Irwin struck the Gneisian Ore and instantly felt the massive resistance contained in the tiny chunk of ore. His hammer skidded off it with a screech while thin, sharp waves of soulforce zipped out of it. They moved faster than most other soulforce waves he had seen, and as they hit things, they rebounded back off.

Those that hit him felt like tiny jabs, almost as if someone was poking his own soulforce.

"There's soulforce in there," he said, eyebrows raised.

The last time he'd struck anything with soulforce had been the Purperion, and now he understood Ambraz. The thin lines held a surprisingly high and condensed amount of soulforce, and if the Ganvil could absorb that…

"Definitely, it has incredible tensile strength and naturally draws ambient soulforce inside," Larambi said.

Irwin hummed and struck the Gneisian ore again. This time, his hammer didn't skid off, and he even saw some of the soulforce lines strike his hammer before rebounding off.

I wonder if I could use this to make a growth-type card increase in power fast, he thought as he frowned.

"Isn't it a waste to use something so valuable for something like this?" he asked, glancing at Larambi.

The man pulled on his beard. "Valuable, yes, but not exactly rare. Well, it is rare, but the Monarchs accumulated a nice supply and have designed that this is how we spent a portion of it. If you really want to use it properly, you need to be able to stop the soulforce from just randomly shooting out. However, don't even bother with that now. It's something we teach in fourth year class to those we think have the ability to do so."

Irwin looked at him for a few moments longer, then nodded as he refocused on the curious piece of ore.

Purperion, Gneisian ore… I wonder how many more super rare metals there are, he thought.

For the next ten minutes, he continued striking the ore, trying to see if he could somehow contain the soulforce while searching for what he was actually purifying. He had flattened it somewhat now, but none of the familiar crust had formed. Was he doing something wrong?

He began putting the ore on its side, slowly flattening it into a squarish block while increasing the power of his strikes. Oddly, even if he struck it harder, it didn't flatten much faster. The only noticeable change was that more soulforce rippled out at a more explosive speed. At some point he thought it might only move from the flat areas, but a moment later rippled ejected from the corners.

Still, as he saw that, he hesitated.

If I could flatten it with a single hit, the soulforce could only go in the hammer and the anvil, he thought.

Looking at the block, he lay it down on its widest side, raised his hammer and focused on the kinetic energy that had been building in his body. As an experiment he struck it with only a part, and as his hammer rammed the ore, it did flatten slightly faster.

Humming thoughtfully, he increased his power, striking the squared ore almost as hard as he could. This time it did squish down by a significant amount, screeching as it did. Irwin was paying close attention to the soulforce ripples, and although many came from the slightly thinner edges, he had the idea it wasn't as much as before.

'Do that again,' Ambraz said, sounding almost ecstatic.

Irwin nodded, then struck down again. Before his hammer could reach the anvil, a massive hand grabbed his wrist, stopping his downward motion so abruptly he stumbled.

"What?" he said, looking to the side.

Larambi stood there, a grin on his face.

"So, the way most people start eventually leads them to conclude that hitting harder is the way to go. The problem is that if you flatten it too much and the soulforce can't find a way out, the ore will explode," Larambi said, releasing his grip on Irwin's wrist.

"Normally, I don't have to tell any first or second-years this because very few have the physical strength to actually attempt it, but I have to say that you really did pick some lovely cards. It's also been a while since I've seen someone with a card like the Dean."

Irwin blinked, wondering with how much soulforce the tiny chunk contained, what would happen if it did explode. He shivered, then focused on the teacher's words.

"You mean the Dean has a kinetic card?" he asked, pretty sure Larambi was implying something else.

Larambi smirked, then shook his head. "No. It's not my place, but you should have a chat with him sometime soon. Now, continue, but make sure to use no more than half the force you just showed me and keep flipping it over. Don't let it get this thin again."

Irwin stared into the teacher's blue eyes for a while. So, another one that seemed to be able to detect his Ammolite soulcard...

That would make him the second, Irwin thought. Was it because these teachers saw so many carded smiths that they could recognize it? Or was it because they had diamond-rank soulcards and still sensed a power discrepancy somehow?

Deciding he was going to have to talk with Ambraz about it, he looked at his wrist. There were slowly fading indents from where Larambi had grabbed him.

That's some grip…

"Alright," he said, grabbing the ore and putting it on its edge. It was a good thing Larambi had stopped him now, as it wasn't too flat yet. Had it been, he would have had to fold it, and he wondered what that would have done. Probably caused it to explode.

For a good while longer, he continued striking it, and after what had to be two hours, he finally started noticing a very thin layer of grit on the metal. It had barely shrunk, but there was a soft laugh from the side.

Irwin looked up to see Larambi standing there. The class was empty besides the two of them, and Irwin wondered when the others had left.

"You have succeeded," Larambi said. "Leave the ore there, I'll put it away so you can practice when you come here next week. Third year metal refining classes are on each second and fifth day in the afternoon. Part of each day, you will be allowed to continue purifying this chunk of Gneisian ore, and if you can purify it to fifty percent within a year you qualify to join the fourth years."

Irwin nodded, looking at the ore as the teacher grabbed it in his massive hand. He guessed that was why they allowed the second-years to work with something so rare. The chances of one of them actually making a dent in the contained soulforce was non-existent.

Too bad I won't be here that long, he thought.

"Now, those two Ignitzion friends of yours asked me to tell you they would be waiting in The Tappestery for you," Larambi said as he waved at the door. "So, go and celebrate! It's not that often we get first years that steam through to second or third years within days of arriving."

"Not often? So it does happen?" Irwin asked.

"Definitely," Larambi said with a booming laugh. "Sometimes the lesser nobles from Dimarintsia and Suderfuix send their lesser talented members here instead of the Smithing Guild's core worlds within the central portal gallery world. Those usually start in the second or third year classes across the board, though my lone fourth-year class member this year started in the fourth-year class in all theoretical courses. Hah, and if you believe Christal and Auntie, he could be teaching those classes! Probably there out of boredom."

Irwin nodded, wondering how good the best upcoming cardsmiths were if the nobles thought the Ganvil Academy was only good enough for their less talented people.

"Now, don't worry about this too much," Larambi said, reaching up and squeezing Irwin's shoulder with his massive hand. "For someone who hasn't been prepared for our profession their entire life, you are doing incredible!"

"Thanks," Irwin said, wondering if Larambi thought he was feeling jealous. He wasn't. Just curious. How much could he still learn and improve?

"Now, go- git! I've got to prepare for tomorrow's class!"

"See you on second-day," Irwin said as he turned and walked towards the exit.

--

Larambi waited until the young smith was gone before releasing his neutral posture. He grunted as he waved his hand and cracked his shoulder.

"Damn brat nearly took my arm off," he muttered, looking to the back of the classroom.

"Dean, what do you think? Was Narios right?"

An old and wrinkled man with thinning hair and eyes like silvered steel came walking out of the shadows, humming a soft, upbeat tune.

"Yes," he said as he walked towards the other. "Irwin seems to have an Ammolite soulcard."

He spoke with an odd accent, each vowel at the start of a word sharp and punctuated.

"Great. Do you think the smiths' guild knows?" Larambi asked as he continued rubbing his shoulder.

"If they had, they would have already come to me to complain we are hiding a potential Pinnacle smith from them," the Dean said, shaking his head slowly. "No, unless you are close it is very hard to sense it's not just a regular Diamond card. My guess is that it has the Impersonation or Mimicry type. Do you think you would have noticed if you hadn't touched him?"

"Bah! Even with touching him, I had to double-check," Larambi said. "Without Narios's heads-up, I might have missed it."

"Indeed. Which means we have to make sure the Smiths Guild stays far away from him. With how closed and afraid they have grown, they would likely make him go with the escorted frigate that is going to get Montain and the sisters back to Dimarintsia."

Larambi grimaced, then shook his head. "We should find a way to keep Montain here... They are ruining that poor kid!"

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The Dean looked at him quietly before answering.

"I know you see a lot of yourself in him, but there's little we can do. If we draw his grandfather's ire, there's no way of saying what will happen. Montain will either need to find his own way out or request help from the Smiths Guild."

A creaking sound came from Larambi's fists as he clenched them tight. "I told him, but he says he needs to keep an eye on his cousins."

"Then, right now, there is little we can do for him. Now, I need to check with Gynerigon. I will be back in a few days."

The old man walked to the nearest walk, then vanished.

Larambi let out a long, deep sigh, then stared at the flattened Gneisian Ore.

"I should have just gone to some distant world and lived a quiet life like Father said," he muttered.

--

Irwin closed the books about card categories and rubbed his head.

"How can there be this many categories?" he muttered, staring at the books in disgust.

The top one dealt with elemental categories, ranging from simple things like Fire, Heat, Frost, and Cold to combined things like Chill Flame and Solidified Heat, the latter he barely understood after reading it a few times.

"Don't let it get to you," Ambraz said from his perch near the ceiling. "These are mostly useful for very specific cards. The difference between the overarching category Flame and the specific category Flame Bolt is only interesting if you are aiming for a specific card that only allows you to hurl fire at something. It might end up having a larger range and some increased damage, but you will lose a lot of generic usage due to this."

"I get that," Irwin said, leaning back in the creaking chair. "So why do we learn this?"

"Because a lot of people aren't able to pick and choose the cards they get. Either they get the leftovers that Smiths sell after they complete a mission, or they take something that has dropped from a monster. Also, many nobles, merchants, and richer guilds sometimes have very specific wishes. Let's take one of the most difficult and specific card sorts: the one that allows teleporting groups across large sections of the portal gallery. There is the category Teleporting, but also the more specific category Teleporting Together, Long Range Teleporting, and a whole slew of others. To get one that will allow you to teleport from one world to the other with a group of five or more people, it only works if you have at least four soulcards specifically selected for that. It's why there's only so few people that can do that."

Irwin nodded thoughtfully. He knew most of this, but he hadn't really thought about it too much.

"So, if my soulcard only did Kinetic things, it would be better at that?" he asked.

"If your kinetic card was specifically kinetic left-handed punch, it would be far stronger in that specific goal than your current card," Ambraz said. "If you also had other cards that would improve your left hand and the kinetic potential of your left hand, this would increase this even more. That's why Larambi's hands are so strong. He has at least one specialized card that deals with his hands. So, even if his soulcard is technically weaker than yours, I wouldn't try to squeeze his hands too hard."

Irwin recalled the teacher's grip and grimaced. He didn't doubt that one bit.

"That means it would be best to make my next soulcard more specific?"

"No," Ambraz said. "Specific is only good if you aren't a cardsmith. Very specific cards are harder to resonate outside of their desired normal. You need to be as flexible as you can be, unless you only want to reforge cards similar to those you have."

Irwin thought about it for a bit, wondering if that was the trick to shaping Ambient Soulforce into a new card. Focus on some very specific card and doubling down on it.

"Enough for today," he decided, getting up. "Where are those cards you managed to get?"

Ambraz flew down, landing on his shoulder.

"Just head into the card district. I'll point you in the right direction!"

A short while later, they were walking through the only district that resembled a normal town. Merchants had small storefronts along the dark paved streets, colorful decorations trying to beckon the smiths that walked around to buy from them.

"So, how close are you to rank four now?" Irwin asked softly.

"If you keep working on that ore, I'll reach it before we leave. I'd expected more of the soulforce I sensed to be released per hit, but it's a tough metal," Ambraz said before continuing in Irwin's soulscape. 'Not unlike that purperion. Though, I suggest we don't talk about Gneisian ore too much. It still surprises me they have it there. I'll have to ask Brazardian about it later.'

"Alright, so with some luck, we will both be better when we leave," Irwin said, his thoughts drifting to his other friends. "So, how are we going to head back to the city to see Greldo and the others?"

"Tomorrow is eight-day, meaning we have a day off," Ambraz said. "I'll have someone send a message to Greldo and tell him we will be in my place. Then we can head there right after we are done."

"It's not a problem that we teleport back?" Irwin asked.

"Normally, it's a problem, but Brazardian made sure we can move freely when we please," Ambraz said.

Skylar is right, Irwin thought, shaking his head. It's good to have friends in high places.

A short while later, they were walking towards a small shop that stood out because its front was painted to look like the bark of a tree with green highlights.

"Greenbark Card Center," Irwin said, his eyebrows shooting up. "You are kidding me? Is that-"

"Another one of Driseog's places?" Ambraz said. "Yes. It was the only place that was willing to send out their own employees to the surrounding places to buy me the cards those had so I didn't have to fly around all day."

Irwin grinned as he stepped inside the shop, which had a small but clean and well-maintained storefront. A Viridian with dark green, yellowing leaves flowing down her pale bark-like face looked up from a book that was on the counter and smiled.

"Ah! It is good to see you, Am'braz. This must be Irwin?"

Irwin nodded as he stepped up to the small counter.

"Yes. Am'braz said you have collected some cards for us?" Irwin said with a friendly smile.

"Yes, we did!" the lady said. "The Greenbark Card Center is always happy to oblige!"

She smiled, then moved to the side, removing a small package from below the counter.

"I'm afraid we could only find seven, but I've sent word out to the other cities, and I'm sure we can find you a few dozen more," she said.

Irwin nodded, taking out his Portal Gallery Credit Crystal, only for the women to smile and wave him away.

"No, no. Am'braz has already paid, and we will need to find a lot of cards before we come close to his advance," she said.

Irwin's eyebrows shot up, but he nodded.

"Then I hope to see you again soon," he said, nodding and walking away.

As he closed the shop door, he looked at Ambraz. "So, since when did you become so wealthy?"

"I was always wealthy. I just couldn't reach it," Ambraz snorted. "Now, stop holding back and check what she found. I told her to search for a range of cards that we should all be able to reforge roughly in the direction you are looking for."

Irwin grinned as he looked around to make sure there wasn't anyone odd lurking nearby. He didn't expect any as he hadn't seen anything so far, and none had appeared. Just the usual students, recognizable by their smith ranking plates and general burly, powerfully built physiques, and a few merchants or helpers walking around.

He opened the package and quickly looked at the cards, which were all quartz except for a single amethyst. The amethyst showed a lute with smoke curling up from the top.

Is it even possible to change this into a piano? he thought, with a frown.

A quick scan of the others showed three more string-like instruments, one odd symbol that reminded him of a music note like those on Galadin music sheets, and two wavy ripples.

"Alright, they actually managed to get some good starting points," Ambraz hummed. "Those two represent soundwaves, and right now, they both increase the power of your voice. As difficult as it is, we might be able to try and reforge them sideways into some teleportation thing…"

Irwin eyed Ambraz, wondering how he imagined that to go. Still, so far Ambraz hadn't been wrong all that often, so he decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"And these things?" he asked, holding up one of the simple string instruments that looked like a wooden plank with some pegs and thin metal wires.

"Kid, remember when I told you that the things you want are going to be difficult?" Ambraz said with a grin. "Well, this needs to become a piano."

Irwin wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry and opted for neither as he pocketed the cards.

"Great job," he said, meaning it. "I'm glad you asked for more because I've got the feeling we might need a few attempts at this. Now, let's go and see the others."

"Definitely," Ambraz said.

--

"Stop looking that worried. It's nothing," Greldo said as he waved his single good hand at Irwin. His other was in a sling, while two narrow scabs ran down his jaw line, across his ear, which now had two indented notches.

"Sure, explain to me again which part of going solo into a ruby rank portal sounded like a good idea?" Irwin said sarcastically, trying to hide his worry.

The fact that he was tapping his chair's armrest probably wasn't helping with that, but he didn't care. He examined his friend, glad he didn't have anything more serious than a fractured and skinned arm.

Greldo smirked, though it was somewhat pained. "Well, the reward, of course!"

Irwin looked at the stack of a few dozen cards that lay on the table. He wanted to say something, then held back. Greldo wasn't a child. Besides, he was one the most dangerous fighters he knew. If he'd gone in a portal that dangerous, there had to be a better reason.

The others were quietly sitting nearby, Rindiri with her arms crossed, while Boohm continued yawning. Zender lay curled up on a couch, already asleep, while Earila sat opposite Rindiri, trying to look like she wasn't tired but constantly stifling yawns. Two of her Faeret's were hanging on her shoulders, both sleeping.

"So, what happened?" he asked.

"So we went to an adjacent world with a small walled town. There are a few dozen mission centers there that put up missions for people to clear, close, or scout portal worlds - besides the regular card missions. I chose a scouting mission for a portal I recently found. It said they had only found some Nyzir and only needed to get a general idea of the world." Greldo’s eyes hardened. "The initial scouts had either messed up or lied because the portal led to a world with snakes that could move through the shadows. They were almost as fast as I was and twice as long as an arm."

Irwin felt his anger bubble up, but he clamped down on it, forcing himself to remain calm.

"What did they say when you returned?" he said.

Greldo blinked lazily, a dangerous grin surfacing on his face. "The reward of five cards was multiplied by five due to excessive danger and grievous misinformation."

"He summoned Coal and threatened to tear the place apart," Boohm said, yawning and grinning at the same time. "It was a sight to behold!"

"And a bad example," Rindiri said, frowning as she looked at Earila. The girl was looking at Greldo with gleaming eyes.

"Well, I presume you are going to take it easy for a while now?" Irwin asked.

"Definitely," Greldo said, pointing at the cards. "Can you check which of those you think we need for anything, then Boohm can help me sell the rest."

"Sure," Irwin said, leaning forward and grabbing the cards. It didn't take him too long to pick out four of them, moving the rest back.

"If you come across any quartz cards that deal with sound, can you buy them?" he asked, turning to Rindiri. "Just use the soulshards I gave you. If you need more, come and find me."

"Of course," Rindiri said.

They remained up for a while, chatting softly before they all went to bed.

As he fell asleep, Irwin's final thoughts were about getting Greldo and his friend's new cards.

--

"Alright, make sure to be safe this time," Irwin said, clasping Greldo's good hand.

The other arm was healing rapidly, but even someone with his friend's rapid regeneration, flayed skin took a while to heal.

"I will be," Greldo said. "Also, I need you to check something for me… see if I can get a second hound, like Coal, preferably one that will increase my speed and agility. Well, mine and Coal's."

Irwin's eyebrows shot up. "Weren't you going to"

"Yes," Greldo said quickly. "I still want better control over the shadows, but I can't rely on that for everything I do. If there are no shadows, or there are, but I'm fighting stronger enemies… The only reason I got out of there was because of Coal. If I had two of him…" he shrugged.

Irwin looked at his friend, then nodded.

"I'll try and get one that's the same type as Coal," he said. "That will make it easier to mesh with your current cards and increase the likelihood of any increases going to him too."

"Thanks," Greldo said. "Now, go have fun with your music."

Irwin barked a laugh as his friend turned and headed to the teleportation array. He waved at the others, getting a thumbs up from Boohm before they all vanished. Then his smile vanished, and he looked at Ambraz.

"Can you add a hound card to the cards we are looking for?" he asked.

"Definitely. Let's head back, and I'll get right on it," Ambraz said.