The next morning, Tristan shared a quick breakfast with Eila before they split ways to take care of their own business. He had been worried it would be a little awkward between them after their conversation last night, but thankfully they seemed to have only grown closer.

They walked to the junction near their inn together. Eila had to go speak with Gerund about some of the finer details of her instruction at his academy, as well as find an Expert forger for Tristan, while he had booked a timeslot today for the Adept Hunting Zone.

With a promise to meet back at the inn in the afternoon, Tristan teleported to the Novice Ring and made his way down to the harbor. The salty tang of the sea was noticeably more pronounced here, and the shouts and calls of sailors filled the air. He navigated towards the section of the docks reserved by the Cardbearer’s Association and after a quick flash of his [Hunting Pass] and [Status Page Card], he was waiting in line once more.

This time, there was no Halios to be a rude distraction, so Tristan chatted amiably with the other cardbearers in line. He tried to see if they knew more about either the Elemental Cup or the Divine Expedition, but he learned nothing new.

He did, however, overhear an interesting conversation about the upcoming raid.

“Did you hear Unyielding is going to raid the new Dominion soon?” said a gruff, older man somewhere in front of Tristan.

“I don’t envy them,” replied a younger, more amused man. “Raiding an unmapped Dominion sounds like a quick death to me.”

“They better do it right,” muttered the older man. “That Dominion is going to crack like an egg soon. The army’s spread thin enough dealing with the other Terrors, and the last thing we need is an Invasion on our coast.”

“I heard all three of Unyielding’s Hands are participating in the raid,” the younger man said.

“It should be fine. Iviva is a whole raid on her own.”

The conversation changed topics after that.

Soon, they were taking off, the prow of the Water-energy empowered ship cutting through the waves easily. He was headed to Adept Hunting Zone 1 this time, which was a different section of the same island he was on last time.

The monsters were the same though. He killed them with ruthless efficiency, prioritizing speed over everything, and the [Perkshards] came flowing in rapidly. His skill with casting compounded with [New Game Plus], meaning he could kill monsters faster than any other cardbearer his rank and receive double the rewards for it.

It had barely been an hour before Tristan killed a [Deepmaw Sandworm] with [Nightmare Cleave], earning him his final [Perkshards].

You have slain 1x. [Adept | Intermediate] — Deepmaw Sandworm.

You have acquired 4x. [Sandworm Scales], 3x. [Worm Ichor], 1x. [Earth Source].

You have acquired 3x. [Adept Perkshards]. You have reached the maximum amount of shards for your rank.

Tristan walked back to the shore and unlocked his final Adept Perk while he waited for the boat to arrive.

You have unlocked [Adept/Dark/Summon Perk] — As One: Your Dark Summons gain the ability to cast one of your Dark Attack cards. (CASTS: 1 | CONDITION: THE DARK ATTACK CARD MUST BE OF EQUIVALENT RANK TO THE SUMMON OR LOWER).

He was officially done with Adept now. It was time to advance.

—🃁—

Forger Marlon frowned down at the small young cardbearer who’d entered his shop. Beside him with a slightly taller forger,, Eila, who had apparently been sent here by Forgemaster Gerund’s recommendation. Both looked too young for the Adept pins they wore, and even more shockingly the young man was here to hire him for his Expert Advancement.

“Are you sure you want my services?” Marlon asked. “My prices aren’t cheap because I guarantee success, but if you fail your trial there will be no refunds.”

“I’m sure,” the young man, Tristan, said easily. “Fifty reds, right?” He summoned his [Binder] and pulled out the chips with a conversion.

Marlon checked them for authenticity and then grunted, converting them back into a card. “All right. Hand over the [Blueprint] and materials.”

“Eila,” Tristan prodded, and the girl, who looked distracted, blinked and then quickly got her [Binder] out.

“Here you go,” she said, passing him the cards.

Marlon lifted the [Blueprint] up and inspected it; it was the Field card, [Clear Horizon]. As an Expert Air and Light forger, he was very familiar with it. He didn’t even have to check the [Blueprint] for the forging requirements as he skimmed through the [Item Cards] and saw they were all there.

He scooped them up and then nodded to Tristan. “Come with me.” He turned to the back door of his shop, which led to his forging room.

“Forger Marlon,” said Eila quickly, making him turn around with a frown. She swallowed nervously but met his eye. “May I please have the honor of observing your forge?”

Marlon opened his mouth to deny her immediately. He didn’t get to where he was in life—the proud owner of a forgeshop in the Apprentice Ring—by divulging secrets to rival forgers. But Forgemaster Gerund had sent her to him, and she seemed like a nice enough girl anyhow.

“Just don’t talk,” Marlon grumbled, and with an eager thanks, she and the young man followed him into the back room.

The space was entirely empty save for a few seats along the side wall. Eila and Tristan plopped themselves down there while Marlon stood in the middle of the room.

He summoned his [Forge].

His furnace, inker, and foci station appeared in a straight line to his right, the [Blueprint] anvil to his left. He immediately heard excited whisperings start up from the girl, and Marlon gave her a quick glare to shut her up. Shaking his head, he carefully placed each of the [Item Cards] as their appropriate place before inserting the [Blueprint] into his anvil.

You are participating in Adept cardbearer Tristan Ford’s Expert Advancement. Would you like to begin?

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

He assented, and the message faded. His three stations activated, becoming alive with energy.

“It worked,” he heard Tristan mutter to Eila, whatever that meant. She gave a sigh of relief.

Marlon ignored them and placed the converted base—5x. [Skywyrm Membrane] and 3x. [Cloudbane Shimmer]--into his furnace. His [Ironheart Furnace] was capable of holding up to ten bases at a time, so this was no problem for it. He stepped around the large iron furnace to the back, where ten levers were arrayed in two rows of five, each corresponding to a specific base slot.

He activated his {Heat Modulation} Expert Forgeperk, which allowed him to mentally control the finer nuances of the heating for Air bases, then set the levers to output specific heat ranges for each individual base. The furnace roared, heating up. With the Adept {Greater Heat Perception} activated, Marlon could sense intuitively how hot each base was getting, and modulated it until he was satisfied.

As he was walking to get started on the ink—4x. [Skywyrm Blood] and 2x. [Gelatinious Horizon]--he saw the girl Eila out of the corner of his eye squirming in her seat. She looked as if she was about to burst. Beside her, the young cardbearer was falling asleep, his head rocking forward before jerking back up repeatedly.

“Ask,” Marlon grunted as he converted the [Liquified Horizon] and placed them inside his [Crystal Inker].

Eila exploded into a flurry of questions. “Is that an [Ironforge Furnace]? How much are those? I heard they were really expensive. Does it really have ten base slots, that’s so many! I was looking at the [Blueprint] myself and I thought the membranes would require less heat than what you set it too, but I guess not? Also, do you have any tips on working with materials like those [Cloudbane Shimmers]? They’re so delicate, and I’m worried about burning it. Oh, oh, and that [Crystal Inker] is incredible. What kind of brushes do you have? Wow, you have a [Major Attuner]? It’s so big! I—”

Marlon cut her off there with a raise of his hand. He turned to her with a dour expression.

“Yes, it is an [Ironforge Furnace]. It cost me 80 light-chips. It does have ten base slots. The membranes of a [Sky Wyrm] are sturdier than other membranous material and can handle more heat. Gossamer material like the [Cloudbane Shimmer] needs a slow and low burn and constant supervision. I use a set of [Greateagle Brushes]. Yes, it is a [Major Attuner].” He raised a brow. “Satisfied?”

“Sorry,” she mumbled, reddening with embarrassment. Tristan had fallen asleep and was lightly snoring.

Marlon sighed and returned his attention to the inker. He began the slow and delicate process of coaxing the ink out of the [Gelatinous Horizon] by pouring clean, purified water into the top compartment of the inker and setting the heat to a low boil. Gelatins were tricky in that they yielded very little ink, and it was all too easy to consider them fully processed when there was still a tiny—but essential—amount of ink left to be squeezed. With his Expert Forgeperk {Every Drop}, however, he could see how much ink was in each material.

He worked in comfortable silence for a few precious minutes, going back-and-forth between the inker and the furnace, the only disturbance the sound of Tristan’s snores.

“Sorry,” Eila whispered, breaking the peace. He glared at her, and she shrank down but not away. “I was just curious why you added water to the [Gelatinous Horizons].”

Marlon considered ignoring her but decided it’d be quicker to just answer the question.

“You can’t expose gelatin to direct heat,” Marlon grunted, carefully watching the [Cloudbane Shimmers]. “Doing so will cause the ink to bind directly with the material, making it nearly impossible to squeeze. By boiling it in low heat, you loosen the ink instead.”

“Oh, I see,” Eila breathed, staring over with wide eyes. Tristan had his head slumped on her shoulder, grumbling at the noise.

Marlon realized he should’ve just ignored the question because now the girl wouldn’t stop. Every step he made, she questioned him. Not in a rude or obnoxious way, thankfully, or else he would’ve wiped his hands clean of this whole job and refunded them their chips and used materials. No, she genuinely wanted to learn, and Marlon begrudgingly respected that.

Over the next two hours, he explained his process to the budding forger. Why [Major Air Sources] could not be forcefully compelled but rather persuaded, for the wind blows where it wishes. Why he poured a few layers of the [Skywyrm Membrane] first, to establish a strong foundation, and the [Cloudbaner Shimmers] after to help bind together the remaining membranes he poured on top. Why he favored thinner brushes for the inking—due to the image being composed of many different shades of white and blue layered on top of each other—and how his {Magnified View}

Forgeperk enlarged the image in his eyes for easier inking.

At some point, the cardbearer Tristan had woken up and exited to get some food. Both Marlon and Eila barely noticed his going; he had to admit, there was something invigorating about teaching, and Eila showed clear potential. He had even given her a rare smile when she correctly intuited why he staggered the infusion of the [Major Air Sources]--because if they were put together all at the same time, the powerful sources would clash with each other.

It was, all-together, one of his more enjoyable experiences forging for a client. He was almost disappointed when he infused the last source, and the message appeared.

In order for this card to be successfully forged, the [Blueprint] owner must complete the Advancement Trial.

Tristan stood up then with a yawn; he had fallen asleep again after returning from his meal.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, rubbing his bleary eyes. With a flash, he vanished.

Marlon turned to Eila, who was ooh-ing and ahh-ing over his furnace.

“Your friend seems rather confident that he’ll pass,” Marlon said with a frown.

Eila nodded absently, poking her head into the mouth of the furnace to see the slots better. “He’s fine. Wow, it’s so big in here!”

Marlon’s frown grew. The most recent census that came out of the Cardbearer’s Association stated that less than 20% of all cardbearers were Expert rank, with the majority being split between Apprentice and Adept. The jump in difficulty between ranks scaled higher with each advancement, and Marlon knew many cardbearers who’d been forced into accepting they either didn’t have the skill or the drive to pursue past Adept.

“Tristan Ford,” Marlon mused, saying the name out loud. “Why does he sound so familiar?”

Eila pulled her head out and rolled her eyes. “You heard of the Serenity Takeover? He’s that Tristan Ford. Don’t mention it to him though, his ego is already big enough.” She scurried over to his inker and squished her face up against its compartments.

It was rare that Marlon was ever caught off guard by something, but that did it. News about the Serenity and the heroic Adept cardbearer who managed to defeat the pirate captain was all over the Continent. In his mind, he’d been imagining Tristan Ford as some giant, commanding figure, not this diminutive young man who snored in fits and starts.

He took a seat along the wall and breathed out, closing his eyes to relax. Regardless of how skilled this Tristan was, the Expert trial was no joke, and that meant Marlon had some time to rest.

“Damn,” came Tristan’s voice suddenly, “that took longer than I thought.”

Marlon’s eyes snapped open and found the young man standing beside him with an [Item Card] in his hand.

Eila snorted from where she was by his [Major Attuner]. “You’re losing your touch, old man.”

Tristan scowled and handed the card over to Marlon, who took it with stunned hands. Tristan joined Eila, and the young woman unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of facts and explanations about the attuner to him.

Marlon stood there for a few moments, just staring at the card. In all his days, he’d never heard of a cardbearer clearing the Expert duelist so quickly.

Shaking his head, he walked over to the anvil and converted the [Item Card], the core appearing in his hand as a small, glimmering marble. He placed it inside the [Blueprint] and successfully completed the card.

Cheers rose from Eila as Marlon blinked away the confirmation messages. Tristan looked to be doing the same, and he grinned at the girl.

“Here,” Marlon said, handing the finished [Clear Horizons] to him.

“Thank you for your help,” the young man said politely, taking the card.

“Yeah, thank you so much!” Eila exclaimed, giving him a big smile.

Marlon led them out of the shop, and after another round of thank yous, the two of them walked down the street, excitedly speaking with each other. He watched them go, an odd, inexplicable feeling suffusing him.

Shaking his head, he entered the shop. He still had a full day to go.