"Sixteen…" Pelin grunted as he struck the metal before him.

  The resonance he felt with his cards was still far from perfect, but he knew he was going to beat the record and retake the number one spot. Even better, he had a chance to fulfill their teacher's objective, to purify some Lurast Ore in under thirty strikes!

  He ignored his aching muscles and the pain in his hands, focusing fully on resonating his cards while softly counting as he struck the metal again. The ore shuddered, and he squeezed harder, holding it in place with the tongs before hitting it again.

  When he finally struck the last blow, he felt the resonance flow past the squarish chunk of dully gleaming metal without even the slightest obstruction.

  "Twenty-seven," he said, rolling his shoulders and smiling.

  He tried to school his expression as he looked beside him, where Nugri and two of the other kids stood. Nugri's eyes were gleaming, but that was all that showed her excitement. The other two were different. Siblings saved from one of the harbors, and either human or very close to it, they were jumping up and down, grinning at him, their excitement plain to see.

  "Great job, Pelin! That means you are number one again," Sahdi, the younger of the two, said while his sister bobbed her head up and down in agreement.

  Pelin grinned back, looking around the room. Most of the other young smiths in training stood around two of the other anvils, at which his rivals were still working hard.

  "How many?" he asked, glancing at Nugri.

  "Rouder is at twenty-nine and will need at least two more," she said, before an uncharacteristic grin came to her face. "Ugiri is at twenty-eight and is almost done. One or two more hits."

  Pelin wanted to cheer and pump his fists in the air, but instead, he remained calm, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the balcony next to the smithing area. There, the head and shoulders of the captain, their teacher, were visible as he watched them.

  I wonder if he's proud of me.

  Pelin blinked at the thought, then waved it away. Since when did he care for those things?

  Focusing back on the metal he'd just purified, he didn't notice that his own smile had turned wistful and sad.

  ---

  Irwin leaned against the wall of the towering side of the smithy, looking into the top floor.

  As he watched his three top students work on their metal refinement, he thought back to his time in the Golden Friction Academy on Granvox. He'd been thinking about that time a lot over the last three months.

  Currently, he was thinking back to when Delavera Salvios, or Vera to her students, had watched him and the others reforge cards. She'd had a card that allowed her to grow into a giant form, not unlike his right now, and was taught by a special smithy. It had an open area on one side that allowed her to see into the second and third floors while having an anvil area for herself to practice in her giant form. Ambraz had modeled the building they were in now after that one.

  It wasn't really that long ago, but it felt so much longer, Irwin thought, as he wondered what Skylar, Pasilha, and Roubi were up to now.

  They are almost finished, he thought, letting his memories drift away as he focused on the three young smiths pounding their metal ore.

  Each was surrounded by a few of the less talented students, and he smirked as he thought about the rivalry that had blossomed within only a few weeks.

  As his gaze moved over the students who were not reforging, he held back a frown.

  It's so surprising how much the indication of someone's potential ability is determined by their sensitivity to soulforce, he thought.

  He'd expected some difference, even been told as much by Ambraz, but he'd been stunned by the reality. The three most sensitive ones couldn't just feel the soulforce better, but they could also manipulate their own cards and their soulforce to a much greater degree. The difference was so big that he'd mentally grouped his students in three batches. The lowest tier, who were still struggling to even refine the chunks of Rincian Ore, were usually practicing on the bottom floor. He'd let Ambraz tutor them, and he seemed to be enjoying it greatly. The middle tier, who could refine at least the Rincian Ore but needed hundreds of strikes and a full day for anything higher, took most of his time. Then there was the highest tier, the ones he was currently watching—his top pupils, who had surprised him and even Ambraz with their progress,

  As he pondered the oddities of what made a good cardsmith, he absently focused on the impurities in the ore being reforged. With the ambient soulforce being his own, he could feel the resonance in the metal with each strike the young prospect smiths made, probably more clearly than they could.

  That meant he was also the first one to sense when they were close to finishing.

  Pelin is going to reclaim the throne, he thought as he focused on the young man who was surrounded by the smallest group of observers, all three from the lowest tier and among those who struggled the most.

  As he watched Pelin strike down, he felt the young smith's soulforce push the final impurities out of the metal. The young boy's face lit up, and as he looked around, a momentary grin surfaced. It lasted for only a moment, then he started whispering with his friends.

  Irwin held back a grin before focusing on the other two. Rouder would only miss his goal of thirty strikes by one, but Ugiri might still make it. The young Yuurindi almost glared at the ore, her square pupils like tiny black windows, showing her emotions and desire to succeed. She struck with more force than before, perhaps motivated by Pelin finishing before her, and the resonance shoved nearly all of the remaining impurities out. Another strike later, she cleared up what remained, but as she looked at Pelin, Irwin could see the irritation. She'd been ahead of him for the last few days after finally catching up. Now she was behind again, and he could see it rankled her.

  Irwin didn't care as long as the competition between the three stayed healthy.

  Two of the three, he thought, almost shaking his head. He'd expected them to take twice as long to reach this point, and it meant he had to up his planning again.

  He waited as Rouder struck his thirty-first blow and finished. The oldest of the three looked at the ore with silent resignation, his shoulders slumped. The five other Yuurindi that surrounded him were whispering encouragements, but Irwin knew Rouder probably didn't want to hear it. He'd been the number three from the get-go, even though he spent every waking moment learning. Sadly, the other two did the same, and it seemed they were just slightly more talented. At least at this point.

  "Alright," Irwin said, his voice rumbling through the building and causing everyone to look up at him.

  "First, I have to say I am incredibly impressed by all three of you. I'd told you to do it in under thirty, fully expecting you all to need two weeks to reach it. Seeing that two of you finished today, and Rouder being only a day away from the goal-" he saw Rouder's eyes widen at that. "-I think I'll have to reward all three of you. You can all take tomorrow morning off and do what you want and play with your friends."

  The three frowned at him, and he knew what they were worrying about.

  "That's an order! So, no practicing in secret!"

  There was an instant and direct response as the three looked around happily, and a moment later, all sixteen of his remaining students looked around happily.

  Ahh… you all do recall you are here because you want to be? Irwin thought with a smirk. He held back his remark, knowing they might think he was being serious.

  "Now, tomorrow morning, I'll be placing new metals on the first and second floor," he said, watching the cheering subside as his students focused back on him.

  He leaned forward, staring at Rouder.

  "Rouder, tomorrow afternoon, you can come here and try as long as you want, and I fully suspect you will get below thirty strikes within another few attempts."

  Rouder's eyes hardened with resolve. "Yes, Teacher Irwin."

  "Good. As soon as you do, in the evening, all three of you will get some explanation from me on what to expect… because if you succeed on the final ore, which I fully expect you all to do, we are going to be moving to…" he waggled his eyebrows as everyone leaned forward, his three best students' eyes wide with anticipation.

  "Cards!"

  This time, the cheering was so loud he knew those outside could probably hear it, and he smiled. He wondered if they would feel as happy after having shattered their first ten cards. Purifying metal ore was easy in comparison, as you couldn't break it. You just had to keep going until you succeeded. Cards? That was a whole different story.

  "Now! Out with you! Go eat, rest, and have some fun," he said, waving them off.

  The sixteen children dashed out in a wave, chatting constantly as they ran down the stairs. Those who had them were excited to tell their parents, and those who didn't were ready to share them with anyone who would listen.

  "Not bad, kid," Ambraz grunted as he landed on Irwin's shoulder.

  "What did you think of them?" Irwin asked.

  "All three would be in the top hundred of their year if they had been in the Golden Friction Academy," Ambraz said, sounding confused. "Compared to you and the other Galadin smiths, they aren't exceptional, but they are definitely able to hold their own anywhere else."

  "What about the central branches?" Irwin asked.

  Ambraz snorted, then sighed. "I've told you before that I know very little of those, but what I know leads me to believe that they might not even be good enough to join those. I fear only people like you would qualify."

  Irwin looked around the smithy, thinking about what he'd seen during all his travels.

  "We need to figure out how to improve on that technique," he said. "If more smiths can create cards from their own soulforce, more people can become cardsmiths."

  "You would have to make it ten times, or more, simpler than it is now," Ambraz said.

  Irwin nodded, clenching his hands as he thought about the difficulty of it, knowing Ambraz was right. Even a few years ago, he wouldn't have been able to do it himself, and he'd already been near the top of all the young smiths he knew. Currently, he doubted he could find more than ten smiths who would be able to learn.

  We need to make it easier or determine a set of cards we can make that will allow more smiths to do this, he thought, focusing on his second soulcard. It was one of the main reasons he could do what he did, increasing his soulforce sensitivity to ridiculous heights, while his third soulcard gave him the soulforce he needed to practice as much as he needed.

  "We are going to practice card purifying again," he said. "If we can create a completely pure soulforce resonance sensitivity card, we are one step closer."

  Ambraz hummed in agreement, and Irwin could sense his friend's anticipation through their bond.

  "Let's just stay here," he said, summoning a few cards to his hand.

  Ambraz flew from his shoulder, landing on the ground and turning into his larger working shape.

  Let's see how far we get this time, Irwin thought.

  --

  Greldo looked at the broken harbor, slowly fading in the distance. A soft whispering and crying came from those they had saved, and he let out a weary sigh.

  A quick look around the deck of the Bigbelly showed Rindiri staring straight ahead while Nisziz and Brecka were moving between the survivors on the lower deck. Greldo heard them explain what was going to happen, answering worried questions about what it meant to go into someone's soulscape.

  Just ten this time, he thought, letting out a weary sigh, his gaze returning to the small harbor.

  Only one more, and then they would finally be done with the harbors. As much as he felt for those harbors they wouldn't be able to help, which were far, far more than they had been able to help, he was happy to be done with it. Even though he knew it meant a long haul through the center of the storm, it also meant they were this much closer to getting home. Besides, they were even cutting a long time from their journey. Without the storm, there weren't any corridors leading from where they were to the Eluathar Branch, and it would have added another month to their journey.

  Guess the storm's not all bad, he thought.

  Not that it would last a lot longer.

  He turned his attention to the storm beyond the barrier. It was still there but visibly weaker than it had been.

  His attention was ripped from the storm as he picked up one of the conversations between Nisziz and two of the survivors.

  "Wait… you mean that the exit portal closed on its own?" Nisziz asked.

  The weary old man, underfed and with thin wounds on his face, nodded wearily.

  "I know it's hard to believe, but I swear it was what happened. I was traveling back through it, heading to the harbor when it happened," he said in a raspy voice. "Something huge and dark moved along the edges, and the next thing I knew, everything outside had turned dark, as if a blanket had been wrapped around the exit corridor. A screeching came from behind, and as I watched that side, I saw the exit corridor's walls start to crack and shatter. It created a chain reaction, and there was a blinding flash as the barrier seemed to explode. If I hadn't already reached the end, I don't think I would have made it."

  Greldo stepped through the shadows, arriving beside Nisziz and the man.

  "Like a blanket, you say," he said, ignoring the man's wide-open surprise at his arrival. "Could it have been tentacles?"

  "Tenta… you mean from an Oculithar?" the old man asked. He seemed to hesitate, then shrugged. "I've heard the rumors, but those are just that, right? Rumors?"

  "No," Greldo said. "Think back hard. Is it possible that what you saw were tentacles that were wrapped around the corridor?"

  The man's silvery eyes narrowed as he looked at the deck. He shuddered, then shook his head. "I don't know. It went too fast. From the moment it happened to me, hitting the exit was probably a second."

  Greldo shared a worried look with Nisziz. They had been wondering why all those exit portals had been closed for a while. Initially, it had seemed like a measure by the world to protect them from the plague, but as they continued to find more and more, they had started wondering. Would every world cut off its harbor? Every time? It didn't make sense. But if something else could close them…

  That just leaves the question, why and how, Greldo thought.

  "Get them ready. I'm going to talk with Irwin," he said, stepping into the shadow and teleporting back to the Nocturna. A moment later, he reappeared at his own ship to the happy humming of the Chaos Whale babies as they drifted around.

  Irwin stood at the helm, looking at him in surprise. "Are they already done?"

  "No," Greldo said, shaking his head. "I just had a talk with this old heartcarded. Listen to this-"

  He quickly shared what he'd heard, and he saw his friend's worry grow with each word.

  "Do you think he was telling the truth?"

  Greldo hesitated, then shrugged. "There are some people in your soulscape who should be able to validate whether he is lying or not."

  Irwin looked at the steering wheel for a few moments, and Greldo could almost see his mind spinning.

  "Alright," Irwin said. "As soon as they are in my soulscape, validate his words. If they are true, we need to figure out what this means. We thought the closing of the portals was related to the plague, but if this is true, that might not be the case."

  "It could still be the case," Greldo said. "What if someone or something moves through the portal with the plague, and that causes it to weaken so the Oculithar can break them?"

  "Or it lures them…" Irwin said, looking up. "Which might be why we find more Oculithar around harbors with closed exit-portals."

  "I know we said we wouldn't reopen any," Greldo said slowly. "But perhaps we should. Who knows what's going on in those worlds? They might need help?"

  Irwin hesitated, then shook his head. "We have no idea what will cause. Perhaps it will allow an Oculithar to reach a world. No, for now, we are going to hurry to the last two harbors, save who we can, grab all the cards, resources, and everything else useful, and head home."

  Greldo grimaced as he pictured one of the Oculithar reaching a world. If it were a bigger one, it would probably leave the world decimated and destroyed.

  "Alright. I'll be back when those people are ready," he said, stepping into the shadowrealm and teleporting back to the Bigbelly.

  A few hours later, he was racing through the shadows again, dragging the baby Chaos Whales and Irwin with him. Time lost some of its meaning as he shot forward, alone and with nobody to talk to.

  He wondered what it would be like to have people in his own soulscape and the ability to be in two spots at the same time. It would make the boredom and loneliness of traveling like this far more bearable, that much was sure.

  Two days later, he finally found another unbroken section of the portal gallery, and he quickly ejected the Nocturna and the sleeping Chaos Whale babies out of his shadow pocket.

  "I can't wait till we are done with this," he muttered as he stepped out of the shadows onto the deck beside Irwin.

  "How far to the final harbor?"

  "A day or two," Greldo said, stretching his arms above his head as he felt Coal send dozens of shadow clones to scout the surrounding area. "So, did that old geezer lie?"

  "No," Irwin said, his face tightening. "At the very least, this portal was closed by something, and the only thing I can picture doing that would be an Oculithar."

  "That's great," Greldo said.

  Irwin stared at him, looking stunned by his remark.

  "What?" Greldo said, raising his eyebrows. "At least now we know what's happening."

  "Yeah, I guess you are right about that. So, no more Chaos Whales?"

  "Nah," he said. "But I expect we will find more during the last trip. Anyway, how are your students? Has anyone managed to reforge a quartz card yet?"

  "No," Irwin said, sounding weary. "The best three will need at least another month before one of them might succeed. The second group will need a year at best, but probably more… and the other ones? I can't be sure. Perhaps I'm not teaching them right."

  "If you can't teach them, then who can?" Greldo asked.

  "Just because I can reforge cards doesn't mean I'm a good teacher," Irwin said, raising an eyebrow. "But you know that. Anyway, it's fine. They will be far along when we get home, and all of them can join the academy."

  "But are you still planning on bringing at least some with you?"

  Irwin nodded. "The three best ones. Of the others, I think it depends on what they want. Some still have living relatives and friends, and they might not want to leave those."

  Because we have to leave some people behind, Greldo thought.

  "I wonder how much has changed," he said, changing the subject.

  He walked to the railing and leaned forward, staring around the empty, desolate section of the portal gallery. "How long were we gone? Four years?"

  Irwin walked beside him, sighing. "I don't really know. The time on Mudball kinda makes it feel far longer. I think it might be closer to three years."

  "So that means that twelve years passed while we were gone."

  Irwin didn't respond, and Greldo looked to the side to see his friend stare into the storm. He hesitated whether to say something, then decided against it, instead enjoying their quiet moment. Compared to racing through the storm, it felt great. Besides, he knew what Irwin was thinking about. His friend had shared his worries about having missed the growth of his nephew Drum, the long time he'd been gone from all their other friends and family, but especially the time he'd not seen his children.

  Even though that was only a bit over a year, and it could have been worse, he knew how much it bothered his friend.

  If Dahlia and I ever have children, I've gotta make sure it's after things calm down, he thought.

  Three days later, the two of them stood on the deck again. The final harbor, a forty-foot, wood and stone, poorly constructed building, lay far behind them. They had only found four survivors on this one, and those had needed immediate care, being taken into Irwin's soulscape with the others. That left just the two of them again.

  "So, this is it," Greldo said, crossing his arms. "Depending on how much the storm weakens, we will reach the Eluathar branch anywhere between two and four weeks."

  "Remember what we discussed," Irwin said. "No matter what, don't stop. But, if you do stop, I'll take that as that we are under attack by something, and I'll come out."

  Greldo nodded, stretching his arms and neck.

  "I'm sure it will be fine," he said. "Two of Coal's shadow clones are four days ahead of us, and everything is still clear."

  "Let's hope it stays that way."

  Irwin turned to him, putting an arm on his shoulder, staring at him intensely. "Don't try to get us there in one go. You know there's no need, and it's far too dangerous."

  "I won't," Greldo said, shelving the plan, knowing his friend was right.

  "Alright, see you in a few days!"

  Irwin rolled his eyes but didn't resist as Greldo pulled him into the shadowrealm.

  Finally, he thought. One long trip left!

  -

  "They didn't mind?" Irwin asked.

  "Captain, you are offering to find them a world… for themselves! If I didn't know about Eluathar, I'd have probably stayed behind with them," Rindiri said. "I've discussed it with the others, and all those who were either cured or can't hold a ruby-rank card will stay behind. Three of the soulcarded will remain with them."

  Irwin leaned back in his giant chair, looking at Rindiri, who was standing on one of the library shelves.

  He let his eyes drift from his navigator and friend across the rest of the shelf, along the door that Ambraz had created. It led to a room in the normal-sized building on the other side, to which Rindiri and a few others he trusted fully had access.

  "Alright. According to Greldo, our previous stop was the last. Coal's clones have already reached the Eluathar branch, and we should reach it in three days.

  "He is going to move there in a single final trip?" Rindiri asked.

  Irwin could see she didn't like that idea, and he understood why. Greldo had been running himself ragged over the last three weeks, trying to get them back as fast as he could. No matter what anyone said, he'd ignored them.

  To everyone else, it seemed a dangerous risk that was not worth taking, but Irwin knew better.

  "We need to get back before the storm is completely gone," he said.

  "I trust you both know what you are doing, captain," Rindiri said. "I just hope Greldo won't burn himself out. Now. I'll go and get everyone ready."

  "Alright, take the stack to the left. There are papers on it to tell you who each card is for," Irwin said. "Also, tell my students that there are no classes for the next five days. They can train by themselves."

  Rindiri took the stack of cards before looking at him, unable to hide the worry she felt.

  "Are you sure we will make it?"

  "We will," Irwin said, with far more certainty than he felt.

  If Rindiri noticed, she didn't say, but she nodded at him before walking out.

  Irwin waited till the door was closed before closing his eyes and letting out a weary sigh. He let his focus shift to his other small body, which was rushing through the shadowrealm.

  It was dark all around, remnants of the storm moving around like clouds in the sky.

  The speed at which they were moving was even greater than before, and Irwin didn't blame his friend. He couldn't see them with his eyes, but with the storm slowly dissipating, his soulforce senses felt the distant resonances, like enormous mountains. Greldo, however, could see them: Oculithar, small ones moving around in packs, and the occasional solitary one.

  Without Coal's shadow clones, they would have never been able to navigate to their destination.

  Still, that didn't mean they were there yet, and if what Coal's shadow clones had seen along the borders of the Eluathar branch were even half as bad as they thought, they had a final hurdle to overcome.

  Not finding anything noteworthy, Irwin split both of his selves, feeling one part of himself go to sleep.

  Hours passed by as he looked around, scanning for anything that Greldo, Coal, or any of the shadow clones might have missed. With a part of him sleeping, he didn't get tired, and soon, hours turned to a day, then another.

  Finally, somewhere on the third day, the surrounding world began to slow down, and far in the distance, he saw a shimmering blue barrier between the remaining storm clouds. Shadowy forms were moving across them, and as they closed in, he woke his otherself, bundling his full focus as he scanned ahead.

  Hundreds, then thousands of chaotic soulforce resonances flitted around the part of the barrier he could detect, all familiar and all unwelcome.

  Why are they all here? Irwin thought, glaring at the Oculithar, who were moving across the barrier as if searching for a way in. Blueish lightning flared up every time one of them came just a bit too close.

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