Irwin's Journey 509: [Sidestory 5] How to get them to sit quietly?

Yagrav stared stupidly at the amethyst card lying on the dark red, glistening back of Bas'car. He'd been practicing for months, and he'd never managed to succeed. Now, in a few hours, Bas'car had helped him reforge a card. His very first.

Well, it's not like I did most of the work, he thought, thinking back.

Nearly all of the flaws in his reforging had been smoothed over by the Ganvil. He'd sensed parts of that, but not a lot.

"All right, you have all had a chance to sense what having a Ganvil's help feels like," Klei'am called out, drawing his attention back to the side of the practice smithy.

Charterhead Berjin stood there, while Klei'am flew back to his shoulder, landing there softly.

"For those who might have been hesitating, if this didn't fully change your mind, please let the Ganvil that wants to bond with you know. That way, they don't accidentally resonate too much with you and get locked down."

That's a thing? Yagrav thought.

"I wanna bond with you," he said, before Bas'car could even ask.

"Good to hear, though I had already gathered that," the ruddy Ganvil said. 

Yagrav thought he heard a sliver of relief in his voice as he flashed in a bright red burst, returning to his small form. A moment later, he flew up and landed on Yagrav's shoulder.

He is heavier than I'd expect, Yagrav thought, wondering how his friends would react if they saw Bas'car. 

At the same time, he felt a tiny sense of sadness and loss. He'd only really talked with Malliz a lot lately. Louka had been hanging out with some of her other friends a lot, while Sajin had been going out with his father more and more.

"You feel… worried," Bas'car asked softly.

"I think my friend group is slowly drifting apart," Yagrav whispered back, glancing around to see that most apprentices were now lined up. 

Lasada stood to the side with Lan'peri and Ter'dorn on her shoulders. The girl still hadn't chosen and seemed highly nervous.

"Is it possible for her to bond with both?" Yagrav whispered.

"Technically, yes, but that means both Lan'peri and Ter'dorn would have to split the purified soulforce your friend creates while reforging. Seeing as it's impossible to say if a Ganvil can even reach rank six with all the purified soulforce a cardsmith can produce, binding to two is the same as relegating yourself to never reaching rank five or higher."

Yagrav stared at Lasada, feeling sympathy for her choice.

"Who do you think she should choose?" he whispered.

"It depends on her goals and desires," Bas'car responded. "But honestly, I think she will pick Lan'peri. She wasn't wrong when she said that fleshy girls always gravitate to Silfzeron or Whispersteel Ganvils. It isn't an absolute, but it rarely goes any other way."

"So, what does that mean for Ter'dorn?" Yagrav asked.

"He is getting old, and he has just reforged with her, causing his soulforce to change slightly again. I fear that he, like many other rank zeros over the years, will be unable to bond."

"So he will always remain a rank zero?" Yagrav whispered before frowning. "Why doesn't he just bond with another smith with less resonance? If it only increases the speed, wouldn't it be better to at least bond?!"

Bas'car sighed. "Yes, and I agree, but the resonance between a Ganvil and their cardsmith isn't just about speed. It also has to do with personality and connection. If there is no resonance, or a weak one, the two will have a hard time really bonding. For something as personal as this? It's one of the benefits the Progeny have over us pool-born." 

The latter part was whispered so softly that Yagrav barely heard it.

I don't agree, he thought, with a frown. Why should a bunch of rank zeros remain unbonded, dying much younger than they should? Or whatever happened to them? Just because there weren't enough cardsmiths?

He thought back to when he'd been doing his test, pondering. If Ganvils could boost someone's ability to cardsmith this much, weren't they forgetting an option?

He was about to ask something when Klei'am began shouting again.

"Now! Seeing as everyone is done except for one, I ask you all to leave. Ganvils, you will remain with your cardsmiths from now on, but if anything happens, you can just return here. I'll be remaining in Virbrack for a few weeks before teleporting back."

There was a moment of silence, then newly bonded cardsmiths filtered out of the classroom, chattering with each other and their bonds excitedly. 

Yagrav glanced at Lasada. Charterhead Berjin was walking towards her, and he hesitated only one moment before focusing on Bas'car. "If she doesn't pick Ter'dorn, ask him to come find us before making any choice."

Bas'car was quiet for a minute before flying up without a word and rushing to Ter'dorn. He arrived there before Berjin did, and Yagrav saw the Charterhead look at the exchange curiously.

A moment later, Bas'car flew back, landing on Yagrav's shoulder.

Yagrav took a final look at Lasada before walking out.

"So… what do you have planned?" Bas'car asked.

"I think if the option is for him to be without a bond and remain rank zero, or find a bond that might not be the best but works, the latter seems a better option," Yagrav whispered.

"There are no cardsmiths here that resonate enough with him to make this work," Bas'car said quietly.

"Who said anything about cardsmiths?" Yagrav whispered back, grinning.

They continued through the charter without being bothered by anyone, which was as it had been since he'd joined. The emerald-potential smiths remained mostly together, while the topaz ones did the same. Initially, Lasada had been alone, but with her personality, she seemed unbothered by it. Now, the two of them usually spent lunch together, as did the others. It was something Yagrav didn't agree with, but he had been too busy learning over the last few months to be able to change it. That said, now some of them had bonded Ganvils, he knew it was another thing he should think about changing. He needed more connections, not to be pushed into some einselganger position.

When they finally exited the building, he was surprised to see a group of people hovering around the opposite side of the square. As soon as they saw him, their eyes snapped to Bas'car. A few turned and sprinted away, while a few others walked towards him.

"Trouble?" Bas'car whispered, not seeming worried one bit.

"No. Just a moment of annoyance," Yagrav replied as he waited for the three retainers. He faintly recognized two of them, working for some of the noble houses. 

"Young lordling Voitrag," one of the retainers, an older man with long metallic curled hair and dull silver eyes, said. "House Elglaim would like to congratulate you on your bonding. My master has asked if you would be interested in dining with him in a few days?"

Sure, and now you come. Like Bronzitures circling a prize, Yagrav thought.

Still, he had learned a lot from his mother, especially in dealing with other nobles.

"Thank Lord Elglaim for his courtesy, but I've been told by my teacher that I'll be too busy for anything but training in the foreseeable future," Yagrav said, feeling zero issue with throwing his Charterhead in front of them. There was no way they would try to bully him anyway.

"Ah, I am sure in a few months, when things will have calmed down, something could be arranged?" the retainer asked, seemingly unwilling to give up.

"Perhaps, but then you will have to return then," Yagrav said with a smile. 

The man hesitated, still seeming unwilling, so Yagrav just stared at him until he sighed, nodded, and left.

The other two retainers, whom he guessed were from the Balvorun family, the only other noticeable noble house, seemed to be holding back a smirk.

"House Balvorun would like to congratulate you," the older of the two, a woman with golden-orange eyes, said. "In two months from now, the Lady will organize a small party. You are hereby invited to join-" she handed out a small packet. "-and you may bring three others, if you so desire."

Yagrav had been wanting to ignore it, but hearing he could bring others made him hesitate. It was clearly done because they knew something about him. Three was too specific.

"I will discuss it with my mother," he said, nodding at them.

Both retainers smiled and bowed, taking it as acceptance, which he guessed wasn't wrong. It was likely that his mother would agree that it was smart. 

Though I guess it will be only Malliz and me, he thought as he walked away.

The other people hadn't moved, but as the emerald and topaz apprentices walked out, he saw them start to head forward.

"So… about Ter'dorn?" Bas'car asked.

"There are a lot of young people in Vibrack's Stand," Yagrav said. "Some who might have the sensitivity but not the desire to become cardsmiths, others who have the desire but not the sensitivity. I think we should bring him along to some of the places that are and see if we can find someone with whom he resonates. If we find one that isn't a cardsmith yet, we can try to convince them to try. If they want to but have low sensitivity, perhaps a Ganvil bond is enough to make it viable. A bond and a max rank of three is better than no bond and a rank of zero. Right?"

Bas'car was quiet for a bit, then hummed. "I don't know if that has ever been tried… usually we stay in Frisyuust and only head out for these events. Those who don't bond head back, besides, there are only Ganvils in Frisyuust."

"That sounds boring," Yagrav said before he could stop himself.

Bas'car laughed. "It does become boring after a while, though we have very good parties."

Yagrav wondered what a party of Ganvils even looked like.

"For now, let's go and introduce you to my mother," he said. 

A few hours later, he walked into his bedroom, Bas'car on his shoulder. He sat down at the table and let out a relieved sigh. 

"It wasn't that bad," Bas'car said, landing on the table, his wings vanishing into his metal frame.

"She asked if you were even good enough," Hargrav muttered. "She is supposed to be diplomatic!"

"It is fine," Bas'car said. "Instead, why don't you tell me why you have so much Scarlet Steel in your room. Not that I'm complaining."

Yagrav pushed himself up, trying to push back his sense of embarrassment at his mother's antic.

"Sure, but first… shouldn't Ter'dorn have found us yet? Or do you think Lasada did choose him?"

"He will need some time for himself," Bas'car said. "Knowing him, he will try to undo the slight resonance that occurred between them if he can, though he will likely fail. I don't expect him until tomorrow morning."

Yagrav imagined the Ganvil sitting somewhere on his own, mediating or something, and felt bad for him. 

I wonder how it must be if you can only ever become stronger with someone else's help, he thought, before realising how silly that was. Most people couldn't improve beyond two full hands without a cardsmith either.

"Right, the Scarlet Steel is here because mother wants me to learn how to shape it into armor and a shield," he said, walking to a chunk of it that lay on his bestand. It was a rough plate, too thick but already somewhat smooth. "I've been trying to use my metal shaping on it, but because my metal shaping is a generic one, it is hard. I can shape all metals a bit, but not one type very well. Still, I am improving."

Bas'car was quiet for a bit before landing on the chunk.

"You are… improving your control?" he asked, hesitantly.

"Yes," Yagrav said as he raised his bracelet, allowing the metal to slowly flow around his wrist. "When I started, I could barely make this flow and shape, but after a few months of practice, it's pretty easy. Still, each doubling of doubles how difficult it is, so it will probably be a few years until I can shape this as easily as that."

Bas'car was quiet before he pursed his lips.

"I see," he said carefully. "Tell me, what do you know of heartcards?"

Not sure what that had to do with anything, Yagrav shrugged. "They are the combination of some of the aspects of the handcards a carded had when all were combined. Depending on the highest handcard and the skill of the cardsmith, it has a certain rank, and getting it gains you a soullake, though you can't see it until the first heartcard turns into a soulcard."

"That is… mostly right," Bas'car said. "Technically, you already have a soulscape, and when you fill the first soullake, you will have to go inside as the soulcard forms. But, what do you know of the heartcard itself?"

Yagrav lay down on his bed, frowning. He raised his hand, summoning his greatsword, a beautiful, almost six-foot-long blade with a simple yet effective handguard. The blade just before it thinned, leaving two gaps for him to trap swords between and try to disarm his opponent, or better yet, snap their blade.

"Well, it's stronger than a handcard and has more options than any single handcard," he said slowly. "It leaks soulforce, which is why my eyes are silvery?"

Yagrav hovered beside him before.

"The skills a heartcard gives are fixed," the Ganvil said slowly. "You may be able to use them better, but the control they give, or the power they exhibit, doesn't change. There is only one group of card types that allows change, even when a card is a heartcard." 

Yagrav frowned and put his greatsword on his knees.

"What do you mean?"

"You said that you have become better at controlling metal… but that's not how it should work," Bas'car said softly. "You might have been able to use your ability better, but usually that starts with you shaping too much of the metal because you lack control. What you are describing can only happen if your heartcard has one of the growth types associated with it."

Yagrav immediately shook his head. "I don't know all the details of the cards I have, but I definitely didn't have one with that. Those are very rare."

"Well, if you are improving your skill, it is the only possibility,' Bas'car said with a finality that brooked no argument.

Yagrav didn't respond, prodding his heartcard but sensing nothing else than what he had ever since he'd gotten it. There was only one thing he could imagine, but if that were true… He almost pushed himself up to find his friends, then stopped.

"You have an idea?" Bas'car asked.

Yagrav looked at him. "You can feel my emotions already?" he asked, curiously.

"No, that will take months more," Yagrav said. "But your face is rather expressive."

Months?

He shoved his confusion and worry away, turning to his new friend.

"What if it's because the Guildmaster reforged the card?" he said. "Maybe he did something to it?"

Bas'car's mouth opened, hung like that for a moment before closing.

"I want to say that's impossible, but… I don't think I can," he finally said. 

"We can find out by asking the others," Yagrav said. "I know of at least two others who have a metal shaping ability."

"If that is true, you have the ability to grow stronger than you are now," Bas'car said, sounding slightly excited. "What is your heartcard rank?"

"Emerald," Yagrav said. "Why. Are you telling me that it-"

"Can rank up to ruby? Yes… But it's really difficult. It requires the base of your heartcard to be higher than what it looks like, but if it has one of the growth types. It still depends on which one, however."

Yagrav tried to recall what he knew of the growth types. Not a lot, besides the fact that growth cards were rare and that they allowed card skills to grow stronger. Apparently, that also counted for the cards themselves.

"Is there a way to check?" he asked.

"Sadly, not until you get the ability to move into your soulscape and take me with you," Bas'car said. "In there, you can summon the card that is your soulcard, and I can examine what it does."

Yagrav was quiet for a while, and slowly his many questions died down as he focused on the Ganvil.

"So, what do we do now?" he said. 

"You told me what your goals are," Bas'car said. "So I would suggest we work towards those while trying to improve our smithing as much as we can."

Yagrav nodded, lying back as he unsummoned his sword.

"I guess we should start gathering cards to fill our soulforce lake," he muttered. "Is it even smart to get a ruby-rank soulcard? That would mean I need to get way more cards, and I'm already looking at needing to gather thousands."

"It's better to have one ruby-rank soulcard than two emerald ones," Bas'car said. "From what I know, there are ways to fill your soulcard in other ways. The Guildmaster does it, and I know that Frisyuustis and Klei'am know some of them."

"Really?" Yagrav asked, eyes wide. 

"Yes, but it only works for cardsmiths as far as I know," the Ganvil said, landing on his bedstay beside the large chunk of Scarlet Steel.

Yagrav eyed both, then hummed.

"Say I finally get my soulcard in the future, do you think I should get another handcard with metal control, but then one focused on Scarlet Steel?"

Bas'car snorted. "If you can find one, definitely. It will increase our resonance even more, and unlike those Progeny, we will need every little bit of help we can get."

"Are those really that much stronger?" Yagrav asked, his eyes slowly drifting closed.

"Not stronger, but purer. They have barely any dissonance, meaning they can grow faster with less purified soulforce needed," Bas'car said. "Still, that's only a benefit until rank five. After that, it all depends on the cardsmith."

Yagrav blinked lazily, hummed once, then fell asleep.

--

"-sorry, old one."

"I knew from the start it was the likely outcome, I'd just hoped… well, you know what."

Yagrav yawned as he opened his eyes. He looked to the side to find Bas'car and Ter'dorn nestled on his table on the other side of his bedroom. 

"You found us," he grunted, flinging his legs over the edge of his bed and getting up. 

Yagrav grunted. He always hated the mornings. Somehow, his mind always retained some of the fog from sleep, and it took a while to get rid of it.

"I did, and Bas'car told me about your plan," Ter'dorn said in his calm, deep voice. "If you had told me before yesterday, I would have been unwilling to even entertain it, but now…"

Yagrav tried to clear his mind, grabbing a large mug of water and draining it in a single go.

Since when am I this thirsty, he thought, putting the mug down and sitting at the table.

"Bas'car told me you had to try and undo some of the resonance. Does that mean you failed?" he asked, only then realizing he might have been a bit too blunt.

"I did," Ter'dorn said, his mouth a long line. "I had feared as much, but the connection with Lasada was so strong. I should have known it was not to be."

Yagrav felt a bit sad, then he shoved it aside.

"Let's go and see if we can find someone else with a high resonance," he said, walking to the door.

A short bite, a quick word with his mother, and a rush to the Im'kalin estate later, he was walking through town with two Ganvils on his shoulders and a hyper-excited Malliz beside him.

"And you are sure there's no resonance between us?" he asked, eyes wide and gleaming as he looked at Bas'car. 

"Sadly not," the Ganvil said from Yagrav's shoulder. 

"Oh well, I'm sure Yagrav's idea will get us everyone we need to find you someone," the merchant's son said, his silver eyes shimmering sadly for a moment.

"Since when did you have an interest in becoming a cardsmith?" Yagrav asked his friend. 

"Oh, you know, when being one would help me be an even more efficient merchant?" Malliz said, shaking his head. "It's not that I really want to be one, but it was never an actual option. You know my parents. But, say, Bas'car would have bonded with me? Now, then, I had a good way to tell my parents I was going to have to do something else."

Yagrav looked at his friend, realizing he'd never known he might have wanted to do something besides being a merchant. He'd asked him sometimes, even fooled around, but he'd never gotten this answer.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked. "We can have you tested?"

"Oh, I've been tested," Malliz said. "Amethyst potential, nothing good enough. Perhaps with a Ganvil's help, I could have become topaz."

"Probably emerald," Bas'car said. "You could still practice a bit, just in case."

"No, it's fine," Malliz said, shaking his head. "I'll just have to make do with my best friend being a cardsmith. For now, let's see if we can get that plan of yours going."

They continued walking for a short while, until they reached a square that was small and huddled away behind some warehouses in one of the lesser-visited districts. Groups of people, ranging from kids to barely adults, sat around, playing Survive the Burrows. 

"Wan't to do it, or should I?" Malliz asked.

Yagriv waved him on, and his friend grinned as he walked to the center of the square, barely drawing any interest. That lasted for all but ten seconds as he began shouting.

"Listen up! We are having a tournament today, and the winner will get this-" he raised his hand, flashing a yellow border card around. "-an Axe Summon!"

A group of kids was already rushing forward, shouting questions.

Malliz chopped his hand down, cutting off their questions.

"We start right after the afternoon bell, but only if we can get everyone here! So go and get your friends, and enemies!"

"Are you crazy? That's way too short notice," someone shouted.

"We will do another in two days," Malliz said. "Now get going! If I think there are too few people around, it's not happening."

Yagrav saw some of the younger children hesitate, but most knew him and Malliz. Dozens of people sprinted away.

"You better not be messing with us, Malliz," a short girl barked, her eyes gleaming a dark red with orange specs. 

"When have I ever?" Malliz asked, sounding offended.

The girl hesitated, then nodded begrudgingly before she ran off.

"And now we wait," he said, walking towards a now-empty table with the others.

"Even if this doesn't work out, I want to thank you," Ter'dorn said calmly. 

"It's fine," Malliz said. "Perhaps you should just stay here even if we can't find someone. I can always use someone who can read cards as easily as a Ganvil."

Ter'dorn was quiet, then sighed. "If there were more Ganvils here, and not just bound ones, that would be a good idea. But as it is, I'd just get lonely. Still, thanks for the offer."

Less than an hour later, the square was bustling with people. Most were between twelve and fifteen, but there were plenty of those closing in on twenty.

"Now, here are the rules," Malliz shouted, jumping on the table. "I just did a check, and there's plenty of you with unlocked boards! Find a table with one, and put it on level five. You get one life each. Those that survive go to the next round, which means a reset and level six. If, by some miracle, more than one group survives, they duke it out on seven."

"Craaaaaazy," someone shouted. "Most of us never even beat four!"

"The winning team gets the card," Malliz shouted. "You start when the bell rings, so better get ready because-"

Yagriv flinched as the bell began to ring, and many of those present froze. Malliz didn't seem bothered.

"Go, go, go!" he shouted.

The hesitation and stunned silence vanished as people began rushing to form groups, and within a few minutes, silence returned to the square as everyone was fully focused on their boards and the challenge.

"So… I think they should be quiet and still enough for you to check now?" Malliz asked. 

Ter'dorn was quiet for a moment before grinning. "They are, and I've already found three that resonate enough with me to be viable. I'll keep watching, but how are you going to check who can become a cardsmith?"

"I've got that covered," Yagriv said as he pushed himself up. "I'll be back in ten minutes!"

He ignored the confused shouts from behind as he sprinted away, only taking Bas'car.

"You are going to ask Klei'am to allow you to use the tester, aren't you?" he asked, sounding impressed.

"First Uvra, then if she doesn't agree, yes, I'll try and ask Klei'am."

"I'll ask Klei'am if you ask Uvra," Bas'car said, sounding excited. "I wonder if we can get the few others that didn't find anyone there. Think Malliz would agree?"

"Of course he will," Yagrav said.