"Seriously?" Skylar hissed as he leaned across the table, staring at Irwin, who was chewing on a large mouthful of some burned root-like thing that crunched loudly.

They were sitting inside The Tappestery, a few simple dishes between them, while gentle lyre music played from a solo player on the stage.

Two days had passed since Irwin's first day, and both had been spent nearly the same. The first course of each day was theoretical, card categories, typings, or even history. The afternoon was spent cardsmithing or smelting.

None of the others were there, some in bed with a headache from the previous night's bender, which Irwin had found was a pretty normal occurrence for half of Skylar's group. Beyond the first night, he'd not joined them but spent his evenings learning from the books he'd been given.

"Yes," Irwin said, answering Skylar's question.

He took a long drink from his water. "Vera said I need to find her on eight-day, which should be in two days."

"It is," Skylar said, leaning back and shaking his head in wonder. "Usually, her rewards are given right after class. This is the first time I've heard her calling someone in on our off day."

Irwin shrugged. He had gone to Vera after a course on metal purifying that was almost as easy as the cardsmithing one and was immediately told he was to report with the second year the next eight days.

"She said something had come up," he said.

Besides, she wants me to show her how far I am in reforging up to Ruby. I'm pretty sure that will take longer than an hour, Irwin thought.

They quietly ate for a while until Skylar sighed.

"Well, seeing as you seem roughly on par with second years with anything practical, how about you come along to that optional instrument class tomorrow morning?" he said. "I asked the others, but none of them were interested, though Pasilha and Roubi would probably come if they knew you were coming."

Not sure what that has to do with smithing yet, but I was already planning on it, Irwin thought.

"I'll come, but don't tell them," he said, grimacing. "Instead, explain something else. They are second years, so why are they in all our theoretical classes?"

He'd asked Pasilha the day before, but she'd just grunted something about a headache.

Skylar shook his head in mock sadness. "Because they both failed last year and have to redo all Category and Typing courses again."

"Right…" Irwin said. "Well, don't tell them, and I'll come with you."

"I'd been wanting to ask you, but… don't you like Ignitzions?" Skylar asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I do," Irwin answered.

He thought about Scintilla, suddenly unable to keep himself from grinning. "I like them a lot, actually, but I already have someone. Even if I hadn't, I'm not here for that. I've got only a short amount of time to learn as much as I can, then I'll be off again."

"Yeah, you said that before," Skylar said. "Usually, people aren't allowed here unless they stay for the full five years. How did you…" his gaze flickered to Ambraz, who was chatting with Za'rish high in the rafters. "Right. Must be nice, having friends in high places."

"Yeah," Irwin said. "It's a nice change."

"Life wasn't always as easy for you either?" Skylar asked.

"I think most people don't have easy lives. What about you?" Irwin said he was not interested in talking about his own past. Although he'd spoken with Skylar a lot in the past few days, he somehow didn't feel like talking about those things with the other- mostly because he'd have to lie about some things.

"Do you know anything about Clearsky?" Skylar asked.

"That's your people's homeworld, right?" Irwin asked, getting a nod. "Nothing besides the name and that there's supposedly only life on the mountain peaks and something about floating islands?"

Skylar barked a laugh, then shook his head. "Ugh, these rumors… Sometimes, I wonder if the elders did it on purpose to keep the others from swamping our world. Clearsky's Eternal Gorges are filled with poisonous gasses, making them pretty much uninhabitable to anyone who needs to breathe. The thing is, most of our people live there because we don't technically breathe like you do. I mean, we still breathe- he sucked in a large mouthful of air to demonstrate, "-but our lungs don't care what we get. Our bodies can deal with nearly any type of atmosphere, even with the lack of one, if it doesn't last too long."

Irwin hummed. "Is that how you cheated to beat me the first day?"

"Heh, yeah. Alcohol in drinks evaporates when it enters our digestive system, as does nearly anything we eat, and we can choose just to blow it back out," Skylar said, showing not a single bit of remorse.

"Anyway, in our world, the higher up a mountain you live, the more important you are. My parents live in a small valley called Twilkin Gas Crevice, which is about as low as you can go. Besides having barely any access to cards, it's almost perpetually gloomy and well… I wanted out."

For the next good while, Irwin listened to Skylar talk about his youth, living with the others, learning about the outside world, and learning about the Portal Gallery. From what he gleaned, he had nice parents, two sisters, and an easy childhood. Even then, young Skylar wanted more, and when a cardsmith came looking for apprentices, he was first in line to try.

"Smiths, go around looking for apprentices in your world?" Irwin said in disbelief.

"They don't really have another choice. Simlari aren't naturally gifted as smiths," Skylar said, raising his arm and flexing his massive biceps. "Me, I'm a bit different, mostly due to the cards my teacher gave me, but also due to one of my maternal grandfathers. Normally, we are tall and skinny, except for the Storm Kin, which is what I look like, but that's another story. Anyway, we only have a dozen Simlari smiths at Emerald rank and only three at Ruby. Somehow, none of our people have the knack to sense ambient soulforce."

That didn't seem too surprising to Irwin, as most people didn't.

"But you do," Irwin said. He could understand why the Simlari wanted to have their own cardsmiths- and now, with cardsmiths being abducted and a potential war brewing?

"Yes," Skylar said with a grin. "Aurella made me sense what she was doing, and I was the first one since she started that could actually do it."

Skylar's grin faded. "She pulled a lot of strings to get me here, and I'm the only one of my kind since she was here. Sadly, it seems I'm not as naturally gifted as she is…"

"Does she play the violin or some other instrument?" Irwin asked.

"No, there's barely any instruments in my world. We mostly sing," Skylar said before humming softly and suddenly bursting out in a soft, beautiful song that seemed to perfectly match the simple string song currently playing.

Irwin had heard him sing before, and just like that time, he could sense the near perfection of Skylar's voice. Some of the sounds he made were beyond anything Irwin knew he could make himself. He was sad when the other stopped after a few minutes.

"I'm pretty good at singing, but instruments…?" Skylar sighed. "Aurella can somehow do it with that, but she said I wasn't good enough."

Not good enough…? What does that make the rest of us? Irwin thought.

"Why does it bother you so much?" he said, grabbing one of the final snacks. "Just learn it and become better?"

"It's going to take even more time out of my day," Skylar said, looking around. "On Clearsky, we live in tight-knit groups, and half of the day, we are together, working, singing… I feel lonely if I'm not here." He waved around at the Inn.

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Irwin was surprised at the other's openness. "Just join one of those groups and play together?"

"Do you have any idea how long it takes to become good with one of those violins?" Skylar asked, laughing disparagingly.

Irwin didn't, but he had very little experience with instruments.

"Well, let's see what they can teach us tomorrow," he said.

Skylar grinned, then looked at the bar. "Great, now, how about a drink?"

Irwin shook his head, grimacing. "I had enough that first day, but knock yourself out."

They remained there for a while, Skylar drinking enough for two but showing zero after-effects. According to him, the taste was just pleasant, and he had no idea how it would be to get drunk.

When Irwin finally returned to his room, he sat down at the table, looking at the books. He hesitated, then decided he'd read enough. Instead, he closed his eyes and began softly singing, attempting to move the soulforce.

Like every time, he didn't manage as much as a tremor, and after an hour, he stopped. He had the feeling he was getting closer, but that could also just be wishful thinking.

"Are you sure you should be spending so much time on that?" Ambraz asked from one of the nooks.

"Even if it never works, I enjoy the singing," Irwin said. Then he thought about the singers he'd heard and seen in The Tappestry, and quickly added- "not that I'm all that good."

"It feels like a waste of time, but who knows? You might be the one to finally find a way," Ambraz said, very obviously not believing any of that. "Are you seriously going to attempt an instrument?"

"No idea yet," Irwin said. "Some of the sheet music we have needs it, though I'm not sure what type of instrument. I can only use part of it now, and I wonder what would happen if I used an instrument with it while crafting."

"Well, you do know you only have two hands, right? It's not like you can just play the instrument while forging… most require two hands."

Irwin nodded, glancing up at Ambraz. "I know, but I've already seen something that might work."

He thought about the drummer using two long sticks. Perhaps he could do it with one? Or use his hammer and use Ambraz as a drum? He grinned at the thought.

"What? And you didn't tell me, you brat? Which was it?"

Irwin laughed, then headed to his bedroom. "You will see tomorrow."

Ambraz continued pestering him for a while before finally relenting with an annoyed grunt.

Before going to sleep, Irwin quickly checked on You'gyn, something he'd started doing nightly, but the Ganvil was still fast asleep in his soulscape.

I wonder what musical instruments there are and if you really need to play them while smithing, Irwin thought.

--

It was quiet on the square before the academy building, and besides Irwin and Skylar, only a handful of people were there.

"Roubi just wouldn't stop pestering me this morning," Skylar said, laughing. "She kept asking what we had been talking about and if you had mentioned her."

Irwin groaned, then shook his head. "I seriously don't get those Ignitzions sometimes."

Skylar's grin widened. "Well, it's your fault for ticking exactly every box they have. You are impervious to their ridiculous foods or temperature, tall, muscular, and have those weird eyes," he said, raising his fingers as he counted four times. "If you had gone to Clearskies, you would have found exactly zero interest."

"Great, well, thanks for letting me know," Irwin said, shaking his head.

A sharp, pleasant sound came from ahead of them. Playful and somewhat ragged, it reminded Irwin of someone humming with their mouth open but then louder and far sharper than anyone could possibly do.

"What's that?" Skylar whispered, his eyes wide and a trickle of steam coming from his nose.

"No idea, but it sounds awesome," Irwin muttered.

They both sped up their pace, approaching an area Irwin hadn't been to yet, which meant little as he had barely seen anything from the academy yet. They were far at the back and bottom of the building.

Ahead of them, a small door stood half open, and a sign hung crooked from the wall.

"Specialization class: Music"

Irwin stopped at the door, listening to the song that was being played inside. It had gone from an almost melancholy melody to one that was slowly picking up speed and becoming slightly more happy.

Skylar pulled open the door.

Irwin looked inside a room filled with ragtag chairs, couches, and a low podium at the back. A few people lay sprawling across the couches in front of the podium, where a man was blowing into a gleaming metallic instrument that looked like a long, curved tube with a flared ending. He was pressing tiny plates along the neck of the instrument. His sun-colored eyes narrowed, and the crinkles of a half smile played over his face. His red and orange hair wrapped around his face, gleaming like burnished metal.

Smooth, golden, and red ambient soulforce rippled all around him, moving along with the tune of the song. Unlike what Irwin had seen before, the ripples didn't move around from the man but remained near him, almost swaying like the ebb and tides of the sea.

He is manipulating the ambient soulforce! Irwin thought.

He barely noticed how he followed Skylar, sitting down on a couch, his gaze moving from the soulforce ripples to the man and back.

The soulforce is resonating in the same frequency as the song, Irwin thought, trying to figure out what was happening. He didn't sense the man's own cards resonate, nor saw any non-ambient soulforce coming from him. How was he doing that? Irwin had tried so many things to get the soulforce to move, even singing! Was it the instrument? Perhaps it was a soulcarded instrument?

When the song finally ended, Irwin was having a hard time not shouting questions. He wasn't the only one.

"That was beautiful! What instrument is that? Why haven't I heard it in The Tappestery?" Skylar asked, standing up. His eyes were crackling with pale blue energy, his hair swirling around his head as if there was a storm inside the building, and steam was swirling from his nose.

"Well, hello to you too," the man said, lowering the instrument and grinning happily. His eyes glowed so brightly that they caused the podium before him to light up.

There was a round of soft laughter from the others in the classroom, but a quick look showed that everyone was smiling.

"I'm Narios Litvech, but you can call me Teacher Narios-" the teacher said, raising his instrument. "-and this is a saxhorn. It has different names, but somehow this one stuck."

Irwin blinked, not sure what to think of that.

"As to why you haven't heard it before? Well, the saxhorn is somewhat hard to learn, and I'm currently the only one able to play it proficiently enough. Also, I don't enjoy The Tappestry all that much. Now, who are you two then?"

Skylar was staring at the saxhorn, seeming almost obsessed, and Irwin wondered if he had even heard the question.

"I'm Irwin, and this is Skylar," he said.

Teacher Narios nodded as he jumped off the stage and put the saxhorn on a nearby table.

"Well, Irwin and Skylar, it's nice to meet you! I just demonstrated a specific pattern for the others, and the idea is that they reproduce a part of it with their own instrument," he said before waving around. "On that note, all of you have a short time to practice while I talk with our new students."

Irwin wondered what to say about that, but he did know he was definitely interested. If he could find out how Narios had been manipulating the ambient soulforce, that meant he was perhaps finally a step closer to his attempt at creating cards with it!

Teacher Narios walked up to them, and Irwin was glad to see that Skylar had finally snapped out of it. Even then, he was still casting glances at the saxhorn.

"So, you be Irwin then?" Narios asked.

Irwin nodded, and the man smiled, his eyes glowing brightly.

"You have an interesting card. It's hard to tell, but it's… special."

Irwin blinked in surprise, wondering what he meant. Was he talking about his soulcard being Ammolite, which is the rank above Diamond rank? He frowned. Besides Ambraz and Greldo, nobody else knew it.

Well, You'gyn might, he thought. Or the Ganvil would probably be able to deduce it.

"Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it," Narios said, his eyebrows raising. "It's just that it has such a deep, pleasant, and harmonious resonance. I've only heard a few like that before, and those were all in Dimarintsia."

Okay, that seems a lot like-

'He can detect your soulcard grade,' Ambraz said, interrupting his own thought patterns. 'I'll talk with Brazardian later, see if he is dangerous.'

Irwin hummed, realizing he was making things worse without answering. Narios was looking at him curiously, while Skylar seemed somewhat uncomfortable.

"It's fine," he said quickly. "I'm just very surprised that you can sense that. My card has a rather rare type."

Narios nodded, smiling widely. "Better not let Teacher Verandi know. She will start asking nonstop questions until she finds every little detail about it! Now, how about we figure out what you are here for…?"

"I want to learn that saxhorn!" Skylar said, pointing at it with his finger.

Teacher Narios didn't seem surprised, and his smile widened. "Well, then, we better get started." He turned to Irwin. "You too?"

Irwin shook his head. Although the sound had been beautiful to the point of haunting, he didn't see himself playing it.

"I was wondering… how does playing music work with reforging cards? Do you need to play the instrument while reforging?"

Narios's eyebrows shot up, and then he cocked his head. "I never thought about that… Perhaps I should try sometimes…." he hummed, bobbing his head up, before shaking his head. "But to answer your question. No, you learn an instrument to better understand and learn how to manipulate the soulforce in the cards you reforge. It increases your control over your own soulforce and your sensitivity."

Irwin let out a sigh of relief. He'd actually been wondering how to do that, and the idea of doing two things at once had seemed like it would make things only more difficult.

"Now, let's start with Skylar then," Narios said as he walked away to the rightmost side of the room. A vast array of instruments hung from the wall or lay on shelves. He walked to an older but well-maintained saxhorn and took up a cloth, quickly removing some dust. Then he handed it to Skylar, who was staring at it with bated breath. As soon as he took the saxhorn, he put the bit in his mouth and blew.

A soft squeak came from the end, and his eyebrows rose as he looked at the instrument.

Narios laughed, then held out a long, thin strip of something that looked like a long leaf.

"Before you can play, you need to put in a reed. Here, let me show you," Narios said.

Irwin watched quietly as Narios helped Skylar ready the saxhorn, before telling him how to start. A few moments later, Skylar tried again. This time, a slightly clear sound, somewhat reminiscent of what Narios had created, came out.

"Good, much better," Narios said. "Now, go over there and practice for a while. Just see what happens if you blow on the horns and press some of the valves. Don't press too hard. I'll come and check on you soon."

Skylar just nodded, barely seeming to listen as he walked to a quiet spot and began producing soft, rapidly clearing tones.

Narios nodded, and Irwin saw his eyebrows rise as he muttered something. Then he turned to Irwin, his golden eyes glistening happily.

"So, what instrument would you like to learn?"

"I… have no idea," Irwin said, shrugging. "Could you play a few things for me so I can hear them?"

"I'd love to," Teacher Narios said as he turned to the wall.