Irwin's Journey 442: The Tutor

Flowrishin quietly listened to the group of over a hundred smiths. Their work caused a symphony of strikes, hums, mutters, and even the occasional song to blend together in the meeting hall. Her senses were dispersed around, taking in the horrid blend of skill levels and smithing types. 

Absently, she grouped things together, not surprised by a few findings. Power and mental-diagram smithing types were the most prevalent, with a few singers among them. It was something she'd been noticing more and more over the last few decades, and she missed the greater diversity of hundreds of years ago. Besides the lessening of smithing type diversity, she also noticed that the general level of skill had gone down again since seven years ago.

Another seven years have come and gone, and again, we require new tutors from a pool of ever-shrinking quality, she thought.

A stab of pain came from her left hand, and she gently rubbed it. She'd tried to compensate for the lack of high-rank cards by reforging all of them herself, working weeks in a row, and her old body wasn't too happy with it.

Her mind drifted off to the last six years. They didn't need any new teachers at those times, meaning she'd been free not to attend. Those had been genuine competitions, which, at that level, bored her so much she'd rather do anything but attend. Still, she would have preferred even those if it meant the teachers would just remain. Her senses flowed across the group of teachers, which comprised nearly all of those actively teaching, researching, or working cards currently employed by the school. 

She really hoped these would stay and not be tempted by the offers of the distant Grovelords. 

Idle hope, she told herself, as two names drifted to the front of her mind.

She sighed. No, she would likely be here again, even faster than before. Perhaps in a year or two, like now, again praying to the eternal tree for some proper teachers.

I still don't understand why things have changed as they have, she thought to herself.

The number of cards gained from the Burrows had only been going up, as they had for fifty years now, reaching numbers that hadn't been seen for hundreds of years, not since when she was a young sprouting. So, why weren't there more and better smiths arriving to teach? Were the offers of the Grovelords really that good?

You know they are…

She sighed again and was about to scan the current batch of smiths to find prospective teachers when she sensed something impossible. 

A soft gasp from the side showed she wasn't the only one who'd noticed.

Her gaze sharpened as she looked at one of the smiths, the cause of her shock. It was a towering Oxarite that looked like he'd been molded from Firesteel. He was smiling as the quartz card he'd been working on solidified cleanly into an Amethyst one.

"How long ago did they start?" she whispered, turning to her left.

Uvaran Laendrin, one of her more trusted teachers and the one she was hoping would eventually replace her, glanced at her before focusing back on the smith.

"Under twenty minutes," he whispered, his deep green eyes sparkling with interest. "If that wasn't some record, I don't know what is."

Twenty? I can't even do that in double the time, Flowrishin thought, focusing on the smith who'd put the card back on the anvil.

Without even taking the time to wait, he began again, and she tried to focus on him over the others. It was difficult due to the constant interference until she found a deep, calming hum amidst the cacophony. As soon as she did, she couldn't believe she'd not heard it before.

Deep, resonant, and with such a perfect pitch that it was as if she were listening to one of the Parealion Dawnsingers. The soulforce that rippled around him was deep and constant, flowing with a slow and steady pace like the streams of magma below the earth.

With calm, measured strikes, the smith reformed the card, and she felt her mind go numb as he sideways reforged it while increasing the card to topaz rank. 

At some point, she knew she was focusing fully on him, not paying attention to the others. As the headteacher, she knew she needed to inspect the others, but she just couldn't get herself to stop watching. 

She'd seen something like this before, over two hundred years ago, before most of those present had been seeded. The headteacher of the time, Flowella Kil'nead, had been the last one able to reforge cards at Emerald rank. However, she wondered if even her great-grandmother would have been able to make it seem this effortless.

Who is he? Did he hide in the Oxarite Empire and come here because of the internal conflicts brewing?

"Ridiculous," Uvaran whispered from beside her.

Apt, Flowrishin agreed as she watched the unnamed smith slowly finish the card.

It flashed twice before smoothly condensing into a sideways reforged Topaz. She didn't need to examine it to know it was as perfect as the naturally occurring ones that dropped from the Insectoids or the mindless Fire and Metal elementals. 

"Keep an eye on the rest," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. "Make sure the others are also watching them; don't act the way we all feel."

"Right," Uvaran said with barely hidden hilarity. "You mean not awed, confused, and afraid like they are now?"

Flowrishin quickly looked around. All of the teachers, with the exception of a few, stared at the Oxarite smith with all the emotions just listed. She also saw some desire and curiosity mixed in while Boreklif and Sandrax, the two Oxarite teachers already employed, were whispering in excited bursts.

"Hurry," Flourishing hissed as she turned her attention to the smith. 

She wondered if he was going to deliver his card now, which she knew would net him one of the two positions. 

Rotting roots, if I'd already chosen two, I'd have made an exception for him, she thought.

Still, she wondered if he was going to try for the next step. It was clear to her that he'd be able to do more; the ease with which he'd reforged and sideways reforged a card to Topaz told her that he was definitely not even trying. Still, the step from Topaz to Emerald was immense, and the singing style of Smithing was one of those that worked best without interference.

As she watched him, the smith looked up at her. Their eyes met, and Flowrishin saw the surprise in his. 

She smiled and nodded, then almost froze as the smith raised an eyebrow and mouthed something.

Did he just say 'more'?

Flowrishin hesitated, then nodded, trying to keep her face calm. She wasn't sure if she succeeded because the smith's lips quirked in a smile before he looked back at his anvil.

--

Irwin hummed as he looked away from the headteacher. He'd tried to forge at a slow speed, trying not to do anything too extreme, but halfway into the topaz-reforge, he had realized he'd overestimated the present smith's ability. Starting with the headteacher herself, he had felt ever more soulforce signatures focused on him. 

Can they even help me refine the cardseed making if they can't even do this much? he wondered. 

Perhaps he should have created a new cardschool somewhere out of the way…

'I thought you said you were going to take it easy?' Ambraz asked, sounding smug

'Well, apparently, I already showed too much,' Irwin replied, finding a smooth path for the card to move into. 'Let's just see if I can make this look a bit more difficult.'

He struck the anvil, instantly missing the resonance that usually came from working with Ambraz. Still, as he began humming the next song, playing a very soft song on his soulstrum guitar, he wondered about something that had crossed his mind over the last few months. Perhaps it was a good way to practice. 

Without Ambraz's fixing the tiny issues he sometimes created, he had to do everything by himself, and he'd already noticed a marked improvement in some parts of his reforging.

He tried to make his movements and soulforce resonance feel slightly more strained, but he was not sure if he was succeeding.

Better stop after this, he thought as he felt the soulforce resonances of the present teacher's focus on him again.

--

He is faking it, Flowrishin thought, suddenly feeling very old. 

She had no idea why the smith would do so, and she knew besides her, nobody else would be able to tell, but that was because none of them had ever seen someone reforge a card from Topaz to Emerald before. She had, and it was clear to her that he was doing something even more difficult than a regular reforging. Instead, he was keeping the soulforce resonance on edge, constantly making sure it didn't move too far away so the card would shatter.

If he can do this, what is his real limit?

Two hours after they had started, half of the smiths had finished their quartz-to-topaz reforge, but she had no idea who had done the best. She could only hope that some of the others had paid attention; otherwise, she would have to rely on her recollection from seven years ago. The still unnamed smith was wrapping up his reforge while around him, half of the smiths were attempting their own sideways reforge or going from amethyst to Topaz. She tried to focus on them, but her heart wasn't into it, and after a few moments, she watched something that hadn't been done in these great halls for hundreds of years.

The yellow border of a card flickered before turning into a brilliant emerald green.

The smith moved fast this time, quickly taking up the card. 

He's making sure none of the others see it, Flowrishin thought as she watched the smith look at her and walk away from his anvil.

"Everyone is to focus on the other smiths and find me the two more for the slots," she whispered.

"Wha… but headteacher, are you seriously not choosing him?" Uvaran whispered from beside her.

Flowrishin looked at him with a sad smile. "I will," she said before focusing on the towering figure walking towards her.

He's definitely not a normal Oxarite; she thought as the smith stood before her.

"Hello," she said, smiling widely. "Would you mind telling me who you are?"

She almost expected him to reject the question.

"Cardsmith Irwin," the Oxarite said, holding out the card he'd just made. 

Flowrishin accepted it without as much as looking at it. "Thank you. I'd like to officially offer you the position of Tutor."

She could sense the roiling soulforce from the teachers around her, but she ignored them. They were not the headteacher; she was, and that meant that if she wanted to reinstate a rank that hadn't been used for hundreds of years, she would.

"What does that mean?" Irwin asked, looking slightly confused.

"The Tutor is largely a symbolic role to allow me to add one more teacher beyond the maximum I am allowed," Flowrishin said. She knew that the explanation was cutting some corners and not entirely accurate, but she had no desire to discuss it with this many people present.

"Do I still get to teach?"

Flowrishin felt a wave of gratitude for the chance she was getting. A smith who was beyond any others willing to be a teacher and who actually wanted to teach?

"Definitely," she said. "But let's discuss later. For now, do you accept the position?"

Irwin looked thoughtfully for a moment before lowering his chin. "I do."

"Great," Flowrishin said. "Then I hereby assign you as the current Tutor. Please stand to the side and examine the current potential teachers, and help us find the best candidates."

"You don't need to check my card?" Irwin asked.

"No need," Flowrishin said, waving at the side of the elevated area. "I'll answer any questions you have when we are done here, including helping you find a suitable residence."

Irwin watched her for a moment before nodding and walking to the side of the dais. 

"Headteacher Flow-"

Flowrishin held up her hand to cut off Uvaran. "I know, Uravan. We will discuss this later."

"As you say…"

The rest of the day passed as it should, with the prospective teachers handing her their cards and answering her questions. Unlike last year, however, not all looks remained on her. Nearly all of the potential teachers glanced at Irwin, and she noted those who seemed overly interested. She knew there were some here that had aligned themselves with the Grovelords, and finding those was one of the other tasks she'd set herself.

She absently tried to weigh the young Viridian who had just handed her a card, recalling her from seven years prior.

"Lady headteacher, is one of the positions already filled?"

Flowrishin looked up at the younger Viridian, surprised at her audacity. There was an unwritten rule not to speak except when answering questions. 

"No," she said, focusing on the card again.

A quick inspection revealed dozens of issues. Still, the questions she asked were answered with surprising insight. Filing the young one away as a high potential for a few years from now, she smiled at her.

"You may return to your anvil and wait there," she said.

The young Viridian grimaced but quickly walked away.

When the final card was handed to her, a horrid thing that vibrated in her hand, close to exploding due to how dissonant it was, Flowrishin was more than done for the day. 

"You may return to your anvil," she said, smiling at the older Viridian, not even bothering with the questions.

"Yes, headteacher," he said, smiling sadly and not even bothering to ask how he did.

When he reached his anvil, Flowrishin smiled at the hundreds of prospects. 

"You may all leave for the waiting area outside. It will take us a short while to determine the outcome. When we do, someone will come and get the two new teachers. If you are not among them, I would like to thank you greatly for your time and the fact that you are willing to join us in the first place."

The doors of the great hall were pulled open, and the prospective teachers began leaving. A few dragged their feet, eyes on Irwin. She added those to her list of likely Grovelord supporters and almost let out a sigh of relief when the doors were closed.

A single moment of blissful silence was shattered by a barrage of questions and conversation.

"Headteacher, how can you just give someone the Tutor position?"

"Who is this Oxarite?"

"Did he seriously just reforge an emerald card?"

"You, from what region are you!?"

The final question was shouted as Teacher Borekliff rose from his seat, staring intently at Irwin.

"Enough," Flowrishin said, her voice reverberating through the hall. "Your questions will be answered with time, but not now. Also, I request that you all refrain from haunting our new Tutor, Irwin."

"Headteacher, with all due respect, what is going on?" Borekliff asked, staring at her with his piercing blue eyes. "You can't expect us all to simply accept what we just saw!"

"I can and do," Flowrishin said, raising her eyebrows. 

She wasn't surprised by Borekliff's reaction, but that didn't mean she would answer his questions. At least not now, nor in this setting.

"Now, before we start, I am curious," she said, turning to stare at Irwin, who had been waiting with surprising calm. "Tutor Irwin, of those that just left, did you notice anyone?"

"I did, headteacher," Irwin said. "The final, older Viridian has a rather interesting way of forging. He uses the flow of air to guide his soulforce, and being able to create an amethyst card in this setting, where the airflows were currently interrupting his reforging, requires incredible focus and concentration. Also, the reason he was last was because he helped two younger smiths who had almost caused their cards to shatter."

Flowrishin blinked in surprise, trying and failing to recall what she'd seen of the final man. She felt even worse when she realized she didn't even recall his name and had failed to ask him questions.

I am getting too old for this, she thought, with a self-deprecating laugh.

"I see," she said, turning to the other teachers. "Did any of you notice this?"

"I did," Sandrax, the only other Oxarite teacher, said. "I noticed our new Tutor's interest in the man and tried to see why that might be. I agree with his assessment about the reason for him being late, though I fear I can't attest to his smithing style."

Flowrishin nodded as she looked at a young Ignitzian who sat at the edge of the group. One of the youngest and newest teachers, she was one of those who joined seven years prior and specialized in the rather obscure style herself. She was staring with a slightly dazed expression at Irwin.

"Lejingi?" Flowrishin called out, causing the Ignitzin to jolt and look up.

"Wha- what?" she croaked before adding a belated 'headteacher'. 

"Did you notice the last prospect?"

"I did! He attempted to reforge with the airflow style and failed due to the great number of interfering air currents in the room," she said, her interest appearing piqued and seemingly completely unaware of the previous conversation.

"Very well," Flowrishin said. "Uvaran, check him, and if there's no problem, select him for… the spot he is interested in."

Uvaran was leafing through a few papers, nodding slowly. "I think he was here last time and wants to teach the first years."

"Good," Flowrishin said, turning back to Irwin. "Anyone else?"

She saw the man think for a while before he hummed thoughtfully. "Not really. None of the others showed anything special."

Of course, they didn't, Flowrishin thought, wondering if even she could impress him.

"Alright, then, please wait as we continue," she said, turning to the others. "Now, tell me what you saw."

--

Irwin walked alongside headteacher Flowrishin, keeping his steps short and slow so the old Viridian could keep up. She was tapping a crystal tablet, frowning sometimes before muttering under her breath and continuing. He knew it was very abnormal for her to personally attend to him. That wasn't a guess either, as a few of the other teachers had pointed it out rather vehemently.

I wonder what she is going to ask me, he thought as he looked around the beautiful, wide boulevard. Shops closed for the day because of the competition flanked each side. They walked past everything from a barber and something called a barksoother, to restaurants, and stores that sold everything from garments to pots and pans. 

"I hope the waiting didn't last too long," Flowrishin said as she lowered the tablet, keeping it below her arm.

"No, it was rather educational," Irwin said, which it had been.

It had taken the headteacher and the others close to an hour to determine who could fill the second slot, most of which involved minutia largely based on previous times the prospects had attended.

I can't believe none of them paid attention, he thought, wondering what would have happened if he'd gone a step further.

"There are only a few residences free at this point," Flourishing said. "I've checked each of them, and I think the best one is where we are heading now. It's not too big, close to the bar district, and next to a rather good Ignitzian restaurant. I take it you enjoy their foods like most Oxarites?"

"I do," Irwin said, wondering if she was fishing for some details. If she was, he didn't mind obliging her a bit. "Me and my sister, Brecka, have also enjoyed their hot dishes."

"You have a sister? Is she… a cardsmith like you?"

"She is not," Irwin said. "Her interests have been more toward the more martial professions."

"A mercenary then?"

"No, more a guard," Irwin said.

"You two are a rather unusual pair, then," Flowrishin said. "In a positive way, I mean. Most Oxarites I know always tell me that the mercenary path is the most natural to your species."

Irwin hummed, not sure how to answer that. Flowrishin didn't seem to mind as she scratched her leafy eyebrow, plucking one out and letting it drift away on the wind absently.

"I take it you have a lot of questions," she said. "Perhaps, after you have chosen your residence, we can have a bite to eat? I have to admit, I have plenty of questions myself."

"I am not sure I can answer all of them," Irwin said. "But I'll try my best. I take it you are mainly interested in where I am from and how I learned smithing?"

"That too, and why you thought it necessary to fake having a hard time with your final reforge," Flowrishin said.

So, she noticed that? She's more sensitive than I had assumed, Irwin thought.

"Is that why you offered me this position?" he asked.

"So I was right? You are able to go beyond emerald reforges?" Flowrishin asked, looking at him calmly.

"Perhaps," Irwin said.

Flowrishin let out a peal of clear laughter as she guided him left at an intersection. "To answer your question, I might have offered you the position even if you'd had trouble with that step. But when I noticed you were faking it, that cemented it."

"So, what exactly does a Tutor do?" Irwin asked as he saw that the street ended at a rather large, metallic gate set in wooden walls that were covered in intricate, fine patterns. The entire construction was covered with soulforce, likely from runes etched on the inside. It was a practice he'd seen with many other buildings, both within and outside of the city. 

"The Tutor position is rather old, and it was one given to people unable or unwilling to become an official teacher," Flowrishin said. "Tutors are cardsmith with abilities that allow them to teach even the teachers."

Ah, that makes sense.

"So you want me to tutor the teachers," Irwin said as they continued toward the end of the street.

"I do," Flowrishin said. "Though you can teach the students if you so wish. However… I would like to talk to you for a while and also experience how you teach others."

Irwin wondered what would happen if she didn't like the way he taught her and the teachers. Would that mean she'd not allow him to teach the students? That would be annoying, as it was the main reason he was here… Find potentially brilliant smiths and have them help him with figuring out the cardseeds.

They continued quietly, passing a restaurant called The Scorchery that seemed to be split across both sides of the street. After a few minutes, they reached the gate, at which point Flowrishin took up the tablet and tapped it a few times. Irwin sensed she used some of her soulforce, and a moment later, the layer of soulforce that covered the gate flickered and withdrew.

"Now, this is the old Audumn Estate building," she said, walking into a spacious courtyard. 

Well, this is a lot bigger than the place we have now, Irwin thought as he looked around the well-maintained courtyard. Grass covered the rough wood of the titanic tree's bark while vines and bushes grew everywhere. The building at the back was probably meant for a dozen or more people, while he saw two open smithing areas on the other sides of the courtyard.

"This estate belonged to teacher Audumn, who sadly died a few years ago. Having no descendants, she left the building and grounds to the card school, not an uncommon practice. You may live here for as long as you are a Tutor, and you are, of course, welcome to have your sister join you."

"I also have someone else with my group," Irwin said as he looked around. "Can I bring him?"

"You may, but please bring them to the school proper so we can register them with permits. Otherwise, the rune-warning systems might trigger."

Rune warning systems? Irwin thought.

"What do you think? Do you want to see any of the others? I can tell you now, they are both in lesser positions and not nearly as nice as this," Flowrishin said.

Irwin hesitated only for a moment. "This will be fine, thank you."

"That pleases me," Flowrishin said as she raised the tablet to him. "Please put your hand on here."

Irwin did as asked, curious to see what would happen.

"As the headteacher, I grant Irwin…" Flowrishin hesitated, but Irwin didn't provide his last name, and she shrugged. "I grant Carsmith Irwin the right to live in the Audumn Estate for as long as he fills the role of Tutor for the school."

Irwin fully expected a soulcrystal voice to come from the tablet, but instead, it merely flashed twice.

Flowrishin smiled as she put the tablet below her hand. "Now then, let us go and have a bite to eat. It has been a while since I ate at The Scorchery."

Irwin followed her back outside, slightly amused at the speed of things. He'd expected many things, but not what was happening now. As they walked to the restaurant, which seemed nearly empty, he wondered what Flowrishin expected of him.

--

"This is amazing," Brecka shouted as she ran through the building.

Irwin laughed as he followed her, watching her examine the seven bedrooms.

"Did you choose one?" she asked.

"The one that is above the eastern smithy," Irwin said, pointing over his shoulder.

"Good, then I'll pick this one," Brecka said, looking around one of the two bedrooms that were above the estate's central building.

"It's all yours," Irwin said, turning to Rinbus. "You?"

"I'll just take the one in the back," the Accenti said, turning to Irwin. "So, you aren't a teacher, but they still gave you a residence that's probably better than that of nearly any teacher?"

"Told you that they would be impressed," Brecka said, grinning at the short Acenti.

"The role of a Tutor is roughly the same as a teacher," Irwin said. "Though I will need to show that I am capable before I can teach the students and see if there are any hidden talents."

"When will you start?" Brecka asked.

Irwin rubbed his chin. "I'm supposed to give a small demonstration for the headteacher and the seven who are currently teaching the final two years."

"I wish I could be there to see their faces," Brecka said with a wide grin.

"It shouldn't be too bad," Irwin said. "Flowrishin just wants me to show them how to go beyond topaz, and I need to find out why they aren't able to."

"If you say so, brother," Brecka said with a grin. "So, should we sell the other house?" 

Irwin hesitated, then shook his head. "No, let's keep it. Who knows what we might need it for, and we don't need the soulshards."

"Now, let's go and explore this place and figure out if we need anything," he said, turning around and walking through the hallway back to the staircase leading down.

--

His range is astounding, Zou thought.

She quickly pulled her soulforce senses back out of the area directly around the smithing district. The only thing she could sense from this far was the foreign soulforce presence that felt like a pressure radiating from within, obscuring most of the others. Even Headteacher Flowrishin and the other heartcarded were no more than faint echoes just out of reach.

She waited for a few moments longer before walking back down another district, heading toward the Bronzar Mercenary compound. Baytim had been right, which suddenly made it a lot more logical for the empress to send her here.

Still, now I just need to figure out how to get him to help us, she thought. According to Baytim, he would think about it, but that's just not good enough. If we can somehow make him understand the reason, see that helping us will prevent so much bloodshed!

Zou sighed as she increased her speed, using the power her soulcard granted her. As one of the few dozen she knew of in the world, it was both exhilarating and frightening to hear that somehow a new soulcarded had just appeared out of nowhere. And an Oxarite!

Maybe he is still looking for a soulmate, and we can somehow bribe him, she thought.