The Protagonist System

245 Farming A New Way Part One

I spent several minutes reworking my ward scheme on paper, since I had more to do than just changing the detection enchantment. I figured, since I was redoing them anyway, why not add a small time component? It couldn't be much, since I didn't want to accelerate my own physical growth too much, which meant I also needed to add in an off switch for both planting and harvesting.

I could even plant crops that normally wouldn't grow in the bread basket of the country, since the greenhouses could double as hothouses as well. It made me wonder if I could break into the tropical fruit market and should use one of my greenhouses to plant fruit trees. I would need to raise the roofs for them to fit, however.

Then again, with the thought in my head that I needed more space, I remembered my expanded trunks and backpacks. I also remembered expanding several rooms using similar tricks and knew what I could do with my greenhouses as I was building them. Since I already had the supplies delivered, all I needed to do was transfigure some appropriate metal strips to line the rooms and add the runes.

I was also checking in on the girls of Mystik University every 30 seconds and saw how upset Enchantress was becoming the longer I didn't contact her. I sighed at her not understanding the time differential, so I created a note that was short and sweet and portalled it onto her pillow. Another 30 seconds later saw that another 6 months had passed and she looked less angry.

I also checked with my clairvoyance power to see neither Sebastian nor his father had been brought back to life. That was a relief, because both of them had known who I was and would have come after me for revenge for their deaths. That also meant I needed to deal with Doctor Psychic and Doctor Occult somehow. How? I had no idea. It wasn't like there was any kind of authority I could report them to.

There wasn't really much that could be done if there was, since a 4 year academic term would only be about 8 minutes, assuming they were full years and had scheduled semesters with summer and winter breaks. Did they still celebrate holidays there if the normal seasons were essentially stopped until they returned to a normal timestream?n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

I hadn't gotten much information while I was there, so I didn't know how they handled those kinds of things. I shook those thoughts off and went around to my ward stones to alter them with the new ward scheme and then went to bed in my trailer. It was late and I was mentally tired, so building my altered greenhouses could wait until tomorrow.

I woke up just before the break of dawn, just like usual, and was slightly surprised I was alone. Enchantress should have shown up last night or this morning and I didn't feel any disturbance in either the wards or with my danger sense. Her education at the university should have ended, unless she stayed to learn more.

That could throw off her plans to visit me by quite a lot, considering the time change. Then again, I was assuming she was from this version of Earth and not a dimensional analog, like Frankenstein was. Oh. She might not even be from the same time period, either.

I sighed and climbed out of bed and had a shower, changed, and left my trailer to jog over to my old home to visit my parents and my little sister. There was lots of work to be done and I wasn't going to slack off on my chores there, just because I had my own farm to get up and running.

I also had to wait until all of my hired workers were going to be free of their own chores before they would arrive at my farm to help build the greenhouses. My dad hadn't quite understood why I offered so much money for wages, probably because he had been young once and hadn't needed so much to get by.

I didn't bother trying to explain the differences in the economies from when he was a kid, since that was a battle I knew I'd lose, just from his sheer stubbornness. My mom Martha understood, though. She fully approved of me trying to spread the sudden wealth I had before it was gone, knowing I would have to pay it all back when the farm started producing.

I ate breakfast with my family and went out with dad to take care of everything. He appreciated the help, even if he could have handled everything himself. He had been doing it alone for years before I came along and I was sure he just liked having someone else there for company. I had been doing that since I was a baby, after all.

I had a quick lunch back at the house and hugged my mom before I went back to my farm. There were several trucks and small cars in my short driveway to the barn, since it was close to the road.

“Clark!” A bunch of guys and a few girls exclaimed when they saw me.

“Hey, everyone.” I said and shook hands and gave a couple of the girls hugs. “I've got the plans in the trailer for marking out where the greenhouses have to be laid out and there's lots of food and drinks in the fridge for everyone.”

“We'll handle the food.” Lana offered and the other girls nodded. “We brought back the tables you borrowed for the barn raising, too.”

“Thanks, Lana.” I said and she smiled. I turned to the guys and saw their eager faces. “I know that look.” I said and a few of them let out laughs. “You're going to earn your pay, don't worry.”

They shared a few high-fives and fist bumps and grinned at me. Just like me, none of then were afraid of some hard work. Also like me, they didn't mind having an audience to show off their skills, and we were really going to show off today.

*

Lana and the other girls really didn't mind being servers for the afternoon. It wasn't for the ridiculous money Clark was paying them for being there, either. Well, that was a factor, and a huge one for a few of their friends. It was pretty much free money, because they would have shown up to be there for their boyfriends anyway.

The main reason was they were allowed to watch a large group of muscular farm boys working their butts off. Their sweat-soaked t-shirts didn't last long and they were soon all bare chested and giving the girls a very delicious show that had them all quietly panting and enjoying the show as the boys worked their muscles and their minds building the structures Clark needed built.

The damn things were huge in scale and covered a good portion of the oddly-shaped plot of land he had bought. A few of the guys, and honestly most of the girls, thought he had been foolish to waste his money on such a useless piece of land that was wedged between three other farms. It couldn't be run like a normal farm, because of the size and the shape.

It wasn't until the first giant greenhouse was framed in that they all started to see what Clark was doing. He wasn't going to be farming it like a normal farm at all, not with most of the land covered up. There were also large water cisterns spread around and they had pipes for irrigation, only they were being strung up along the rafters and not run along the ground like normal irrigation ditches.

The boys stopped working when suppertime was called by Lana and they all finished what they were doing and went back to in front of the large barn and had a sit-down meal. Clark hadn't cheaped out and only bought basic things, either. They had a full meal, one that every farm boy in the county would appreciate, and the girls were right there with them.

In fact, the meal quickly became another social event like after the barn raising and they all had a great time. No one asked how Clark had arranged for the group showers like the ones they had at school, either. His suggestion of bringing spare clothes had been an inspiration, too. Music started playing from somewhere and the party lasted for several hours.

Lana wasn't quite sure how she ended up dancing with the high school's quarterback and she didn't question it. He was tall and handsome, was a good guy, and he treated her nicely. When Brad asked her out, she said yes, because it made her happy. She would have preferred his hair was a bit darker to make him look more like Clark, though.

That thought made her pause and she looked into her new boyfriend's eyes. They were similar to Clark's, only not as deeply blue, and she shook those thoughts away. Clark was not someone she had much interaction with, despite living in the same town all their lives. He didn't even go to school and wouldn't be, so why was she thinking about him?

The music faded as the latest song ended.

“Thank you all for your work today.” Clark said and walked around to everyone and handed each of them an envelope. “If you don't mind repeating this tomorrow and the next day to get the other two frames up, I'd appreciate it.”

“I think we'd all like to keep helping, Clark.” Brad said. “Are you sure you don't want help finishing off the first one before starting the other two?”

“The hardest part is getting the bones up to build on. Filling in the rest is almost easy by comparison.” Clark said. “There's only a few days left before school starts, too. I don't want to take up the last of everyone's free time.”

“I hear that! Let's party!” Someone shouted and everyone laughed.

Clark went back over to the trailer and started the music up again. “Curfew in half an hour!”

“Fuck curfew!” Nearly everyone shouted and the rest cheered.

Needless to say, the party lasted another 2 hours and everyone went home tired and happy.

*

On the fourth day, I looked with admiration at the three large building frames that we had build over the previous three days. They were huge and it almost looked like a forest of bare timber with branches of pipes all over them for watering the crops. They were perfect.

“It was definitely worth the money to have this all build so quickly and no one questioned it.” I said and mentally tallied out how long it was going to take to cover the roofs up with tempered reinforced glass. I'd also need to use the tractor and a block and tackle to lift them into place.

For the walls, I only needed to use rolls of white plastic and that would take almost no time at all. A staple gun and a few strips of metal to add reinforcement enchantments and that would be done. Once everything was covered, then I would expand the inside by a large degree and can start plowing and planting.

Once I had them sorted out, then I could head to the back of my farm and start working on building the basement to cover up the fact I was going to keep digging out the place to make the room I needed for my underground factory. As soon as I could get that done, then my plans would really start taking off.

In the back of my mind, I was worried that I couldn't find the girls from the academy. Or the academy. Or Doctor Psychic. I hadn't noticed when my brief checks had stopped working, either. Did someone block me or cast some kind of magic to hide them, or were they cut off in another dimension or timeline? I would need to check on that when I had some spare time.

For now, I had things to do, like ordering saplings of certain trees, plants, and seeds of everything that I wanted to try and grow. Well, I say try, when what I mean is that I'm going to grow them and see if they're viable to sell for a good profit. Year-round cheap strawberries and blueberries should be good sellers, shouldn't they?

*

Martha sat in the truck with her daughter as they watched Clark setting another large piece of reinforced glass into the slots on the roof using the backhoe as an improvised forklift. It was such an easy way to complete a roof that she had been surprised that no one else had thought of it. When she went to the library to ask about it, she was told to check with the mayor's office.

There she learned that Clark had patented the greenhouse design, as well as a few other things, and that he was already making money on royalties and had already paid the first installment of his loan back. She felt so proud of her son for doing things the normal way and wasn't using his powers to cheat to get ahead of everyone else.

Clark was using his brain to make money instead of using his powers, like he had tried a few times with her husband to give their family some extra money. It had been endearing and heart-breaking to see him try and then be disappointed that his little tricks didn't trick his dad at all.

Johnathan was too set in his ways to accept anything like charity. If he didn't work on it and earn it with his own hands, he didn't want it because he didn't feel like he deserved it. It was stupid of him to doubt everything like that; but, his stubbornness had kept their family fed for all these years and he was never going to change.

“MA! LOOK!” Emma said and pointed.

Martha caught her breath when she saw Clark fly up to the roof, glare at the glass panel, then bright red beams came from his eyes and sheared something off. The panel dropped down with a loud thunk and Clark nodded at it, then he leapt back down to the tractor and climbed in.

Before she could say anything to explain it to her daughter, Emma was out of the truck and ran past the barn and over to the large tractor from behind and Clark couldn't see her as the backhoe part swung around to pick up another reinforced glass panel.

“NO!” Martha gasped and jumped out of the truck and ran after her. Her daughter was much faster than her and Martha started crying as the large piece of machinery swung over Emma and then she was gone. Martha stumbled to a stop and dropped to her knees. Her heart felt like it had been torn out of her chest as she stared at the spot her daughter had died.

“Ma? Why are you crying?” Clark asked her.

Martha wiped at her eyes to clear them, only it didn't work. “You... accident... Emma...”

Clark chuckled and scooped Martha up like she was a child and was instantly across the distance to where Emma was sitting inside the backhoe's scoop and clapping.

“Again! Do it again!” Emma shouted.

“Anything for the best sister in the world.” Clark said and sat Martha beside her. “Hold on tight.”

Emma giggled and hugged her mother, whom stared at her daughter like she was looking at a ghost that had just come back to life.

“I'd never do anything to endanger those I love, Ma. I've known for a while that you and Emma show up to watch me when you can sneak away from the farm.” Clark said and kissed her cheek. “I'll give you both a swing on the giant merry-go-round a few times and then I can stop working for lunch.”

Martha held her daughter tightly and Clark disappeared and then the ride started. It was actually kind of fun, especially since the bucket they were in was spectacularly clean and Clark raised and lowered them so smoothly that it felt like a professional ride they had ridden at the farmer's exhibition last year. The ride stopped and Clark was instantly in front of them.

“I hope you enjoyed the Kent Amusement Ride, patent pending.” Clark joked as he helped them out of the bucket. “There's lots of food in the trailer from the last party.”

Martha huffed at him admitting the large group of teenagers he had hired had partied afterwards.

Clark grinned at her for that reaction. “It was spontaneous, I swear.”

“Every night for three days straight?” Martha asked him and he laughed.

“Yes, because it wasn't planned the first time, it just happened. Then they looked forward to it. I couldn't really say no, not with how they are all starting school again without me.” Clark told her.

Martha nodded and held her daughter to her chest as the three of them went to his double-wide trailer and sat at the kitchenette. Clark served them some great food and Martha gave him a searching look.

“I would have asked you to cook if you weren't so busy.” Clark admitted.

“Then how?” Martha asked.

“I slowed time down and set everything to cook, then resumed time and went to work with Da. It was done by the time I came back after lunch.” Clark told her.

Martha wanted to know he did that and then sighed. “You can't let me do that, can you?”

“Not on your own, no.” Clark said and reached into a kitchen drawer and pulled out several papers. “Here are some slow-cooking recipes and I'll give you an appliance to take home.”

Martha looked at the recipes and it was a small range from stews to entire chickens. “Clark?”

“I have lots of ideas.” Clark said and started eating. “Lots and lots of ideas.”

Martha could only nod and enjoyed a well cooked meal that she hadn't prepared herself. It was such a rare thing that she promised herself she was going to try every one of those slow-cook recipes.