Irwin's Journey 380: Large scale testing

Guildmaster Joulihn quietly watched the old Viridian walk out of her office. That annoying Shadowleaf Jablin glanced inside, nodding at her before closing the door, and she sat back down.

Well, that's just great, she thought, rubbing her head.

The door almost immediately opened back up, and Mazzareth glanced inside, looking worried.

"Is everything alright?" 

Joulihn smiled at the younger Scrimaril, somewhat surprised at how caring she still was during her Skeilrin. Most of her people who went through the third puberty became somewhat uncaring and highly competitive, but Mazzareth had surprised her by being mostly competitive.

"Everything is fine, Mazzareth. Come in and close the door."

Mazzareth jumped inside, closing the door with a loud thud. 

"What did that old geezer want?" she asked, rushing to the now vacant chair.

"Don't call him that, Mazza…"

"Why? He doesn't care," Mazzareth said as she sat down.

"Seizer doesn't, but those around him do. You know how rigid the Ruadh'trom are with these things."

Mazzareth snorted, but to Joulihn's surprise, she just nodded.

"Fine, teacher, I'll try to mind my words."

Joulihn smiled. Even after all these years, Mazzareth preferred calling her teacher when they were in private, even though she had long since become one herself.

"So, what did Lord Seizer want?"

Joulihn instinctively straightened her back, sitting upright as she recalled the conversation.

"He wants us to share that ship so his own people can research it," she said.

"I take it he agrees that we can't return it?"

"He did," Joulihn said, feeling slightly annoyed at that. Although she knew having the ship to research could prove invaluable for any attacks on Suderfuix, she despised the ease at which everyone around her just ignored the fact that they had taken something that was not rightfully theirs. As she grew older, she'd found that unlike those of the others around her, her beliefs were turning more rigid instead of more malleable. 

"Don't worry, teacher. We can just give that Yuurindi some cards, and she should be well compensated," Mazzareth said.

I highly doubt it, Joulihn thought, thinking about the Yuurindi's Captain. 

"Lord Seizer wants me to try and keep Irwin here," she said. "He told me the same things Irwin did, and he corroborated parts of it."

"What? How? Did he get a message from Dimartintsia? I thought we weren't allowed to due to the storm interfering-"

Joulihn raised her hand, shutting off Mazzareth's rapid-fire exclamations.

"He got a message from Dimarintsia, and no, he wasn't willing to let us use the crystal," she said. Before Mazzareth could start complaining, she quickly continued. "The soulforce required to make the connection takes months to recharge."

"Couldn't he have left us some?" Mazzareth whined. "You couldn't even verify what that Fiz'rin told us yourself!"

"No, although the storm will stop soon, it seems it's going to increase before it does. As it was, Lord Seizer barely got all the information he needed," Joulihn said. "Be grateful that he shared it with me."

Including a few things I'll keep to myself, she thought.

Mazzareth snorted. "Even after all these years, I don't understand these outer branches. How can the leader of a single world be more important than the Guildmaster of an entire branch?!"

"He isn't more important. He just doesn't defer to me as we are used to," Joulihn said.

"Well, I still think that's stupid," Mazzareth said, clasping her arms and glaring at the table. "So, now what?"

"Now I'm going to continue preparations for a full testing round to commence tomorrow," Joulihn said. "I want you to work together with the teachers to collect everyone that is ready."

"Really? I thought you were just going to test that Fiz'rin?"

"I was, but if we do that, it will cause him to stand out way too much. If we just create a last-minute testing round, it should cover at least some of that."

"Sure…" Mazzareth muttered. "Except that he's the only one to do a ruby-rank and above... to test..."

She stopped talking as Joulihn's smile widened.

"What? I thought… Who?!"

"I've told the teachers that anyone at emerald or higher is allowed to attempt to progress one time, free of charge," Joulihn said. "Including themselves."

"What? Why!?" Mazzareth shouted, pushing herself up in shock. "We don't have enough cards for everyone's standard rewards!"

"True, but Lord Seizer asked me to, and he is willing to double the cards we receive next month," Joulihn said.

Mazzareth thudded back in her chair, and Joulihn laughed softly at the antics of the younger women.

"Mazz, calm down. Lord Seizer has his reasons, and things will work out."

"Work out? But… I thought you wanted Irwin to stay here and find out where he actually went and where those other smiths he took from Granvox ended up?! Perhaps he's lying, and he's actually behind the smiths disappearing?" Mazzareth exclaimed, her voice rising as she seemed to lose control. "From everything I've seen and heard so far, he is dead set on leaving tomorrow. I don't even think he'd stay after he inadvertently fails to prove himself at diamond rank!"

Joulihn waited for Mazzareth to calm down, and when she finally did, Mazzareth's shoulders slumped.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"It's fine," Joulihn said. "Lord Seizer says we shouldn't worry about that. He has something planned that will allow him to find out where Irwin is going. He will also share what he finds, but he needs Irwin to use as much of his soulforce as possible, and the best way to do that is by causing a lot of interference. We both know how much harder it is to reforge when the ambient soulforce is riled up and muddied by so many others reforging cards. If we create a normal testing round, his soulforce signature will stand out amongst the others clearly."

Mazzareth frowned, seeming confused. Then her eyes shot wide.

"Lord Seizer is employing a Soulforce Tracker?" she muttered, turning pale.

"One that was sent from Dimartintsia," Joulihn said.

"Do… we know him?"

Joulihn nodded as she leaned back, staring out of the window.

"Terlo."

"Ughhhh," Mazzareth grunted in disgust, though her worry faded. "That disgusting… seriously? Well, I guess it's better than what it could have been. I thought he refused to work to the edges of the branch?"

"Normally, he does, but Lord Seizer must have offered him something he can't resist."

"Great… so that means you will allow Irwin to leave?" 

"Mazz, not even Lord Seizer thinks he can keep him here without great effort. Besides, what use is it keeping him here if he doesn't wish to stay?"

Mazzareth snorted. "Well, it's not as if he is that great. He's just one of those hacks that use Ganvil to make up for their own lack of skill."

Joulihn nodded at that. 

"Will you allow him to use that Ganvil during his test?"

"No. You know I won't," Joulihn said. 

"Then he will fail. He's what, forty years old? There's no way he has reached diamond rank reforging," Mazzareth muttered. "I bet he can't even reforge a propper ruby-rank card without the help of that symbiotic toy."

"Mazzareth!" Joulihn said, frowning angrily.

"What? You know it's true," Mazzareth muttered, though she slowly deflated. "It's why you kept all truly talented smiths away from Granvox, right? Because it ruins them?"

Had it been a day earlier, Joulihn would have fully agreed. However, now she thought about what Parka Cargrum had told her. How Irwin had showcased incredible skill during one of the classes, and that without his Ganvil.

"Yes, but you also know that those bonded pairs are incredibly protective of each other," she said, trying to hide her hesitation. "Also, we still don't know if it is detrimental in the long run. So, no calling the Ganvils anything bad. Understand?"

"Fine," Mazzereth grunted. "But if we both know he will fail, why are you even allowing him to attempt? He will leave and make you look stu-"

"Mazzareth," Joulihn snapped, leaning forward. "Control your anger."

Mazzareth flinched.

Joulihn sighed and rubbed her head. "If only half of what he said is true, combined with what we know of the other outer branches, we need to find out where he is from and how he knew what he did. There are only two average powers in this branch, and the storm and the Lasther business have weakened Dimarintsia. Even if it hadn't, none of the other outer branches managed to stop the attacks from overrunning them. That means there's no way we can. Not without help, and we both know that no help will come from the central branches."

"You… think he might be from a place that could help us? That makes no sense," Mazzareth whispered.

Joulihn sighed. She'd not shared her own conjectures with anyone yet, and as much as a problem Mazzareth could be, she was also the only one she could fully trust. 

"He came here with more knowledge than he should have, unwilling to explain how he got all of that," Joulihn said. "When he arrived on Fiverio, he already knew cardsmithing, or he'd never have been able to grow that fast. His cards are on a level that only the scions of the central branches have, perhaps even on par with some of those in The Heart. He isn't from there, so that means he is from somewhere else."

Mazzareth quietly stared at her, looking stunned.  "But… if you and Lord Seizer have him followed, won't that cause more trouble?"

"It might. But if we don't get help, we will be overrun just like the other outer branches," Joulihn answered. "Besides, there  has to be a reason we are not yet overrun."

Mazzareth stared at her, and her eyes widened. "You are going to have him succeed even if he doesn't!"

Joulihn sighed, knowing that the next step of the conversation was going to be even more annoying.

--

Rindiri tried to ignore the excited people cluttering together at the entrance to the Smiths Guild, but it was impossible. Apparently, so little interesting had happened over the last years that even the public testing of new smiths was something everyone wanted to go to.

Not everyone gets to see card reforging all the time, she reminded herself. 

She carefully pushed herself through the least dense area.

"I can't believe there's someone testing for Rubyrank Smith!"

"Stop getting so excited. It's probably just a few dozen going from Topaz to Emerald, and-"

"No, no! I heard that there's one person who was asked directly by the Grandmaster herself!"

"Really? Well, I hope that whoever it is shatters the card and causes a massive explosion like that Onyxian did half a year ago! That was amazing!"

"Ugh, you are such a disaster lover…"

Rindiri agreed with the last person as she finally pushed her way through the throng. There were a few dozen feet of clear space toward the gates, which, unlike on regular days, were manned by a handful of guards. One of them towered over the others and wore the same silvery armor the Captain had worn when she'd first seen him again. The glare coming from the slits in his helmet locked onto her, and she knew exactly why nobody in the crowd had pushed closer. 

"You! The guild is closed until two hours before the testing commences. Stay behind the line!"

Rindiri carefully removed the folded paper she'd been given when she exited earlier that morning and held it out toward the guard.

His eyes gleamed for a moment before beckoning her forward. As she stepped up to him, Rindiri quickly handed the folded paper, which looked tiny in the oversized, gauntletted hands. Still, the silvery-covered fingers unfolded it with surprising dexterity. A moment later, the guard stepped aside, waving her forward.

"Alright, you may pass. No more leaving until the end of these Cardsmith Testing rounds."

Rindiri nodded and quickly sped into the smith.

I wasn't thinking about it, she thought as she walked away from the gate. 

The square was quiet, as were the buildings usually filled with young smiths. Still, as she moved away from the loud gate, she began hearing the equally loud celebrations that were happening deeper in the Smiths district. Every restaurant and diner she passed was filled with people, mostly Viridians, laughing and eating.

When she finally reached her goal, the restaurant with the ten-foot high entrance that was close to the Captain's temporary residence, she realized the festivities were contagious. Smiling, she entered the restaurant and quickly spotted Captain Irwin, Dagger, and Youritz. As she approached, Kes'dor flew up from his perch on Youritz's shoulder and landed on hers.

"Took you long enough," he grunted. "I was getting worried."

Rindiri smiled and gently rubbed her finger across the Ganvil before sitting down in the empty spot between Youritz and Dagger across from the Captain.

"How are the others?" Youritz asked as he poured her a drink.

"A few were sad they couldn't see the Testing," Rindiri said, taking a quick drink before focusing on Irwin.

He looked as calm as ever, showing a little indication that he was worried about the ad-hoc testing round that had been sped into life just for him. The fact that some of the most powerful people in Suderfuix were attending didn't seem to faze him either.

Perhaps when he is in the testing grounds surrounded by tens of thousands of people…

"Captain, everything is ready," she said, taking out a small crystal from her pocket. "We have enough food for ten times our numbers for close to five years, but I'm afraid it cost more than we had anticipated. I had to spend almost half of the soulshards remaining on your credit crystal."

"Good. Greldo has brought Klatzi back to the ship and should be back soon," Irwin said, nodding as his gaze scanned the table, probably for more food. 

"Would you like me to order some more, Captain?" Dagger asked.

Rindiri and Irwin both looked at her at the same time, causing her to smirk. "I told you it would take some getting used to," she said, sounding smug. "Captains."

Irwin let out a booming laugh that reminded Rindiri of Boohm. As she recalled what Irwin had told her about the Onyxian man who had been their cook for so many travels, she felt a slight pang of sadness. 

I hope he is fine again, she thought.

--

"We will get used to it soon enough," Irwin said, glad to see Rindiri had returned safely. 

He'd have preferred to go with her, but Rindiri had said it would be best if she went alone due to how much attention he would bring.

Still wish I could have gotten all of Rindiri's people into my soulscape beforehand, he thought.

If they had to make a quick getaway, picking them up during a chase might prove far harder. He glanced around the restaurant, picking out a few of the older Viridians looking at him. They didn't even try to hide that they were keeping an eye on him, as they had been ever since he'd spoken with Lord Seizer.

They continued chatting softly for a while when the door opened, and Driseog walked in with Ambraz on his shoulder.  Halfway to their table, the Ganvil flew towards Irwin.

"Kid, I found us some cards, but not as many as we need," Ambraz said as he thudded on Irwin's shoulder. "A dozen shadowcards and atleast forty that could be useful if we reforge them properly. Some that we can reforge to trade in other places. That's it."

Irwin hadn't expected anything else, and he gave Driseog a grateful look. "Thank you for letting us check between what you still have."

"It is fine, Irwin," Driseog said. "I am sorry I can't give you what you need, but perhaps after your testing, you can ask The Guildmistriss for cards."

"I was wondering, why do some people call her guild master, and others call her guild mistress?" Dagger asked, leaning forward.

Driseog looked up, his face calm and collected. 

"The branch Lady Joulihn originates from calls every guild leader the Guildmaster, as in a title. However, here, we are used to calling a man guild master and a woman guild mistress. As she has been here for a long time, people have started mingling with them. However, when talking with her, most people use Guildmaster."

Irwin hummed and leaned back, listening to the others chatting softly about the oddity of everything. Slowly, his mind drifted off to what he'd be doing soon. A guild representative had found him that morning going over the rules. A large group of people would be showcasing their skills, reforging cards from quartz up to as high as they could. There were multiple moments where sideways reforges were required. To get to diamond-rank, he would be required to not only reforge a diamond card up to eighty-plus percent, but also sideways reforge it successfully atleast twice.

None of that bothered him, though when he'd been told he couldn't get any from Ambraz, he'd been somewhat let down. With Ambraz's help, he could have easily done every step, potentially getting a card up to nine-five percent or higher.

Still weird that it's something everyone gets to watch, he thought. 

The guild representative had told him that it was because it proved a fantastic way to find your potential smiths. The enormous amount of soulforce resonance caused those receptive to it to resonate in such a way that it was detectable. When he'd asked how that was done, the woman shrugged and said it was a secret.

As he pondered what had happened, time flowed by. At some point, Greldo returned, explaining that everything was alright on the ship. 

Irwin was eventually snapped back awake when a long, green, and yellow-haired woman appeared beside their table. One of the few humans Irwin had seen, she wore the tunic that all smiths guild representatives wore.

"Cardsmith Irwin, all smiths are to gather at the testing grounds for preparations. If you would kindly follow me?"

The soft chatter in the restaurant died down, not unlike what had happened the day before, though this time, nobody got ready to run away. Instead, Irwin felt dozens of gazes on him as he rose from his seat. He ignored them and turned to the other people at his table. 

"I'll see you soon," he said.

"Make sure to keep your signing to normal levels," Greldo said with a grin. "Don't wanna blow up anything."

Irwin returned the grin.

"Good luck, Captain," Rindiri said, and Irwin nodded at her before accepting the well wishes of the other Yuurindi.

As he turned to the guild representative, ready to leave, he found her watching up at him with a weary smile. For a moment, he thought she was afraid or intimidated by the size difference. Then her gaze flicked to Ambraz.

"I am sorry, but no Ganvils are allowed, sir."

Irwin rolled his eyes while Ambraz let out an annoyed snort.

"Whatever. I'll stay with Greldo then," his friend grunted, flying from his shoulder and landing on Greldo's.

"I'll keep him out of trouble," Greldo said, which caused Ambraz to snort again, much louder.

"Alright, let's go," Irwin said.

He followed after the guild representative, ignoring the quiet people watching him. Outside, a group of three others stood.

"Follow me, please. We are picking up two more," the guild representative said.

The other three, all Viridians, looked younger than Irwin, one being just a child with pale green hair. Irwin guessed that if she were human, she would be, at best, ten years old. The two older ones quickly followed the guild representative while the girl gazed up at him in awe.

"Wow, you are as big as an elder," she whispered. "Are you going for your emerald rank?"

Irwin smiled as he followed the others, his long legs almost immediately closing the formed gap. The girl ran beside him, giggling.

"You walk as fast as my grandfather," she said. "So? I'm here for my first rank! Quartz! Mom said I would have to wait for atleast another year, but now I can try it early! If I succeed, I'll be half a year faster than my big sister!"

"That is very impressive," Irwin said. He didn't answer her question, and she didn't seem to mind, rattling on and on about how her big sister wasn't allowed to try for her amethyst, so she could now catch up.

A short while later, they picked up two more people. One was an older human who glanced at them, his gaze lingering on Irwin for a moment before he followed behind them, keeping his distance. The second was an Ignitzian who, as soon as she saw him, began smiling brightly.

"Well, hello there, tall and fiery! I haven't seen you around here," she said, walking on Irwin's other side, her eyes drifting to his arms and her smile widening. "I'm Tindria. What's a Fiz'rin like you doing here?"

Irwin held back from rolling his eyes, pretty sure Tindria was in her Heat Time. As much as he liked Igntizians, he'd not missed their constant attention.

"What's a Fiz'rin?" the young Viridian girl asked before he could respond.

"Something very hot," the Ignitzian said, grinning at Irwin before looking at the girl. "It's what he is. Part fire and part metal elemental."

"Oooh! So you can make a fire too?" the girl exclaimed, raising her hand. Tiny red leaves sprouted from the back of her hand, covering her cards before igniting in beautiful orange and yellow flames.

Irwin smiled as he raised his hand and summoned some normal fire, shaping it into a beautiful tree, which was so detailed that the individual leaves were visible.

"That's amazing! Can you teach me how to do that?"

"Perhaps later," Irwin said before turning to Tindria. "I'm Irwin. Nice to meet you."

"That's my line," she said with a grin. "You wouldn't happen to be single, would you?"

Irwin blinked at the straightforward question, then smiled. "Sorry, I'm already taken."

Tindria sighed while the girl frowned at her.

"Did you just try to ask him out? That's not how you do it! Mom said you need to get to know each other first, eat, and perhaps do some gardening!"

"I'd love to do some gardening with him," Tindria said, smiling at the girl.

She rolled her eyes and looked at Irwin.

"She's weird. I'm Wildri! So you will teach me how to make fire trees like that after the testing rounds?"

Tindria stared at the girl in stunned surprise.

"If I have time, yes," Irwin said. "But it's possible I need to leave soon."

"Ow, that's a shame," Wildri said, frowning as if trying to find a solution to the problem.

"I've never seen someone that becomes a quartz rank smith as young as you," Irwin said. "Is that normal for Viridians?"

Wildri's frown vanished like snow in the sun as she beamed up at him. 

"No! My mom is a great cardsmith, and she taught my brother, sister, and me everything she knows from when we could walk! I got my first metal purifying hammer when I was three!"

"That's very impressive," Irwin said.

"It is, actually," Tindria said, looking at the girl with renewed interest. "From what I know, most Viridians aren't naturally gifted at sensing soulforce resonances."

"Well, I am," Wildri said, turning her face up proudly. "Mom said I'm probably going to be an emerald smith before I'm twenty."

Tindria whistled, shaking her head. "Well, I'm going to try for that now, but I'm already over twenty, so I guess if you manage that, you will beat me. What about you?" she asked, looking at Irwin.

Irwin hesitated and then decided it wouldn't matter much. They would see what he was here for soon enough.

"I need to prove my ruby rank, then I'm going to try for diamond," he said.

Tindria stumbled while Wildri's eyes went so wide Irwin feared they might roll from their sockets.

"How old are you?" a gruff voice came from behind.

Irwin looked back and saw that the gray-haired, rough-looking human was frowning at him.

"I don't know for sure," Irwin said with a shrug. "I've spent too much time on high time-dilation worlds."

The man sighed, looking annoyed. 

"Such a big advantage, having a naturally long life," he muttered before turning his attention back to his feet.

Irwin left him in his assumption that Irwin was much older than him. It wouldn't help anyone if he said he wasn't even forty yet.

The rest of the trip was spent by him answering an incredibly excited Wildri's question about how it felt to reforge cards up to diamond, what the best cards he'd ever made were, and how reforging with music was different from using fire and heat. Tindria joined in with the occasional question, and Irwin made sure not to tell them about any of the really crazy stuff he'd done.

After a long trip, they reached a walled area, which they entered through a massive gate. Two guards let them through with a nod at the representative leading them, and Irwin hummed in appreciation at what he saw.

Inside was a large oval area filled with smithing furnaces, anvils, and racks of hammers. Hundreds of people were milling around, while all around was a stair-like tiered seating, forty rows high.

"It's called an amphitheater," Wildri piped, looking around. "After we are all inside, Mom said that only after that people watching will be allowed in. They will see how we succeed or fail."

Irwin saw that her smile had faded, and she looked incredibly nervous.

"Don't worry," he said. "Just remain calm and just focus on how you were taught by your mother. If you get really nervous, close your eyes and think about your brother and sister and how tonight you will be in your bed sleeping, no matter what happens."

Wildri looked at him and smiled. "Mom said almost the same! If both of you say so, it has to be true. Do you want to have the forging area beside mine?"

Irwin smiled and nodded, following her as she headed towards an empty area.

"You have children?" Tindria asked.

"Six," Irwin said with a nod.

Tindria smiled as she looked at him with a slight wistfulness. "Yeah, I thought as much with how well you handled that. Guess you are older than I first thought you were. Pretty hard with you, Fiz'rin."

Irwin smiled and followed Wildri to some of the still-free forging areas. 

"I'll take this one," she said, smiling wildly. "Mom and the rest are going to sit over there, so this way they can see!"

Irwin nodded as he looked at the rows of seats. He wondered if Greldo and the others would find a place so they could see him, then he shook his head. It wouldn't matter. Greldo could just take them into the shadowrealm and give them front-row seats if he wanted to.

He walked to the anvil that would serve as Ambraz's replacement, tapping it with his finger and causing it to ring out. The sound was pure, and he didn't hear or sense any weak spots.

Tindria moved to another nearby smithing area, and Irwin looked around to see that just over half of the potential spots were in use.

Damn, so there could be over a thousand smiths here at the same time…

He wondered how the teachers would even figure out if the people were successful. Did they seriously have over a thousand teachers? As he looked around, he saw that people had begun filing the stands all around. He wondered how many were smiths themselves.

When roughly half of the entire stadium was full, a deep booming voice resounded throughout the stadium, drawing his attention to the previously empty center between the smithing stations.

"Alright, everyone! Most of you know how this will go, but just to be sure, I'm going to tell you all one more time!"

Irwin turned to where the voice came from to see Mazzareth, grown to her large form, staring straight at him from a position in the center of the smithing stations. As soon as they locked eyes, she turned her head around, staring at the other smiths. 

Weirdo, Irwin thought as he looked around.

A group of smiths stood just outside of the smithing areas, and Irwin recognized both the Guildmaster and Parka Cargrum, the teacher who had invited him for a drink. Both were watching Mazzareth, and Irwin joined them when the not-a-vice-guildmaster began talking again.

"In a moment, every one of you will be given a shard of soulcrystal which will record your process. It will be able to work up to topaz rank and will show the percentage of your reforging. We will all start with a quartz-rank card in a minute, and everyone will get three cards. You need to reforge atleast one of those successfully, but if you succeed with all three, you will be allowed to take all three to the next step. This continues until you don't have any cards left. To grow from one rank to the next, you must successfully reforge at least one of the cards to that rank. When we reach the step from topaz to emerald, very few of you will be left, and at that point, the teachers will take over from the soulcrystal. Now, are there any questions?"

Irwin wasn't sure he understood everything that would happen, but from what he'd heard before, he just had to reforge three cards in steps, waiting after every step till everyone else succeeded or failed. 

"Verry well! Now, you will be handed your soulcrystals in a moment. If there is anything you need to be able to reforge, ask them. As long as it isn't counter to the rules, you will be given it."

I wonder what the limits to that are, Irwin wondered.

He watched attendants walk through the smithing stations, and a short while later, one moved towards him. The green-leafed Viridian held out a small, perfectly square crystal shard on a long rope.

"Please hang this on your chest, and don't remove it until everything is done," he said. "These are your three cards."

Irwin accepted the soulcrystal and the cards, wondering if it was connected to the central soulcrystal network. 

"Are the cards alright, and do you need anything else ?" the attendant asked.

Irwin quickly scanned the cards to get a general feel for them. One was a utility summon vile, the second surprised him, as it allowed the wielder to draw moist out of the air into their hand to drink, and the last one allowed the wielder to walk across vertical surfaces.

"No, these are fine," he said absently, focusing on the second card. 

Irwin barely noticed that the attendant nodded and walked to Wildri.

He felt an immediate sense of kinship from his sweltering card, and he hummed thoughtfully. Of the three, that one actually had a lot of resonance with his own cards, and he knew it would be the easiest of them. The vile wasn't too bad either, but the final one felt… different. He inspected it for a while when Mazzareth called out again.

"Is everyone ready?" she shouted, looking around.

There were a handful of nods and some mutters of agreement, but overall, Irwin got a feeling of tenacious anxiety from the people around him. Either it was because he wasn't planning on staying even if he failed, which he highly doubted he would, or it was because he was so sure of himself, but he didn't feel one bit anxious. Instead, he calmly waited.

"Very well, then you can start!"

Irwin pocketed the vile and sticky cards before placing the easiest on the anvil. As he did, loud slamming, humming, and dull explosives came from all around him. He looked around to see that nearly all of the smiths were using fire in some form, either by wreathing the cards in flame or by actually holding them in the furnaces. 

Wildri was looking at one of her cards, holding a small hammer with fiery leaves wrapped around it. Her focus seemed completely on the card, and Irwin watched as she struck down. The resonance he heard from her card showed him that she was slightly offkey, but she didn't seem to be listening. Instead, she looked intently at the tiny fiery leaves, which were nearly identical in color but with only slight changes.

Going to check how that works before I leave, he thought while quickly scanning the rest of the smiths. He was the only one that hadn't started yet, and everyone seemed to be in a hurry.

Fine, let's get started then, he thought.

He focused on the card as he summoned his hammer. Closing his eyes for a moment, he focused on ignoring all outside influences, then he opened them and struck down, only listening to the resonance of his card.