Cal woke to rapid knocks on his door. He blearily opened his eyes and instinctively reached out with a mana tendril to see who decided it was a good idea to disturb him this early.
He got up quickly and opened the door, concerned that something had happened. Her excited expression told him he could be right, but not in the way he assumed.
“Cal! Did you get the alert?” Tavia squealed, acting extremely out of character.
“What?” Cal blinked slowly, trying to push away his sleepiness.
“Check your interface!”
He did as she wanted, but saw nothing there. “What are you seeing on yours?”
“A fifty percent boost on nearly everything related to magic! It includes my mana capacity, learning speed, growth. Everything!”
That made the reason behind her excitement click into place. It was the tether that connected Tavia to the pond. The redirection worked better than he assumed.
Cal never intended to hide what he was doing, but he still feel a little awkward at being exposed. “I caused this, but I didn’t think it would be so effective.”
Tavia’s mouth dropped in shock.
“I was going to tell, but only when I was sure it made a real difference,” Cal added, continuing when she kept staring with wide eyes. “There are no negative effects as far as I can tell, but the only requirement is to stay on the farm to use the boost. Maybe cut down on the traveling you planned?” She still didn’t say a word. “Not that I want to keep you here, but it would be nice. I plan to increase the boost in the next few days so it’ll—”
Cal let out a muffled yelp when Tavia jumped on him and slammed their lips together, the door shutting behind them loudly.
“Why’re you so happy, boss?”
Cal was humming an unknown tune as he repeatedly cast [Rainfall] over the pond. He needed to increase its quantity and mana density for what was ahead. Not only would it need to support the new farmland that was going to be available, it also had to support Tavia, and eventually Seris, in the distant future.
“It’s just a good day, Seris,” Cal replied with a wide smile. “So, what do you want from me?”
“What makes you think I want something from you?” Seris was indignant.
Cal shot her an incredulous look. Anytime she did something strange, like calling him boss these days, it was because she wanted something. It could be something small, but that was still something.
“If you don’t need anything, I’ll get back to my work.”
“No!” Seris almost stepped forward, but stopped herself. “I mean, I might want something. Do you think I can go back to town? Or bring Orrin here?”
Cal didn’t expect that. He honestly assumed she wanted something like a cake, not a reasonable ask to meet her friend. This would benefit him, too.
Drex should arrive tomorrow with the carts. No need to travel to town and get Orrin.
“Tomorrow,” Cal said to Seris’s delight. “Did Tavia say something different?”
“Ah? No, but she has this creepy smile right now. I’m too scared to ask her anything,” Seris paused. “You know, you had the same smile.”
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“Go back to your training,” Cal said, ignoring everything she mentioned.
Seris shook her head rapidly. “Tavia already said I’m done for the day.”
“Then you can help me farm that part—”
“I just remembered I have some books to read!” Seris ran back to the house.
Cal smirked as he returned his focus to the pond. He intended to cast [Rainfall] six more times today before he diverted more energy to Tavia’s tether.
“You can make it even more than a hundred percent boost?” Tavia asked.
Cal had redirected enough energy to double the boost by the end of yesterday, which Tavia made him aware of when she jumped on him in excitement.
He was surprised to see her take time off from training. Ever since the boost applied to her, she had become a fanatic. It was researching spells or practicing them just outside the farm with Seris cheering her on.
Cal didn’t fault her for that. If he suddenly gained such a boost, he would do the same.
“I should be able to,” Cal said. He looked her over, both with his eyes and a mana tendril. She seemed fine, but he also didn’t expect the boost to be so exaggerated. “Tell me immediately if you feel anything off.”
Tavia agreed easily, but she clearly didn’t worry about that. “How many are coming this time?”
Cal heard carts approaching the farm. A lot of them. He pointed to the harvest Sunfire Grains. “Enough to carry all of that.”
“You know, I understand why your wanted Miren to get you a better way to do this. It’ll become impossible if your harvest is larger.”
Cal nodded, knowing this issue was inevitable.
“This could be another thing that the Initiates in town could help with if you hire them,” Tavia said, looking at him from the corner of her eyes. “You could assign them tedious tasks, freeing you to do what you enjoy.”
Cal waved the carts to the side, wanting to prevent their wheels from trampling his field. “And how do you know I don’t part of farming?”
Tavia shrugged. “You look much happier when you’re working on the field. At least, you don’t like the selling part as much.”
She’s right. And it’s because there are almost no benefits to my power after the crops are harvested.
“Vaela and Liora, right?” Cal asked.
“Should I bring them here?” Tavia looked eager.
He was no longer sure why he was being so resistant. It certainly wasn’t because of his reluctance to let go of some of the more tedious tasks that came from farming. He was more than happy to do so.
Cal stared at Tavia for a moment before catching Seris reading a book inside the house.
Ah. I don’t want any intruders on my farm.
He resisted the urge to deny Tavia. If he assigned them the task of selling his harvest, any helpers he hired could work off the farm; and if he needed any of them on the farm later, he would only need them during daylight hours before they returned home.
It wasn’t like they would live here and disturb his peace.
“Fine, you can bring them, but tell them I need a farmer to come along,” Cal said. He grabbed Tavia’s hand when she was about to leave immediately. “… I was about to tell you to go tomorrow, but today might be better. We can confirm what leaving the farm would do to the boost. And tell Orrin that Seris wants to see him.”
Tavia’s eyes flashed with understanding as she agreed. She waited for all the carts to vacate the only exit available before leaving for Mariner’s Rest in her carriage.
Cal walked over to where Drex was barking orders and saw the workers gently handling the harvest.
“Apprentice Cal! You have outdone yourself! I estimate over ten thousand red grain variants this time. How do you do it?” Drex asked with wonder.
“I guess I just have the natural talent for farming.”
The pond. But I won’t tell anyone that.
“That would usually be a laughable statement, but with you, it would bring the envy of entire territories,” Drex praised.
Cal raised his eyebrow at the flattery. He waited for the follow-up request, and when nothing came, he blamed Seris for making him think that way.
He cleared his throat. “The payment for this batch is high. Do you need some time to pay?”
Drex looked offended. “Of course not. I informed the guild long ago about your estimated harvest and have the funds ready right now. I’m just waiting for the exact count.”
Cal looked at Drex appreciatively, wiping away some of his negative bias he felt towards the man. It was unfortunate there was still that connection with Nismus, which stopped him from fully trusting the man.
An hour later, they completed the tally. Cal had returned to the pond long ago and cast [Rainfall] during the wait. It was becoming a default action when he was idle.
Drex approached him. “Apprentice Cal, the total comes out to nineteen thousand, eight hundred and sixty-three Sunfire Grains. Would you like to double check?”
Cal waved the offer off. The number sounded right.
“After the guild’s cut, you are owed nine guildmarks, nine gold, thirty-one silver, and fifty copper.” Drex scratched his chin. “I admit I didn’t bring that much change. Would you mind if I gave you that tomorrow?”
“Just give me ten guildmarks,” Cal said, holding a hand out. When Drex looked highly uncomfortable, he added, “I’ll give you a gold as change. You can keep the silver and copper.”
“Oh… OH! Thank you, Apprentice Cal!” Drex’s eyes sparkled as he handed over the guildmarks.
When the exchange was done, he watched the cart convoy leave his farm with a smile. He was no longer a pauper.