The first thing he felt was a dull, throbbing pain. His head felt like it had been split apart, and Irwin groaned as he raised his hands to his head.

"KID!"

Ambraz's relieved shout cut through Irwin's head like a dull blade, and he felt tears form in the corners of his eyes. The memories of what happened before he woke trickled back in. Irwin wanted nothing more than to curl up and wait for the pain to leave him, but he knew he had to get up and find out what had happened.

"Not too loud," he said, his voice a croak.

Opening his eyes felt like forcing them open against someone holding them closed. It took him a bit, but when he managed, he looked up. It took another few moments for his mind to catch up to what he was looking at—the swirling yellow fumes of his soulscape.

"Soulscape?" he asked, his voice still cracking.

Ambraz flew into view, and Irwin almost snapped upright as he saw the state of his companion and friend.

The Ganvil's body was dented and scratched on the top as if someone had tried to crush him. A single, long crack ran from the top down the side, stopping just shy of his metal lips.

"I was worried you wouldn't wake up anymore," Ambraz said, his voice filled with a barely suppressed pain and worry. "After that bloody Titan-thing tried to move into your soulscape…"

Irwin frowned as he sat up, pushing himself to his feet. He was lying to the side of his soullake, and a quick look showed it looked the same as it had before- roughly a third full. The sky was the same, and as Irwin shakily flew up in the sky, everything seemed just as it should be. So why couldn't he shake the feeling something was wrong?

"Wait… why don't I sense my body?" he asked, a sudden worry rippling through him. Images of being locked in his soulscape until he died flooded through him, added with worry for Greldo, Dahlia, and the terrifying prospect of never seeing his children again.

"It's all fine, don't worry," Ambraz said, speaking really fast. "Let's just say I don't think either of us ever thought we'd need that soulclone of yours for its worst-case scenario this fast."

Irwin felt his fear slink away, but not as fast as it had come. Pushing around, he realized he could sense his body, but Ambraz was right. He was just one… his soulclone -or my original soul- was gone.

"Greldo and Dahlia?"

"Fine, though no less worried than I was," Ambraz said. "That stupid overgrown card really did a number on you and the ships, though. Greldo barely managed to cut one free as the other, and the slab disappeared into the depths of the gas giant."

"So we are on our way back?" Irwin asked. "How long was I out?"

"Not that long, barely a few hours," Ambraz said.

Irwin felt relieved. At least he hadn't been out for days.

"So… why do you look like someone tried to chew on you?" he asked, unable to keep the worry from his voice.

Ambraz snorted. "Not a bad analogy. It certainly felt like that. When that… well, whatever it was, began drawing in the condensed soulforce of the gas giant to grow, and you had to rush to keep up, your hits became a lot more… forceful."

Irwin blinked, trying to recall what had happened, but all he recalled was fervently working against the growing sense that the card would explode.

"I did this?"

"Just the dent, and don't worry. It will heal… mostly."

Irwin frowned, moving closer and raising his hand to touch the wound on Ambraz's face side. He froze as he saw his own hand, as lifelike as when he was in the real world, and suddenly, he realized what was wrong. He felt real. Just as real as he did in the real world.

After he got his first soulcard, he'd felt and looked mostly real, but there had always been a difference. Now, as he focused on himself, he barely felt one.

It has to be because of my second soulcard, he decided.

Shoving the heightened sense of realism away, he put his fingers on the side of Ambraz's face.

"What about this?" he asked.

"When that overgrown quartz failed to slot itself in your hand and instead shoved in that fraction of itself, it tried to jump into your soulscape," Ambraz said. "That… didn't go so well, though I have to say, that immunity to being invaded doesn't seem to work against something that powerful. Anyway, your soulclone simply shattered, which is probably why you feel like shit."

Irwin shivered, then prodded Ambraz. "Fine. And this?"

"Let's say it seemed to think I'd make an easier… host? Vessel? I have no idea what to even call it. Anyway, it tried to slam its way into my soulforce, failed, and threw an enormous hissy fit."

"Will it heal?" he asked before shaking his head. "Wait, where is that thing now?"

"It will heal, though I'll probably become one of the few known Ganvils with a scar!"

Ambraz sounded very thrilled at the prospect, which took away any lingering worry Irwin had. If the Ganvil acted like that, the damage must look worse than it was.

"Anyway, after causing the surrounding ambient soulforce to whip around like a hurricane and ripping apart the bindings of the ship, that oversized card went down after the Chaos Whales," Ambraz said. "Who seemed incredibly excited and kept trying to nudge the card."

"So it wasn't able to see Greldo and Dahlia in the shadowrealm," Irwin said, relieved.

"Uh… not exactly," Ambraz said, causing the hairs on Irwin's arms to stand up. "Greldo said he felt something watching him, then got the feeling he was seen as too weak. He's a bit annoyed about that."

Irwin couldn't hold back a grin.

"So, what was it?"

Ambraz hummed, slowly flying forward. It took Irwin only a moment to realize the Ganvil was guiding them to the forest of music.

"Well, the sliver you now have has a typing called Amnathair, and-"

"Wait, you looked at the card?" Irwin said before summoning his tablatures. "Show me!"

As he flipped the book open, his eyebrows rose at seeing that the pages in the book had almost doubled.

I really need to check what changes happened after it became a soulcard, he thought.

Putting an empty page before Ambraz, he nudged his companion.

"Right, right! Can't we just use the normal book? You know how annoying this one is!"

Irwin looked at his house, far to the side. Contemplating speeding up to get there caused the dull throbbing pain in his head to increase, and he sniffed about to dismiss it. Then he realized he was being foolish and focused on his soulscape. He quickly sensed the tiny booklet on the table. With a slight flex, he pulled it towards him, and it appeared in his other hand.

Unsummoning his tablatures, he held out the book in both hands.

"Much better," Ambraz grumbled, landing on top. The soulforce resonated, causing a bright flash, and Irwin flipped open the book to the last page.

Card: Sliver of the Titan's Curse

Type: Amnathair, Ammolite, ???, Reforged by Irwin Roddington

Curse: Bound, uncontrolled-growth

Owner: Irwin Roddington

Ancient things never truly die, and sometimes their power stirs eons later, transcending time. The wielder of this card has been marked. 'Grow, little one, and perhaps we may rise once more!'

Passive: ???

Passive: Massively increased strength and constitution

Active: Grow in size [Amount based on soulforce]

Irwin swallowed, reading the card twice. Even just ignoring the fact that it was Ammolite and had the denominator "Massively", which was the highest he knew about, the description and name of the card made his skin crawl. Worse, he had never heard of the curse tag.

"Please tell me you put that final line in as a joke?" he said softly.

"I wish I could, but each time I tried reading the card, that just popped in with it," Ambraz grunted. "I have no idea how that even works, and I've never heard of any Amnathair. Even Dahlia was stumped."

"And the question marks?" Irwin asked.

"Resonance structures I have never seen before, so I can't get anything from them," Ambraz said, sounding annoyed. "I just know Brazardian is going to be so happy when he hears this. I can hear him now. 'I told you to learn all the lists, even the dead types.'"

Any other time, Irwin might have laughed at the way Ambraz mimicked his progenitor's voice. Now he just swallowed, his mouth and throat still dry.

"Dead-types?"

"Types that are mentioned in ancient texts or from legends," Ambraz said. "I know a couple from the old stories, like sun-born and anvil-maw, both supposedly typings that were seen on cards back on our homeworld."

Irwin hummed, then grimaced as the tone reverberated through his head and increased his headache.

"I hope my soulclone reforms soon," he muttered.

"It depends on the strength, and it could be as quick as a few hours or as long as a few days," Ambraz said before adding, "according to Juul'rish" almost belatedly.

"So, a weird message in the description, unknown typing and passives, and a rather ominous name," he muttered. "I mean, what's the Titan's Curse supposed to be?"

"No idea, but I think we should keep it to ourselves for now," Ambraz said. "I know of cards with the curse tag, and they usually aren't anything good."

Irwin nodded, reading the card again. "So what does it mean?" he asked, his eyes lingering on the word bound.

"Curses are pretty rare, though not unheard of. Remember your first card's cold weakness?"

Irwin rolled his eyes. "A bit hard not to."

"Right, well, if that had been something like, wielder dies when in a cold place, it would have become a curse."

Irwin frowned. "Let me guess, that's another of the things I would have learned later in the academy."

"It's just really rare, and most people who find one dispose of the card," Ambraz said.

"How many more rare things exist that I don't know?" Irwin muttered, glaring at the card's description.

Ambraz barked a laugh. "It's why I had no interest in learning the dead-types or lost-categories or even the uncommonly-found type lists! There are more of those things than the normal types, but you could go with your whole life farming cards in a farming world and never come across one! It's useless!"

Not so much now, Irwin thought as he stared at the two words. He had a sense of what they might do, but he wanted to get Ambraz's opinion first.

"So, any idea what the two curses do?"

"Bound is obvious, and you will find out soon enough," Ambraz said. "But you can't remove the card from your hand."

Irwin sighed. He'd feared as much, but part of him still hoped he could get rid of the troublesome thing.

"And uncontrolled-growth?" he asked, knowing it was probably pretty much in the name.

"Well, this is a guess, but I'd say that as it is a sliver both in name and how it came from that overgrown card…" Ambraz hesitated. "I think it might be going to try and grow back to a similar size."

"Yeah," Irwin thought.

He recalled the pain of the giant-sized card trying to force itself into his cardslot.

"Let's hope it can't grow on its own," he said. "Cause I don't think having my hand explode is going to be interesting."

"Well, if it were only a small problem, it wouldn't have been in the curse part," Ambraz said. "That said, from what I recall, having multiple curses means each one isn't as bad as having one. A bit like how having more than one passive means that each can't be as powerful as having just a single one."

Irwin stared at the card for a bit longer, his gaze drifting to the resize part. If he was going to get a card forced on him, that bit better be useful.

"Okay, let's head out before Greldo gets too worried," he said.

"I'm going to stay here a bit," Ambraz said. "Until my wound closes up, it's better if I don't go outside."

Irwin frowned, looking at Ambraz. The Ganvil had said it like it wasn't a big deal, but something about the casualness…

"Ambraz…?" he asked.

"Don't worry, kid," Ambraz said. "It will be fine. The wound should close within a few days, and after that, I'll be fine for more reforging!"

Irwin instantly knew something wasn't right. The sense of worry that came across their connection didn't match the casual tone at all, and he focused on Ambraz.

"Tell me what is going on," he said. "And don't bother trying to tell me it's nothing. I can sense your worry, remember?"

Ambraz was quiet, but Irwin sensed the worry grow and mix with annoyance.

"Fine," he finally snapped. "If I go outside like this, the ambient soulforce will infect me, causing issues with my soulforce resonance. It might take months before it closes, and even then, I can't put any strain on it for a while."

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Irwin was about to say that none of that really mattered, but he felt the worry from Ambraz grow.

"But it will heal, right?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes! Probably… I think so…" Ambraz's voice trailed off before continuing in a soft voice. "Ganvils don't get hurt a lot, and I've never been. I know it happens sometimes, and Yuul said I'd be fine, but…"

He's afraid, Irwin, though, as he realizes what is going on. Ambraz had said as much. He'd never been truly hurt, not physically, at least. He was afraid that it might not heal properly!

He put his hand on the Ganvil, feeling a sense of surety. "Don't worry. You will heal up fine, even if we have to start reforging inside my soulscape to get you your next rank-up."

"Yeah… Yeah! Right, of course, we will," Ambraz said, the sense of worry fading slightly. It didn't vanish, though, and Irwin hesitated. Should he stay here for a bit longer, or…

"Go, go! I'll be fine," Ambraz said. "You guys need to start going back, and I'll just listen to some music."

Irwin nodded, flying back slightly. He was about to step out of his soulscape when Ambraz spoke up.

"But, kid? Perhaps you can send the little ones in here when we return? I'd like to play a bit."

Irwin smiled at the thought of his children, then nodded.

"I'm sure they will come here and play with you all the time," he said.

"Good! Now, off with you! I want to enjoy the music on my own!"

Irwin snorted at being told to leave his own soulscape, then stepped out.

Returning to reality was accompanied by an increase in the throbbing headache, and he groaned as he put his hands to his head. He felt the same bloody edge of steel poke in his back as when he'd woken up after finishing his second soulcard, and he decided that they needed a better transport for moments like this.

"Irwin."

Greldo's voice was soft but still caused his head to feel like it was splitting.

"Yeah… keep it down," Irwin said as he pushed himself up on his elbows for the second time in a day. Wait, was it a day? He had no idea how much time the reforging had even taken. As he moved, he pushed against the metal side of the sloop and grabbed it. Instantly, a soft squeezing sound came. Startled, he jerked his hand back. The indentations of his fingers stood out on the rounded side.

Irwin licked his lips, then grabbed it again and squeezed earnestly. The metal proved hollow, and as he compressed the edge, he felt it compress between his fingers. Letting go again, he'd made a set of sharp V-shaped indents.

Okay, so massively is definitely a lot more than greatly, he thought.

Hearing a soft cough, he looked up.

Greldo and Dahlia sat on the two narrow seats behind him as his legs dangled over the edge of the sloop. There was no sight of the other one, the stone slab, or the massive card.

A slight itch came from his left hand, and he raised it to his eyes. The clearest card he'd ever seen was etched into his flesh beside the two empty cardslots. Beautiful but chaotic lines flowed and curled around it, and the cardslot beside it, while the image of two tiny figures looked like they could step right out. One was tiny, no bigger than a grain of rice, while the other was probably ten times as big and filled the image. They were featureless and simple, save for their faces. Three rows of two eyes seemed to stare back at him.

It's them… Irwin thought. Memories that the Chaos Whales had sent him filled his mind, and he again saw the enormous titanic beings fighting the Oculithar. Something about it was almost like right out of a story, and a tiny part of him wondered how much of this had been real. Then he gazed back at the card.

"Irwin, are you alright?"

Irwin looked up, noticing that Greldo had moved next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He'd not even sensed him move, let alone the hand!

"Yeah… just a massive headache," he said. "Can you get us back?"

Greldo watched him for a bit before nodding slowly.

"Is it safe for Dahlia to go in your mindscape?"

"It's fine," Irwin said, forcing a smile on his face. "My soulclone shattered, so I'm a bit woozy."

"We heard," Greldo said, his voice even softer. "Okay, if you bring her and the ship in, I'll get us back."

Irwin nodded and stretched his hand out to Dahlia. The other smith grabbed it, and Irwin pulled her into his soulscape. Then he turned to Greldo, grabbing the ship.

Greldo squeezed his shoulder and nodded.

Irwin pulled the ship in, but before he could even start falling, the world turned into a dark, muted shadowrealm. Immediately, his headache lessened, and Irwin let out a sigh of relief.

Maybe I should try to get a card like this, he thought.

He remained in the shadowrealm for a little while before stepping into his soulscape. Landing beside Dahlia, who was staring up.

"It's incredible," she said, turning to look at him. "Just two soulcards, and it's bigger than anything I have seen."

"Bigger than your grandfather's soulrealm?" Irwin asked, rubbing his head.

"Yes. Also, enough of this. Go and sleep. You will feel better after."

Irwin snorted and nodded as he walked to the nearby house.

I can't wait to try out that card, he thought, but as he did it, he realized that right now, he wanted nothing more than to sleep.

--

Irwin woke many hours later, and as he did, he felt a lot better. The headache was still there, but no longer the dull pounding it had been before.

Pushing himself up, he focused on his body. It was still moving through the shadowrealm from what he could sense.

"How are you feeling?"

He looked up to see Ambraz on his favorite perch, the deep wound as eye-catching as it had been before.

"I should ask you that," Irwin said as he got up, dusting the fine white sand from his shoulders.

"Good! Better even," Ambraz said as he flew forward, hovering before Irwin. "Look, the wound closed a little bit!"

Irwin blinked as he leaned in closer. He didn't see any change, but he hadn't examined the exact wound that closely. Deciding to help Ambraz feel better, he hummed thoughtfully.

"How long till it's gone at this speed?"

"Three months, give or take a few days," Ambraz said, flying to the table.

As he moved, Irwin noticed that his flight pattern was a bit erratic and not as fast as it usually was. Joining his friend at the table, he grabbed the large flask of water, draining what was left. It wasn't a lot, as he'd drunk most of it before he went to bed.

"So…" he said. "Do you think I can still just slot the cards we had planned?"

"Well, I wouldn't try reforging the other two anytime soon," Ambraz said. "And if you do, take the Earth Titan one and make it a good one for Mouzin."

Irwin nodded, looking at the web of cards arranged on the table.

"And for me?" he said, pointing at the cards on the side that were contenders. Something about his new card made him worried it might not be as easy as it could have been. The odd way the tattoo was partially wrapped around the next cardslot worried him. Ambraz's next words didn't surprise him in the least.

"Those lines…" Ambraz said. "It's almost as if it's already partially connected to the next slot. Perhaps we should take a good card, but not the best, and experiment."

"Just put it in and see what happens?" Irwin asked.

"Exactly," Ambraz said. "Though we need to wait till your soulclone is back."

Irwin nodded, and for the rest of the day, they discussed cards and the potential options, including what might happen if he slotted something alongside the titan card.

Three days passed, mostly spent sleeping, nursing his headache, and talking with Dahlia about the different oddities of his card. After a bit of a discussion with Ambraz, he'd told her about the curse part, hoping either she or Yuul'rish would know more. Sadly, they were as surprised as he was.

Halfway into the fourth day, and not long till they would return to the moon, what remained of his headache vanished, and a familiar sense of duality came to him. It lasted for a moment, then he felt his otherself appear above his soullake.

"Finally," he muttered, closing his eyes and relishing the lack of the distant throbbing pain.

They had traveled slower than average, Greldo having to rest longer than he'd expected. He'd said it was because Irwin had become heavier in the shadowrealm. He attributed it to Irwin's second soulcard, but Irwin wondered if it wasn't more likely that it was his new handcard.

Finally feeling better, the rest of the trip almost went too slow as he wanted to return home. He wanted to hug Scintilla and his children and try out his new handcard. As worried as he was about some parts of it, besides the impressive increase in strength, he still had to try out the active.

And figure out what the other passive is, he thought.

His hope was that they could figure it out on their own because if not, they would need to find a branch of the Smithing Guild large enough to have a book on the subject.

During the last bit of the journey, Irwin remained in the Shadowrealm, and when he finally saw the forest close in, he felt the incredible urge to resonate with his heartcards to rip himself free. He barely managed to stop himself, and as they landed, he wondered where the almost overwhelming urge had come from.

As the world reasserted itself, the wind flowing over his face and the smells returning, Irwin took a deep breath. They were standing a few hundred feet from their tiny hamlet, as they had decided to check how they were all doing first.

"You look a lot better," Greldo said, raising his eyebrows.

"And you look like shit," Irwin retorted, grinning at his weary-looking friend.

"And you're fat," Greldo said, his grin widening. "Fat on soulforce or something. Lugging your heavy soulforce ass through the shadowrealm was a chore."

"Will it be a problem when we need to leave?" he asked, suddenly worried.

"It should be fine," Greldo said, raising his arms above his head and stretching lazily. "We probably wouldn't need to fly around for half a week. Besides, the shadows are far denser there."

"Wouldn't that make it harder?" Irwin asked.

"No, now you're thinking about something besides that firewall," Greldo said. "In the Portal Gallery, the shadows are smooth and easy to navigate. Much better than here, especially if I need to bring heavy people around."

Irwin snorted as he pulled Dahlia out of his soulscape, where she'd been talking with his otherself.

"Alright, let's go and see the others," he said, heading toward the wall. He couldn't resist increasing his pace. He'd missed Scintilla and his children for months, and even though it would only be hours to them, or perhaps a day or so due to travel time, he decided he was going to spend the next day with them.

As they reached the wall, two of the Blademaidens waved in greeting, and from their relaxed stance, Irwin knew things were as calm as before.

As the door swung open, a loud shout came from inside, and a few figures dashed towards him.

"Dad!"

"You're back!"

"Finally! I want my card!"

"Make his a grumpy one!"

Irwin laughed as his children surged around him, with Soot arriving at the latest and scowling at the others. He was wringing his hands, and Irwin knew he probably wanted to ask about his card. Then there was a hushed silence, and Irwin blinked as he saw six pairs of eyes stare at him in awed wonder.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Mom was right," Mia said, her eyes sparkling. "Your eyes are just like Flux and Glow's! Just much brighter, and with all those swirling patterns!"

Irwin raised an eyebrow as Mia stared at him, seeming almost hypnotized. Footsteps made him up, and he saw Scintilla walk towards them, a wide, happy smile on her face.

"They are a bit different from the last time, but still so much better than when they are silver," she said. "I hope you can keep them a little longer this time."

Irwin sighed as he walked towards her and gave her a hug and a kiss.

"Blegh."

"Ooohhh!"

A gagging sound came from Soot and Glow while Zan and Mia shouted happily.

"So, how did it go?" Scintilla asked, looking at him and frowning.

"I'll tell you later," Irwin said. "For now, let's get Soot his card. He's waited long enough. Then I need to test something…"

"FINALLY!" Soot shouted.

Scintilla's eyes narrowed worriedly, and Irwin smiled as he kissed her again.

"It's alright," he whispered before guiding her back to the gates while their children ran around them.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.