Irwin looked at Bron, unsure how to start. The arrival of Trimdir had removed a lot of his worry, but now that he was looking at the Lord of Degonda, he realized he still had no idea what to say.

"Orwin."

Irwin turned to Trimdir, whose wide smile had changed back to his regular hard-to-read stare.

"I don't know why you don't trust nobles, nor what you are hiding, but you can trust Bron," Trimdir said. Then he turned to Bron. "I think you should tell him a bit about your history. I already told him a few things."

Lord Bron didn't respond right away, simply staring at Trimdir until Irwin was starting to get uncomfortable. Finally, there was a weary sigh.

"Fine, fine."

Lord Bron leaned back and looked at Irwin with a sudden weariness.

"So, Orwin, you don't trust nobles?"

Irwin gazed back, uncomfortable both by the question and the way Lord Bron emphasized his name. Had Lord Bron figured out his real name wasn't Orwin? He should have known that the Lord would figure it out at some point, even with trade being stifled due to the surges and portals. Seeing the Lord's eyes narrow, he tried to focus on the question. It wasn't exactly true that he hadn't told anyone just because they were nobles. He hadn't told non-nobles everything either, Trimdir being the prime example. Still, he did feel more reluctant to open up to nobles. Those from Malorin and what his mother had told him showed they usually only acted in their own interest, caring little about who they had to harm to get what they wanted.

Lord Bron had been staring at him as his mind spun, eyes narrowed, and his frown deepening until he finally seemed to lose his patience.

"I could tell you about myself," Lord Bron finally said as he stared at Irwin, "but before that, Irwin, why don't you tell me about yourself?"

Irwin jolted out of his thoughts as he stared at Lord Bron.

"What? Did you expect I wouldn't check up on you after what I heard? As hard as it is to contact other cities and towns, it's not impossible," Lord Bron said.

Irwin looked at Daubutim.

His friend still seemed as serene as before.

"When we find someone who inherits our blood, it is normal in my family for them to adopt another name," Daubutim said calmly.

"Is it now?" Lord Brond said, focusing on Daubutim. "Lordling Coulwater, I wonder what your father would say if I told him you've been having someone pretend to be one of your esteemed family."

Daubutim blinked, then cocked his head as if he wasn't sure what to say.

"Enough," Lord Bron said with weariness. "You-" he pointed at Irwin," are Irwin from Malorin, taken by the Sorcerers roughly three months ago. You were deemed lost, together with your entire party, when attempting to close a portal near Wignut."

Irwin swallowed, feeling the blood drain from his face. Was Lord Bron in contact with the sorcerers? He'd not thought about them for a while, but when he thought about the prospect of having to go back there, he shuddered.

"Bron, calm down," Trimdir said, his voice low and deep. "Based on what you just said, something must have happened for them to act as they had. And both of us know that nobody would want to be with the sorcerers… especially not at such a young age."

It was quiet as Irwin looked from Trimdir to Bron, who was ignoring Trimdir and quietly staring at him.

"Yes," Irwin finally said softly, knowing he wasn't going to be able to get out from under it. "I am Irwin."

Lord Bron nodded. "Good. Now, why did you lie about who you are?"

Irwin sighed, shared a look with Daubutim, and noticed that his friend's eyes had glazed over. He wouldn't be getting any help from him. That much was sure.

"We lost a lot of people in the portal," Irwin said as he thought back to the first portal. "When we left…" he thought about Twintin and what she knew of Ambraz. He should have never told her. "After we got out, there was a massive surge. Diflor and other demons from portals were all around. We… didn't want to return to the sorcerers."

Bron didn't say anything, just nodding for him to continue.

"So, we decided to head for Daubutim's father's estate," Irwin said, not sure how much he should share.

"And what made you think Lord Coulwater would be willing to shelter you from the sorcerers?" Lord Bron asked.

Irwin swallowed and looked at Trimdir.

"I know he doesn't look like it, but you can trust him," Trimdir said.

I hope you are right, Irwin thought. Then he took a deep breath. Trimdir hadn't steered him wrong yet, and he'd not even told him everything.

"I can reforge common cards to uncommon," he whispered.

Lord Bron's eyes began shining as he leaned forward. "I thought as much, but to hear you say it… How?"

Irwin shrugged. "It's a combination of a learned skill and my card," he said, staring at his hand.

"Learned?" Trimdir said, his eyes widening. "You mean…"

"After becoming a full-hand my card became… clearer to me," Irwn said with a faint smile, as it wasn't even that far from the truth. "I'm pretty sure you should be able to learn it with some help."

Trimdir's regular stoic expression cracked as he stared at Irwin with sparkling eyes and a boyish grin.

"That is great! We should go to the smithy right-"

"Trimdir, calm yourself," Lord Bron said, interrupting Trimdir, who grimaced and seemed to struggle before finally nodding.

Irwin focused back on the Lord, who had turned to look at him with a calculating gaze.

"So you didn't tell anyone this because…?"

"I was afraid I would be locked up to reforge forever," Irwin said dully.

Lord Bron stared at him in stunned silence, then barked a laugh.

"I don't know what type of nobles there are in Malorin, but I think I'll have to have them investigated if this is what you think of us," he said as a dull fire seemed to grow in his eyes.

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"Bah! Don't give me that crap," Trimdir suddenly snapped. "I could name a dozen nobles who'd do just that, and so could you!"

Bron blinked, and to Irwin's surprise, his shoulders slumped as the fire in his eyes wilted.

"Most wouldn't," Lord Bron said half-heartedly.

"Most wouldn't," Trimdir agreed. "But if the boy had met one of those that would? Besides… are you telling me you aren't thinking about the benefits? The people that could be saved with more uncommon cards? It would alleviate our dependence on the merchants guild," Trimdir continued.

Irwin felt a stab as he imagined the deaths of so many people. For a split second, he thought about telling everything. Then he recalled the real issue of their world shattered. If that happened, even if he created hundreds of uncommon cards, saving thousands of lives, it wouldn't help.

He kept quiet, looking back at the Lord.

"Fine, fine," Lord Bron said. "I won't force you to do anything. But-"

Irwin flinched, afraid of what would come, and Lord Bron frowned. "Don't worry. I just want you to teach Trimdir. The ability to create more of those will be invaluable."

Irwin quickly nodded. "I was planning on that," he said.

A wide smile appeared on Bron's face, and for a moment, he seemed much younger.

"Good! I hope you don't mind if I sit in on those lessons?"

Irwin blinked, then shook his head. He couldn't think of a reason why that would be a problem.

"Even better! Now… before we discuss those things more, I have another question."

Irwin could see that Lord Bron had to forcefully repress his interest, and he had an inkling of what was going to come next.

"Elder Gum'dil'ran told us that our world is going to end. The shattering he called it, an event that happened to his own world centuries ago, leaving nothing but shards of it drifting in primordial chaos."

"Primordial chaos…?" Irwin muttered, surprised to hear a term Ambraz had never shared with him.

Lord Bron inspected him, the man's clear eyes seeming to try and stare a hole in his head and read the secrets within.

"Interesting… so you haven't heard about that before."

Irwin shook his head, partially glad he didn't but curious to ask Ambraz about it.

"Well, after we learned this, Young Daubutim here shared with us that you know more about the troubles that besiege us, the reasons and possible consequences of the insane numbers of portals spawning. Is this true?"

Irwin took a deep breath, then nodded. "Yes."

"And you didn't share this… why?" Lord Bron asked, a slightly angry glimmer in his eyes.

"So I didn't have to explain how I learned about it," Irwin said truthfully and exasperatedly.

There was a stunned silence, and he noticed that even Daubutim was looking at him with curious eyes. He was probably wondering what he was going to say, which made two of them, as Irwin was still grasping for straws.

"I see. And… are you willing to share this now? Your friend mentioned something about overhearing demons?"

Irwin stared at the Lord, hesitated, then decided that he was damned if he was going to share Ambraz's secrets until he was a hundred percent sure to be able to protect the anvil. He'd spoken about it once before, and he had no idea who knew about the anvil now.

"No."

Lord Bron frowned and leaned forward, seeming ready to try and persuade him.

"But what I can do is explain what I know," Irwin said quickly.

Lord Bron quietly looked at him, and for a moment, Irwin thought he was going to be difficult. Then the Lord leaned back in his chair.

"Fine. I guess this will have to do for now," Lord Bron said.

Taking a deep breath, Irwin tried to organize his thoughts. When he thought he had it all, he began talking.

"From what I've heard, a greatly increased amount of portals spawning indicates an instability in the world they show up in. As the world grows more unstable, more portals show up-"

Slowly Irwin told everything he knew about the portals, only leaving out the things about Ambraz. Lord Bron remained quiet, only interrupting with a few pointed questions.

When Irwin finished, Bron shook his head in disbelief, his eyes fuzzing over.

"Hubworlds, farming worlds, towering golden portals, and guilds," Bron muttered, leaning back with his fingers massaging his temples. He was quiet for a while, staring at the ceiling before turning to Irwin.

"What were your plans? You must have had some… or did you just plan to flee?"

"No!" Irwin said, a sudden flash of anger making his words louder than he had planned. "I want to save my family, my friends," he said. "I wanted to… to become stronger! Get legendary cards, close portals to stabilize the world…" as he spoke, he slowed as he saw a look of sympathy on Bron's face.

"You thought you could save all of us… alone?" Lord Bron asked softly. "Close thousands of portals, including those beyond the wall… all by yourself?"

Irwin blinked and licked his lips. He suddenly felt incredibly tired.

"Yes," he said lamely.

"Not alone," Daubutim said from the side.

Irwin looked up to see Daubutim stare at him with a strong resolve.

"You are… brave," Lord Bron said softly. "But I'm afraid it wouldn't be very smart to let the entire fate of a world rest on your shoulders, no matter how wide and muscular they are."

Trimdir grunted, then laughed.

"Then what?" Irwin muttered.

Lord Bron tapped his chin before looking around. "Well… I'll need some time to come up with a complete plan, but right now, I'd say we start by gathering data. We need to get people into a hubworld and find out if our world is indeed a farming one or if we are just unlucky."

Irwin sighed. "For that, we would need to find a-"

"Tall golden portal with blue lightning around the edges that is not a legendary portal," Lord Bron said. "Yes, I heard you."

Irwin blinked as he looked at the smile creeping up on the man's face.

"You-"

"Know where one is. Indeed," Lord Bron said.

"Where is it?" Irwin asked, feeling conflicted. If he knew where one was, that meant he could go and join the Smith's Guild. However, that also meant leaving his own world.

"This is a secret guarded by the noble families and sorcerers, so don't go flaunting it. We don't need more trouble than we already have," Lord Bron said softly.

"I won't tell anyone," Irwin said, meaning it.

Lord Bron flicked his gaze to Daubutim, who nodded.

"None will hear it from me."

To Irwin's surprise, the Lord then turned to Trimdir.

The smith sighed, shaking his head. "Do you even have to ask?"

"Probably not," Lord Bron said before tapping his finger on the table.

"The great legendary Gelwin didn't mysteriously disappear. We know exactly what happened. He entered a portal that fits your description and never returned. The portal is below the ruins of Esterdon, and it's the reason why there are so many of the most powerful carded around it and why nobles all have guard towers there."

There was a stunned silence.

"Now, I probably don't have to tell you why nobody went in after him, but I'll explain a little because it is the basis of another problem we now have," Bron said after a moment. "The general consensus was that the portal ended up in a world-shard so dangerous that even the mighty Gelwin couldn't even return. So, for a long time, all we did was build guard towers and clear out any portals that appeared anywhere near Esterdon. The fact that many did appear there has caused many of us… more than a little worry and annoyance."

Lord Bron rose and began pacing along the edge of the table, prodding at some maps as he did.

"If it's a hubworld and Gelwin couldn't return, it's likely they were stopping him from returning. Maybe everyone who enters is incarcerated?" Bron muttered as he gazed at one of the maps.

"We need to figure out who enters the portal," Trimdir said flatly.

Lord Bron blinked and looked at him. "Yes. I was getting to that!"

"Bron, I told you to stop being so long-winded!"

Irwin felt his pants shiver minutely, and he swallowed but kept quiet. A second later, Ambraz buzzed him again, meaning his initial idea was right.

He wants me to go in…

"Say someone enters the portal and reaches the hubworld. What would they need to do?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from shivering.

"Gain information and return," Lord Bron said absently as he gazed at a map.

Irwin recognized it as the one that depicted Esterdon.

"Or- Irwin," Trimdir said, causing Irwin to flinch.

"Please call me Orwin," he said. "I'm getting used to it, and…"

"The sorcerers might still look for you," Trimdir said solemnly. "Orwin then. You shouldn't be the one to enter-"

Irwin felt his pocket shiver, and he gritted his teeth. He needed to talk with Ambraz! Even if he was going to head into that hubworld, how was he going to get past guards or prevent being imprisoned… or worse?

"If you don't need anything else from me right now, I… need to rest," Irwin said, slightly incredulous that he was talking to a lord as he was.

"Yes- yes, that is fine," Lord Bron said as he began pacing again. "I need to think about this. Come find me tomorrow morning."

Irwin nodded as he got up. Daubutim and Trimdir followed his example, then they all stared at the pale barrier that still surrounded most of the room's interior.

"Bron… cancel the barrier," Trimdir said.

Bron stopped and looked up, seeming amazed they were still there before raising his hand. The barrier vanished instantly. Then he waved them away, seemingly falling back into his thoughts right away.

A few moments later, the three of them were outside the room, and Trimdir stared at Irwin.

"I think you should sleep in the Smithy tonight," he said. "Galub assassins have been trying to catch people unaware, which is why so few are still here."

Irwin blinked, then stared at the door, wide-eyed.

"Don't worry about Bron. If demons could kill him that easily, they could have long since overrun the guards on the walls," Trimdir said with a soft laugh.

Irwin thought about the Lord's absent behavior and wondered about that. Then he remembered the very-rare card. Who knew if Lord Bron had more of those?

"Let's go," Daubutim said as he walked away. "I'm sure Lamia will want to talk to you."

"Wait, what happened while I was gone? Galub assassins?" Irwin said as he ran after his friend.