It was quiet for a moment as Lamia and Daubutim stared at him. Irwin could completely understand how they must feel. He must have grown more than the hand-length Lamia said, as he was taller than her now and nearly the size of Daubutim. That meant he had finally caught up to the others of his age!

If this keeps up, mum might not even recognize me, he thought as he wondered what Bronwyn would say if he came back taller than him!

His joy was interrupted as he saw Lamia's gaze drift away, a look of sadness and envy on her face.

As he remembered what had happened the previous time and recalled the previous time he'd seen Lamia, his good mood faded. He took a quick look at Daubutim, who was quietly watching them, nodded to his friend, then focused on Lamia again.

"How are you?" he asked.

The muscular girl deflated and gazed at the ground.

"A bit better," she muttered. "I talked with Uncle Burt. I'll be staying with him for a while…"

She sighed, then shook herself and focused on him.

"You were right."

Irwin blinked.

"I want to be stronger, but I can't just do it to get revenge. I… I want to protect my friends and what remains of my family!"

Irwin looked at her, slightly surprised. She seemed serious, and he couldn't help but wonder what had changed her opinion this quickly. Had it been his speech or her talk with her uncle? Or was she just lying to get him to help her?

"Uncle Burt… We talked all night," she said with a weary sigh. "Most people don't know, but he knows some pretty strong people. I went to him, and... well. I'd thought he would be angry! Get his strong friends to come and help us… do something!"

"But?" Irwin asked when she didn't continue but seemed to drift back into her memories.

She blinked, then grimaced. "All he talked about was how he was going to try and get more guards and get the family to his inn…. I…" she clenched her fists, staring at Irwin so hard that he almost took a step back.

"I got angry. I shouted at him, and-" she cut off. "No matter. He let me rage, then slowly asked me what going out and killing a dozen, hundreds, or even thousands of demons would do if more demons could just come while I was gone to kill my little cousin Ubern. He said that we might be able to prevent that. That we should protect and create a safe place before even thinking about going out to strike back."

Irwin didn't know what to say, looking at her quietly while Lamia stared at her clenched fists.

"Your uncle is a smart man. My father always says that the best offense is an active defense," Daubutim suddenly said slowly. "One of our family's properties is near the wall. When my father was young, he was in charge of its defense. He told many stories about how he would defend and wait for the demons to overstretch before striking back. Or of how he lured their attacks into their defense when they thought they weren't there."

Lamia barked a laugh, then shook her head. "Well, I don't know anything about all that. But I don't want Ubern to die if I can stop it. So… I'm going to accept Uncle Burt's help to get a new card."

Irwin nodded, but inwardly he sighed. He could recall how he couldn't even get a common card. There was such a great difference.

Lamia hesitated for a bit, then stared at Irwin. "Can you help me to combine it?"

Irwin's first instinct was to nod in agreement, but then he stopped. He had only been able to combine his hand with help from Ambraz. He had no idea what it meant to do it by himself. People kept saying it was incredibly challenging, but except for some pain... it hadn't really felt like that.

"Shouldn't you ask your uncle about this?" he asked carefully.

"Uncle never managed to combine his own cards," Lamia replied. "He tried it a few times, but… he says he can't deal with the pain."

Irwin frowned at that. It had hurt, but had it hurt that much?

"Will you help me?" she asked.

Irwin nodded, hoping he could, and he felt slightly worried when Lamia sighed in relief.

"Thank you. I'm heading to Hutch now and ask if I can join the training program. They have reopened it and lowered the bar to anyone with two cards or more," she said as she looked around. There was a wistfulness in her eyes, then she gritted her teeth and stepped back. "Can you tell Trimdir I'll come back to explain later?"

"I'll tell him," Irwin said, wondering how the smith would react. Probably not very good.

"Okay, thanks," Lamia said as she walked back to the door before turning around. "You're sure you are alright?"

"I'm fine," Irwin replied honestly.

"I'll…. I'll come back to see you after I get my third card, alright?"

"Don't rush it. It's important to get the right card," Irwin said. "If it doesn't match your other two-"

"I can't combine them properly," Lamia said with a grin. "Yes, I know." Then she hesitated. "Is that why you managed to do it so easily?"

Irwin almost choked, then shook his head. The only reason it had been anywhere near easy was thanks to Ambraz, but he could hardly tell her that. "Perhaps," he managed to say.

Lamia's grin widened, and this time, her joy reached her eyes, if only momentarily.

"Talk to you soon," she said.

As she closed the door behind her, Irwin noticed her staring at him until it shut. He waited for a few moments, trying to get his thoughts straight, then turned and looked at Daubutim.

"What do you think?" he asked, wondering if Daubutim believed her.

"I think she likes you," Daubutim said matter of factly.

"I- I didn't mean that," Irwin hissed. He felt his face heat up as he saw his noble friend grin at him.

"Never mind," he muttered as he moved to an anvil and jumped on.

Does she really like me? he thought, suddenly confused.

"Tell me what happened," Daubutim said. "And why didn't you wait for me?"

Irwin softly told Daubutim about reforging his Eyes of Blaze and the reasoning behind it, adding most of the things Ambraz had told him. When he finished, Daubutim was staring at his hand.

"So… did you get rid of your cold weakness?" he asked.

"I am not sure," Irwin said. "I still felt the cold from outside, but it was different."

"Did you look at what the cards say now?"

Irwin's eyes widened, and he grinned. "No, let me check!"

It took him barely any effort to pull out his Eyes of Blaze card and activate the skill. The ease of it all made him grin wider.

Card: Tempered Eyes of Blasting

Type: Rare, Reforged, Impersonate [Uncommon] (From combination)

Owner: Irwin Roddington

A combat and utility card, good for adventurers and explorers of portal shards. Grants the appraisal skill to discern the general nature of unslotted cards. Grants the ability to focus on an unslotted card for a few seconds to see its details. To inspect and appraise slotted cards, the card must be visible above the hand. The card's secondary ability allows body tempering with heat.

Passive: Increased strength and constitution based on body tempering.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Active: Appraise cards

Active two: Blasting beam. A beam of heat that can be focused on a single target up to a hundred feet away or spread out in a cone. Can be used six seconds per minute. Slight drain on the user's stamina.

Card combination focus: Body tempering.

Irwin stared at it, then shook his head in confusion. "It says Impersonate with the types?"

"What?" Ambraz hissed from in his pocket. There was a struggle as he felt the Anvil force its way out then it flew beside the card hovering above his hand.

"You must be born lucky…" Ambraz grunted after a few moments. "One of your first card's traits actually partially copied over to the other card!"

"Is that… normal?" Irwin asked, staring at his card.

"No. There is less than a one percent chance of that happening," Ambraz sniffed. "Show me your Coperion card!"

Irwin nodded, switching to his Coperion Body card.

Card: Dense Coperrion Body

Type: Rare, Reforged, Impersonate [Uncommon] (From combination)

Owner: Irwin Roddington

Body improvement card that greatly increased the holder's entire body density, making them harder to cut and pierce. Greatly increases the wielder's strength and constitution. Grants the ability to temporarily change the entire body to Coperion, making it near impervious to conventional weapons. The big drawbacks are a decrease in speed due to the increase in the wielder's weight and a reduced healing rate.

Passive: Increased body density and toughness

Passive two: Increased strength and constitution.

Active: Full Coperion Body. Temporarily grants the ability to change the body to a stronger version. Twenty minutes duration. Once per hour.

Card combination focus: Body density.

"Bah… this is ridiculous," Ambraz grunted before flying back to Irwin's pocket and disappearing inside.

"How does this work?" Irwin asked, patting his pocket. "Does it mean I can still enter uncommon portals?"

"Yes," Ambraz said.

Irwin wondered why he sounded so annoyed. This was a good thing, right?

"Can this happen again?" he asked as another possibility came to him.

"When you create your other full-hand, it can happen, and when you create your heartcard."

"So I could get Growth from my Heat-sensitive Body card on my heart card?"

Ambraz sighed, then snorted. "Yes… if you are really, really, lucky. Now, let me rest. Do you have any idea how hard it was doing two cards like this?"

Irwin let his mind run wild with ideas of having a full set of six cards that could all grow stronger before finally calming down. Then he turned back to Daubutim, who was staring at him.

"Nothing about your cold vulnerability?"

"No, not that I saw," Irwin said.

"That's on your other card," Ambraz snapped.

"Right…"

Irwin dumbly grinned as he pulled up his first card.

Name: Fire-sensitive body

Type: Epic, Growth, Impersonate

Due to its fire-based nature, the wielder will heal faster when near a source of fire and heat while slower when in a cold environment.

Passive: Increased resistance to fire, decreased resistance to cold

Passive two: Night vision (Can see dimly in complete darkness)

Card combination focus: Regeneration, Store Heat

Store heat? he thought as he looked at it.

"And?"

"I got something called Store Heat at the combination focus. What is that from?"

This time, there was no answer from Ambraz, and Daubutim just shrugged.

"Maybe because all of my cards deal with fire," Irwin wondered out loud. "I'll need to find out how that works."

"Well, you better figure that out quickly," Daubutim said. "Basil is reforming the squads. We've suffered too many losses. The scouts say the Frozir have stopped near Grinning Man's hilltop and are creating a large base from ice and snow."

"Grinning Man's hilltop again? Isn't that where you went? With the rare portal?" Irwin said, trying to recall what he knew about it.

"Uncommons too, but yes. I overheard Lord Bron speaking to Basil. Lord Bron thinks there might be something in the old mines below the hill that is somehow increasing the rate the portals are spawning," Daubutim said before looking pointedly at the pocket where Irwin kept Ambraz.

"Ambraz… What could cause this?" Irwin asked. When there was no answer, he padded his pocket and asked again.

A tired yawn came from his pocket, followed by an annoyed voice. "The great never get any rest… bah. Right, well, some places more easily cause portals to appear. I don't know the ins and outs of that, but those are dangerous places. Chances are, a portal is in those mines. Likely Rare, but it could be worse."

Irwin swallowed. Worse meant... a very rare portal? Were there even enough carded here to close that?

"I was afraid of that," Daubutim said, mimicking Irwin's own growing worry. "Basil has sent out Myda's best scouts. They should be back tomorrow… I fear Lord Bron is going to stage a preemptive strike."

"To close the portals?" Irwin whispered.

"If he finds them? Probably. But also to remove the Frozir presence."

Irwin quietly stared into the nearby fire of a forge as he wondered if Basil was going to get him to join. Probably, especially if he saw he had a rare card and was now a full hand.

"Can you reforge my Armor Card to rare?"

Irwin snapped his gaze up to Daubutim, who was looking at him. He padded his pocket again, getting an annoyed and weary growl.

"Not today… I need more energy and cards," Ambraz said.

"Tomorrow morning?" Daubutim pressed.

"No. In the evening, no earlier. And we will need new common cards."

"What happened to the ones we had before?" Daubutim asked, staring at Irwin in surprise.

"He ate them all," Irwin said with a sad smile.

"Don't make it sound like I'm the bad guy! You wanted both cards at rare. This is the price."

“Both?” Daubutim said.

Irwin could hear the disbelief in his voice, and he smiled wider.

"Then, if we are still here, please reforge both my cards too," Daubutim said. "I'll try to get more common utility cards."

"Both?" Ambraz growled. "Find six or more for me to munch on then… blasted greedy kids."

Two? Irwin looked at Daubutim's left hand, noting there were only two cards: the massive sword and the plate armor.

"Where is your shield card?" he blurted.

"I haven't slotted it again," Daubutim said. "I won't be able to use it together with the sword."

"You… how does it feel to have the sword card slotted?" Irwin asked quietly.

"Like someone removed my arm and put another one on that belonged to someone else," Daubutim said calmly.

That's horrible, Irwin thought as he stared at his friend, whose eyes were dull.

"What kind of third card do you want?" he asked softly.

"I don't know yet," Daubutim said. "I was hoping… to find a common card with great potential that you can reforge."

"Of course," Irwin said as he nodded, then he recalled what Basil had said. "Basil promised me I could look for cards if I managed to become a full-hand. I'll ask Ambraz to keep an eye out for something!"

Daubutim nodded at him.

"Enough! Go and sleep," Ambraz grunted. "I'm tired, and it will be a day within a few hours."

Irwin and Daubutim ignored the Anvil and talked for a while longer, discussing potential cards for Daubutim and what the full-hand meant for Irwin.

When they finally went to sleep in the smithies storage room, Irwin couldn't stop yawning. It really isn't that cold, he thought as he crawled below the blankets.

--

Irwin woke early, feeling refreshed. Wondering what time it was, he was surprised he didn't hear any sounds of forging. Did that mean there wasn't anybody yet? That couldn't be… he should be tired if he only slept for a short while!

Confused, he crawled out of bed.

Daubutim's soft snoring came from the nearby bed, so he snuck out of the room.

"Strange," he muttered as he looked around the quiet smithy. There wasn't even any sign of Trimdir yet.

Let's see what the changes brought, he thought as he stretched and began waving his arms around.

Running towards the other side of the smithy, he was relieved to find that he didn't feel as heavy as when he'd gone to sleep. Better even, he was pretty sure he felt lighter than he had since he had gotten his Coperion Body card. Not light and nimble by any means yet, but he was pretty sure he could have kept up with the running training if there still was any.

A soft rumble from his stomach reminded him that he hadn't had dinner the previous night. He searched for some food but eventually had to make do with a jar of water. Then he decided it was time to check what Eyes of Blaze had changed into and how much stronger he was as a full-hand.

Let's see how much my strength has increased first.

He moved towards the main storage room, strapping on the basket he used for raw ore, and began filling it. When he was halfway, he knew he had become far stronger than he had been. When the basket was filled to the brim, weighed down by far more raw ore than he had ever carried, he simply stood and walked through the smithy with ease. He felt the weight. It just… didn't bother him!

After thinking about it for a bit, he distributed the ore around the smithy. He was just thinking about which skill he should try and how when there was a rustle by the door, followed by a surprised grunt.

"Orwin? Can you open up?"

Trimdir's voice came from outside, and Irwin rushed over to pull away the bars. As he opened the door, a stream of pale light entered. The cold wind blowing in made Irwin shiver.

"By Gelwin's beard!"

Trimdir stopped midstep, staring at him straight into his eyes.

"How did you…" the smith faltered, and his gaze drifted to Irwin's hand.

Irwin raised it, grinning sheepishly.

“You did it… That is…”

Trimdir looked at him, eyes wide. Irwin expected him to look happy, but the smith's face fell.

"What's wrong?"

Trimdir sighed and stepped inside, pulling the door closed behind him.

"Basil will be here in a few hours… I had wanted to try and discuss with him to leave you here, but now?"

Ah… Irwin thought as he realized what was wrong.

"Daubutim told me about the trouble at Grinning Man's hilltop," he said as he followed Trimdir.

"A scout came back just now," Trimdir said. "The Frozir have created a massive fortress, and there are two portals there. Basil is going to bring all battle-ready carded and attack them while two groups are going in to close the portals."

Irwin nodded, watching Trimdir stare at him. "He is coming here to bring you with one of them."

The sadness he saw in Trimdir's eyes somehow made Irwin feel both better and worse.

"I'll be fine," he said, thinking about his new cards.

"I hope so, Orwin… I hope so," Trimdir said softly. "I'll have some food brought to you when… if the others arrive. Relax for now."

Irwin nodded, but Trimdir had already turned and was stomping towards his office. As he shut the door, Irwin looked around, wondering what he should do. Before he could think of something, the door opened again, another rush of cold wind blowing in.

Looking up, he saw a trio of smiths enter.

"Hey, Orwin! You're early!"

"Yes, I was restless. Couldn't sleep," Irwin said with a grin.

The smiths didn't respond, simply staring at him.

"You're... taller," one of them said carefully.

Irwin grinned as he raised his hand, showing his full-hand.

There was a collective gasp, and then the smiths moved closer, one going as far as to take his hand and inspect the cards.

"Congratulations!"

"That's amazing!"

The smiths began patting him on the back until there was a dull shout from Trimdir's office.

"Right, better get going," one of the smiths said, and with a final congratulations, they headed to their forges.

As they began getting ready, and the smithy slowly came to life, Irwin headed to his own anvil.

I'll just purify some metal, he thought as he grabbed his surprisingly light hammer.

--

He was only done with half a dozen, not even sweating yet, when the door was almost kicked open. Basil stomped inside, slamming the door shut.

Irwin looked up to see the massive guard look around and spot him.

"Orwin, Trimdir. I need to speak with you! Now!"