Chapter 52: Coalesced, remnant soul cards
Irwin stood in the center of his room and focused on his Coperion Body skill. To his surprise, it activated with a soft crooning sound. Before he could wonder where it came from, he felt himself grow more compact. Within moments his weight pressed heavily on his soles, reminding him of the first time he'd gotten the card. A look at his arm showed a deep copper-colored skin that gleamed like brushed metal. Tapping it made the sound of metal on metal.
"Not bad, kid! Now you only need to reforge it to rare, and you can use it to offset your cold resistance at least for a small amount of time," Ambraz said.
Irwin grinned, the skin of his face responding as it always did, the skin movement seeming unimpeded by the change of material. He walked around, his feet thudding heavily on the ground.
I wonder how long this will last, he thought.
Roughly ten minutes later, the skill stopped. He felt a rush of power as his body became lighter, but at the same time, he felt the cold press upon him more. With a shiver, he pulled his jacket closer as a thought surfaced.
So, I can use this in an emergency with cold, Irwin thought, feeling slightly relieved. Then he thought back to something he'd pondered before.
"Do you think I can find a card that lets me absorb heat and store it for later?" he asked as he stepped closer to the fireplace.
"How would I know?" Ambraz snapped. "They exist, but if they are in a backwater place on a backwater planet? No idea!"
Irwin sighed and looked at the shuttered window. More snow was filtering through the edges, and the howling of the wind showed the blizzard was still blowing full force. Wondering how Daubutim was doing, he quickly grabbed the book and began reading about the many different ways to work iron.
A few hours later, he threw the book on the table in disgust. The howling had only increased, and when he took a peek through the shutters, he had seen a chaotic wall of snowflakes roiling around the tower.
Annoyed, Irwin moved to the fireplace and gazed into the fire as he continued to wait out the storm.
Many hours later, tired and weary, he crawled into bed, the storm still raging.