Terlo yawned and stretched himself. Should he go out and have some fun, or was it about time to head back to Suderfuix? That old root, Seizer, was sure to value all the information he'd been able to unearth about the upcoming trade war.

  Besides that, Smith Irwin was going to remain here-

  Terlo shot up, triggering his soulcard. For one moment, he thought he was fast enough, then a hand clasped around his arm, and he felt something 'click'. Then all sense of his cards was gone, as he saw that hairy friend of the smith he'd just been thinking about glare down at him.

  Oh damn….

  --

  Greldo grinned down at the foppish man.

  "Well…. Look at that! I haven't seen you in a while, Terlo! Whatever brings you here?" he crooned.

  Behind him, he sensed Coal appear in the room, while dozens of shadow clones surrounded the building.

  "Sorry, do I know you?" Terlo asked, his eyes wide in confusion. "Also, what's the meaning of this?"

  Greldo hummed and nodded sadly as Terlo shook the arm with the soulcard-dampening manacles, the chain, and the second one dangling next to it.

  "Well," he said, reaching into his shadowspace and removing another of the chains, one meant for the neck this time.

  Terlo's eyes widened, and he seemed to want to struggle when Coal soundlessly loomed over him, teeth bared. A moment later, the chain was wrapped around his neck, and Greldo clicked the other half of the manacle in place.

  "Sorry, can't be too sure with someone as slippery as you," he finally said.

  Pondering for a moment, he sat down on one of the other couches and grabbed the plate of odd fruit. Half of it was gone from when he'd seen it through the window initially, but that didn't deter him from grinning.

  "You don't mind if I have some of this, do you?"

  "No, no. Go right ahead," Terlo said, looking sour. "Perhaps as payment, you can let me go?"

  Greldo took a careful sniff, then a bite from one of the purplish fruit the size of his thumb. It was just the right combination of sour and sweet, and he grinned as he ate the rest of it.

  "What? After all the hardship and difficulty I went through to get you?" Greldo asked, eyes wide in mock shock. "Why would I do that?"

  Terlo's eyes gleamed, and Greldo saw tiny shivers run through the chains.

  "I wouldn't try that too much," he said, pointing a green, finger-sized fruit at Terlo. "It can-"

  Terlo groaned, and a drop of blood slowly ran from his nostril down his lip.

  "-do that," Greldo said, shrugging.

  As calm and playful as he seemed, he felt a slight worry fade as he saw that the famous teleporter wasn't able to get out. He'd worried a bit that the chain might not have worked. Rindiri had told him that, in some rare cases, people had abilities that couldn't be blocked by them. Also, as it technically caused a counter resonance to cards, there were people like Irwin who could resonate with their own soulforce and thus be able to counter that.

  He was about to say something when Coal let him know that Su had returned to the room and was carrying a small box.

  Right… I guess she shouldn't be too mad if I tell her she can hike a lift with us, Greldo thought.

  "So, what exactly do you want then?" Terlo said, leaning back on the couch with a grumpy expression. "I take it you didn't capture me because you are impressed and just wanted to talk with me?"

  Greldo held back a snorted laugh. Was this guy even serious, or was all of what he was doing a charade?

  "Sadly, I don't have that much time," Greldo said, which technically wasn't even true. "No, the problem is that you have been following us, and we can't have that."

  "Ahhh, no, that's just a misunderstanding," Terlo said, actually looking relieved. "I'm not here for you! I just used the trail you blazed to reach this place. Seizer Ruadh'trom asked me to investigate a potential merchant war."

  Impressive, Greldo thought. If he'd not heard about Terlo and been told just what he was like and did, he might have hesitated and perhaps even believed him. As it was, he knew that the teleporter had been following them, if not because their route wasn't the most optimal to get here from Suderfuix, then because Terlo had this apartment here and was known to teleport to it on occasion.

  "You are really good at this," he said, shaking his head. "Sadly, I know you can teleport from Suderfuix to this room and back if you want."

  Terlo rolled his eyes. "That's a general misconception. My card only allows me to teleport across such distances once a year, and-"

  "Now," Greldo hummed, interrupting Terlo's incoming set of lies. "There are a few things we can do. First, we could kill you-"

  Terlo's face went still, his eyes gaining a piercing stare, and for that one short moment, Greldo felt like he was being watched by a dangerous predator.

  "-sec… ond, we can have you held captive by the Smith's Guild for a few months," he said, stumbling over his words before falling quiet.

  Terlo was just looking at him, the danger gone as if it had never been, but Greldo knew what he'd seen.

  "Oh, you are definitely dangerous," he muttered. "I was going to offer another alternative, but seeing this just now, I think it's going to be option one or two. Who are you, really?"

  Terlo looked at him quietly before he smirked.

  "Fine, fine. Yes, I was following you, but it wasn't anything personal! You guys have made a lot of people curious, so a few wanted to know exactly where your homeworld is," he said. "But, you can trust me when I say I'm not that interested anymore. I really am planning to return to Suderfuix in a bit to get paid to expose an upcoming trade war. It's much faster money than following you around on some trip across the branch."

  Greldo watched Terlo intently as he spoke, noticing that the garish nature had faded slightly. The only reason he wasn't killing the teleporter where he sat was that all he'd heard about him suggested he never killed or even overly hurt anyone. He was supposedly a tracker and information broker with a desire for good food and luxury treatment.

  "And how exactly are we supposed to believe that?" Greldo asked.

  "You can't trust me on my pretty eyes?" Terlo asked, cocking his head and blinking coquettishly.

  Greldo laughed and shook his head. "Sorry, they aren't that pretty."

  Terlo tssked. "Yes, they are, but I guess your eyes aren't as good as I thought. Whatever. Just release me, and I'll teleport to Suderfuix."

  "I might have gone with that if you hadn't just shown me your dangerous side," Greldo said, shaking his head. "I'm afraid the best I can offer is letting you be held here by the Smithsguild for a few months."

  "That will make my information far less valuable!" Terlo cried, leaning forward and seemingly forgetting his manacles as he gestured around. "Can't you just have them release me a few days after you leave?"

  "And risk you somehow tracking us or knowing where we might go and teleport there to intercept us?" Greldo asked, raising an eyebrow. "Give yourself some more credit. Nobody would believe you're incapable of that!"

  Terlo exhaled and seemed to shrink slightly. "Ah, the horror of being this good," he muttered. "Fine, fine. I presume you are right…"

  Greldo held back a grin.

  This guy is really a sucker for being told how good he is, he thought. Well, he could work with that.

  "It's your own fault for being so famous for your skill," Greldo agreed, smiling ruefully. "Perhaps you should fail a few times to-"

  "No, by Yilda. I have a reputation to uphold," Terlo shouted, looking mortified.

  "Well, in that case, we might need to keep you here till the storm fades?" Greldo suggested, trying to sound hesitant and unsure.

  Terlo looked at the ceiling. "Ah, to be this good! But no, not even I could find you if that much time has passed."

  "So… I'd suggest a normal teleporter be held for at least a month," Greldo pondered. "So, two months for you?"

  "As much as it pains me, three would probably be wiser," Terlo said, leaning back in his chair with severity.

  Greldo was about to continue their odd playact when Coal let him know that Bleak and two other cardsmiths had arrived below.

  "Well, I guess you would know best," he said, nodding in agreement. "The Smith's Guild has arrived, so I'll leave you in their fine company. It was nice meeting you again, though perhaps next time we should do so under better circumstances?"

  "That seems best," Terlo agreed. "Perhaps over some good food, with a few beautiful maids."

  A knock on the door interrupted Greldo's response. He got up and, while keeping an eye on Terlo, he opened the door. Bleak stood before it, towering over him. Behind the smith stood two slightly less massive men, each with more soulforce nullifying chains in their hands.

  "So, I hear you found us something special?" Bleak boomed as he walked into the room. "Ah! Terlo! It's been ages!"

  "Oh, it's you," Terlo said, his face scrunching up as if he'd eaten something sour. "Well, I guess hoping for one of your female apprentices was too much to ask for."

  Greldo saw a dangerous gleam appear in Bleak's eyes.

  "Greldo, thanks for capturing him. I'll take it from here."

  Greldo hesitated, then sighed. "I promised that he'd be let go in three months."

  "What? Why?" Bleak asked, looking up in shock, while Terlo let out a soft laugh.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "He's just that good," Greldo said. "Sorry about that."

  Bleak stared at him as if to check if he was serious. After a second, he grunted.

  "Fine. I'll see to it that the merchants don't know we are holding him, or they will request us to hand him over."

  "Good," Greldo said, not even surprised about it. He turned to Terlo and waved. "Nice meeting you, and good luck with that plan of yours."

  Terlo waved his two manacled hands. "Same to you. You're not half as bad as I'd thought you were!"

  Greldo grinned, but as he stepped into the shadows, the joy vanished from his face instantly.

  'Stay right behind him. If he makes any odd move, grab him,' he ordered Coal while he hovered into the corner of the room and sank as deep into the shadowrealm as he could.

  Now, to wait and see if all parties involved actually hold to their agreement, he thought, sitting in for what would probably- hopefully, be a long and boring wait.

  --

  Irwin hummed as he flew through his soulscape, staring down at the sprawling landscape. It was mostly barren hills and jagged mountains with lava flowing down into the valley on one side. The Pyroflux he'd brought from Igniz had seemed so plentiful at one point, but with the recent increases in size, the small rivers and the single lake appeared tiny compared to the enormous land.

  "I wonder if I can make more," he pondered.

  He scanned the thin, translucent, lava and metallic-like material with his soulforce senses and quickly shelved the idea. Creating something like a house was already a stretch, as creating the structures of the solid materials was difficult. Something as fluid as Pyroflux, let alone the amount he needed, would be impossible for him and most likely even Ambraz.

  Maybe I can incorporate Pyroflux in one of my future cards, he pondered.

  He might be able to link it to the sweltering part of his first soulcard. With how split-up his typings were, it would be best to focus on integrating any future soulcards with those he already had, and having one that was steam and Pyroflux based sounded like a great addition. Especially if what he expected would happen in the future became true.

  Speeding up, he rose higher to get a better overview of the sprawling forest.

  "If I bring in fire and metal-based lifeforms, I'll need more Pyroflux so they don't die," he pondered out loud.

  He'd also need vegetation and insects… which raised the second issue. How many of those could he hold before it would start to be a drain on his soulforce stability? He'd found that non-carded lifeforms barely even registered anymore, and even people with only handcards had started getting to the point that he wasn't sure he could even fit enough inside his soulscape to cause issues.

  Wondering what Ambraz would think of his idea, he felt for his bond, only to find it still asleep- just like his smallself in the real world.

  He hummed as he spun around, enjoying the sense of flying.

  It'd be awesome if I could add this to one of my future cards, he thought, knowing it was likely wishful thinking. He had a list of things he wanted, ranging from cards to amplify his battle prowess to others to better mesh the different cards he already had. One of those was his idea to get a Pyroflux steam card, which would allow him to control vast amounts of Pyroflux and bring them into his soulscape.

  Which means I'll need to find a world that has that…

  As his thoughts meandered all over the place, he flew into his forest and towards one of his favorite trees. Bigger than some of the others, it had a dense canopy of leaf-like pages filled with tiny writing, each holding one of the Galadin music sheets.

  He landed beside it, sat down, and nestled himself against the enormous tree. As big as his giantself was, the enormous black trees still made him feel tiny, something he'd started to appreciate over the last year.

  A cacophony of songs played all around him, mingling together in a soft, chaotic background chatter.

  He focused on the tree and his soulscape, and a moment later, the chatter faded as a single song grew loud and clear. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head against the trunk, humming along with the beautiful, ancient song.

  I should find songbirds, he thought, wondering if he could find some that could sing the songs of the forest.

  He almost fell asleep as he lay there when he felt Ambraz jolt awake, his bond's awareness reaching out and locating him. He felt Ambraz rush out of the building, hurtling towards him at speeds he wondered if he could match- even if this was his soulscape.

  It still took Ambraz twenty minutes to reach him, and as he closed in, Irwin rose and stretched.

  "Kid! I thought for a moment I was dreaming, but I want to see that card again!" Ambraz shouted before slowing down in a tight turn around Irwin, making a high-pitched humming sound like some giant wasp.

  Irwin grinned as he removed the Lavaforged Hand from the single pocket embedded in his simple white shirt.

  He held out his hand with the tiny card, barely as large as his fingertip, in the middle, and Ambraz landed beside it. Although his rank-up had made him twice as big, even in his smallest shape, he still looked comically small to Irwin.

  "So glad I didn't imagine things," Ambraz muttered. "So, what's the plan?"

  Irwin looked at the card and hummed.

  "I'm going to crush it, and I need you to create a barrier that will hold in all of its soulforce," he said.

  "I can… of course, but I'm not sure that will work," Ambraz said. "Perhaps we should try it with another card first?"

  Irwin blinked, realizing he should have thought of that. He focused and drew one of the cards from the least useful stack in the library to his hand. It appeared beside Lavaforged Hand.

  "You're getting better at this," Ambraz said. "Do you think you can learn to teleport around the place?"

  Irwin thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.

  "No, although I have almost complete control over the soulforce, teleporting is really difficult," he said. "Just pulling a card here is hard enough, and as it gets bigger, it's getting harder- almost as if the soulforce is becoming more rigid…"

  "Like in the real world?" Ambraz asked, suddenly seeming very interested.

  Irwin focused on his sleeping otherself, scanning the ambient soulforce before focusing on his own within his soulscape.

  "Not as nearly uncontrollable as that," he said. "But I can see it getting there if-"

  "If your soulscape increases in size more," Ambraz said. "I've been wondering about this, and I wish The Library wasn't off-limits right now so we could check it for information."

  "Why? Do you have an idea?"

  Ambraz took a final look at the cards before flying up and zipping through the air.

  "From how stable and large this place is becoming, I'm wondering if you could create an entire world here," he said. "I know there are legends of people with six diamond-ranked soulcards that eventually leave the real world and move into their own soulscape forever. There's nothing in those legends about how large their soulscape is, but if yours is any indication, there should be some who have entire worlds in them. Then there's the soulcarded that can't leave their world before it shatters and who become locked within them."

  Irwin thought about it for a bit, something he'd been doing on and off again ever since his soulscape had grown as much as it had.

  "Well, we will have to see how much it grows when this heartcard turns into a soulcard," he said.

  "How full is your soullake now?"

  Irwin scanned his soulscape and was left stunned. He'd not really paid much attention over the last few months due to the simply massive amount of soulforce it would require, and he only sensed its faint growth on occasion. Now, he looked in stunned wonder at just how much fuller it had become.

  "Almost at eighty percent full," he exclaimed.

  Is it because of reforging this card? He thought, staring at Lavaforged Hand. No, that would make no sense. What else had he done since creating his heartcard? He knew that at that point, it had been roughly sixty percent, no more.

  "... I wonder how that happened," Ambraz muttered before landing on the ground and changing into his largest, working shape. "For now, let's see if we can shatter this one. Just put it on my back and leave it to me."

  Irwin had been pondering what could have caused his soullake from filling this much, but Ambraz's words pulled him back to the here and now.

  "You can shatter it?" Irwin asked. He'd planned to just start a reforge and shatter it like this.

  "It's only a quartz-ranked card," Ambraz answered dismissively.

  Irwin did as asked, then watched curiously what would happen.

  A barrier appeared around the card, causing it to hover above the Ganvil's back.

  Shouldn't he be able to use those to move things around? Irwin thought.

  Then he sensed Ambraz's soulforce within the barrier, which started to tremble and shiver. Within moments, a horrid dissonant resonance came from it, luckily dulled by the barrier's presence. Still, Irwin shivered from the little he did feel, and he wasn't surprised when he saw the card start to shake.

  A moment later, the card exploded with enough force to bring down a small building. Ambraz's barrier didn't even shake, though Irwin felt the soulforce that his bond previously had used within was ripped to shreds, turning into more of the chaotic soulforce now rippling through.

  The roiling mass calmed only marginally, but Irwin quickly knew there was far less soulforce held within than with the Oculithar card. Probably too little to do what he was planning.

  "Can you add another card?" he asked.

  "Who do you take me for, kid?"

  Irwin grinned as he pulled another card towards them, noticing it was slightly more difficult, as if the chaotic soulforce was creating a slight instability within this area of his soulscape.

  Still, it was just a tiny bit, and a moment later, a small stack of cards appeared. He took the top one, placing the rest in his shirt's pocket.

  "Just put it atop the shield," Ambraz said.

  Irwin did as asked, then watched as the shield shimmered and the card fell through the barrier. It hit the chaotic soulforce, shook, and then exploded with even more force than the previous one. The soulforce had more than doubled, and with Ambraz keeping the shield the same size, the density had increased massively.

  "You can make it so something can still pass inside?" Irwin asked, somewhat awed by the display of skill.

  "Yes, but if we keep it this size only for a few more cards," Ambraz said.

  Irwin examined the soulforce and wordlessly put another two cards on Ambraz. Another shimmering and massive double explosion later, he nodded his head.

  "This should do. Let's try!"

  "Before you start, add some of your own soulforce," Ambraz said.

  "What? It will just turn into more chaotic soulforce," Irwin said, confused.

  "Just do it, kid. If my guess is right, you will understand why soon enough."

  Irwin didn't ask any more questions but condensed a large amount of soulforce before projecting it at the shield. He'd wondered how that would work, but it passed through without a hitch, and with a shrug, he began feeding it some more.

  "Wha- Stop!" Ambraz shouted.

  Irwin instantly halted what he was doing, and a moment later, he saw that the shield was shaking softly.

  "Too much?" he asked.

  "... brat, you're a monster… Also, why don't you try to imagine having to compress that much in such a tight space by yourself?"

  Irwin grimaced as he thought back to just how much soulforce he'd been pouring into the small shielded area. That had been hundreds of times more than he could safely compress himself.

  "Well, at least there's enough soulforce there now," he said happily.

  "Yes, well, go and create a card… Ugh, I never imagined I'd ever say those words!"

  As grumpy as he sounded, Irwin felt the intense expectation and joy that wafted through their connection, and he grinned as he summoned his soulstrum guitar. He examined the soulforce within, trying to discern what types were there and realizing it was almost impossible to tell due to how compressed and chaotic it was.

  Should be a lot of my own, so fire, metal, and sound, he decided, glancing around the area. Those three were what was here in abundance, so he closed his eyes and pictured his very first card. Although it had been a long time since he'd seen it, he could almost completely picture it in his mind, and he tried to determine what might be the first tone of the type.

  Focusing on his soulstrum guitar, he focused on what he felt were fire tones and notes and quickly realized just how many there were. There weren't just ten or a hundred, but only the area that covered heat with flames already had tens of thousands of them, and as he focused on a note, he found something else.

  The more I focus, the more they split up…

  He frowned as he tried to pinpoint the exact note, and when he finally thought he had something roughly like what he needed, he found another problem. He could play that exact note on his soulstrum guitar, but he didn't hear a difference. Although his soulforce senses were sensitive enough, his ears couldn't pick up the difference between that note and the ones around it. That wouldn't be a problem with that one note, but as soon as he wanted to play a song around it, things would become very difficult.

  "Fine, let's just make it a bit less specific then," he grunted.

  He pulled his senses back until what he felt and played was discernible to his hearing.

  It's going to be somewhat different from my first card, he thought as he played the note a few times.

  "You are overcomplicating this a bit," Ambraz muttered. "Just go with something easy for now."

  Irwin understood why he'd say that, but he had a plan.

  "Just watch," he said with a grin as he copied Ambraz's previous line.

  He focused on the churning mass of soulforce, easily twice as much as what had been within the Oculithar card, and flicked the prepared snare.

  A tiny ember appeared deep within, burning so bright it was clear as day, and Irwin quickly tied a simple melody to and around it. It jittered… then flickered out, showing he'd failed, but it didn't bother him.

  Without a teacher, he was going to have to find out what he was doing with trial and error, and he couldn't help but feel joy at the prospect.

  Let's see how this works, he thought as he focused his full attention on creating another card.

  Common = Quartz, Uncommon = Amethyst, Rare = Topaz, Very Rare = Emerald, Epic = Ruby, Legendary = Diamond, Mythical = Ammolite