Also in 1906, following an ordination ceremony held on Easter Sunday, Agârbiceanu was appointed parish priest in Bucium, in the Apuseni Mountains. For four years, he observed the difficult lives of the mountain dwellers and the problems encountered in the nearby gold mines. During this time, he wrote several notices in the magazine Ramuri, later published as În întuneric (Into the Darkness, 1910), the novella Fefeleaga, and the novel Arhangelii (The Archangels), all of them based on the mining experience. He also started writing frequently for literary magazines that included Luceafărul, Unirea and Lupta. His other literary works of the period include De la țară (From the Countryside, 1906), În clasa cultă (In the Cultured Class, 1909), Două iubiri (Two Loves, 1910), Prăpastia (The Abyss, 1912), and a collection of Schițe și povestiri (Sketches and Short Stories, 1912).