We took a bunch of the potatoes from where they were stored. These would be the first test. A few were already beginning to sprout so it was high time to get them into the dirt. I had not much knowledge regarding farming but I knew potatoes would be planted sometime in spring and usually harvest them in autumn, sometimes late summer. I hoped for much more rapid growth with the assistance of magic. The lamps would hopefully also make proper earth and fertilizer obsolete.

While the goblins worked the potatoes into the dirt in the first two rooms, I prepared everything I needed on my end. The node was set up, the lamps were ready as well but I had forgotten to make relays. With the distance involved and the need to supply more than one lamp, those would be crucial. Luckily, they were simple balanced shards, of which I still had a few, held in something to mount them on the wall. It was recommended to use iron or quartz in the Thaumonomicon and advised against brass or gold. Or anything with high magical conductivity, really. Those materials would drain the vis and spread it into the ground. An interesting idea came to my head but I pushed it aside, for now.

The relays were quickly crafted with some leftover stone from digging the farming cave. I made enough to cover the finished cave, which amounted to 24, one per lamp minus the central area. We might need more to get around pillars but I was starting to run low on balanced shards, having only six left. I wanted to use those for the other idea.

The ceiling was a little too high for me to reach at four metres but I could fix the relays to the archways in between halls since they were a little lower. I could, in fact, almost reach the four metres upwards. That included my own height, though, since I connected to the tendrils from my head. I should have a reach of pretty much three metres by now.

After setting up two relays, I took out my wand and started to make a connection. The technique was simple, though it took quite a bit of focus. I could create something akin to a temporary relay in my wand, not quite accepting any vis, and then move it to the actual place it was supposed to go to. Once there, I just had to push the connection inside. There would be slight diminishing returns if one relay was to provide for multiple targets but with the nature of the material, it could not take more than a certain amount of energy which was far below the node’s maximum output. I could set up ten rows of relays without losing any energy. My plan was for eight sets that split onto three lamps each.

The first field was already done, by now, and I made to set up the lamp of growth. Big brother provided his shoulders for me to stand on which let me put it up on the ceiling. Roguk’s alchemical mix made it easy to put a wooden beam into the stone which had a hook for the lamp on its lower end. After hanging it up, it was just a matter of connecting it.

As soon as the vis started flowing, the lamp lit up in a healthy green. The vis crystals that had done so before were a little paler with their terra aspect. The light seeped into the surroundings, soon being drawn primarily to the field. Sadly, the potatoes did not grow within minutes but I had not expected that. If they were harvestable within a few weeks or even a month, it would be more than enough. We had no seasons here so with a monthly harvest the output would be twelve times a normal field. I should probably ask Nymph how efficient Serrington’s farming was with the natural herba node there.

“This is freaky”, Alex sent to me.

“What?”

“How does the lamp do that? How does it know where the plants are growing? You just supplied vis and it… works? No delicate instruction riddled with bugs? No iterating dozens or hundreds of times? Just… how?”

I blinked. Twice.

“I never really thought about that… Thaumaturgy just is like that, I think? The aspects guide certain parts of the world and by combining them you create something like a primitive guideline. When you add your will on top of that, things work the way you want. Unless you lack energy.”

“That sounds like esoteric bullshit… How do the aspects know what’s what and where to go? Who or what guides them?”

“I don’t know. It’s not unlikely there are some beings in the Empty responsible for that. I had a short conversation with an eldritch monstrosity some ork tried to summon. It did not really seem like it had any sense of responsibility, though. It just wanted to not be bothered…”

“There’s beings in the Empty? Like, not just mind spiders and eldritch guardians?”

“Those are beings as well. I’d say they are decently smart, too. But yeah, there’s bigger fish out there.”

“Are they responsible for our rebirth?”

“I would be surprised… I didn’t see any of them when my soul crossed over. Granted, I was preoccupied with suddenly being an owl in the middle of quite literally nowhere.”

While we were talking, big brother had been watching the field.

“Anything gonna happen here, or nah?”, he interrupted our discussion.

“Yes. Things are going to happen. I don’t know when, but they will. We’re gonna sit here and keep an eye on things.”

“So I can keep diggin’?”

“Go ahead.”

I turned back to Alex but found her deep in thought. Somehow, she had the Thaumonomicon in front of her.

“Hey, are you fine for a while? I want to go check on Ugark.”

My answer was a non-committal mental grunt which I took as a yes.

I made my way out of the cave and flew towards the orks’ camp. The two had settled in a primitive hut made from fallen sticks and grass. Sra sat at a campfire in front, grilling some meat for lunch. She looked exhausted.

When I landed, she jumped up axe in hand and took a fighting stance.

“It’s just me”, I sent.

“Oh. Sorry.”

She settled down, turning back to her cooking.

“Ugark, come out! Fio is here.”

The diminutive ork sluggishly made his way out of the hut.

“Mm? Morning, Fio.”

“It’s noon, damn it. Did you really sleep until now?”

In answer, he shook his head and slapped his face with both hands.

“How are you guys doing?”, I asked.

“Meh. Could be worse, could be better…”, Sra said.

“Are you done with the goblins, now?”, Ugark asked.

“Not fully, but I can spare some time.”

“Good”, Sra snarled, “What’s the plan?”

“I was thinking to build you a more secured home. Or rather, dig it into the stone. You’d have to find a place you want to stay.”

Ugark snorted.

“With what shovel?”

“Excavation focus.”

“You have a wand?”

I shook my head in exasperation.

“I do. What do you take me for?”

“Can I have it?”

I blinked.

“No.”

He sat down mumbling on the other side of Sra, earning a punch from the woman.

“You’re not that stupid, are you? Seriously?”

The small ork whimpered and looked away.

“I need a wand…”, he mumbled.

“Then make one. The warp is wrong with you? You’re a thaumaturge!”

“…can’t work metal…”

“Looks like he isn’t cut out for the wilderness life.”

“You tell me”, Sra complained, “He’s been rambling and whimpering for a week now. ‘Can’t get this, need to buy that’ and stuff.”

“That’s not something I can change right now. You could try to move into ork lands again. Or you can try your luck north, where the humans are.”

“I’m seriously debating that. Not going back, the humans. I could do the wilderness life but he? I don’t think he’ll last more than a month. Or I’ll last more than a month with his wailing.”

“I have no idea what the humans are like, though. I heard they have serious issues with thaumaturges, some sort of order hunting them down? Something like that. But I don’t know what they think of orks…”

“We’re not going there!”, Ugark shouted, suddenly animated, “I’m a [Thaumaturge]! I will practice my craft!”

“You could do it in secret, boy. Do you want to go back to the orks?”

“They’d at least respect me!”

“They won’t. You’re scrawny and unskilled.”

“I’m a [Thaumaturge]!”

“Without a wand…”

“mmMMARGH!”, Ugark cried out. He slapped the ground weakly and ran off back into the hut.

Sra turned to me and sighed.

“Sorry about that. We owe you. He should know to behave more properly.”

“No worries. He’s just not cut out for this kind of life. Are you gonna try your luck with the humans?”

“I think so… Even with his Class, he’ll be pushed around in ork society. That’s just what he’s like.”

“I can try to find out more about them from the dwarves but that would take a few weeks, probably.”

“I would appreciate it. But I don’t think he’ll last that long. You said it’s north from here, right?”

“Correct. You have to cross the mountains and once they fall off, there’s a large mostly flat area. That’s where the humans live.”

“I think it’s our best chance. I at least want to try. For his sake.”

“I recommend finding a village near the mountains. There are a few not too far. You can gauge their reaction there without risking too much.”

“We’ll do that. Thank you for your help.”

“I’ll come by again in a week or two to see if you’re still here. Maybe I can get some more information on humans. If you aren’t, I’ll look through the paths.”

“You don’t have to do so much for us. You’re already done plenty.”

“Well… I kind of wanted to have a thaumaturge to talk to about the craft…”

“Oh. Fair. I’ll take a while to convince him, anyways.”

“Right. Well, in case we won’t meet again, have a safe journey.”

Sra lowered her head, almost touching her chin to her chest.

“To you as well. May you keep your blood in your veins!”

I hesitated for a moment to see if Ugark wanted to say goodbye as well. I had sent my farewell to both of them. When he didn’t show a sign of movement, I decided to take off and make my way back to the goblins. I wanted to see if the crops had grown already.