Irwin's Journey 484: Two and one

Ambraz let out a groan, still perched on Irwin's stomach. "Irwin, meet Pur'am, my second progeny."

Irwin watched the purple Ganvil circle them, staring at him, still pushing against his soulforce barrier.

"I see," he replied. "And how is he trying to move into my soulscape?"

"He's what?! Pur'am, stop that or you won't have another card for a week!" Ambraz shouted, flying up from Irwin's stomach and after the purple Ganvil.

"But he has growth cards and I'm hungry," Pur'am said, sounding highly disgruntled. 

Irwin got up, looking around. Rinbus was now standing beside Rindiri, the ex-Accenti slightly taller than the ex-Yuurindi, but not by a lot. Both were a head shorter than him, as were most of the Crathans, though he had the feeling a few of the smiths would start growing more as they added cards. 

Even after all these months, he was still surprised at how close he felt to them. It wasn't like with Brecka, who felt ever more like his sister as time passed and the oddity of that situation became more normal, but somehow their eyes, similar to his own, their metallic skin, and metal hair, the latter with tiny flickers of flame, made him feel like he wasn't alone. He'd only recently realized that the changes he'd been going through, those that had moved him away from being just a Galadin, had actually slowly made him feel estranged from his own people. 

"How did things go?" he asked, looking from one to the other.

"Good," Rinbus said, in his slightly deeper voice. "All is fine, except for that, that… Tiny annoyance! He keeps sneaking into the treasuries of the nobles, stealing any growth card he can find."

"Boooo," Pur'am shouted as he flitted along the roof above them, Ambraz still following him. "I'm just hungry! If everyone would just give me their growth cards, it-"

"Pu'am," Ambraz snapped, finally seeming to have had enough and speeding up to slam into the smaller Anvil, knocking him against the far wall, where he left a cracked dent in the wall. "You have had more cards in a month than all the others put together! If you just look around to find a smith to bond with, you will find that purified soulforce will stop that hunger!"

"Don't wanna," Pur'am said as he fluttered up, seeming not even dazed.

'Kid, grab him, please, before he sets off again!'

Irwin snorted, disappearing from where he stood and shooting across the soundwaves, reappearing beside Pur'am and pinching him out of the air between two fingers. Instantly, the tiny Ganvil began trying to break free, but as strong as he was for his size, Irwin's two fingers had no trouble holding him in place.

"Come on," he cried, then stopped resisting, his mouth curving down. "At least give me something to eat?"

Irwin glanced at Ambraz, who snorted.

"No. You had a card this morning."

Pur'am moaned as if the world were ending.

"So," Irwin said, ignoring the tiny Ganvil. "I could just move him into my soulscape? There's no way he can steal our cards, because I can just block those areas?"

"Not yet," Ambraz said, as he landed on Irwin's shoulder. "For now, I need to find a way to stifle his hunger."

"So…. I take it this isn't normal? Not even for a progeny?"

"No," Ambraz said, letting out a weary sigh. "It's normal that they are hungry initially, as you might recall with Silv'am. But one or two cards fixes that easily. Pur'am? He's had close to a hundred now, most stolen from the lords around Trunkle, who have requested to be compensated, I might add."

Irwin rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, they want cards reforged?"

"Yes," Ambraz said. "Most were handled by Flowrishin, and the others, but there are a couple that had more than a few losses. Two of those requested you reforge the heartcards of their offspring."

"Fine," Irwin said, already happy that nothing else seemed to have gone. 

"So… can you let me go now?" Pur'am asked pleadingly.

Irwin ignored him, as he still had one more question. "What is this about growth cards, though?"

Ambraz let out a weary sigh. "You know how Purperion increases the growth rate of soulforce, soulscapes, and Ganvil skills?"

"I remember," Irwin said, recalling how he and Ambraz had once reforged an entire chunk during their first stay on Scour, resulting in rapid progress in the growth of his hammer card, which hadn't been Amolite yet back then. For Ambraz, it had given him a jump towards his next rank-up. 

"Didn't it have something to do with an increase in the purifying of soulforce during reforging?"

"There's a bit more to it than that, but nobody ever found out the exact details," Ambraz grunted. "Too little to experiment on. However, it seems that creating a Ganvil from Purperior causes them to have a desire for growth cards. From what I can see, it helps him grow, as he is closer to being a rank one than he should be in the few months. Which is one of the issues-"

"Oh, come on," Pur'am said. "It's not that bad!"

"It is!" Ambraz snapped. "If you grow too fast, you will become unstable and either explode or become insane!"

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Pur'am muttered.

"It is," Ambraz said, before letting out a weary sigh. "The worst thing is, he refuses to bond with any cardsmith."

"They all smell funny," Pur'am said, sounding disgusted. Then he sniffed. "Well… Irwin smells pretty good! Can't I bond-"

"No!" Ambraz snapped. "You know this! You have a great deal of ancestral memories, look through them already!"

"That's boring," Pur'am said, letting out a snort.

Ambraz growled, and Irwin felt his annoyance grow to the point he almost thought his bonded friend would start shouting. To his surprise, Ambraz reeled in his anger before it could explode, breathing a few times before continuing. 

"I think he needs to be bonded to a smith with only growth cards."

Irwin grimaced, thinking of how few growth cards they had collected, even over all their years. Worse, those they had weren't all that good for a cardsmith. A growth bow was great for a ranger or warrior, but for a smith? They needed body improvements, soulforce, and soulscape improvement, and hammer cards as their core. Of those, body-improvement cards were the easiest to get, though even he had only a few dozen of those.

"Okay, let's discuss this later," Irwin said, as he added it to the list of things he had to do, right above creating heartcards for nobles, and below finding out what had happened in his absence.

"So, how are your shipyards doing?"

Rindiri's eyes began gleaming as she smiled.

"Really good! I've expanded throughout Rootknot Grove, creating forresting and woodshaping guild charters. We also have a second set of wharves in Eleafrin City. More importantly, I now have enough woodshapers and treeshapers with high enough skill that they can create ships the size of scouting-class vessels from a single tree! It's slow, and it will be years until we can do this in any kind of bulk, but it's a great step."

"Already?" Irwin asked, his eyebrows shooting up. "I thought you had expected this to take at least another few years?"

"That was before Flowrishin started handing me four to six wood and tree-shaping cards each week," she said.

Irwin stared at her in disbelief. Those cards, though not nearly as rare as growth cards or music cards, let alone anything dealing with soulforce, were still rare enough that getting that many each week was highly unlikely. Highly unlikely, if he expected her to find them or gain them from the portal closing groups. But not if she had finally managed a great step…

"Is she able to create woodshaping cardseeds?" he asked.

Rindiri grimaced. "Ah, I think that was supposed to be her surprise for you," she said. "Think you can act surprised when she tells you, captain?"

"I think I'll be able to manage," Irwin said, his joy skyrocketing.

Finally, someone else was able to create a cardseed! Endil was closing in rapidly, but because he was on Eluathar, his progress felt slow due to the time difference. Flowrishin, however, had all the time in the world, and it seemed she had managed to improve massively since he left.

Either that, or she hid her progress before, he thought, shaking his head.

"So, any other good news?" he asked, smiling at the two Crathans.

Rinbus hesitated, a grin cropping up before he nodded.

"Blackglass City has gotten almost everything to be self-sufficient, and the Volcano Trees are growing rapidly. The few plantshapers and grovekeepers among us have started planting Volcano Flowers on the ceiling, beside those luminescent crystals. They… Well, I think you should just see for yourself how those are doing. Let's just say, everyone was incredibly happy since they were there."

As he spoke, Rindiri looked at him, then rolled her eyes in exasperation. Irwin had no idea what that was about, but he guessed they would explain later. For now, he had a few questions.

"No Portals or Burrows appeared?"

"None. We did have to clear out a few insectoids that had found their way in, but they were easily dealt with," Rinbus said. "I checked that area of the cavern, and there was just a weak queen that must have hidden when you cleared the cave. I dealt with her and have been actively scouting ever since."

The ease with which Rinbus mentioned having single-handedly taken care of an Insectoid Queen made Irwin grin and feel a sense of relief. It had already become obvious that, like him, many of the Crathans were highly suited for combat, but hearing this made him relax even more. 

"That's good," he said. "I didn't bring anyone this time due to the little problem I had, but-"

"Yes, about that," Ambraz said, flying up and between him and Rinbus. "What happened!?"

Irwin grinned and pulled the tiny card he'd made into his hand.

"I made this," he said, holding it up for Ambraz to see. 

Ambraz's mouth opened, then closed, then opened again as if he was trying to find words. Confusion, excitement, and surprise came through his connection, bubbling over until he let out a shout.

"You found the cardseed tone?!" 

"Yes," Irwin said, grinning wider. "And…. also a second way to finalize creating a cardseed."

He quickly explained what he'd done and how it had resulted in the tiny card in his hand. He'd expected a reaction from his bond, but quickly found that he'd underestimated said reaction greatly. 

Like a volcano exploding, a wave of excitement exploded out from Ambraz, and he shot through the room, letting out an uproarious laughter.

Irwin blinked in surprise, sharing a slightly dumbfounded look with Rinbus and Rindiri. They were clearly expecting him to explain, but he didn't really understand why Ambraz was acting this excited.

Not sure, he mouthed to Rindiri, shrugging.

It took almost a minute before his bond managed to cram some words in between his boisterous laughter. "Brazardian and those other old rusty oreclumps are going to have to make statues of us," he said, grinning so wide the corners of his lips almost touched the sides of his squarish form.

Irwin cocked his head, slightly confused. "We already had two cardseeds," he said, trying to understand what was different now.

"Yes, that's not what is so great," he said. "The first way to create a cardseed is so hard that only the best will ever be able to use it—the most skilled. Most current smiths on Granvox aren't focused on skill, but most of them are like Brazardian, focused on force. They subjugate the soulforce and the cards to what they need. This new way you found? Far more will be able to use it, and better yet, Brazardian himself will be able to!"

Ambraz let out another burst of laughter, while Irwin heard Pur'am mutter something from between his fingers where he was still being held.

"What?" he asked, focusing on the purple ganvil.

"Can't you make a cardseed with a growth aspect?" Pur'am asked, sounding hopeful. "That would be far more useful!"

Irwin grinned, shaking his head. "I'll see about that, but for now I need to focus on soulforce cardseeds."

"Bleh," Pur'am grunted. 

Irwin moved the card back in his soulscape and focused on Rindiri. 

"Let's go and see the others, then I want to go and examine the Blackglass cave myself."

"Alright," Rindiri said, but she didn't move, glancing at Rinbus with a knowing smile.

Irwin frowned, turning his attention back to Rinbus. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes," Rinbus said, looking fake nonchalant as he looked around. "Two Crathans are pregnant."

Irwin blinked stupidly, then realisation began to set in.

"Nimlarel?"

Rinbus nodded, scratching his chin. "She should give birth in a few months."

"Why didn't you start with that?" Irwin exclaimed excitedly.

"Well, I was debating letting Nim tell you," Rinbus said. "Then I decided that she had other good news to tell you."

More good news? Irwin thought, before a thought came to him, and he quickly calmed.

"How is the pregnancy going?" he asked.

"Interesting," Rinbus said. "According to the healers, the eggs are almost ready to birth, after which they will require a few more months to mature before they hatch."

Irwin felt his mouth fall open, and it took him a moment to catch himself.

Eggs?

He knew that many of the species in the Portal Gallery seemed to lay eggs, but with Galadin giving birth, he'd somehow expected that Crathans would do the same. He quickly went over the parts of his ancestral memories to see how the Titans reproduced, only to come up with a blank. 

"Guildmaster? Is everything alright?"

Irwin looked up to see Rinbus look at him, no longer smiling, but seemingly worried.

"Yes, yes," he said quickly. "I… let's talk about this in my soulscape in a few days, alright? Nothing is wrong, so don't worry. I'm just surprised by something."

Rinbus nodded slowly.

Irwin's Soulscape

Irwin's otherself was surprised when Ambraz's blue projection appeared beside him.

"Kid, many species that have strong bodies reproduce with eggs," Ambraz said, seemingly having understood what his surprise was about. "The little ones are formed in the mother until they are complete and only need more size. Then an egg forms around them, which is filled with a dense soulforce that will help them grow."

Irwin's otherself hummed thoughtfully as he sensed the one in the real world moving out of the room, softly chatting with the others about minor events that had occurred.

"Since when are you an expert on this?"

"I had the same questions as you, and one of the Crathan healers, who used to be a Yuurindi, explained it to me," Ambraz said. "She said that it's safer like this because the eggs are smaller than a liveborn, and this allows nests of up to four offspring, depending on the soulforce strength of the mother."

"Wait, so two are pregnant, but how many eggs do they have?"

"Nimlarel has two, and the other one," Ambraz said. "The healer told me that a mother needs a soulcard to have enough soulforce for a second egg, and probably needs a soulcard for each after that."

Irwin's eyebrows shot up. "So, a seven-carded would be able to have seven eggs?"

"In the unlikely event there is one, yes. Though, according to the healer, the more soulforce someone has, the harder it is for them to get pregnant," Ambraz grunted. "Something about quality, quantity, and balance of nature? Don't ask, she was rambling at some point, and I slipped away."

"Can't someone else help with the soulforce?" Irwin asked.

"Kid, we think alike," Ambraz grumbled. "I asked the same thing, and she said it was impossible. It's a bit like how we are bonded and our soulforce is in sync. The same happens when the eggs form; they resonate with the mother's soulforce, and tampering with it causes horrible situations."

Irwin hummed as he began flying through his soulscape. One of the things they would need to fight back against the enormous number of Guidar-controlled Chained would be soldiers and fighters. Because they would never be able to match those sheer numbers, they would need to beat them back with quality, which was one of the reasons he had been mass-creating Crathans. His main focus had been on changing and moving more Yuurindi here, but perhaps he had forgotten about something. With the time advantage they had, it wouldn't be long before the Crathan began growing in numbers naturally. He wouldn't force anyone to have children, but he had the distinct idea that he wouldn't need to. Many of the Crathan had been Yuurindi before, and many of those desired children, but were too afraid to make any. Now they didn't have to worry about that anymore?

Wait, there was no effect of their old mass reproduction issues?

"Did Rindiri mention anything about how they used to have so many children?" he asked.

"Only that it was gone. Apparently, the other pregnant Crathan was a Yuurindi before, and according to Rindiri, she was chosen as somewhat of an experiment."

Irwin frowned, flying across the giant Volcano that was his third soulcard. They had already found out that the genetic issues were largely gone, which made sense as the Yuurindi had changed so massively that little of their original biology remained. Still, he had expected some things to remain.

Well, I guess we will just see, he pondered.

--

A week and a day later, Irwin stood in the large library, humming thoughtfully as he put the card down.

"You did great," he said, looking at Flowrishin.

The old headteacher, guildmaster, and now interim guildmaster for Trunkle City's Cardsmith charter looked back, then yawned. 

"Thanks," she said, yawning a second time. "It still takes too much time, and I fail half the attempts."

"It doesn't matter," Irwin said, shaking his head. "You will become better as time continues. Besides-" he looked at the small rank zero Ganvil on her shoulder, "- with your new friend, you are going to be increasing a lot faster."

Flowrishin frowned at the Ganvil mid-yawn.

"See? I told you that," the young rank zero, Klei'co, piped, his voice like a soft bell that rang in the distance. "Why do you have to be so difficult?"

"Why couldn't you just not take no for an answer?" Flourishing snipped back. "I'm too old!"

"Too old? You will live for at least another few thousand years," Klei'co exclaimed. "And if you get another soulcard, you will become even older!"

"I can't have another soulcard," Flowrishin hissed. "I told you that, I can only have five."

"Bah, I'm sure that's a temporary setback," Klei'co said haughtily. "The Guildmaster and father will find a way to solve that minor problem."

“Minor… problem…” Flowrishin muttered.

Irwin was watching quietly, struggling to prevent the laughter bubbling up from escaping. Of all the rank zeros, Klei'co took the most after Ambraz, having his abrasive personality, strong sense of being the best, and having already projected this onto Flowrishin. Although he wasn't a progeny, like none of the rank-zeroes were, he had a far higher potential than regular rank-zeroes. Most of this was due to the soulforce used to create the rank zeros, half of which came from the Ancestral Coperion and the rest of which was from Ambraz and Irwin's. But there was also something odd about Klei'co, which Ambraz hadn't been able to explain. His color was slightly deeper than the other rank zeros, his resonance stronger, and from what Ambraz had found, he had far older ancestral memories. 

"Enough," Irwin said, grinning as he cut off their constant bickering. "You need to sleep, and I'm going to head to the Blackglass Cave. I've done all I can here, and I want to see what they have been up to."

Besides, I still haven't heard what other good news Nimlarel has for me, he thought.

"Alright," Flowrishin said, as she leaned back, stifling another yawn. "Are you returning before your next trip or will you stay there?"

"Not sure yet," Irwin said as he got up. "I'll keep in contact and let you know."

Flowrishin nodded, her yellow-golden, orange stringed leaf hair flowing forward as she continued the motion and put her head on the table.

"I think I'll sleep here," she muttered.

Irwin didn't answer as he moved away, though he heard Klei'co start telling her it would be best if she just got to her room and slept.

'He's a good one,' he said, sensing Ambraz hovering nearby. 

'I know,' Ambraz grunted. 'If only Pur'am could be more like that!'

'He still hasn't given up?'

'No. If this continues, I fear it might be best if you move him into your soulscape for a while.'

'Alright,' Irwin said, knowing that having the small, excitable Ganvil flitting around his soulscape was going to get annoying fast. Still, over the last few days, Ambraz had been constantly busy keeping him out of trouble. 'Where are you two?'

'We are on our way to you, wait a moment!'

Irwin sensed a wave of relief from his friend, and he spread out his soulforce senses. The two Ganvils instantly popped into his soulforce view, rushing towards him through the narrow openings near the ceiling. They arrived a minute later, Pur'am audible far before that.

"But I don't want to! He won't let me eat any-"

"I don't care," Ambraz said in a flat, weary voice.

They appeared before Irwin, who didn't bother waiting. He spread out his senses, pulling both of the Ganvils into his soulscape.

'Kid? What!? Not me, just-'

'Go and show him around,' Irwin said. 'I'll move you back out tomorrow.'

Ambraz let out a loud groan, while Irwin heard Pur'am shout in excitement as he shot towards the forest.

Irwin ignored them after that, slowly making his way to his own chamber. 

He pulled open the door and looked inside the room. The bed still dominated it, as did the wooden warning wall, but he ignored both. Instead, he moved to the desk at the back wall, sitting down and focusing on the dark-red wooden slab that lay on it. Made by one of Rindiri's wood carvers, who also dabbled in runecrafting, it was covered in engraved runes. Inspecting it for a moment and appreciating the workmanship, he put his hands on the sides and began feeding it with his soulforce. Instantly, the runes lit up, flickering in odd patterns. 

"Guildmaster?"

The voice came instantly, as it usually did, and Irwin wondered if Rindiri had ordered someone to remain with it at all times. It wouldn't surprise him.

"I'm ready. Can you ask Nimlarel to come pick me up?"

"Of course! I'll find her right away!"

The voice instantly vanished, and Irwin tried to recall which of the Crathans it belonged to.

I think she was with the third group, he pondered as he leaned back in his chair, ignoring the slight creak.

"I wish these things had more range so we could use them outside," he thought, wondering just how great it would be if they had another way to contact distant worlds. Sadly, these only worked within limited ranges, at most across a single continent.