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Seth slowed to a stop with the extra weight on. In answer to Maryl's question, Seth put one arm up to flex her small bicep, "I feel great." She wasn't coughing anymore and didn't sound tired or sore. "Did you get enough sleep last night?" Seth asked, concerned since Maryl seemed a bit groggy this morning rather than her usual energetic self. "Oh, and are you ready for the trip to the castle?" She attempted to lead off, continuing the rest of the way to the stairwell.

Kel didn't wait up and had made his way downstairs to the kitchen during the conversation. He was fairly quick to set three plates and begin eating.

Seth reached the kitchen and sat down about the same time as Maryl did. Before she could start eating, she glanced out of the window to the yard briefly. It felt like this could be the calm before the storm.

"Seth, how's your combat gear? Everything in good shape?" Kel asked abruptly between bites. He didn't even look up from his plate as he did.

Seth looked up toward Kel as she chewed. It seemed like he did this often. The most bizarre or even fairly urgent questions but still out of left field or at inappropriate times. "Well, you already did something to my sword. My chain shirt isn't messed up or anything, not since the first fight I had with that giant but you repaired it already. And I kept my guns clean and in good shape."

After the next bite, Kel directed the same question toward Maryl. "How about you, Maryl? Your equipment in good shape?"

"Hmm..." Kel thought for a moment. It did seem a bit odd to be whisking Maryl into battle, but as far as he knew she had been with Seth in a few situations. Since they were both there at the table in front of him, either Maryl had to contribute or Seth must have carried the both of them through the encounters.

Seth ate a bit more before looking over to Maryl. "But you've used offensive magic that I've only heard of highly skilled arcanists and warmages being able to throw around. You have to know something about combat. Against that giant you were dropping spells all over the place." She raised an eyebrow and scratched her head.

Kel shrugged, "Sounds like standard spellcaster combat routine to me." He stood up and cleared his place, taking his dishes to the sink. He ran the sink faucet for a moment and continued as he washed his dishes. "We can teach you defensive fighting if that's what you need to know. Obviously we aren't gonna be much help if you want to learn new spells or hone their applications."

"You can't wear armor, but there are some forms of light protective clothing. At the least so you don't need to cast barriers all day." Seth nodded. "If you want to conserve spellpower sometimes I can teach you to use firearms."

Kel finished cleaning his dishes and started on Maryl's before answering. He wasn't going to sugarcoat the situation. "I hate to be so candid about it but yeah. Those with destructive powers tend to use them for destructive means, and often without hesitation. Remember, the princess of earth didn't hesitate to attempt to subdue you two with skeletons. Air and fire went to war over an empty rumor. And Terra Tanta as well as the majority of earth nation's breadbasket is a disaster area." The clatter of dishes created a brief pause as Kel put the clean wet dishes onto the drying rack. "For a feudal state, this land is just an unstable Kratocracy controlled by selfish and arrogant elementalists. 'Nobles' just want power, then with power they take anything else they want: wealth, land, people. Admittedly it's why my business here does so well. All I've done is provide an equalizer to the element-less adventurers and mercenaries."

Seth usually got annoyed hearing her father's tyraids about the tyranny and savagery of elementalists, but with what she had been experiencing since trying to prevent a total war, there was so much that just seemed to vindicate his opinion and convince her to see elementalists in a less than positive light. Rather than say anything, Seth just finished her breakfast quietly and moved the dirty dishes to the sink.

Seth took a step away from the sink, but left her back to Kel as she spoke up, being a bit melancholy. "I... want to believe in them."

"Yeah, me too.", Kel patted Seth's shoulder and sighed before he started on her dishes. "Maybe we'll get lucky and the next successor to the throne won't be bat s**t insane." With all dishes clean and on the rack, he shut off the sink and began to put them in the cupboards above.

"One can only hope.", Seth sighed. She hurried off from the kitchen to the stairs to head up to her room.

As Seth prepared for the coming castle visit, she sat on her bed thinking about what to wear as she stared into her closet. I can't just put on the usual stuff, I'd stand out. If I dress strictly for combat I'm just inviting a fight, though If I dress formally I might have a tough time keeping up... What looks nice, but will keep my arms and legs free? Keeping that thought in mind, Seth panned across the array of clothing hanging in her closet until something soft in color caught her eye. She stood up off of her bed and approached the closet fishing out a long sleeveless light pink qipao that had a split on one side of the skirt. "It's that cheongsam gown that Aunt Serenity gave me.", Seth said to herself rather disconcertingly. It was sleeveless, which was the opposite of Seth's personal preference, but being the type of dress it was, there was form and function in one place. "I guess I'll have to suck it up today, and change before I go to work."

After getting dressed, Seth picked up her harness and sword then stepped out of her room and into the hall. She paced down the stairs to find Maryl and her father waiting below.

Kel waited for the two children to gather as he was seated in his usual chair. His change of outfit was a basic cutout shift rather than a complete redo. He had a fancier coat that was white and had silver accents on the hems and edges. His trousers were lighter slacks instead of his usual black work trousers, his shirt was buttoned and frilled rather than a tank or loose shirt, and his boots were somewhat fancier though still more based on protection.