Irwin took a step back, staring excitedly at the card that was slowly crystallizing on Ambraz's back. The quartz border shimmered before setting, and he knew it was a success.

  "It worked," he said, grabbing the card and letting out a soft laugh. "It's like making two cards from one!"

  "Sure, one card and more of your own soulforce than most people will ever have," Ambraz said.

  Irwin shrugged as he looked happily at the card. "It's… ninety percent?" he asked, trying to sense the card's resonance.

  "Ninety-one," Ambraz agreed, turning into his small form and flying to Irwin's shoulder.

  "This changes… a lot," he whispered before starting to laugh uproariously. "Who am I kidding? This is fantastic!"

  "I do need to learn how to do it with other people’s soulforce," Irwin said, trying to dampen the excitement slightly. "Unless we want over half the people back home to have either fire, metal, or sound- "

  " -soulforce resonance, music, utility summon, or steam type cards?" Ambraz interrupted him, almost shouting. "Even if that would be what we end up with, do you even realize how many types that still leaves? Your steam card alone would let people who start with those add so many other types!"

  "Fine, you are right," Irwin said as he took another card from his pocket and held both up.

  One showed a simple metallic lute, the other a small hammer wreathed in flame. Both were simpler, less powerful versions of his own cards.

  "So, now we just need to figure out how to make them actually good," he said.

  Ambraz flew from his shoulder and slammed into his cheek. "You brat! Do you even know what you have done?"

  Irwin blinked, rubbing his cheek and raising an eyebrow. "Turned one card into two?" he asked with mock confusion, knowing full well what Ambraz was getting on.

  "Sure, sure. Just make fun of me," Ambraz grunted. He glowered at Irwin for a moment; then, his metal lips curled up in a grin. "Can you imagine if you manage to get them to a hundred percent? With a single card as a seed, you could create a dozen new ones. Two dozen if you have to!"

  Irwin took a deep breath, then exhaled explosively. "It is great," he agreed, his mind spinning. "But what we need to find out is if we can teach others to do this. By myself, I can only create a dozen cards per day, and as extensive as my type-breadth is, I can't make healing cards or nature-based cards, and although my steam is compatible with those and with water, I can't make any of those either. If I'm the only one doing this, we have another problem. If I'm only splitting cards, creating new ones, who is going to reforge them up to one hundred percent, Ruby, or beyond? Who is going to make the heartcards?"

  Ambraz landed back on the ground, letting out a weary sigh.

  "Yes, yes. You are right, of course, but those are only problems because of this stupid war that's brewing. Besides, if we could get a teleporter between Mudball and home, you could use that gas giant's time dilation."

  Irwin shuddered at the prospect of having to reforge cards for years and years in a high-time-dilation world.

  "Let's just see if we can teach others," he said. "I'm sure Trimdir and Dahlia can learn this."

  "That would be for the best," Ambraz said. "For now, you need to practice more. You're only able to create the simplest cards, losing out on over ninety percent of your potential."

  The Ganvil flew back to his working spot in Irwin's captain's quarters and turned back into his large form.

  "Let's see what happens when you split a card made like this," Ambraz said. "There shouldn't be any difference, except maybe that it's more inclined to move in a certain direction."

  Irwin put the hammer card back in his pocket and placed the other on Ambraz's back.

  Half an hour later, a cloud of roiling soulforce, contained in a powerful shield, hovered above Ambraz's back. It was suffused with Irwin's soulforce while a new card crystalized on Ambraz's back.

  Irwin examined it, and it took him only a few moments to notice something. The card's resonance song sounded… simpler, but also purer. It was as if the typings that weren't utility and fire had lessened.

  "Kid, feed it some more soulforce before it fizzles! It's losing critical mass!"

  Irwin focused on the wrapped chaotic soulforce. Ambraz was right. It was as if there wasn't enough soulforce, and the chaos was slowly winding down. He forced more of his own soulforce into the containment shield, and like fire given new fuel, the chaos within increased with an explosive whoomp.

  With the chaotic soulforce left, Irwin focused back on the card. It proved they could split the original chaos soulforce of a handcard into multiple cards and split it again after. But there was something more…

  "Ambraz… are you seeing this?" Irwin whispered, raising the card closer to his eyes, which was a somewhat useless act as his eyes weren't the most sensitive way for him to sense the card's resonance.

  Ambraz didn't answer immediately, and when he did, he sounded slightly confused.

  "See what?"

  Irwin frowned, then shook his head.

  "Let me try something," he said. "Just put that out; I need you to shatter this card."

  Ambraz muttered something about wasting things but did as asked. He opened his mouth, and the chaotic soulforce was sucked into his mouth through a funnel-like part of the shield. When it was gone, Irwin instantly put the new lute card on Ambraz's back.

  Ambraz shattered it with ease, and a new shield-covered cloud of chaotic soulforce appeared.

  Irwin hummed a nonsensical tune as he focused on his soulstrum guitar and his flame. A few moments later, he shoved soulforce into the shielded container, and as the chaos within began increasing, a stray thought flitted through his mind.

  It's like a forgefire!

  He grinned as the thought caused another to bubble up in his mind. Was this why cardsmiths still acted like smiths? Most didn't need to be in a smithy, except those using the fire-smithing way. What if he wasn't the first to do this? Ambraz was helping him with the shield, but technically, other smiths could have filled that role!

  "Kid?"

  Irwin shook his head, focusing on the chaos.

  "Right, let's forge another card," he said, summoning his hammer.

  --

  Ambraz watched as Irwin shaped the card's resonance, pulling the half-formed card together with a grace that belied his towering, muscular stature.

  He's getting better at a staggering rate, the Ganvil thought, smoothing out the minute mistakes that he saw, knowing both of them were still unable to even sense all of them. As he became more sensitive to the soulforce, he'd begun to realize just how complex it truly was.

  As the card began coalescing, he split his shielded container in two, keeping the mass of chaotic soulforce that they wouldn't need in one, only feeding it enough to stay alive as it were. The other one began rapidly calming as the soulforce was either absorbed into the forming soulcard or rejected.

  It took some effort to funnel the parts not needed back into the initial shielded container, but he'd begun to learn that none of the chaotic soulforce was truly useless. At a minimum, they could use it as some instigating force.

  As Irwin sang softly, the energetic sound of the soulstrum guitar rippling out, Ambraz focused on the new card.

  He sensed it was different from the previous one, but he didn't understand what Irwin wanted him to see.

  Or hear, he thought.

  Although his own senses were sharper than Irwin's, his bonded smith had an uncanny knack for hearing the songs within the resonance.

  Ambraz listened to the song, but besides hearing some of the tiny inconsistencies, he didn't notice anything odd.

  It's going to be nine-two, he thought.

  As the card finished, his curiosity grew, and as soon as Irwin took the card, his full focus on it, he turned into his smaller shape, flying to his shoulder.

  "Now, tell me! What's so special?"

  Irwin frowned and looked up.

  "It's been purified…" he said.

  What is? Ambraz thought, examining the card again.

  "What do you mean? It's barely ninety-two percent…"

  "That's not it," Irwin replied. "The two types! They have been purified. There's less contamination from other types!"

  Ambraz focused on the card again, this time ignoring the main types and focusing on the others. It took him a few moments, but then he found what Irwin was referring to, and he couldn't stop himself from letting out a startled shout.

  There were still some left, tiny leftover typings from the chaotic soulforce it was born out of, but the kid was right! The two main typings, fire and utility, were, for lack of a better term, purer than they had been!

  "That's… Try again!" Ambraz shouted, shooting back to his spot on the ground. He drained the still-present chaotic soulforce, not even caring how wasteful it was, and prepared a new, empty shield.

  What would happen if we continue this? he thought, his mind abuzz. It would probably make it harder to sideways reforge for one, but what would a pure card even look like?

  He could barely wait to see what would happen.

  --

  "Think he’s going to come out of his room for the next stop?" Greldo asked, leaning against the Bigbelly's mast.

  He tried to tune out the constant excited shouting that was followed by another round of reforging.

  "I doubt it," Rindiri said.

  Greldo looked at the small harbor ahead.

  "Well, it's not like he needs to be here this time. This is what… the thirteenth stop?"

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  "Fifteen," Dagger said, sitting with her back against the railing. "I never thought I'd get sick and tired of earning more soulshards."

  Greldo grinned at the shady Yuurindi. "Come now, Dagger! You are just saying that because you lost our match last time."

  Dagger snorted and rolled her eyes. "There was no way you could predict that merchant would make that deal for tens of pounds of whispersteel ore and those two cards!"

  "Says you," Greldo said. "I'm just that good."

  Dagger snorted. "You are letting this whole shadow lord thing get to your head."

  A few months ago, Greldo would have gotten annoyed at that. Now, he just rolled his eyes.

  "Weak, Dagger… weak."

  Dagger seemed ready to continue when Rindiri cleared her throat.

  "Could the two of you get everything ready? I want to get everything we need and be gone within a few hours. We still have seven stops left before we reach the backwaters. From there, we can finally rush home."

  At the mention of home, Greldo wondered how Eluathar would have changed. When they returned, over ten years would have passed on their world… People like Daubutim would be in their thirties.

  I wonder if he has as many children as Irwin, he thought, his mind wandering to Dahlia. He hoped they had made it back safely by now. The Concerto was far slower than they were, but it had been close to a year and a half now. What had they estimated for the return trip… a year? Two?

  He couldn't recall.

  "Well, let's get this done with. Do we have enough of those pamphlets left?"

  "Hundreds," Dagger said as she got up and cracked her arms. "Wanna have another match?"

  "Sure! What do you have in mind?" Greldo asked, noticing that a few of the surrounding Yuurindi were moving closer. He knew there were bets running on their little matches.

  I've gotta put some more soulshards on myself to win, he thought.

  --

  Another month passed quickly, with Irwin letting the others take care of most of the harbor work so he could focus on smithing. The few times he did set out were to search for more cards for his next heartcard. He was creating a few options and gathering cards for multiple builds.

  "I still think we should go for the extra life card first," Ambraz grunted.

  "Yes, but we can't find the cards we need to strengthen it," Irwin said, crossing his arms as he looked at the tiny harbor, slowly closing in.

  "So? It's not like we are in a hurry, are we?" Ambraz grunted. "Just fill your soullake, finish your current heartcard, and slot that second life card. We can add the other cards as we find them."

  Irwin shook his head. He agreed with Ambraz that having it would be a great way to guarantee his life, but he already had two bodies. If he lost one, as long as he had the second one, he would be able to regenerate the first with time.

  "What we need is more strength for the war," he said. "I'm thinking either a card that allows me to protect others or one that allows me to fight Oculithar."

  "... What would that even look like? Stack growth cards, so you are big enough to wrestle them?" Ambraz muttered.

  "Well, that or perhaps a beam that uses my soulforce?" Irwin asked.

  "It would have to be a fire attack because it's not a good idea to add more types to your mix," Ambraz said.

  Irwin was about to answer when Greldo let out a soft, surprised, and startled hiss.

  "This isn't good…"

  "What?" Irwin asked while he sensed Ambraz's attention focused on Greldo.

  "They are all dead," Greldo said, his face going pale.

  He hadn't spoken very loudly, but the chatter that had been coming from the deck and sails above them quieted.

  "Everyone?" Irwin asked, signaling to Rindiri to stop their ship.

  "Coal is still searching, but… it doesn't look good," Greldo muttered, turning to Irwin. "I think we should have a look by ourselves."

  Irwin turned to Rindiri, feeling Ambraz move into his soulscape.

  "Keep the fleet away from the harbor," he ordered before turning to Gloom. "Warn the others to stay back."

  He didn't wait to check if his orders would be followed but placed his hand on Greldo, and a moment later, the two of them were in the shadowrealm.

  If it had been in another situation, he might have been surprised at the speed with which Greldo shot forward, reaching the distant harbor in only a few seconds. As soon as they reached it, Irwin saw the bodies. They lay everywhere. Some were arranged in neat rows near the docks, while others lay sprawled out further in the rugged harbor town.

  The plague, Irwin knew, as he felt the remnants of a horrid soulforce resonance from the bodies. It was almost as if it were dormant, and he knew what was happening.

  "They are changing into addled," Ambraz said from his soulscape. "You need to get rid of these bodies before they do."

  Irwin nodded, pulsing his soulforce in such a way that he knew Greldo would sense it.

  The scenery blurred past, and a moment later, they were on the top of a building in the shadow of one of the higher towers. Irwin felt the wood below him, and at the same time, he smelled it.

  Greldo gagged, covering his nose and slowly turning white.

  "They are turning into Addled," Irwin said, holding his breath as he focused on his steam card. He pulled a steam cloud around them, hoping to purify the air, but all it did was increase the stench.

  Greldo stepped forward, making another gagging noise before a wet splatter came from the roof.

  "Sorry," Irwin grunted, holding his breath as he looked around.

  "It's fine," Greldo said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Coal scouted the entire place, and there's no sign of any survivors."

  Irwin nodded as he looked at a small arm sticking out of a small alleyway below.

  "Check again, then hide in the shadows," he said, feeling his anger simmering. How could someone create a plague that killed like this? It had to be the Guidar or their forward scouts…

  If they did this, I'll make sure they regret it, Irwin thought, as he felt his cards, both soulcards and heartcard, start to resonate.

  "It's clear- there is no life. I hear nothing, and Coal has scanned every building and cellar," Greldo grunted.

  Irwin nodded, but he hesitated. Closing his eyes, he spread his soulforce awareness out as far as he could. He instantly detected Greldo and the fainter presence of Coal. He even felt the hundred tiny resonances that were Coal's shadow clones, but as he reached the edges of the town, he couldn't find anything.

  No exit portal… they closed it.

  Somehow, that made him even angrier, he had no idea if the people in the world had left after those in the harbor had died or closed the portal before that, but his gut told him he wouldn't like the answer.

  "Wait in the shadows. I'll shout my way back," he said.

  Greldo vanished, probably happy to be away from the stench of decay.

  It must have been months since this happened, Irwin thought. So, does that mean the plague came from the outer regions?

  He took a final look at the tiny arm before letting his flames rage outward in a sudden, explosive wave, almost like the eruption of a volcano. As he thought of that, Irwin felt his heartcard almost throb with a desire to unleash its own power, and without thinking about it, he used its active ability.

  A deep rumble came from the bedrock far below the harbor, and the entire construction began swaying.

  --

  "He just… destroyed the entire harbor?" Perlin whispered.

  The young boy stood with a few of the Yuurindi that had come from Urlar, his mouth hanging wide.

  Perhaps I made a big, big mistake coming here after all, he thought, watching the fire roar over the remains of what had been a harbor. The ground had shaken and rumbled, and a moment later, the entire thing had just… crumbled, burning as it did.

  "I'm sure he had a reason," someone else whispered.

  And what reason would that be? Perlin thought, licking his lips.

  A few minutes later, he saw a streak of rippling air shoot from the debris towards them. It stopped every so often, their captain appearing for a short moment before he vanished again. It took him four or five times to return to the ship, where he slammed into the deck beside the steering wheel.

  Perlin could hear the cracking of the wood from where he stood, and he shivered. He wasn't the only one looking at the captain, as the ship had gone dead silent.

  He watched as the towering man walked forward, looking at all of them.

  "The plague was here," he said, his voice holding a burning anger Perlin hadn't seen from the man yet.

  "We checked, but nobody survived. From what we could find, the last ones died months ago. Some of the bodies were… turning into Addled."

  The deadly silence lingered until a voice spoke up.

  "What about the portal?"

  Perlin wanted to kick himself as he realized he'd been the one to speak. Why couldn't he just keep his big mouth shut? It was too late now, as the captain's burning silver eyes locked onto his.

  "It was closed."

  Perlin blinked stupidly. Closed? Why would they have…

  Oh.

  He shivered as he glanced at the rubble, and when he turned back to the captain, he'd moved to chat with his navigator.

  "I guess we aren't going to go here either," someone whispered. "Do you think the Captain will return to the more central worlds now?"

  I doubt it, Perlin thought as he walked away from the group.

  --

  Two weeks later, they came across another harbor, one of those built atop a set of trees.

  I see… some resonances, Irwin thought, but he already knew they were far too few, even for such a small harbor. What he did sense was a few dozen Addled- their presence like a screeching howl in the dim ambient soulforce.

  "Everyone, wait here. We will go and check," Irwin said before nodding at Greldo.

  A moment later, they shot through the shadows.

  --

  "I'm hungry…" the young woman whispered.

  Her soft voice echoed through the room, but nobody answered. Instead, the banging on the door increased.

  "Vasilin, don't talk," a cracked voice came from her side.

  Vasilin turned her head a few inches, looking at the frighteningly thin woman who lay beside her.

  "Maybe they will return from the world? Open the portal," a dull voice cracked. "It could have been-

  Vasilin tuned out the voice, trying to ignore the gnawing sensation in her stomach. How long had they been here? Weeks…? The food had run out days ago, but they had already been eating nothing but crumbs.

  If I survive this, I'll save soulshards… save them till I can buy one of those plant cards that allows you to make bushes with fruits, Vasilin thought to herself, not for the first time.

  She knew she was tormenting herself, thinking about food, but as she got hungrier, it seemed all she could think about.

  A loud explosion from outside caught her mid-breath.

  "What… was that?" someone whispered. There was no answer, but Vasilin pushed herself into a seated position, hearing others do the same.

  Another explosion came, much closer this time, and the banging on the door- their constant companion for weeks now- stopped.

  "Maybe they sent the Portal Guardians to save us?!" asked the same voice as before.

  Vasilin managed to stand, swaying on her feet as she looked at the door. Loud thudding and crashing came from outside, lasting for barely a minute before it stopped.

  "Are we… saved? Or…”

  Nobody answered.

  "Don't be alarmed," a sudden, soft, guttural voice spoke from the back of the room.

  Vasilin turned around, and her head kept spinning for a few moments.

  "We are merchants, and we are clearing the Addled. In a moment, my captain will open the door… stay calm."

  Vasilin looked at the shadowy figure. A man with a ragged, unkempt beard and hair that almost reached his shoulders. His gleaming silver eyes burned from the shadows, and she could see the sharp lines of his face.

  She'd never seen anything as beautiful.

  "Food," she whispered. "Do you have… food?"

  "You will be fed as soon as we can," the man said, and she could hear the sadness in his voice.

  She didn't care. He had said they would get food, and she almost cried.

  The next few moments went by in a blur as the door was simply ripped from its hinges. A towering man moved inside, tendrils of fire crackling in his hair.

  The next thing Vasilin knew was that people began vanishing as the man whispered to them.

  "What…" she muttered, but then the man stood before her.

  "I am going to bring you into my soulscape, alright? You will be safe there, and there is food."

  Vasilin cared for nothing but one of the words he'd spoken, and she reached out to grab his hand.

  The next moment, the world vanished, and she reappeared somewhere else. It was hot, and it smelled odd, faintly metallic, and like fire.

  "Everyone, please don't be afraid," a deep voice spoke.

  Vasilin looked up to see a giant version of the man that she'd just spoken to standing before her. He towered over her, even as he knelt on one knee, and she saw the dozens of others stand in front of him, eyes wide and fearful.

  Behind the giant stood a small village, built atop a sloping hill, with simple stone buildings.

  "Please wait till everyone is here, then follow me. There is food inside the town."

  Vasilin pushed herself forward.

  Food… she thought, hobbling towards the town.

  She heard the man say something, but she didn't care.

  Food!

  --

  Irwin was tired as he lay down on his bed, trying to ignore the constant chatter from his soulscape.

  His giant self had pulled back into his own house so the malnourished survivors would stop staring at him, looking terrified.

  "Now, what do we do?" he muttered, closing his eyes.

  "There's not a lot we can do," Ambraz replied from a perch in the wall. "We save those we come across, for as long as we can, and hope we find a world that has found a cure."

  "Let's see if we can find one," he muttered. "Maybe some card..."

  He barely heard Ambraz's response as his mind shut down, and he fell asleep.

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  Common = Quartz, Uncommon = Amethyst, Rare = Topaz, Very Rare = Emerald, Epic = Ruby, Legendary = Diamond, Mythical = Ammolite