin, a few ideas already playing through his mind.

"I'll talk with her after I return," he said, focusing on Dahlia. "Thank you for telling me and for helping me without my knowledge."

"You are welcome, but it's Scintilla you need to thank," Dahlia said, smirking. "She is the one who warned me and the others about it. She was worried you would burn yourself out."

Irwin took a deep breath, then exhaled explosively. 

"Well, with the first steps to creating a seed done and purifying, I might have a little more time now," he muttered.

"You will probably not," Dahlia said, shaking her head. "But, from how far along Endil, Trimdir, and Esther are with purifying cards, you will soon have a lot of help."

She removed a small stack of folded papers from her jacket, handing them over.

Irwin frowned at them.

"The top one is about my students, with their current state and what they are working on," Dahlia said. "The others are about the most promising students, those who are, or will soon become, Amethyst rank smiths. I've made sure to get as much information about how they work and what their strengths and weaknesses are for you."

Irwin looked at the stack, then pulled them into his soulscape, putting them on the desk for his giantself to work on when he woke. 

"How many of you have been doing things like this?" he asked.

"A few. Scintilla, Trimdir, Greldo, Endill, Esther, Lysbeth, and me mostly," Dahlia said. "But we made sure to delegate as much as we could, so there are more people involved, including your mother."

Irwin couldn't help himself. The laughter just slowly escaped him as he shook his head. He didn't think he'd made a mistake in focusing on the things he had, but knowing the others had been quietly helping him with all the other things made him feel grateful.

"Nobody can do everything by themselves," Dahlia said. "You were doing the thing only you could, so those of us who could take care of what we could. Now, I think we should go and find Rachias?"

"We should," Irwin said as he headed for the door. 

--

A few hours after his enlightening conversation with Dahlia, Irwin was tired but content. 

Koudi and Greldo's soullakes had been filled to just over ninety-two percent, meaning Koudi only needed a few hundred cards. For Greldo, it wasn't that easy, and they had decided that Greldo would keep all the shadow-typed cards he found during his travels and only start absorbing them if he had no other choice and enough to have a chance to actually fill it.

Now they were sitting together with Gloom in the kitchen, Rachias still flying through his soulcape curiously. As weary as he was, his soulscape was still stable enough to keep the small Chaos Whale there for a while, so he left it for now.

"We will leave tomorrow," Greldo said, sipping from his drink, a steaming beverage native to the Onyxians.

The Onyxian drink reminded Irwin of someone else he needed to talk to. Boohm. His old friend and crew member was still blind, and he would need to find a way to fix that. 

"Well, let's have some fun," Greldo said, pouring himself and Irwin another glass. 

Irwin took a sip, humming thoughtfully. Although having a party was a great idea, there was something he had to discuss before that. Something he'd thought of a few hours ago and had discussed with Ambraz to make sure it wouldn't cause issues.

"Before that," he said, focusing on his friend. "I need you to bring something with you inside your Shadow Domain. If you can."

"Which is?" Greldo asked, raising an eyebrow.

Irwin put his drink down, stepped to the side, and a moment later, a nearly identical copy of himself stood beside him. The only difference was the missing arm, though his healing had already started working on that, the shoulder having grown back a few inches. 

Irwin stepped forward as his one-armed body slumped down, picking it up. 

"I need you to cast your sleep on my other body and bring it with you," he said.

The others were quiet. Gloom showed little reaction while Greldo and Dahlia were frowning. Koudi looked surprised and curious. 

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Dahlia asked. "What if it gets destroyed if it's too far from you?"

"It won't be," Irwin said. "Ambraz said the worst that could happen is that the body goes inert if there's a limit to how far it can be from me. I just have to make sure there's no part of me inside because if that happens and it does move out of some range, it could cause that part of my mind to be split off. There's no telling what consequences that will have."

"Still sounds like a dangerous thing to try," Greldo muttered. "Why even do it?"

"Because if there is no range, I'll be able to communicate with you, help you if I have to, and even teleport you all back here through my soulscape," Irwin said.

There was a moment of silence, and then Greldo barked a laugh. 

"Now, that would be useful!"

He walked forward, examining Irwin's one-armed form. "Interesting, I can still cast sleep on it, and there's no resistance."

"Makes sense, right?" Irwin said. "There's no part of me in there right now."

"Could someone else steal it and use it?" 

Irwin shivered, then shook his head. "According to Ambraz, that wouldn't be possible. My bodies are somehow a physical manifestation of my soulscape, and I have immunity to any of those types of abilities."

"Well, that's nice," Grunted. "Make sure to make me a card that does that when you get to it."

"I will," Irwin said.

Greldo put his hand on his split body, and it vanished. He could feel where it was, though there was a sense of resistance, probably because it was in deep sleep.

"Your arm is healing faster now," Greldo said, his head cocked as if he was looking at something else.

"You can see what is happening in your Shadow Domain?" Dahlia asked curiously.

"Not see, but… perceive," Greldo said, scratching his chin. "Irwin's arm should be fully healed in a few months to half a year at this speed."

Irwin whistled as he sat back down, picking up his cup.

"So, have you decided what cards you are going to slot now?" he asked as he looked at Dahlia.

He didn't get the reaction he'd expected.

Dahlia glanced wearily at Greldo, who suddenly looked like he'd sucked a lemon.

"I'm going to slot shadowcards," she said slowly. "But I've promised Greldo that if they somehow influence my behavior while near him, I'll remove them again."

"Good," Gloom said, the first thing he did since arriving. "The Shadow Lord deserves a Shadow Mistress."

Irwin blinked while he saw Greldo's eyes narrow dangerously.

"If you pick the same types of cards I have, it should be fine, right?" Koudi asked.

It's not that simple, Irwin thought, and he bet Dahlia was thinking the same thing. 

"Well, some soulskills are more sensitive to being influenced by those of the Scathnaicht," Gloom said, sounding thoughtful. "If you take skills unlike mine, less sensitive, it should be fine. That, or if you can get a card that inducts you in the Scathnaicht like My Lo- … Greldo. That would make you immune."

Greldo's head snapped around, his gaze locking onto Irwin.

"Can you make another?"

Irwin frowned, recalling how he'd made the first one, the Scathnaicht Blade. He hadn't really used a special card… had he? After a moment's hesitation, he summoned his Tablatures and flipped to one of the earlier pages. Inside was a small piece of paper stuffed there long ago that showed the card he'd made for Greldo, besides the exact song he'd used to create it.

Card: Scathnaicht - The Blade of Shadow

Type: Diamond, Shadow, Forged by Irwin Roddington

Owner: -

The owner of a Scathnaicht blade can pull it out of any shadow. Scathnaicht blades grant its owner the ability to overcharge any shadow-type card to double its normal ability. While wielding any Scathnaicht blade, none of the Naicht-folk will harm the wielder.

Passive: Increased ability to learn blade-wielding skills while in the shadowrealm

Passive: Greatly increased [???]

Active:  Summon a Scathnaicht blade

Active: Condense all shadows within a hundred feet around the Scathnaicht blade to create a temporary area of pure darkness.

"I can try," he muttered as Dahlia moved beside him, examining the card.

"Diamond rank," she said sadly. "Why doesn't this surprise me? What are the Naicht-folk?"

"My people were part of the Naicht-folk," Gloom said. "It's like how many that look like you are called Human, even though you aren't all the same."

"Irwin… we are only leaving tomorrow," Greldo said, a wide grin on his face. "Plenty of time for you to try a few times, right?"

Irwin snorted, about to answer, when Greldo frowned and turned his head to the side. A moment later, his eyes widened.

"Daubtim is-"

A red lightning bolt flashed into the room through one of the windows. A rattling came as the shutter slammed open and shut behind it while Daubutim appeared.

Before anyone could speak, he bowed. "My apologies for my rude entrance; however, I had to make sure you hadn't left yet."

"Are you here for the going-away party?" Geldo asked, his surprise evident.

Daubutim's eyes swirled with lightning as he looked around. "No, however, I would love to join. However, I am here to ask you to make a few stops before you return."

Greldo leaned back, sighing theatrically. "I guess that's what I get for asking you to do more work."

Daubutim's eyes rose as he looked at Irwin.

"Dahlia would like to slot shadow cards, and it would be best if she got something like this," Irwin said, holding out the paper.

Daubutim took a single glance before nodding. "Well, if you do that, it will give me time to tell Greldo what we would like him to do."

"Please tell me I don't have to go all the way to the other side of the branch," Greldo said. "Going from here to Mudball is going to be a long enough trip already."

Daubutim hesitated, and Irwin looked at Greldo, who closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Fine, where do I have to go?"

"Scour," Daubutim said.