"The first new subspecies soulforce resonance skill," Irwin muttered, lying in his cabin, staring at the dark wooden ceiling.

With barely any movement and no roaring storm to deafen him, he finally had time to inspect his new card some more. Immediately after his reforging, they had left, as Ambraz was worried that the amount of soulforce he'd projected out might draw in a problem. The worst case would be some Oculithar, which would mean fleeing as they couldn't properly defend themselves with their current small ship, and only one Ambraz to boost the shields.

"I don't get that part," he said, looking to the side where Ambraz was nestled on the single shine his small cabin had. "But I think it's important."

"Yeah… I've been trying to recall what I know about Essence cards ever since you made that," Ambraz said, sounding distracted. "Usually, they are cards like your first one that massively change someone's body to resemble another species. The thing is…"

Irwin raised his hand and looked at it with a frown. He'd only changed slightly, his hands and feet becoming a bit larger than before, but beyond that, he hadn't found many obvious changes. None of his friends had either.

"What about Volcano Titans?" Irwin asked.

"After you got that cursed card, I've been thinking of all the cards and types I've heard about, but I can't remember seeing anything Titan among them," Ambraz said. "Giants, yes, and many different old-world versions for something that means a really big thing, but no Titan."

"And Amnathair?" Irwin asked.

"I think I've heard about it when I was reading up on Chaos Whales," Ambraz said. "From everything we've found, it's obvious those Amnathair are from the same period in history as Oculithar and Neamhnathair. We would have to talk with a librarian to be sure, but I think those are all words from one of the ancient lost languages."

Irwin nodded, humming thoughtfully. He knew he was asking a lot of Ambraz, but there were too many things on the card that confused him, and Ambraz was the only one he had at hand to ask.

"What do you think it meant by calling me a child of Yilda?"

"Kid, how should I know that?" Ambraz snorted, though there wasn't as much annoyance in it as usual.

Irwin looked at his bonded Ganvil, wondering why he was so distracted that he'd not even reacted as he usually did to an overabundance of questions.

"Ambraz?" he asked.

"What?"

"Are you alright?" Irwin asked, realizing the subtle emotions he felt through their bond suggested Ambraz was worried and confused.

Ambraz was quiet for a while before he sighed wearily.

"I've filled up again," he said. "The amount of purified soulforce you generated while creating that card was absolutely ridiculous."

Irwin blinked, then sat up on an elbow, absently enjoying the fact that he actually fit in the bed again.

"I thought you had used all your energy to gain some new abilities only a short while back?" Irwin asked, trying to recall when Ambraz had done so.

"Yes, and after I increased those as much as I could at this rank, I've been condensing down my essence, but… I've reached the point where I can't condense anymore."

Irwin stared at his friend, sensing Ambraz's worry.

"So, you are going to rank up to five?" he asked, trying to recall what he knew about Ganvils.

The first three ranks were deemed easy, and most Ganvils, except for the absolute bottom in talent, reached rank three, even if it took many decades. Rank four was a cut-off point, where only a subset of the Ganvils reached. The main reason seemed to be that their cardsmiths weren't talented enough to create high-enough-ranked cards. Without the purified soulforce those generated, it was nearly impossible, though the Ganvil's own latent abilities also seemed to start coming into play at this point.

At rank five, though… Irwin gathered his thoughts.

"You said you wanted to gain the ability to create new Ganvils at rank five?"

He only had a faint idea of the importance of this, but Ambraz had said that most Ganvils never got the ability, and those that did only took it when they couldn't rank up anymore.

"Yes," Ambraz said. "It only becomes an option at rank five due to the absurd amount of purified soulforce required to get the skill; that said, the main reason nobody takes it at that rank is that it would mean the only thing they can gain is that skill. However, with how condensed my essence is, I'll be able to unlock two more major abilities."

Irwin sat up on his bed, hand on his chin, curious what that would mean.

"What other abilities will you get?"

"Besides creating more Ganvils, I'll go for the ability to increase my soulforce sensitivity," Ambraz said. "With your plans to create cards from ambient soulforce, you will need all the help you can get. I'm already one of the most sensitive Ganvils that I know of, but for what you have planned, it won't be enough yet."

Irwin grinned and nodded." You are sensitive, that's for sure."

"This isn't the time for jokes, you brat," Ambraz snapped before flying up, circling the room, and landing on Irwin's shoulder. He let out a soft laugh. "Or perhaps it is. I could use some laughter right now…"

Irwin didn't react but quietly waited. He could sense Ambraz was still worried and needed to talk.

"The thing that has me somewhat annoyed is the choice after that. I could take my first true offensive ability, or I could take the ability Hou'dor took, which allows him to boost shields."

Irwin nodded as he recalled the immense usefulness of Hou'dor's ability. On his own, he'd been able to boost the shields far more than the others could combined.

"What kind of offensive ability?"

"It depends on the smith I'm bound with and the typings on their soulcard. The easiest would be a fire, kinetic, or sound-based attack. With your current abilities, I'd probably take a targeted attack, perhaps some sort of fireball or sound pulse."

"Or…" Irwin said, picking up on what Ambraz meant. "You could take a soulforce-based attack?"

"Exactly. Which is another reason I'm not sure where to go. Usually, those are deemed largely useless because, with three or more soulcards at diamond rank, it'd be near impossible to attack someone's soulscape directly… meaning you're as safe as possible. However, we've already seen that those Guidar seem to be able to do far more than what we know. What if we need to fight them in or around your soulscape?"

Or their own, Irwin thought, tapping his fingers on his knee.

As he thought on it, he began to understand why Ambraz had been so distracted.

His friend had to choose something that would determine his future, something more important than a handcard was to him. Even if he had three abilities he could choose, taking the ability to create young Ganvils and increasing his soulforce sensitivity meant he would have to make a hard choice.

"You said three major abilities," Irwin said. "So, you are getting minor abilities too?"

"Yes," Ambraz grunted. "Ranking up will give a few things. It will increase my maximum size, soulforce capacity, and sensitivity based on how condensed I am. I get a number of major abilities and an equal number of minor abilities. I already have things like reading cards, examining the cards and soulskills of people weaker than me, and the ability to project my voice into your soulscape."

Irwin looked at his friend, surprised by the versatility of what he would get when he ranked up. Although he'd yet to see a Ganvil that was as powerful in combat as he was, their versatility was immense. He didn't think it odd that some people theorized Ganvils were some form of adjustable soulcard. He didn't know of other species like the Ganvils, who gained so many abilities without taking them from others.

"When you rank up, how strong can you make our shield if you don't take that major ability?" he asked.

"Strong enough to hold back a single Oculithar," Ambraz said. "If I take the major ability, the shield would be able to handle nearly anything I can think of as long as I have enough soulforce to pour into it."

Anything? Irwin thought, picturing the enormous Oculithar that he'd encountered long ago and how it had almost torn apart a portal corridor leading between a world and the Portal Gallery. Did that include those…?

"Could you use my soulforce for that?" he asked.

"Yes, but before you go on, using your soulforce would also work for channeled attacks."

Irwin grunted, putting a hand on his head.

"Okay, I see what the problem is," he grunted.

"Exactly."

Irwin got up and began pacing through his cabin—three small steps forward, a sharp turn, and three small steps back.

"There's no way for you to condense your essence more and get another ability?"

Ambraz made a choking noise before starting to laugh.

"Kid, even Gynerigon, who had the highest condensed essence before me, could only gain two abilities. Getting three is unheard of!"

"So, that's a no?" Irwin asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ambraz snorted. "Yes, that's a no. Any more condensing and I might implode."

Irwin nodded as he pondered the other two abilities. He was pretty sure why Ambraz wanted the first, but he decided to ask anyway.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"So, the ability to make Ganvils is because…?"

"I need to be able to stop myself from progressing too fast," Ambraz said. "And having that ability means I can dump a lot of purified soulforce. It's the only way I know of. Also, getting it now means I can improve it when I rank up to six, which is something none of the current Monarchs did. Combined with the amount of soulforce you can generate, I could create more high-potential prodigies than all currently living Monarchs could, and potentially finally get either myself or one of my Prodigies to rank ten."

Ambraz's words carried a deep hope, and hearing that, Irwin knew he would try to assist his friend in reaching his goal as much as he could. That meant changing that choice was not an option. Besides, getting a powerful attack was something he could get another way, either with his own next card, however long that was in the future, or by making cards for someone else.

"Alright, and the soulforce sensitivity ability is to help me create cards from ambient soulforce," Irwin muttered, knowing he wasn't going to change that option for anything else either. Anything that would increase his chances of creating cards from ambient soulforce had to be taken. The benefits were just too big.

Which reminds me, I should really start practicing that again, he thought.

He had his otherself create a quick note that he put down on his work desk so he wouldn't forget.

"That leaves one," he muttered at the same time.

They were quiet for a bit until Irwin thought of something else.

"At this speed, how long till you reach rank six?"

Ambraz began laughing again, and it took him a moment to calm down.

"When we just met, I'd have said hundreds of years, if at all. A few years ago, I would have said under a hundred years from now, but with how we have been progressing? Somewhere between ten and twenty years."

Irwin grimaced. That was most likely too long to be of use for the upcoming war.

His initial reaction was to suggest an offensive soulforce ability, but as he recalled their first encounter with the Oculithar, he hesitated. Even without an offensive ability, he could still fight Guidar in his soulscape, but without Hou'dor's shield, they would have suffered massive losses when those Oculithar showed up. More so, as he recalled the other battles they had had, he realized that many had been ship-to-ship. If Ambraz had an attack that could take out a ship, that would do nothing if an entire fleet of Guidar was attacking them.

"With that defensive ability, we can attack a much larger fleet without initial worry," he said. "Can you take any minor abilities to prevent shadewalkers and teleporters from going through the shield?"

"Only shadewalkers," Ambraz said. "There are very few things able to block true teleporters."

Irwin nodded as he kept up the few steps forward, turned, and repeated. He was leaning toward suggesting the shield, but he wanted to know one more thing.

"You said at the current speed it would be ten to twenty years," he said. "So, what if we go to the gas giant and remain there for that long?"

He almost hoped it wouldn't work, as the idea of remaining there for so long, nearly alone and with nothing to do but train and grow stronger, made him shiver.

"If we can get enough cards, and I'm talking tens of thousands… we could," Ambraz said. "Though we would also need thousands of people to slot them so you can shatter their heartcards and rebuild them."

Irwin blinked, then grunted. "Right, that's the part that gives you the most purified soulforce. What about the Chaos Whales?"

"Assuming they are still there and show up, it wouldn't be enough. It's good for other people, but at our level, reforging heartcards is far more efficient," Ambraz said.

"What if we return home with as many cards as we can get? With the four-times time dilation, how long would it take to get you to rank six if I continue taking apart and reforging heartcards?"

Ambraz was quiet for a bit, then sighed.

"If you manage to do four heartcards a day for eight years straight, it should be fine. With the time dilation, that means it would take about two years in the portal Gallery…"

"No matter which rank?" Irwin asked, though he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. Shattering and reforging that many heartcards would leave him no time for anything else.

"Higher rank will be best," Ambraz said. "I was assuming an average of emerald."

Irwin groaned. "Alright, we can start it, but we haven't even returned home yet. Besides, reforging four heartcards per day, every day for that long…" He shivered, knowing it would mean he'd be doing barely anything else. Then, an image of his children, Scintilla, his mother, and the rest of his family played through his mind, and he felt himself calm down. If doing that for eight years would increase the odds of them living a happy, unbothered life, it was a small price to pay.

They were quiet for a while, both lost in their own thoughts, until Irwin took a deep breath.

"It doesn't matter. Who knows what else happens in so much time? Fine… My idea would be for you to take the shield ability."

"I… agree," Ambraz said, sounding final.

He flew around a few more times, muttering something Irwin didn't understand, before landing back on Irwin's shoulder.

"I'm going to go into your soulscape for up to a week to sleep. Try not to do anything dangerous, alright?"

Irwin felt Ambraz move to his soulscape before he could respond. He sensed Ambraz flying toward the new building between the volcanic mountain range and his forest of song trees. He focused more of his attention on his otherself.

~ Within Irwin's Soulscape ~

From within the new building, he sensed Ambraz's approach, and as the Ganvil approached, Irwin allowed his attention to drift around the building that Ambraz had made.

Dwarfing the previous house, it was a beautiful building, with many parts looking like they were made of a single piece of wood or stone. It consisted of two sections, the smaller of which resembled a spacious Inn with nine floors to house people of normal size. It was built in a cross between the style of Irwin's old hometown and the Ganvils' more elaborate building style, with intricate stone and wood carvings and a beautiful curved roof. Below that were small, uneven windows and balconies for the many different rooms.

The Inn was built against the second section, a large, towering construction close to a hundred feet high, which was where Irwin's otherself could rest. It had a single giant door, one large, high window, and a few smaller ones around the other side that allowed the warm light from his soulscape to filter inside.

The inside was built from dark stone and dark wood and looked like a cross between a cozy common room of an Inn and a forging area. A balcony covered one side, halfway up the otherwise open area, and Irwin stared down from.

Behind him was a simple but nice bedroom with an immense stone bed filled with sand. To one side stood a giant version of the desk he'd used before, while all around the three-walled room were little ledges and places for Ambraz to rest.

Irwin grinned as he pictured his kids running around here. To him, everything felt like it was regular-sized, but he knew that to them, it would feel like an enormous playground, with everything five times too high and big.

Ambraz had really outdone himself, using Irwin's soulscape's massive ambient soulforce density to create a building that would have cost many years to build in the real world, and he'd done so in a few days.

As Irwin glanced down into the smithing area, his gaze drifted across the comparatively meager amount of metals. It had seemed a lot when he was normal-sized, but stacked in the corner of a room that was five times larger than normal, it seemed woefully out of place.

It's a good thing I don't really need it right now, he thought.

He'd mainly brought it with him from Mudball in case they would need to relocate again, but if he was honest with himself, seeing the metal bars stacked there reminded him of the time he'd spent with Trimdir. It somehow gave him a cozy feeling.

Ambraz flew in through one of the narrow slits he'd left in the walls at the top.

"Why don't you appear closer to the building?" Irwin asked.

"Because I always appear in the center," Ambraz retorted as he began flying around the numerous perches, almost seeming to size them up.

"If you let me move you inside, I could bring you right here," Irwin said.

"I know," Ambraz grunted as he picked one of the more spacious ledges and sat down in the center. "I prefer it like this. Now, make sure not to disturb me!"

"Good luck," Irwin rumbled, holding back a small bit of laughter. He could sense Ambraz was nervous, something he rarely was, and he held back a sudden desire to tease the Ganvil with it.

"Luck? I don't need luck," Ambraz said. "Luck is for those without talent and hard work!"

Irwin grinned and held back a retort.

Ambraz's mouth vanished, and he stilled, looking for all intents and purposes like nothing but a regular anvil- one with a large nick out of the side.

Irwin stared at him for a while, remembering the first time he'd seen the Ganvil. He'd been a towering, massive thing, locked in his largest state by the chain and the linchpin. Irwin wondered how large his largest state would be after he woke.

Ambraz will be rank five soon, and I've got two soulcards and a heartcard. How far we have come.

He sighed, leaning on the sturdy railing that was capable of holding his massive weight, and focused on his soulscape, which stretched all around him. He could move his attention to every part of it, but ever since his second soulcard, he'd lost the ability to sense all his soulscape simultaneously. Only the foreign things he'd brought in from the real world stuck out.

I wonder how big it will become when I finally get my last heartcard, Irwin wondered, moving himself out of the building and near the top of his soulscape.

He gazed around the enormous area below, recalling what Ambraz had said. According to the Ganvil's estimations, the current size was roughly a hundred and fifty square miles.

As big as that was, Irwin could feel the edges expand outward at a slow but steady pace. It matched the tiny growth he felt from his giant body, which similarly seemed to grow a minuscule portion every so often.

Not just my soulscape… I wonder how large I'll eventually become, Irwin thought.

He couldn't help focusing more of his attention on his other, smaller body, which would allow him to live a reasonably normal life. It also grew, but only a fraction of his large body, and should keep him able to enter most buildings for the next few hundred years. Before it grew too much, he'd have to find a way to fix that, but that was so far away he didn't bother worrying about it. He might not even be alive by that time!

As he let his mind drift around his soulscape, he sensed the presence of his two soulcards. They were like a constant force all throughout his soulscape. Independent of the amount of his ambient soulforce, they had no single fixed place but influenced everything in his soulscape equally.

They seemed to sense his interest, and he felt them about to condense nearby. It took only a slight flex of his will to stop them.

After a short while, he looked down at his soullake, pulsing with power like a beacon in the center of this tiny world of his. Although it was already half-full, he could sense that if he let it grow naturally, he would die of natural causes before it was filled. Even merely eating cards would likely be impossible. If he had not known about the alternative ways, like shattering and reforging heartcards or reforging with the Chaos Whales, he would have thought he'd never complete it. As it was, it would still take a few years of constant work.

Thinking about the Chaos Whales, he wondered how those near Eluathar were doing.

As his mind drifted off even more, he felt himself relax and sink into a meditative state.

--

Almost a week after Ambraz had fallen asleep, Irwin stood behind the wheel, struggling to keep The Nocturna through the storm.

"The entrance to the main corridor is right ahead," Greldo shouted over the muted storm.

It better be, Irwin thought, as he felt his prodigious soulforce drain faster than when he was reforging heartcards.

He wondered how Ambraz and the other Ganvils were able to manage with, in his eyes, comparatively less soulforce. Was there a trick to it he didn't know? Whatever it was, he wished Ambraz were awake. He'd said a week at most, but that was close to being finished.

Within the dark swirling clouds ahead, he saw a crackling lightning bolt slam into something. An enormous barrier lit up, the light rippling up and down for hundreds of feet, not reaching the ends before slowly fading again.

That's larger than the one around Dimarintsia!

Keeping the Nocturna in as much of a straight line as he could, he headed towards the barrier.

After a few minutes of struggling with the wheel, the prow of the small dark ship dipped through the barrier. Within moments, The Nocturna's movement suddenly went from being battered around by monstrous winds to sailing forward as if on a calm river.

Ahead of them was a dark corridor, the ground covered in a dense layer of rock and soil, with large swaths of muddy water moving around. Far away, in the distance, was an enormous forest of towering dark-green trees, some of which seemed almost to touch the top of the barrier.

"That's incredible!" Fuchsia shouted.

Irwin could only agree. He knew Suiderfuix was led by a powerful Viridian family and that they cultivated this entire section of the Portal Gallery to be like a massive forest. Still, reading about it and seeing it were two different things.

No longer in the storm, he let the ship accelerate to its maximum speed, enjoying the shouts of joy from Brecca and Fuchsi.

"Let's hope our time in Suderfuix will be more pleasant than Dimarintsia," Greldo said, standing beside him.

"It should be unless we find more Guidar," Irwin said.

"I wish them luck if they are," Greldo said, growling as the shadows all around them seemed to pulse and contract, some longer ones whipping around like tendrils.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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.