Chapter 157: The start of something new
Irwin slowly removed the crates of ore from before the door. Each movement added to the pressure building up in his muscles, similar to when he'd been using his Vaelite card. Now, however, it was more evenly distributed throughout his body.
As he picked up a crate, the weight seemingly reasonable to him even though he knew he'd been unable to lift it the day before, he felt a tiny bit of the kinetic energy flow to his back, arms, and legs. It cost him zero effort, and each step he took with the heavy weight added to the same energy again.
I'm going to have to practice with this all over again, he thought as he wondered what would happen if he bumped into something and the kinetic energy was added. He'd be hurting and destroying everything around him.
As he moved the final crate of ore away, he picked up Ambraz. Staring at the tiny Anvil, he finally slid it into one of the slots on his pants meant for hammers. He never used it, and he knew it would be filled with sand and dust, but it was better than putting Ambraz down his pants like the paper.
Grinning at himself, Irwin pulled the door open, feeling the stone start to crumble under his pressure. Sunlight flooded around him, and he stepped out of the smithy.
Any idea about sparring vanished from his mind as he saw the partially destroyed buildings, layers of roots and vines keeping them together. Behind the lines of buildings, he noticed a long tear through the wall, which otherwise, luckily, looked fine.
"By the Flames of Aghos," he whispered, mechanically using one of Scintilla's favorite curses.
"It's fine. We will fix it."
Irwin looked to the side to see Crithann look at him intently while a few Viridians were far behind him at the edge of the square. He knew two of them from when he'd reforged their cards.
"What ha-" he cut off. He knew what had happened. Still, he couldn't help feeling guilty.
"I did this…" he said, turning around and cringed as he saw that most of his smithy had been turned into an unstable mess. Cracks ran through the walls, and the open side had collapsed atop the open smithing area.
"Balarn!"