"Yes," the young woman whispered, her eyes wide. She seemed ready to bolt.

Irwin's eyebrows rose as he recognized the type. He'd learned about it when he'd tried to get more information about his own first card's Impersonate type. Absolute Veil was an exceptional card type that allowed someone to completely hide their presence or mimic that of a simple creature. It allows someone to enter through portals that would otherwise be locked to them due to any of their cards' power and hide their presence from even the most powerful detectors.

It also helped hide all other cards, not just the card itself.

The only way to detect people like these was through mundane methods such as hearing, seeing, or smelling them as they moved about.

Greldo would have noticed her, Irwin thought as he inspected the young woman.

He could only detect her soulforce resonance when he fully focused on it. Otherwise, watching her was watching a being without cards, cardslots, soulskills, or any other presence in the ambient soulforce.

"Yes, I-"

"How does a kid like you get a card like that?" Ambraz said, his voice rising in dismay. "No, it's worse! You slotted it at Topaz! That's… that's…"

Ambraz looked ready to explode, and Irwin saw the young woman shiver in fear, slowly backing up. If she ran now, he might never find her again, and he had no idea why she even came here.

"Ambraz, calm down," he snapped, prodding through their connection at the Ganvil.

"But-"

"Enough. You are scaring the girl," Irwin said. Calling her a girl was a stretch, but he needed to get Ambraz's attention, and the instant wave of dismay from his friend told him it worked.

Letting out a calm sigh, Irwin turned to the young woman and tried to smile reassuringly.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" he asked, trying not to sound angry.

The woman shivered before looking at him.

"Are you… Rindiri's captain?"

Irwin's eyes shot open, and he almost rose to his feet. It took all his effort to remain seated, but he couldn't stop all of the questions from rushing out.

"Is she alright? Where is she?"

The questions seemed to ease the young woman, and she nodded.

"She was fine the last time I saw her," she said, before frowning. "She left for…" She looked around, visibly hesitating.

Irwin could see that she was afraid to say it out loud, but recalling what Rindiri had been doing, he decided it might not be a bad thing. If she were trustworthy, there would be an easy way for her to tell him later.

"I'd want to say there's nobody around," Ambraz grumbled. "But with you here, I don't even dare say that. Who knows what else might be listening in?"

The young woman looked around, wide-eyed.

"But she is safe?" Irwin asked quickly, drawing her attention back to him.

"Yes," the young woman said, her head bobbing up and down as she looked at him with wide eyes.

"So you are…" she mouthed Irwin's name, causing him to grimace and the girl to turn pale. "Sorry! I-"

"Rodd will do for now," Irwin said, waving his still oversized hand at her. "Do you think you can answer our questions? Who are you, and why are you here?"

"I'm Fuchsia," she said, looking around fearfully. After a moment, she seemed to make up her mind and looked at him. "You… don't mind Yuurindi, right?"

Mind? Irwin thought in surprise.

"You don't hate and loathe us?"

"No!" Irwin said, shaking his head. "Some of my friends are Yuurindi, and one of them is like a foster son to my best friend. I have no problem with Yuurindi."

Fuchsia's eyes widened, but she smiled—the first since she showed up. Then Irwin felt the bit of her soulforce that he could detect loosen as if she stopped using an active skill. Fuchsia's hair began changing, gradually going from black to purple, while her pupils changed from round and blue to the squarish green that he'd seen with some of the Yuurindi.

Ah, he thought, staring at her. That explained a few things. Still, he kept his thoughts to himself, wanting to hear what she had to say.

"I am one of the only Yuurindi still here," Fuchsia said, her voice having changed to one that was slightly more hazy. "Rindiri took all the others that didn't… that weren't…"

Irwin grimaced as he saw the pain in her eyes. "It's fine. You don't have to explain that part," he said.

Fuchsia nodded, then looked at him, hesitating again. He could see she wanted to ask something but kept her mouth closed.

"If you tell me why you are here, you can then ask what you'd like," Irwin offered.

"I… It's the same! I want to ask… Please take me with you when you leave! I don't want to stay here, but go to where Rindiri is! If you take me along, I can help you with your size problem!"

Irwin stared at Fuchsia, stunned.

"What do you mean… help with my size problem?" he asked carefully.

She paled slightly and shrugged. "I know of a card that can help."

Irwin didn't respond right away but looked at her, trying to get a good read on her. If she wanted to go with Rindiri, that could be for multiple reasons, but from everything he saw so far, he didn't feel like she meant anything bad. Besides… claiming she could help him with his growth problem would backfire harshly if it were a lie.

What card does she know about, he wondered, feeling his curiosity grow.

Holding back from promising what she wanted, he focused on her soulforce resonance. After a few moments, he was sure she'd stopped using any card. So, unless she'd permanently changed herself to a Yuurindi, which he doubted, this was her real self, and she didn't seem to be lying…

"We can probably do that," he finally said. "But I need to know a bit more about you. There are a lot of people who are hunting me, and some are in this city."

"What do you want to know?" Fuchsia asked, seeming slightly emboldened. "I'll tell you everything!"

"What card?!" Ambraz exclaimed, zipping around.

Fuchsia looked at him, then at Irwin. "You will take me away from here?" she whispered.

"What happened here before we arrived?" Irwin said. "Do you know anything about-"

"I know!" she exclaimed. "There was a battle! Lasther was holding a lot of smiths captive, and… and Scander-"

Fuchsia's voice broke, and she quickly wiped her eyes.

Scander? Irwin's eyes widened as he recognized that name. It was the father of Zender and the others! Wait, didn't Rindiri say he was a captain?!

Scander wanted to save the smiths so he could get them to help him make us stronger. But Lasther found out that Rindiri had something to do with you, so he had the Deadpact Mercenaries wait in ambush. Everyone got killed."

Tears were streaming down her face by now, and Irwin sighed. He should have known the smiths here wouldn't all be able to flee. Still, he wondered what the local Smiths guild had done. Being one of the two largest cities on the branch, there had to be one… even if it wasn't the main headquarters.

"I am sorry to hear that," he said, trying to keep his voice soft. "How did Rindiri manage to escape? Did she save the smiths?"

"She was the only one allowed her own ship, so she loaded all the smiths aboard, and…" Fuchsia frowned. "She had this really powerful barrier, and it held back all those blasts. It was incredible! Then…" her excitement died down, and more tears ran down her face. "Scander only had three ships, and he was fighting against all of them! Then that monster Lasther came, and-"

Irwin waited quietly as she cried softly.

"You and Scander knew each other?" he asked, not sure how to ask if she was his daughter.

She shook her head, wiping her eyes. "No, I liked him, but I knew my genes weren't pure enough for him to ever consider me. After the battle stopped, I went down and saved him from the wreckage and-"

"He's still alive?" Irwin asked excitedly. Right away, he knew he'd made a mistake, and the young woman began crying even louder.

Ambraz landed on his shoulder, having flitted around her for a while.

"Kid, she's safe. I sense nothing but her own cards, and none of them can harm you. I think you should bring her inside your soulscape. That way, there's no way someone can overhear, and I think she can do with some rest."

Irwin nodded, and he looked at Fuchsia.

"Alright, we will bring you along," Irwin said, causing the girl to smile and cry at the same time.

"Which card?!" Ambraz almost shouted.

Fuchsia swallowed, rubbing her face. "There's a body double card that was supposed to be auctioned off just before the storm hit. Haborth Serin Ungaryt, the second in line to inherit the Ungaryt family, has it. I managed a peek at the description. It said the card would create a second body for the wielder and-"

"Not a clone?" Ambraz asked excitedly.

Fuchsia shook her head. "No, it said that both bodies could be different, including size…"

Irwin's interest piqued as he pictured having two bodies, one normal one and one giant one in case he needed it. Still, could he even use it in his sixth and final cardslot? He had no similar types, and his other cards might reject it… Although there should be some resonance overlap with his soulclone.

"Incredibly useful, but there has to be more," Ambraz said. "There's no way it would have caused such a commotion if that was all of it."

"There is," Fuchsia said. "If one of the bodies dies, the other would take its place, and eventually the dead body would revive."

"Second life…" Ambraz whispered in awe. "That makes no sense. Nobody would—Why would anyone sell that?"

Fuchsia sniffed, wiping her face. "Not sell; trade. Haborth needs a very special card to save one of his children, who slotted a cursed card. Apparently, the card he needs requires a high diamond-rank smith to reforge…"

Irwin could hear her confusion at that, which made sense. Very few people even knew that diamond-rank cardsmiths weren't the final step. He didn't mention it but instead held up his hand quickly, causing Ambraz's mouth to snap shut before he could ask another dozen questions.

"Thank you for telling me, Fuchsia… I think it would be best if we continued talking somewhere else. I know this is hard, but can you trust me?"

The girl nodded, shivering as she wiped her puffy, red eyes. Looking at her made Irwin sad as he pictured one of his daughters in such a state.

"I'm going to bring you into my soulscape if that is all right? You will be safe there."

As he said that, Irwin almost flinched as he thought of Nisziz, Klatzi, and Brecka, still unconscious there. He'd expected it to be safe for them, too, and now they were completely out of it. Well, one wasn't really his fault, as the young Onyxian had yet to wake up after he'd remade her heartcard.

It won't happen again, he thought, sensing how calm his cursed titan card was and had been ever since he'd let it grow to the size it wanted. Even shrinking didn't seem to bother it.

"I heard rumors about your soulscape," Fuchsia muttered, her voice breaking a few times as she spoke.

Rumors?

"Good. Then don't be scared," Irwin said as he wondered what rumors Rindiri had spread and why. Still, it was something he could ask her when she was in his soulscape. Besides, he needed time to think. Think about the card, but mostly about what she'd told him about Scander.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

He was about to get up and reach out, then hesitated. He could feel her so well, and she might startle if he rose. Besides, she seemed so weak. Perhaps…?

Irwin pulled from where he was sitting, trying to draw Fuchsia into his soulscape. It was far more difficult than if he could touch her, like lifting something with a long stick stretched out in front. For a moment, he thought it would fail, but then she vanished, and he felt her appear in his soulscape.

He'd moved her onto a couch inside his house, and his otherself was sitting opposite her, ready with a glass of water. Leaving the talking with her to his otherself, he continued shrinking himself as he thought about what he had just learned and what his otherself was hearing from Fuchsia.

Alone in the ruins again, he looked at the dark, scuffed wall. First the fight, then this… He needed to sort his thoughts. After a second, he decided to start with the one that was causing a knot in his stomach.

Scander was the one who shot Lasther, he thought as he began putting things together. And now he's dead…

He wondered how he was going to tell Zender, Earila, and their siblings that their father was dead. Just imagining it made him feel bad. He knew that Yuurindi normally didn't pay much attention to the father's role in raising the children and that none of Scander's children had actually seen him, but…

His mind wandered to his own father. The mysterious man he'd never met, whom he'd hated for being gone when he was young, and had later learned was killed for his card.

I wish I could have met him.

The thought bubbled up from the deepest recesses of his mind, where he pushed the thoughts and memories he didn't want. With it came a swathe of feelings—sadness, anger, curiosity that shoved away all other things that preoccupied his mind. Immediately, worry that his cursed card was going to go ballistic added into the mix. However, unlike before, he actually sensed the cursed card strengthen his emotions, and, as if it were a card like every other, he dampened it.

To his surprise, emotions remained… normal was probably the right word for it.

Irwin was about to shove the troublesome wrapped-up package back down where it belonged when he realized something. Was that the right thing to do? Keep them buried and potentially resurface in an inopportune moment? He glanced at his left hand and the cursed card, picturing his bottled-up feelings about his own father surfacing at the wrong moment and causing his card to force him into some emotional rage.

Taking a deep breath, he leaned back, wishing Greldo were here.

"Ambraz, did I ever tell you about my father?" he asked softly, knowing he had mentioned him.

The sense of confusion from his connection with Ambraz made him smile sadly.

"He was-"

For the next half an hour, he slowly told Ambraz everything he knew about his father, which was very little, and how it had been one of the things that connected him with Greldo. He knew that the Ganvil knew a lot already, but he decided it didn't matter. Besides, as he added, how it made him feel, he could sense Ambraz listening quietly, his own emotions dampened and in control.

As he spoke, he kept an eye on his soulforce, and when it dipped to twenty percent, he slowed the shrinking process down until his soulforce regeneration was higher than the drain, so it would slowly refill his soulscape.

"Feel better?" Ambraz asked when he finally stopped talking.

Irwin held back a snort and thought for a moment before nodding.

"Yes," he said, slowly pushing the raw feelings down to inspect another time, hopefully to prevent them from being ready to influence him.

"So, how are we going to get that body double card?" Ambraz asked. "Have Greldo try to steal it, or…"

Irwin hummed thoughtfully.

"No. I'm going to wait until Greldo returns and ask him to find Elder Sigora to see what she knows about Haborth Serin Ungaryt and what card he needs. If possible, we are going to reforge the card he needs, so we can trade."

"And if we can't?" Ambraz asked.

Irwin leaned back, pondering it.

"If we can't, we are going to see if we can use the final charges of the template card," he said.

"It might crumble and fail," Ambraz said.

Irwin nodded. "Can we reforge a card into something that is worth more-"

"More than a second life card?" Ambraz hissed before bursting out laughing. "No, I don't think so. There are very few true second-life cards, and those are nearly always slotted by the person finding it. In the rare case that it's not clear at first glance what it is, and the cards are put on auction, it's one of the few reasons wars have happened between larger powers."

"What about in the other main branches?" Irwin asked.

"I don't know. It might be harder or easier," Ambraz said. "There are far more powerful carded there, so it could be that no cards like this ever show up, or… Or perhaps there's more because there are more portal worlds that get farmed."

"If we get it, do we slot it in the sixth slot?" Irwin asked.

"I don't know. It depends on what the resonance and other types are like," Ambraz said. "If it fits, we could, but it will make all other parts of your third soulcard weaker. If it doesn't fit, we will keep it for the next soulcard and add cards only to improve it."

Irwin kept staring at the wall. Very slowly, he realized he didn't really have a choice. There were too many things that required him to be stronger, and he had a way and a solution. Unless he could find another card, he would slot the other growth card to increase his chances of creating cards from ambient soulforce. It was the only concrete plan he had to increase his power and his ability to make others more powerful. That meant that he would need to go back to the gas giant and stay there until his third heartcard was done. Worst case, Lasther had warned other Guidar about the location, and he had to flee.

What was some time anyway? He was already close to unaging… No. Time was easy, even if it would be boring and horrible.

He shivered at the idea of having to remain at the gas giant for years… decades… he had no idea how long it would take to fill his soullake again. Would the Chaos Whales still be there?

Ambraz snorted. "Kid, instead of worrying about things in the future, why don't you think about that shadow card for Greldo?"

Irwin took a deep breath and rose to his feet.

"You are right," he said as he pulled a shadow card from his soulscape.

It was a simple stealth card that allowed someone to be hard to see in the shadows. With some sideways reforging, he could probably turn it into a shadewalker card or something very close to it.

"Let's see what my changes did," he said as he summoned his hammer, growing it to match his oversized self.

Ambraz thudded on the ground nearby, twice as big as his usual working shape.

"This reminds me of when we were watching Vera back on Granvrox," Irwin said, recalling the female teacher in her giant shape, teaching smithing. He had been bigger than her before and was probably only a bit smaller now.

--

Greldo's mood soured as he stared at the small, partially collapsed room. Like all the others, it had been empty.

Perhaps Lasther only stored things in his soulscape.

He wondered if he was wasting his time as he flowed out of the room and continued searching the ruined subterranean lair below what was left of The Holy Shadow Inn. He'd started in the center of the pit and quickly realized that nothing in that area had survived, so he quickly found the well-hidden passageways and continued, more hopeful.

Now, hours later, he had scouted most of what remained, had yet to find the Guidar's personal quarters, and was starting to think he should give up.

As he slipped through a half-inch fissure between a crumbled ceiling and the floor, he returned to the single room that seemed to hold some promise. With no other entrances and a double-secret door that was so well hidden, he knew he'd have never found it if the wall hadn't crumbled. It was filled with bookcases and had a massive U-shaped desk standing in the back, burned papers and books everywhere.

After searching again and still finding nothing, he finally stepped out of the shadows.

Anxious to jump back in if need be, he looked around, sniffing and listening for a trap of any kind.

Nothing happened, and all he smelled was burned papers and stone dust.

"There has to be something," he muttered as Coal appeared beside him, looking around.

"Yes, I'm sure," he muttered, glaring at the hound that was looking at him with a wolfish grin. "Stop it, and just see if you can find something."

Coal let out an amused-sounding growl and began stalking around.

Yeah, Greldo thought. He might have just kept it all in his soulscape.

It was what he'd started doing after Irwin's example. Not that he could hold even half as much inside… still, after his last soulcard, the stability of his soulscape had improved enough to hold some books, food, and cards without it being too much of a burden.

After another ten minutes, he was flipping through the books, temporarily stashing those he thought were useful in his soulscape to hand to Irwin. Without really paying attention, he picked a book from the shelf, and as he tried to pull it out, he felt a soft click run through the book. He was in the shadowrealm instantly, staring at the bookcase, expecting an explosion or poisonous cloud.

Neither happened, and instead, the book remained as it was, crookedly pulled partially out of the bookcase.

After waiting a few minutes, Greldo stepped back out of the shadowrealm and pulled at the book. It didn't move farther, and he looked around. Nothing had changed.

Maybe there's more?

Curious now, he began gently pulling the other books, still placing those he thought interesting in his soulscape. After a few minutes, he pulled a book that clicked like the first one. It was a few rows below and to the side of the first, and as it clicked, the bookcase it sat in shuddered.

Greldo jumped back and into the shadowrealm just as a trio of black tentacles lashed through the place he'd been standing a moment before. Their presence caused a horrifying shiver to run through the shadowrealm, the echoes of which made him back up even more, glad he had jumped back. The black tentacles lingered for a few moments before fading away and disappearing, while the bookcase slid forward a few inches before swinging open like a door. A small room with more bookcases and a sitting area was hidden behind it, perhaps fifteen by fifteen feet.

Greldo swallowed as he realized how close that had been. Even though he'd expected something, the attack had been so fast it had almost hit him.

Fine, let's see what you have hidden away…

Coal sent one of his shadow clones into the room, and as soon as it entered, it was ejected from the shadowrealm. It stood there, looking around.

As soon as Coal told him it was safe, Greldo stepped out of the shadowrealm and slowly walked into the room. He immediately felt the shadow-dampening runes pressing down on him.

Should have seen this coming, he thought. It made sense that with hundreds of shadewalkers all around, Lasther would be careful.

Walking toward the sitting area, he saw an open book on the small round table next to it. A half-filled bottle of some orange liquid was standing beside it, while a small crystal glass was placed on the tabletop.

Greldo picked up the book and grimaced as he saw the sharp, angular symbols scribbled across it. It didn't look anything like the written languages he'd seen, and flipping through it, he found nothing he could read. Still, he put it in his soulscape, feeling the weight of the matter starting to burden him.

A good while later, none of the books in the room remained, and he felt a headache start to grow. Still, he couldn't hold back a happy smile. He'd found three dozen cards, all neatly packed in a few books, with more of the weird scribbles to the side.

"Can't read a single book in the room," he muttered at Coal. "But at least we got some cards out of it."

His summon and friend yipped, sounding happy for him.

Greldo did a second and third check, finding two more books he'd missed the first time before leaving.

Let's see what Irwin's been up to, he thought.

He shot through the shadowrealm, moving as fast as he could. Bursting out into the city, he noticed three tiny shadow trails shoot away in different directions. Coal moved instantly, and he felt how a group of his shadow clones were sent after the three shadewalkers.

Greldo hesitated for a moment about whether he should chase them, then decided against it. He wanted to see how Irwin was doing, and Coal and his shadow clones could easily find out where they went.

The trip across the city took a few minutes, even at top speed, and as he passed the destroyed district, he saw it was crawling with people. Flitting across it, he felt bad for those who were now without a home, but from all the empty buildings he'd come across, he guessed they could find another place to sleep.

As he reached the edge of the city and dipped across the edge of the mushroom-like tip of buildings, he frowned. His sensitive ears were picking up something familiar.

Irwin?

Greldo laughed as he got a quick message from Coal about what was happening, courtesy of the shadow clones he'd left with Irwin. He plummeted down to the ruins far below, hoping his friend was reforming that card he'd found.

If I get that one and the one Roark promised, I'll only need one more to wrap things up, he thought, as he considered his next soulcard. It would be completely shadow-based, and he had the feeling it would do more than just improve his own abilities. From what he recalled from his second soulcard, he knew the power he got from Coal went both ways.

I wonder if that means his shadow clones will improve!

As he reached the partially crumbled ruined building held up by tall pillars, he saw Irwin striking a card, the image hovering above Ambraz. For a moment, it looked like he was the same size as he'd always been. Then he closed in and saw that although he'd shrunk at least to half his previous size, he was still at least twice as big as he should be.

He looks happy, he thought as he saw Irwin's big grin as he sang and reforged the card.

Greldo found a nice crook in one of the ruined walls, stepped out of the shadowrealm, and sat down. Irwin's deep voice was singing a beautiful, dark song while the sound of his soulstrum guitar flowed with it.

Fine, let's just rest… I can do with a rest, Greldo thought as he lay down. He pulled stacks of books out of his soulscape and put them beside him before asking Coal to keep an eye on them.

Ten seconds later, listening to his friend's deep song, he fell asleep.

--

Irwin felt the card's resonance slide the final bit to the side, the resulting song exactly where he wanted it to be, and he held back a laugh. It had been so much easier… so much smoother! Was this why Vera had spoken so highly of her resizing to reforge? He didn't know, but as he continued the reforging, striking the card's smudges of potential, he could see the tiny flows of soulforce as they joined the rest of the card's resonance, turning the resonating song just a bit more perfect.

A few minutes later, as he hummed the final section of the song, he felt almost unwilling for it to be over.

Striking the final blow, he looked at the card before him. The image showed a small, shadowy room, the size hard to pinpoint.

He let out a sigh of joy, grinning at Ambraz.

"That was great," he said. "Why was it so much easier?"

"Kid, remember how I told you once? I don't know everything?" Ambraz said, though Irwin could hear the joy in his friend's voice.

"I remember," Irwin said as he picked up the card, now Topaz and three times reforged, and he couldn't wait to continue.

"But in this case, I do know," Ambraz said teasingly. "Apparently, reforging at a larger size allows me to assist you better, while the now honestly absurd size of your soulscape is strengthening your cards. This includes your second card's ability to increase your soulforce sensitivity. You actually kept that card at a hundred percent for the entire crafting process… something you haven't been able to do before."

Irwin raised an eyebrow as he looked at the Ganvil. "I have made one-hundred-percent Topaz cards before…"

"Yes, but that's the final result," Ambraz said. "This time, you kept it at a hundred percent at every point of the reforging. It doesn't really change the outcome, but it does show you have become a bit better again."

Irwin looked at the card, grinning widely.

"Should we continue to ruby?" he asked.

"I think you might need to see what Greldo found first," Ambraz said.

"He's back?" Irwin said, quickly looking around for his friend.

It took him a few moments to find him lying in a large, cracked part of the thick wall, six feet above the ground, with multiple stacks of books beside him. Eyes closed, it was obvious he was fast asleep.

Irwin looked at his friend, then the books, and decided to experiment again. He reached out and, after a slight struggle, pulled the stacks of books into his soulscape. It was easier than a living person, but it had also been much farther away than when he'd pulled in Fuchsia.

"Just let him sleep for a bit more," he said as he turned back to Ambraz. "We can wake him and present him with his new card!"

Ambraz snorted, then laughed. "You just want to reforge more!"

"And you don't?" Irwin asked as he put the card back on the Ganvil's back.

"Of course I do! Now, what are you waiting for?"

Irwin smiled and brought the hammer down as he began humming.

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