"Are you serious? Look at the speed."

"Quiet, let him focus. He is close…"

"He failed the previous time!"

Irwin ignored the whispers behind him, staring at the card before him. Twelve days had passed, and he'd managed to get to a chain of four one hundred percent cards twice. This was the third time, and as he swung down, his movements were smooth and sure. The resonating cards inside him were creating a hum that he could only describe as transcendent, and he let out a constant, deep, and rumbling hum that seemed to hold it all together.

Even if I fail again, I have found it, he thought as he smiled happily.

There had been a tiny flaw in his reforging. A small inconsistency in how he struck at critical moments. Not enough to be a major problem, except when you aim for perfection. Even if he failed now, with some more practice, he now saw the path forward.

This has to be why Ambraz said the smiths all learn metal purifying from a young age, he thought as he struck down.

As his hammer pounded on the card, the image of the fishing spear before him shimmered and became clearer. Then, a clear chime rang out, and he stopped staring happily at the card as it vibrated on Ambraz's surface. He knew right away that he'd succeeded, and as he picked up the card, he gazed at Balarn and Yogog.

"So? Finally managed it?" Yogog asked, arms crossed.

Irwin didn't respond but moved to the gray crystal slab and put the card on it. A cool, methodical voice rang out.

"Amethyst ranked card, reforged by Irwin. Quality, one hundred percent. Perfect."

"Bloody incredible! Is this what's required to get up to Ruby Rank? Some ridiculous ability?" Yogog snapped out as he stomped down.

Irwin grinned back as he picked up the card and stared at it with a smile while rubbing his chin. A thin film of rough hairs had started growing there lately, and he needed to cut it off again. Balarn had told him it would be a while longer, probably a year or so, until he'd have enough hair growth for a real beard, and leaving it up now would just be an embarrassment.

"A few more for the final mission, and we can finally start accepting other quartz rank missions," Balarn said. "We finished the metal purifying ones yesterday! If you wrap up, I'll prepare, and we can head to the smith charter mission center in the city core."

About time, Irwin thought as he picked up the final three cards. He stared at them, pondering if he should do it fast or slow.

"Always strive to improve," Ambras said from the side, his voice a low rumble followed by a snort.

Irwin sighed, then nodded. He really wanted to be done with this, especially now that he knew that the cards he was working with now were all limited in their eventual potential. What he really wanted was to see if he could find quartz missions with good rewards. Like those that allowed him to select a card from one of the smith charter centers inventories. With his current skill, he could easily finish one and finally select a card for Greldo.

And begin to think about my next cards, he thought. As he gazed at his hammer, he frowned. He would also need to reforge this card, which was going to be incredibly painful.

--

The next day, early in the evening, as the temperature dropped slightly, Irwin and Greldo followed behind Balarn and Hotzli.

"You sure?" Irwin whispered.

"Definitely. It's this way to that Skytendril," Greldo whispered back excitedly.

As they moved through the narrow streets of the eighty-first level where their smithy was located, Irwin noticed people starting to exit homes. Nearly all of them were Viridians, though he was surprised to see a few Ignitzions. What surprised him even more, was that all of them were young women.

As they passed a single-story home with a small garden in front of it, he glanced inside to see a pale, red-skinned, fiery-haired girl strap on a sword. She looked up at the same time, her eyes widening as she saw him. Irwin was about to nod in greeting when her gaze flicked up and down, and she grinned widely, showing off a set of gleaming white teeth with two large canines.

All of it happened in a flash as Irwin walked passed, staring ahead in surprise, wondering what that had been.

"Hey, wait up!"

A cry came from behind, and he shared a sudden worried look with Greldo as he stopped and turned around.

The Ignitzion woman was jogging after them, a hand on her sword to prevent it from striking her leg and her eyes gleaming brightly.

"You there! Tall and strapping! You're a smith, right? Do you need a guard?"

Irwin blinked in surprise, hearing a suppressed laugh from Greldo. Before he could answer, a shout in a language that sounded like gurgling water meeting lava hissed, bubbled, and gushed from behind him.

The Ignitzion that had been coming froze in her tracks as Hotzli walked forward.

She scratched her head, replying in the same language while Balarn moved beside Irwin.

"She asked if I needed a guard," Irwin said, watching the two fiery women talk rapidly. It almost sounded like boiling kettles, and if it wasn't so soft, he was sure he'd have a massive headache.

I hope they don't scream if they get angry, he suddenly thought, trying to recall if Hotzli or Ignalia had ever done so. He didn't think so.

"Yeah, Ignitzion come to the world like this a lot, looking for work," Balarn said as he turned to Irwin, then looked at Greldo. "You know… and this isn't to say you aren't capable," he said as he smiled ruefully at Greldo. "It might not be a bad idea for you to look for a second guard."

Irwin blinked, his first instinct to decline.

"I think you should do that," Greldo said suddenly. "I'd been wanting to talk to you about this, but… it's all nice and well for you to be focusing on your smithing and everything, but I'm starting to get bored out of my skull. I've found a small mercenary guild in one of the levels that are willing to take me in for a year's probation as long as I have a way to resist the heat."

Staring at his friend, Irwin felt a twitch of guilt as he realized he'd been doing what he wanted for weeks. Even if he'd promised Greldo a card to fix his heat problems, he wasn't even sure if he could get one straight away, and he'd only really seen him during evening dinner.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Sure. Besides, you will probably have to come along eventually. I'm pretty sure that we aren't going to be able to buy the cards you want, nor the ones I want after this."

Seeing how sure Greldo seemed of himself, Irwin nodded.

I wouldn't mind heading out and doing something else either, he thought as he looked at the two Ignitzion women chatting. By now, they had moved closer, and the unfamiliar one had removed the sleeve of her shirt, showing off a string of tiny tattoos.

"Those are proof of her capability. Seven filled-in swords. Just one below Hotzli and almost the same as Ignalia, who has her eighth outlining. I wonder why she isn't in a lower level-"

Hotzli spun around, heading back and staring at Irwin with a wide grin.

"Scintilla here has offered to come into your service as a guard. She is willing and able to join you on anything below Emerald rank missions!"

Irwin looked at Scintilla, then back at Hotzli. They had just been passing by, and he hadn't even known he might need a new guard until a few minutes ago. He didn't know her… somehow it felt odd to just accept her as his guard like this. His confusion must have shown as Hotzli let out a barked laugh.

"You don't have to decide now! I'll send her to Ignalia to check if her skills are as good as she claims, and I can answer your questions while we head to the mission center."

"Alright," Irwin said with a quick nod.

"No worries, hot stuff! I'll show elder sister what I'm capable of and prove to you I'm a good investment!" Scintilla said from the other side, showing no sign of being annoyed at not getting the job right away.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Hotzli barked some odd greeting, which Scintilla copied before she waved and walked away.

"She's not a bad one," Hotzli said as she continued walking.

She was now beside Irwin while Greldo walked ahead with Balarn. From how he kept turning his head, Irwin knew he was listening curiously.

"Do you know her?" Irwin asked, wondering if all Ignitzion on Scour knew each other. It seemed odd to him, as it was a massive world, and Cinder Grove city and the dozens of smaller towns around it had masses of people. Yogog had spouted that there were close to a million, but he didn't believe that one bit.

Hotzli let out a hazy laugh, slapping him on the shoulders softly.

"No, no! That'd be incredible. But I know of her Blade Master, who reached the top thousand in the sword challenges a few years back. Her school has a very strict policy on who they teach."

"Couldn't she be lying about that?" Greldo asked from ahead.

"She could try, but that wouldn't help her get the specific tattoo markings she showed me. Those can only be granted by a two-soulcarded, and none of those would do so except when it was true."

Two-soulcarded? Irwin thought.

"Anyway, Scintilla is here to hunt for her final card. After she gets what she needs, she will become heartcarded."

"Which is why she was here and aiming for a smith, wasn't she?" Balarn said as he looked back with a wide grin. "Sounds somewhat familiar to me!"

Hotzli raised her hand in an odd gesture while she smiled. "Which is why I like her! It shows she's got brains! Now, if Ignalia can check if she has the skills, she should be a good guard for tall and strapping!"

She laughed again as she eyed Irwin, who was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Why do I get the feeling there's something about Irwin, you Ignitzions like," Greldo asked in mock confusion.

Irwin shot his friend a glare while Hotzli stared at him with sparkling eyes saying nothing.

"It's the skin," Balarn said as he glanced at Irwin.

Hotzli nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, we are here!" Balarn said as they moved around the final building.

There was only a small distance towards the edge of the wide level, and a large green tendril hovered to the side. A woven basket, large enough for a dozen people, was attached to it, and an old Viridian stood leaning to the side, yawning as if he'd just awoken. Which he likely had.

When he saw them move closer, he perked up and moved to the basket's door.

"Hello there, good smiths," he said, his gaze quickly moving across Balarn's beard.

Balarn raised his hand in greeting.

"Hello. We'd like to go to the thirtieth floor," he said as he took soulshards from his pocket, handing them over.

Irwin caught a glimpse of them and blinked in surprise at the cost. He fully recalled Balarn telling them they wouldn't be wasting money on this. Still, he couldn't hold back his curiosity as he examined the basket. He knew what the Skytendrils were for, but he hadn't even seen one yet.

"Good, good! Let's go right away, I don't expect any other customers until it's a bit later," the Viridian said as he opened the small door and let them in.

As soon as they were in the basket, the man stepped to the back and placed his hand on the vine. A bright green gleam came from his hand, and the vine and basket began lowering down smoothly.

Irwin and Greldo shared a look of wonder as they basket Skytendril lowered down along the floors one by one. As they passed, he saw that not every floor was the same depth. Some were barely a few hundred feet deep with a few rows of buildings, while others seemed to have been carved deep into the trunk, so far he couldn't see the end of the wall.

Aren't they afraid of toppling the tree?

In a short while, the Skytendril stopped, and the old man stepped outside, holding the door open for them. A few Viridians were waiting nearby, moving over as soon as they had exited.

"Pleasure," the man said before quickly turning to the incoming people. "Welcome! Ah, Labria. Good to see you. Come, come. The twelfth floor again?"

Irwin and the others walked away.

Irwin was surprised at how spacious this floor was, with shops and tiny marketplaces everywhere.

"Every tenth level is either a shopping district or belongs to one of the larger mercenary guilds," Balarn said as they walked through the streets.

Everything around them was made of pale wood, with a thin bit of red desert sand everywhere. Many of the doors had been painted in vivid colors, with red and orange the most common.

They continued through the city until they reached a small square with four wide, spacious buildings around it. There were large billboards outside, with symbols in rows. Balarn led them to the leftmost one, and as he inspected somewhere in the middle of the billboard, Irwin saw words he recognized.

Greenbark Mission Center!

"Alright, let's see how they react when we hand in all these missions within a month of arriving," Balarn said with a big smile.

They followed him through the open doors into a spacious room with a few desks on the far end and a closet around the walls, and low desks with clear crystal panes covering them.

Three Viridians were walking around, some wiping the crystal panes, while another one had a large book and a quill. He looked up as they entered, and his silver eyes widened.

"Balarn! Good to see you! Is there something wrong with the missions? You know I can only exchange two… anything more will cost you!"

Irwin had been looking around, but as the Viridian spoke, he looked back just in time to see a gleam in Balarns eyes.

"Driseog, I am here to hand in the missions."

The man stared back, seeming stunned and silent, as his quill slowly lowered until it ticked on the page. This seemed to jolt him out of his state, and he yanked the quill from the pages, grumbling before looking at Balarn.

"Come now, Balarn. That's not a funny joke! Look what you made me do! I'll have to redo that page now!"

Balarn walked forward before taking a large number of cards from his pocket and gently placing them on the crystal-pane-covered table in front of the man.

"No joke! Why don't you take a look for yourself? Also, we have a few of the second-rank here as well."

Driseog grunted as he put the book down and took the stack. He quickly leafed through them, and as he did, his eyes began to widen. Midway through, he looked up.

"These- these- they-"

"Yes, most are above ninety percent, and a good lot of them are perfect," Balarn said smugly.

He must have some eye-enhancing card, Irwin thought.

Driseog swallowed as he clutched the cards to his chest and rushed to a desk at the back. Balarn followed him while waving his hand back.

"You three just take a look around! I'll handle this!"

Irwin nodded as he turned to the nearest closet. Cards were arrayed behind them, and as he looked at him, he almost stumbled. The entire line he was looking at were green-bordered Emerald cards, and a look to the left showed a shelf lined with Ruby cards.

"Look at the price," Greldo hissed from beside him.

Irwin focused on the white papers with numbers and was shocked even more than he had been before.

Twelve-thousand soulshards for a Ruby card?

He felt his mind begin to fuzz over.

Those had to be incredibly powerful! He stared at a Ruby card with two daggers on it and triggered his Eyes of Blaze so he could read the card.

Card: Daggers of the leech

Type: Ruby

Owner: -

A rare type of battle dagger, only effective against enemies that have blood.

Passive: Increases the wielder's speed and agility

Active: Summon two daggers that will suck the blood out of their target until they are full.

Active two: When the daggers are full, the wielder can reinject the blood into themselves to gain the ability to track the original owner of the blood for a day.

Irwin swallowed, then shivered. Drain his blood? That sounded… horrifying.

Keeping his eyes up, he walked around the room, looking at the cards he found. He quickly saw that there were many weapon cards on display, but even more fire-type cards. Sadly, although there were at least a dozen cards that gave some form of heat resistance, the cheapest one was a bit over eight thousand soulshards.

"What's with these prices?" he whispered.

"Don't ask me… The weird thing is that I can't find any Quartz cards anywhere. The lowest I've found is a few topaz cards in the back."

There was a soft cough, and they turned around to see one of the Viridian women that seemed to work here stand behind them. She smiled apologetically.

"I couldn't help but overhear the two gentlemen," she said softly. "I am sure you are new here, so please, allow me to explain. Due to the large number of smiths in Cinder Grove, cards below Topaz are not sold. They are all used for missions for esteemed smiths like yourself."

She smiled at Irwin, lowering her head slightly.

"If you are interested in seeing the Quartz rank missions we have, you may follow me to the mission registrar."

Irwin nodded, and he followed the green-leafed woman to one of the desks at the back. Balarn and the man were still talking softly and didn't respond at their arrival.

The woman placed her hand on the desk, and it lit alive with a pale green glow. Black letters that Irwin couldn't read appeared, causing him to stare at them helplessly.

"Ah, my apologies," the woman said softly. "What language do you require?"

Irwin blinked, then shrugged. He had no idea what it was called. "It's the fourth one from the top on the billboard outside," he said.

"Very well," the woman smiled as she pushed her finger on the top of the crystal. Instantly the words changed, and suddenly Irwin could read what they said.

"Please take your time," the woman said. "Merely put your finger on a mission to find more information on the card requirements."

"Thank you," Irwin said.

The woman bowed her head again and left, but not before Irwin noticed a slight bit of hilarity in her eyes.

"I wish we had these things back home," Greldo said as he leaned over beside me.

"Yeah," Irwin muttered as he began reading through a massive list of cards.

He quickly found that all of them dealt with quartz rank, and there were two prices behind each. Staring at them, he gritted his teeth, turning to the woman as she walked away.

"Excuse me. What do the two numbers mean?" he asked.

The woman turned, her face calm and eyes cool.

"The first one is the price to accept the quest. The second one is the reward on successful completion," she said before turning around again.

Irwin swallowed as he gazed at the numbers. Greldo hissed beside him.

"Four hundred soulshards to merely attempt?" he whispered. "What happens if you fail?"

Irwin shook his head. "That's for five tries…"

As he said it, Irwin instantly understood why Balarn had been so excited at his success rate. He quickly clicked on a mission, but when he saw it dealt with some type of plant skill, he went back to the list and began moving through it.

Finally, after finding dozens of metal, plants, and even water cards, one of which made him hesitate, he came across some that dealt with fire.

"That one," Ambraz whispered from his pocket. "Any cards that could gain that will have a chance to gain heat resistance of some form."

Irwin nodded as he read the mission statement.

> Successfully reforge one of the cards, and add fog or steam element to it. The element must be an active ability that allows the wielder to cloak themselves and at least a dozen feet around them.

> If the card grants increased agility, there will be a bonus.

Irwin nodded and looked up. Balarn was standing to the side, seeming incredibly excited.

"Alright, found something?" he asked.

Irwin nodded and stepped aside.

"Ugh. An obscuring ability? Are you sure… those are pretty hard to add," he said as he looked up.

Ambraz snorted from Irwin's pocket, which seemed good enough for Balarn.

"Alright, we will take that one," he said before starting to move through the list. "And let's see what else we can take."

Balarn began clicking on a dozen missions, and when he finally called Driseog over, Irwin watched open-mouthed as he asked for seven missions that together would cost over three thousand soul shards.

When they were done, Irwin noticed the man staring after him, bowing.

"Alright! I hope you can finish at least two of these missions as well as the others," Balarn said when they stood outside. "Because otherwise, we will be destitute again."

He laughed heartily, either not seeing or ignoring Irwin and Greldo's wide-eyed disbelief.

I hope that this doesn't mean we have to walk back up again, Irwin thought.