Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

"Have you actually been here before?" Irwin asked Ambraz as he stood in the center of a spacious room. "In this academy, I mean."

"Never needed to," Ambraz said.

They were standing in their new quarters, the second in a week. Irwin wondered if he would be going to another just as quickly. Probably not, but who knew? Singara had left as soon as she'd dropped them off, saying she would find them tomorrow after classes.

"You can only go here if you are bonded, and though I might have been able to circumvent it, why bother?" Ambraz said.

He began flying around the room, examining the dozens of small alcoves meant for Ganvils before seemingly picking the one closest to the open bedroom.

Irwin joined him in looking around, but the place wasn't all that big. The central room was by far the largest and obviously meant for studying. There was a large oval area, slightly sunken into the ground, seemingly meant for smithing practice, an empty bookshelf above a large desk, and hooks on the walls.

A doorless entrance led to a small bedroom with a sturdy stone bed that reminded Irwin of the one he'd shared with Scintilla.

I wonder how she's doing, Irwin thought, looking at the bed for a few moments, thinking about her. Or the kids…

He let his curiosity grow for a few moments before squashing it like he usually did. It wasn't the time to go there yet, and he needed to focus on something else first.

A quick look revealed a small closet, also empty, save for some bedding that gleamed like burnished metal. Poking it curiously, he realized it didn't just look like metal; it felt like it too.

Guess it's to prevent the smiths from ripping it in their sleep, he thought.

He left it, the temperature in the room high enough that he wasn't going to use it. After looking at the bed, he shrugged and walked back into the main chamber, sitting down at the table. For some reason, he felt tired, but he wasn't sleepy yet. Besides, if went to bed now, he'd wake way too early.

"So, what do you think?" he asked, looking up at Ambraz. "Have a look around the area, eat a bit, or get an early rest?"

"After the yapping we had to go through just now, I'm almost inclined to rest, but I think you should check that inn. Getting to know some others of your class before tomorrow should make things a lot more smooth," Ambraz said. "Because, no offense, kid, but you aren't really a smooth talker."

And you are? Irwin thought, slightly annoyed.

Still, Ambraz was right, and he nodded.

He knew where the inn was, as Singara had pointed it out, but it hadn't really been necessary. The music and laughter had been loud enough that he'd been able to find it with his eyes closed. There would probably be people from his classes there, and besides what Ambraz said, he could do it with a snack.

He looked around the room, hesitated, and then decided to take his cards and the Galarian music sheets with him.

A few moments later, they were walking along a balcony lined with doors, one of which was his. The open area looked out across the district, the lanterns illuminating everything in a soft, ruddy hue. Irwin had no idea which parts he saw because of his night vision or due to their light, but between it and the swirls of soulforce everywhere, the place seemed like a dormant volcano, slowly waking up.

As he made his way down, a distant, deep thudding sound became louder as he walked toward the central area of the district. Pale golden sheets hung from some of the buildings, decorated with musical instruments, some of which he'd never seen before.

A short walk through the quiet streets brought him to the district's central square. Music, singing and laughter came from the inn nestled smack in the middle of the square. It was a squarish building with a few lower roofs filled with people sitting at tables and balconies all around its five story or more central area. People stood all around it, chatting and drinking.

The Tappestery, Irwin read, trying to understand what that meant.

He was happy that he drew little attention as he walked towards the wide-open entrance. Only two bulky Loydin were examining him, but unlike the others of their race, these seemed just curious. Both had a Ganvil on their shoulders.

Irwin nodded at them in greeting, then walked inside. If he couldn't find anyone else to talk to, he might just chat them up later, but for now, he wanted to sit, eat and look around a bit.

The loud, joyful music mixed with the chatter created a constant sound, and Irwin looked around. The inside of the inn looked like a cross between a renovated smithy, with the bar nestled in what looked like a massive forge area and the tables styled like crates.

"Welcome, welcome! Don't think I've seen you before," a short, smiling woman with flaming hair said as she wiped her hands on her shirt. She had run up to him and shoved a small wooden token in his hand. "Here's your tab, on which you need to put your room number! Just go and find yourself a spot, and one of me will get to you soon!"

One of me?

Before Irwin could even ask what she meant, she dashed off towards a distant table where someone was waving at her.

All around, dozens of other women with the same flaming hair were dashing through the inn, carrying platters of food and drink, either filled or emptied. They were all identical.

It's like the barber on Fiverion, Irwin thought as he began walking towards one of the empty tables.

As he sat down, the music slowly faded, and he looked at the back of the inn where three musicians stood. A flustered-looking man with a wide grin and hair that stood out in all directions was holding an instrument that looked like a mandolin with tiny sticks attached to the end of the snares. One quick flick across the strings created a sound like a hundred fingers tapping on a table.

"Everyone, I'm super happy you asked us to perform again," the man said, his voice easily traveling all throughout the room. "We will play our final song now. Then the stage will be free for someone else! If you want to see us again, tell Teacher Narios how much you enjoyed it, and I'm sure we can come again!"

There was a loud cheering, with many of those present either stomping the ground or hitting the table.

Irwin leaned back, feeling an odd sense of relaxation settle on him. He was going to be here for a few months… that meant not being worried about potential pirates or other dangers. It had been over a year since he'd left Eluathar and had that luxury.

"Hey there, big man," a happy voice called out from beside him.

Irwin looked up to see the same woman who had welcomed him or one of those identical standing there.

"Did you add your room number?"

Irwin took out the token he'd been given and, without thinking about it, scratched the number seventy-three with his nail in the soft wood. Then he handed it back.

"Ah… usually we use markers for that," the woman said with a crooked smile. "I guess this will be yours from now on then! Now then, our name is Moira Multitude - which isn't real, but that's how we like it!"

Irwin blinked, but the woman -Moira- didn't seem to care.

"Now then, what can I serve you? A late meal? Some drinks? Both?"

"Both," Irwin said, looking for a menu cart and finding nothing. "Do you have any Ignitzion dishes?"

"Sure, we have Hotpot Meatstew with Torrential Peppers today! You sure thought? It's pretty hot!"

Irwin grinned as he heard the familiar name. Scintilla had made it for him once, but the Torrential Peppers were pretty rare on Scour. Even then, he recalled it was both filling and delicious.

"I'd like a big bowl and the largest jar of water you have," Irwin said.

"The water won't help you with the heat, deary!"

"It's not for that, don't worry," Irwin said just as a low rattling drumbeat came from the stage.

"Right, I'll get it for you then!" Moira said, grinning as she turned and strode away into the mess.

People had begun winding their way to the area before the stage to dance, and Irwin looked at the mishmash of metal, fire, and coal-attuned beings bob and weave around each other. He knew by now that the Langost branch was mostly home to humans -or those that looked like them- and a wide array of elemental-attuned races. Of those, he wasn't surprised to see that all those present were radiating heat-based soulforce ripples.

Above them, a chaotic cloud of rapidly flying Ganvils were performing some sort of dance of their own, though it looked more like they were racing each other between the heavy rafters in some dangerous game of tag. Each time one of them slammed into another, it would rush away, chased after by others, only to be dogpilled a moment later.

Irwin focused on the soulforce vibrations, which he usually ignored unless needed, and was happy to find that it seemed to be influenced by the drums, creating a beautiful kaleidoscope of background sounds that seemed to follow along with the drum like an echo.

The song had begun energetic enough, but as the singer added his voice to the mix, screeching like a sharp nail across an anvil, though remaining in tune, it slowly began building up to a thunderous crescendo.

A plate twice the size he had expected and a massive metal jar with water appeared before Irwin, but he barely noticed as he listened to the music, almost enthralled.

At some point, he felt his own soulcard thrum and vibrate along with the song while he noticed Ambraz amidst the other Ganvils, grinning madly as he managed to dodge dozens of his fellows until finally overrun by their sheer numbers.

The song finally ended with a drum solo performance by the female drummer. Her arms moved so fast that Irwin could only see streams of movement from and to the different drums. Some of the beats seemed to overlap, boosting their sounds instead of being individual beats.

Then the song stopped, replaced by a deafening cheer.

Leaning back, Irwin slowly began eating from the massive bowl of stew, enjoying the way it traveled down his throat like lava, creating a burning hotness in his stomach. He continued eating even when he'd had enough, only stopping when he'd cleaned out the entire bowl. Then he grabbed the massive jug, only to notice two wide-eyed Ignitzions sitting on the opposite of the table, staring at him. They both had their elbows on the table, hands under their chins as they leaned forward. Yellow smiths' ranking plates were tied around their wrists with black-metal chains.

"Are you for real?" one of them asked, her burning purple eyes twinkling. "That's enough for a whole family and hot enough to burn a hole through my stomach!"

"I like my food hot," Irwin said before he raised the mug and began draining it. When he finished, he saw the two were still there.

"So, where did you come from?" the second one asked.

Her hair was tied in a knot at the back of her head, which flared out widely, almost making it look like her head was surrounded by a halo of burning red and orange hair.

"Hey, that's not nice," the purple-eyed one said, elbowing her. "Remember last time?"

"Right, right. Sorry! You only just arrived? Are you going to be joining the first years tomorrow?"

Irwin leaned back, the sturdy chair cared nothing for his weight.

"I think so," he said. "I only just arrived a few hours ago."

"Whoa! You really did get ported in just now! Where you-" the one with the odd hair grunted as she got jabbed in the side again.

"Excuse my friend, she's got problems," the purple-eyed one said with a wide grin. "I'm Pasilha, and this is Roubi. We are second-years, so if we can help you…"

Irwin looked at her, about to respond that he'd love help when he held back. He suddenly recalled the warnings Scintilla had given him back on Scour about his look, likely drawing a lot of attention from Ignitzions. Were these two flirting with him? He suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable.

Whatever, they can still help, he decided.

"Can you point out some of the other first years?" he asked. "It'd be helpful to get to know some people before tomorrow."

"Sure! I know a lot of younger sisters here," Pasilha said, her grin widening.

Right… Irwin thought, suddenly feeling a shudder as he thought about being surrounded by Ignitzions.

Before he could even voice a worry, Pasilha was up and moving.

"So… do you have a special friend?" Roubi asked.

--

Irwin woke to a splitting headache. Blinking blearily, he tried to recall what had happened, and then slowly, the memories returned.

Pasilha had found half of the class of first years for him, most of which were humans with cards that changed their physique to mimic elemental fire or metal. One of them, Skylar, had seemed to think of it as his mission to see exactly how much he could drink, which started with water and ended with things he never had before. Memories of drinking ever increasingly odd and spicy beverages from the Ignitzian and, later, even Onyxian homeworlds while dancing to music replayed in his mind.

He faintly recalled that he managed to keep away from a few of the clingier Ignitzions, partially with help from Skylar.

His head thudded in the beat of his heart, and he groaned. Why didn't I just leave?

"Finally awake? Good, I was about to land on you!" Ambraz snapped. "Get up and get clean. We need to get to the first class in half an hour!"

Irwin pushed himself up on his elbow and looked around. His mouth was dry, not something that happened as much anymore, but the water jug lay on its side on the table, empty. Staring at it for a bit, he sighed and got up to righten it. Then he focused on his soulcard, creating a cloud of steam, which he maneuvered above the opening before forcing it inside. Then he withdrew the energy from the steam inside, and he felt it slowly turn to liquid. It wasn't fast, but it beat going to find water.

He continued until the jug was full, then drained it, filled it again, and drained it again.

When he finally finished, his headache was mostly over, and he sighed.

"Remind me not to drink that much again," he said.

"That wasn't the problem," Ambraz said, sounding like he was enjoying himself far too much. "Things went bad when you tried to keep up with that Simlari. You do know they are as close to air elementals as any carded being can get?"

Irwin knew he was referring to Skylar, but he shook his head. "What does that matter?"

"It matters because the drinks never really reach their systems. Didn't you notice the steam blowing from his nose? That wasn't just him heating up! It was the alcohol being shoved back out."

Irwin blinked, then barked a laugh. "That's why he was walking straight at the end."

"Exactly," Ambraz said. "Though you did really well. Except for the cheater, the others all had to sleep at the in, so you should have some fun in class today."

Irwin frowned, trying to recall the state of the people after he'd left.

"I don't recall much of what happened," he muttered as he filled a large bowl with water and began cleaning himself.

"Nothing too bad," Ambraz said, though Irwin wondered.

A short while later, he was walking through the streets, heading for the main building. All of the districts were split up in a circle around the academy building, which was the main building he'd entered the day before. For some reason, the districts were split up based on the technique the people in them used to craft.

There was a mass of young people walking up the stairs, and Irwin joined in with the soft chattering. He was almost at the top when he heard someone call his name.

Turning around, he saw a tall man with stormy white hair that floated around his head and a wide grin on his pale blue face as he ran up the stairs towards him. A moment later, Irwin stared into two eyes that looked like thunderclouds and reminded him of the blue versions of what Daubutim had.

"Hey! Good to see you made it. I was starting to feel a bit worried when I woke up this morning," Skylar said, his voice airy.

Although he wasn't that good at detecting it, Irwin didn't see any hidden duplicity in the other's eyes. Instead, he looked honestly worried and relieved.

"No worries," Irwin said with a laugh. "I'm fine! Now, how about you make up for cheating by showing me where to go?"

"Hey! I wasn't cheating," Skylar said, but he had the good graces to blush, which in his case meant his face became bluer.

They walked up the stairs and then into the crowded building. Although he and Skylar could look across the sea of heads, there were still a lot of others looking back at them.

Lots of tall people among smiths, Irwin thought as he watched a girl that seemed made up from raw metal ore, her face angular and sharp, stomp down the hallway, creating a small ripple of people stepping out of the way.

"That's Bekylina," Skylar muttered softly. "Better not stare at her too much. She's got a bit of a temper. She's human, if you want to believe it, but something odd happened when her first heartcard was formed."

Irwin looked away, wondering what she'd gotten for a card that had this effect. He knew his own card had already changed him on the more extreme scale of things, but that?

The hallways were wide, with doors everywhere. Irwin snuck a few glances inside to see surprisingly large rooms. Most looked like they could hold over a hundred people.

When they reached their own classroom, he saw a sign on the side. It read Theoretical Smithing, and an unsteady hand had added 'Card Categories' below.

As they entered, Irwin saw the left side held rows of benches on what looked like massive staircase steps. Each was high enough for the people sitting behind it to look out across the others, while a single desk stood opposite them. A young-looking woman with pale, gleaming skin and unkempt blond hair tied in a hasty bow sat behind it, flipping through a book without seeming to notice the people walking inside.

Irwin saw a tiny placard on her desk that said 'Christal vin as Varandi'.

"She's the local librarian and probably the smartest person you've ever met," Skylar whispered, moving up the stairs. "She's got some sick memory too, able to remember all our names and how we did in the different classes, and-"

"She also has great hearing," a youthful voice called out.

Skylar flinched, then looked back.

Irwin saw that the teacher was staring at Skylar with a raised eyebrow. "I can introduce myself and will do so later, Skylar. Now go bring your new friend to sit down."

"Yes, Teacher Verandi," Skylar said, turning and pulling Irwin along with him.

Why does this feel like back in school, Irwin thought, feeling a massive sense of discomfort? He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but he wasn't sure if he was going to enjoy sitting here and being lectured.

He followed Skylar up to a row at the back, where he saw a few faces he had recognized from the night before. He tried hard to recall their names, but he was only partially successful. Not that it likely mattered. Most of them were lying with their head on their arm, staring out into nothing like Addled.

Only Pasilha looked up and waved in greeting. There was no sign of her chatter mouth friend, which Irwin didn't mind.

"How can you look that… good," Pasilha muttered before putting her head back on the desk. "You drank more than any of us!"

"Greater Endurance," Irwin said, sitting down beside Skylar.

"Oh? Good to know," Pasilha said, visibly forcing herself to smile at him before grimacing and resting her head on her arms again.

The classroom steadily filled up with people ranging from those barely adult to a few with graying hair and beards. All of them had a Ganvil on their shoulders, most the same size- but with a few seeming slightly larger.

"I had expected there would only be young people here," Irwin asked.

Skylar snorted, shaking his head. "How old are you anyway?"

Irwin frowned, trying to recall how much time had passed. How old was he now? Twenty-one? Twenty-two?

"You don't know?" Skylar asked, surprised and curious.

"Twenty-one," Irwin decided, knowing it didn't really matter that much as he would probably not visibly grow any older for a long time.

"Right… well-"

"Alright, everyone, it's time to start today's course! You've all probably heard that we had another midterm addition to our group," Teacher Verandi said, her voice seemingly coming from every corner of the room.

"Now, I've been told that you haven't had any official training, so I'll be handing you out some light reading to get you up to speed," Teacher Verandi said as she stared straight at Irwin. "Make sure you do your best!"

Irwin just nodded, not sure if he was supposed to reply.

"Very well, as I warned the rest of you, today will be about Card Categories! Now, I know many of you think they know everything about it, but I'm going to remind you that even the Librarians still don't know everything! Even now, cards are being discovered or crafted that nobody has seen before. So, I'll be naming the most common categories, not in any order, and after that, I'm going to be asking you all at random to ask one!"

She turned to the blank wall behind her, raised her hand in which a golden quill appeared, and began writing. Beautiful golden letters flowed from her pen.

"Abrasive, all cards in this category are able to slowly wear down something. This could be rock, metal, or flesh. Closely related to this is Acidic, with cards in this category able to eat away some types of matter-"

Irwin listened closely as Teacher Verandi continued writing down categories, many of which he'd heard of because they were also types, but some, like Coupling and Elasticity, he had never heard of before nor had any idea what they were supposed to do. Even then, as time continued and many people proved unable to add to the slowly growing list, Irwin felt his interest peaked. There was no bogus information like when he'd been in school back in Malorin. Instead, everything seemed useful and interesting. Some of the categories, although unfamiliar to him, really piqued his curiosity, like Soundwave.

The hours went by, and he paid close attention, writing down all the categories he thought in his small booklet. He ignored Skylar's odd glances.

When the class was done, Teacher Verandi handed him a stack of four books before sending him out with the orders to read them before the end of the month.

"So… you really like this theoretical stuff, don't you?" Skylar said as he walked beside him. The others were stumbling behind them, still looking barely able to stand.

"It's interesting," Irwin agreed.

"Well, then, I hope you enjoy getting your hands dirty because the other course today is on sideways reforging," Skylar said, rubbing his hand as if he was already looking forward to it.

Oh, I definitely like that, Irwin thought, wondering what they were supposed to do.