“So, how’ve you been doing?” said Jack. Looking at a holographic projection of Alina that was being displayed above her communication-tablet.

“Oh, I’ve been doing well. Business with our exploration of the Bellgrave has been going quite well thanks to those maps you gave us. How are things with you and Jill over at the sect? Are you guys fitting in alright?” said Alina. Sounding like a worried young aunt, or a troubled big sister.

“I guess things are going okay over here. We haven’t really made any friends here yet, but at least work has been pretty easy,” said Jack.

“Ah, well, I’m sure you’ll make some friends in no time. It’s important to make allies and connections no matter where you are. Speaking of Jill, where is he? I was kind of wondering if I could ask him something about that network you guys set up?” said Alina.

“Oh, Jill’s outside?” said Jack.

“Outside?”

“Yeah, he’s gone all-in on this farming kick of his,” said Jack. Smiling warmly as she thought of her husband.

“Farming kick?” said Alina.

“You know how the Tree of Passionate Verdance is pretty famous for its agricultural exports?”

“Yeah?” said Alina.

“Well, let’s just say my dear Jilbert is very much a fan, and has discovered his green thumb in the process,” said Jack.

“Ah...It seems your Jill is a man of many talents,” said Alina. Smiling.

Jack just smiled and chuckled, aware that the other woman had no idea of the full degree to which she was right.

“Anyway, I don’t suppose you’d know if he’d let me purchase more access-rights for that network of yours. I gave a few to my superiors and now they’d like to be able to give some to ‘their’ superiors...And I’m really sorry about this. It’s fine if it’s too much of a bother. I can just tell them no,” said Alina. Looking genuinely abashed.

“No...It’s fine. It’s fine. While we don’t want to turn this into an overly widespread thing yet, for various reasons, I’m pretty sure that we can wrangle up a few more access keys for you...Though, I’ll have to check with Jill first since he’s the one who knows the most about all that tech stuff,” said Jack.

“Thank you! Thank you, you’re seriously saving my bacon here...And since this is work nonsense you have to let me pay you guys this time,” said Alina. Doing a little happy dance that slightly ruined her older-sister image.

“Again, I can’t promise anything yet, so don’t thank us yet...But if we can help you then we can talk about price terms then,” said Jack. Not rejecting the offer of payment, because payment didn’t always mean money, and she was familiar enough with the upper-crust circles to know that too many freebies could breed enmity as much as it bred friendships.

“Of course…” said Alina. Nodding and sobering, but still smiling.

*************************************************************************************************************

Our house sat at the center of our territory. Right on the tippy-top of that once craggy hill, that the sect’s representative showed us to. We followed the architectural traditions that the rest of Birch Grove seemed to follow. Choosing to grow a tree there and use magic to get the tree and the soil and stone surrounding the area, to grow into a suitable shape. Now we had a nice large, bark-and-stone walled, leaf-capped, mansion. The overall shape of the house was somewhat round, but the interior was comfy and had been adjusted to perfectly match our tastes.

All the energy fields and spiritual arrays that maintained, and protected, our lands were fed by a mixture of power gathered from the moons and stars. I was also relying on a new set of techniques that I’d recently learned from the [Tale of the Arcanist] that allowed me to tap into the near-infinite power of the space between the worlds. I’d set up a number of the protective wards, and restricted-spaces, to keep our territory from being invaded or spied on.

I came in from the fields that dominated the majority of our territory within Birch-Grove. I wasn’t wearing a shirt, because it was currently the part of the year where the weather was the hottest and the sun its least bearable. I still had yet to set up the sky-blocking array that would keep out the outside elements, because I needed to come up with a replacement sun, so I could perfect our territory’s climate control spells.

The sharp, robust, musculature of my upper-body was covered in sweat, and the dirt of the fields. Spending a day working on the farm and in the gardens, felt both nostalgic and relaxing. Now I was just about ready for a bath, before I made some dinner, and Jack and I settled in for an evening of cultivation and “clicking”.

The Tree of Passionate Verdance was known for its robust background, in the field of agriculture, especially the art of horticulture, and the growing of magically-enriched herbs, fruits, and vegetables. The TPV was also known for its background in alchemy, and elimination/exorcism of deranged-spirits and especially dangerous beasts. In short, I suspect there were few sects that Jack and I were more suited for in this shattered world of ours.

Thus far we’d yet to be given the chance to go after any rare beasts or deranged-spirits, but the farming and alchemy alone were enough to keep me happy. I spent a month getting our territory exactly how I liked it, and syncing the space with my private-dimension so that we could carry the fixtures, chattel, and energy arrays within the territory away with us, if things didn’t work out with the TPV. Then I spent the month that followed growing things in the time-accelerated, climate-controlled, fields and gardens of our farm.

I figured next month, I’d think about introducing some livestock to the territory, but before that could happen, I’d have to set up a unique kind of spirit-suppression ward to keep the animals I introduced to the territory from gaining spontaneous sapience. It was fine if the livestock turned into monsters, but I didn't want too many of the cows, chickens, and ducks that we raised to suddenly start having opinions, aspirations, and complex thoughts. It’d make eating them later, far too ethically questionable.