Irwin's body shot down the vein faster than he had imagined possible, picking up speed rapidly. At one point, he had a moment of freefall, causing his stomach to lurch before he touched down again. After what had to be half a minute, he felt the downward motion turn to a straighter one, and before he had time to think, he reached the end. He shot out of the end and into a much smaller cavern with a dozen other openings leading away before slamming into the furthest wall with a grunt. Pushing his face from the sandy, stony surface, he wondered oddly if these things looked this rocky in life or if they changed to rock eventually.
"Yeah, that happened to me too," Greldo whispered from the side, looking at him with a tight smile.
Catching the hint, Irwin quickly got up and stepped aside just in time for Scintilla to slide inside the room. Halfway through, she turned into a red blur that appeared beside him with a wide grin.
"You still happy with your jumping card?" she whispered.
"It's not," Irwin began, just as Numilli slid into the chamber, smacking into the far wall with a pained yelp.
Irwin held his breath at the surprisingly loud noise. After a few seconds, he breathed in relief.
"So… now what?" he asked, turning to Greldo, who grimaced.
"Now we need to go further down," his friend said. "And try to dodge the insane number of wyrms. This thing is riddled with them. Far more than the other one."
"It's a much older corpse," Numilli whispered as she poked the wall before her. Her face turned pale as she turned to them. "We should hurry."
Hurry? Why? Irwin thought before voicing his sudden worry.
"Explain."
"If… if one of those wyrms has been around the heart for a long time, it could have grown," Numilli said as she looked at the nearby holes.
"How big?" Greldo asked.
Numilli looked at them and swallowed. "I… don't know?"
Irwin felt a slight anger grow, then shook it off. At least she'd told them immediately this time, and it wasn't like she could have known the age before. He'd watched the same thing as her, and there was little to give away the age from the outside.
"Alright, prepare your teleportation in case we need to get out quickly," he said before turning to Greldo. "Did you scout ahead further?"
His friend shook his head, looking up. "No, I wanted to get you out of there as fast as possible."
"Alright, no problem. Can you go down and scout around to find the heart?"
Greldo nodded as he walked towards a specific side exit as if he already knew which to have.
"I hear something from down here," he said before turning into a shadow and vanishing.
Irwin sighed, then looked around. Scintilla was leaning inside one of the vein openings, looking down, while Numilli was poking the wall with a peculiar face. After a while, she turned to him.
"Irwin," she whispered, her eyes wide. "If we do get caught up in wyrmsies, can you use that fantastic steam bath skill of yours?"
Irwin looked at her before sharing a quick look with Scintilla, who was suddenly looking interested.
"You think it will kill them?" he asked after a while. "That wouldn't be too smart."
"No, no! I'm not that stupid! I think it will… calm them?" Numilli said with a pout.
Irwin cocked his head, his hand raising to the braid behind his shoulder that held the tiny Emberion.
"Like those Emberions?" he asked.
Numilli nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes! I think so."
Irwin thought for a bit but couldn't see anything worrisome about the idea.
"Alright, I'll try," he said.
"Good, and if it so happens to wrap around me, I won't hold it against you," Numilli said before giggling.
You don't say, Irwin thought with a shake of his head. How could she move between worry and joy so fast?
Seconds turned to minutes, and when Irwin guessed half an hour had passed, he began worrying.
Just wait. The previous one was massive, too, and it might take him a while to…
A distant scream came from the hole Greldo had come from. He ran forward and leaned in.
"-here! Hurry!"
Why isn't he just-
"Help, I-" the next scream ended abruptly. Irwin was about to jump down headfirst when he held himself and turned to Scintilla and Numilli.
"Wait ten seconds before you come after us, and get ready to teleport us right away," Irwin said as he stared at Numilli. She nodded vigorously.
Turning to Scintilla, Irwin nodded as he jumped into the hole. As his downward speed increased until it felt like he was falling, he hesitated. Should he store the force he felt on his legs and hands? It was a lot, and even if he just triggered it on and off, he might be filled to the brim. He'd practiced a lot yesterday, but it was still a bit touch and go. Ambraz was hidden in his pocket, but the roaring wind and scraping sand would have made asking him anything impossible anyway.
"-win, -ry! -elp!"
Greldo's panicked and angry voice tipped the scales, and he triggered his newest card as he pushed himself on his hands and feet. As soon as it began resonating, he felt energy build in his hands, arms, feet, and legs, with a massive bleed over into the rest of his body. Even stopping it almost immediately later, he felt a pent-up pressure that made him want to strike out. He held it back.
A strangled call from down made him grit his teeth.
Why isn't he just shadowing out of there?
"Coming!" he roared.
Seconds passed slowly, turning to a minute when he suddenly shot out into a small chamber. Crawling away from the wall he slammed into, he looked around for Greldo. There was nothing there but multiple exits.
Where-
Shouting came from one of the holes, and Irwin jumped towards it, took one look, then jumped down.
As he continued dropping, Coal's familiar howl came, sounding pained.
What is going on down there?
He had no idea how long it took, but he reached many tiny chambers, each time having to find the next way down. The roaring and fighting never stopped but began to weaken.
Finally, when his mood was so bad that he wanted to use the pent-up pressure to hit the walls around him, his slide turned to a drop, and he saw a hole below him. Almost feeling relieved, he fell through and into a massive grotto, so big he could barely see the ends. Far below him, he saw a swarming mass of wyrms, dead and alive. The living seemed to be feasting on the dead while a raging battle was happening somewhere in the distance.
That's gotta be where Greldo is, he thought as he fell towards the mass of milling flesh below him.
A startled hiss from above told him Scintilla just reached the drop, but he knew she'd be alright.
What would happen if I took in all the kinetic energy from the fall?
He shoved the dangerous thought away and instead called upon his Sweltering Heart. Instantly, his practice showed as tendrils of steam fizzed into being as the moisture in the air went superheated.
A split second later, he slammed into the ground, squishing arm, leg, and torso-sized wyrms apart, blood and other bodily fluids squirting everywhere.
Irwin squeezed his lips shut to prevent that which splattered his face from coming into his mouth.
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Loud screeches reverberated around him, but as the superheated steam rapidly surged around him, the wyrms began slowing down. Those who had been gorging themselves on their brethren hung above them, heads lilting left and right as the steam rippled around them. For a moment, he felt his mood improve, as it seemed Numilli was right. Then, one of the wyrms shivered, and its body spasmed as it grew. Those around it began having similar symptoms, and Irwin's eyes widened as he quickly released his hold on his card.
The steam didn't dissipate instantly, hanging around in the already hot cavernous body of the ancient dead creature. Something heavy pressed against Irwin's side, and he shoved back, toppling a spasming worm away. He turned and looked at the distant disturbance near the wall. The pressure that had been built up in his body was still there, ready to be used. Focusing on it, he jumped while releasing the pressure in a single fluid motion.
A dull boom sounded out as he was propelled up and forward so fast his head snapped back by the force. Pained shrieks and wet plops came from behind him, but he had no time to look as he hurtled through the air, balance gone and flailing his arms. He saw more wyrms huddled around a hole, Greldo standing in the entrance. In the split second before he slammed into some of the wyrms, he saw his friend's furry self matted with blood, eyes dim, and swords raised in shaky hands. Then he felt the wyrms squish below his weight, and more wet popping sounds followed, like giant fruit squished between a stone.
He rolled forward, bowling more over, then slammed into the wall with a resounding thud. His head spinning, he shoved himself up, knowing he had no time to wait. Getting to his feet and swaying as he felt the imbalance in his body, he saw wyrms swirl around him, turning their gaping, teeth-riddled mouths at him. His arms still filled with kinetic energy, Irwin took a step forward and struck out as he released it. There was a boom while his body was spun in a pirouette, and his ears rang.
He managed to use the momentum to get back, looking in the right direction, and saw the wyrm he'd struck, as well as those behind it, had been turned to fleshy gibs.
Hammer, a tiny part of him called out, and he summoned a large one-handed hammer, light enough to swing as fast as he could.
Instantly, the bled-over kinetic energy seemed to find a release as it streamed into the hammer. Having no time to contemplate it, Irwin stepped forward, striking at the nearest wyrm, a massive specimen that was taller than him as it rose on its midsection. The hammer struck the wyrm's side, and it blew apart in a spray of pale white fluids and chunks of meat while he almost lost his grip on the hammer.
Should really practice this, he thought as a swirl of ideas filled his mind over how he could use this to increase his hammer skills. But that would have to wait. With a malicious grin, he stepped forward, his body automatically moving through the steps Crithann had trained him in. It was a sharp and snappy, almost dance-like set of steps, filled with strikes while changing the hand he had the hammer. At the same time, he kept increasing and decreasing the hammer's size and handle length.
Twice, he tried to incorporate the kinetic energy, and twice, he almost lost his footing before deciding this was not the time. As his mind tuned out, letting his now well-ingrained instincts do their thing, Irwin felt almost soothed as blood and gore splattered around him. Occasionally, a wyrm managed to bite into his arm, leg, or even back, but he simply splattered it with a well-aimed blow.
At some point, he noticed figures -Greldo and Scintilla- moving around beside him, dashing into and out of combat and picking off some of the wyrms. Changing his motions slightly as he recalled Crithann's practice on fighting in a melee, he shortened the length of his handles so as not to hit them accidentally.
For a while, wyrms seemed to continue to appear, popping up out of the ground, the wall, or even dropping from the ceiling, but Irwin continued like an untiring automaton, striking and striking until there finally wasn't any wyrm left.
Looking around, still breathing easily, he saw thick goop on the ground around him. Barely any of the stonelike ground remained visible. Slightly twitching wyrm parts lay inside what almost looked like a putrid soup, but when he was sure there was nothing around anymore, he rose from his lowered battle stance.
Behind him, Greldo and Scintilla stood in the semi-cave, Numilli behind them, her teleport shadow still partially there, showing she was ready to move at a moment's notice.
"I really need Crithann to train me," Geldo said, shoving his sword away and letting out a weary sigh. "And I need one of those infinite endurance cards."
"It's not infinite," Irwin said as he unsummoned his hammer, sensing the hammer card's energy seemed barely dented by the use. "What happened? Why didn't you move back?"
Greldo grimaced. "There's something interfering with my shadow ability. There's no issue with my other cards, but…"
Irwin swallowed, then turned to Numilli. "Is your card working?"
Numilli cocked her head, focusing on the shadowy cloud around her, causing it to grow. She began nodding when she suddenly grimaced and dropped to a knee, grabbing her head.
"Ugh! What's that?" she hissed.
"Yeah," Greldo grunted. "Now that's going to be a problem.
Irwin sighed, turning to Scintilla.
She turned into a fiery burst, appearing a few feet away.
"No problems here," she said.
"Well, that's something," Irwin said. "I guess getting out is going to take a while. Still, glad you are with us."
He walked to Scintilla, giving her a rough smile, but she waved her hand at him in distaste.
"No hugs until you shower! You look like some ichor-covered icefiend!'
Irwin blinked in surprise while Numilli began giggling. Even Greldo let out a soft burst of laughter, though Irwin heard the suppressed stress in it.
"So… think there are any wyrms left?" Irwin asked, hoping to distract him.
He began wiping his face with his hands, finding it to be a hopeless cause.
"Yes," Numilli piped up, ignoring Greldo, who opened, then closed his mouth as he shook his head.
Numilli looked past her cousin, her mouth wrinkling in disgust at the sight. "But those are either the bigger ones that won't bother or the truly small ones that can't reach this deep."
"Bigger ones?" Irwin asked as he raised an eyebrow. "Like that one near the heartcard in the other Earth Titan corpse?"
"Yes," Numilli said. "And probably bigger because of how old this corpse is."
"So… is there still any card left then?" Irwin asked, looking around, wondering where the bigger wyrms were and what they were doing.
Numilli blinked at him stupidly before nodding again. "Of course! If the Earth Titan's heartcard gets taken, this corpse crumbles!"
Irwin blinked, then turned his full attention on the small Ignitzion. "Come again?"
Seemingly, without noticing his sudden quiet annoyance or the fact that Greldo and Scintilla were fully focused on her, Numilli began waving her around elaborately.
"Of course! The only reason this whole thing still stands is because of the energy from that card, so if they had consumed it somehow, it'd not be here!"
"How… how fast does that happen?" Irwin asked softly.
"After it gets consumed? Oh… pretty fast! Probably only a few hours," Numilli said with a wide smile.
Irwin blinked, then took a deep breath and turned to Scintilla.
"Quick, find the fastest path to the heart," he croaked.
"Keep my foolish cousin safe. Please," she muttered before vanishing in a streak of fiery light.
"Hey," Numilli squeaked. "I'm not-"
Irwin ignored her as he looked around, keeping an eye out for anything moving.
It only took long minutes before Scintilla returned.
"Found it," she said. "It's a bit high, though, so you might need to use that new card of yours. I don't think I can bring all of you, pretty-eyes, the troublemaker, and still fight if I have to."
"I'm not a troublemaker! I've been helpful, and-"
Greldo turned to her, a low growl coming from his chest. "Yes, you have been helpful, but how come you never told us what might happen when the card gets taken?"
"I… well, it's no problem, right? We take it. I teleport us away!" Numilli said, clapping happily before she suddenly realized what she'd just said. "Wait…"
"Yeah. Exactly," Greldo muttered, turning to Irwin. "Any idea why our cards aren't working?"
Irwin frowned. If he had to guess, it was because there was something stopping shadow cards from working. He put his hand in his pocket and took out Ambraz. One look showed him the anvil had fallen asleep, which seemed to have become his favorite pastime for the last few weeks.
"Ambraz?" he said, tapping the Anvil.
The Anvil yawned, his metal mouth stretching far enough to showcase his slate-colored teeth.
"Hmmm… what?" he muttered. "Ah, we are still in that body? Weren't you going to wake me after we came back?"
"Yes, well-" Irwin quickly explained what was going on, and when he finished, Ambraz was humming softly.
"Interesting. There has to be one of three things then," he finally said. "The least likely is that there's a card nullifier specifically attuned to shadow cards. More likely is that there's a card that restricts teleportations, seeing as Scintilla's blaze thingie isn't technically a teleport, but Greldo's movement is. Finally… well…" the anvil flew towards Greldo, hovering before it.
"Hairy kid, if you focus on your card, what do you feel?"
Greldo's furry brow raised at the name, but he didn't comment on it. Instead, Irwin saw him stare off into the distance, eyes unfocused.
"It's humming like it used to, stronger than it normally does even, but it's erratic, almost like… I don't know, but it feels like it's stronger? But that doesn't make sense."
Ambraz flitted back to Irwin's shoulder, perching atop it. "Oh, but it does. That means there's a heartcard with a very powerful shadow element slowly bleeding away. Cards can be influenced by other, more powerful ones, especially if they are out of control. Remember what it feels like if a soulcarded person unleashes its pressure?"
Irwin nodded mechanically while he saw a look of understanding in Greldo's eyes.
"Wait, so there's a really great card out there?" his friend said, his red eyes flickering intensely.
"A heartcard," Ambraz said. "It's of no use to you."
"And it's mine!" Numilli said, her voice far louder than before.
Greldo snorted. "Fine, fine."
Irwin saw the barely contained desire for the card in Greldo's eyes, and he sighed. He still hadn't gotten any news from the auctions on a shadow teleport card, so he could fully understand why his friend was interested.
"Let's head to the heart. Perhaps if Numilli absorbs the energy, her teleports work again," he said.
"Yes!" Numilli said as she dashed forward, closely followed by Scintilla.
"You okay?" Irwin whispered as he followed Greldo.
"They jumped me, and I couldn't get out," Greldo said. "My card didn't work, and I was starting to panic."
"Yeah," Irwin muttered. "I heard you and jumped down as soon as I did, but it took a bit."
"I know you came as fast as you could," Greldo said, "but I felt pretty stupid screaming like a little babe."
Irwin didn't know how to respond, and they walked after Scintilla, who guided them to a distant part of the wall. As they closed in, Irwin began to notice the temperature was rising. It reminded him of the first heartcard they had found.
"It's up there," Scintilla said, pointing at a hole.
That's almost thirty feet up, Irwin thought.
"Think you can reach it?" Greldo asked.
"I can bring you all up one at a time," Scintilla said.
Irwin shook his head, knowing full well the impact that would have on her.
"Having to bring them up will be bad enough. Let's just see how far I can get," he grunted, taking a step forward. As he did, he triggered his newest card, sensing the tiny bit of kinetic energy that appeared in his legs. Taking a deep breath, he began jumping in place, the energy rapidly growing, the heat from his core increasing it exponentially. Four jumps later, he stopped.
"Back up a bit," he grunted, waving the others off.
He took a deep breath, lowered himself, then shot up, letting the energy erupt from his feet. A deafening boom came while the damp, hot air whistled around his face, blowing the few loose strands of hair back. The hole closed in quickly, but a few feet from the edge, his upward momentum began rapidly stopping. Feeling the hairs on his arms stand on end, he reached up and grabbed the edge. Part of the stone crumbled under his grip, but he managed to climb up into the tunnel, breathing raggedly.
Okay, that was pretty scary, he thought as he looked back down.
Greldo was waving, giving him a thumbs up.
This is going to need some getting used to, Irwin thought.