D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad Chapter 2354 Your Grunkle’s Advice Part 1

--- Kat ---

"Just sit down at one of the tables, I’ll bring the tea in the moment," said Grunkle with a wave of his hand as he stomped over towards the kitchen. Despite the fact nobody had really... asked for tea. Still, that was fine. Kat did wonder a bit of Wiggles counted, or Lily, but they took different approaches. Lily had decided to curl herself up in one of Kat’s sleeves and rest a bit. Seemed like keeping so aware while Kat had been gone had taken a bit of a toll on Lily and while she didn’t want to sleep... well she wanted to sleep.

On the other hand, Wiggles had already made it to the table and had managed to stack a few random bits of crap on top of the chair so that he was sitting at the correct height for the tea. So... that was happening apparently. Kat supposed he’d also decided on the table. Appoline and Kat followed behind him, taking up their own chairs. This one had five seats so there was enough for everyone even if Lily decided to participate more actively.

Though to say the seats were matching would be a lie. Both ’heads’ of the table had plush chairs that took up large amounts of space while the ones on the side were more suited to the table they still didn’t match. There was a wooden stool with a back, a metal stool with no back, a wooden rocking chair and a mostly normal wooden chair all tucked into the same table.

Wiggles had claimed one of the soft chairs so that the crap he piled up onto it would more easily stay in place and wasn’t liable to slide off to the side. Appoline claimed the stool with no back... for some reason. Kat was planning to take that one due to her wings... but it was fine. The stool with a back didn’t have one that was too high. Her wings could fit around that so Kat sat down last.

Soon, Grunkle came over with a serving platter for the teapot and cups. Nice looking cups, but once again, none of them matched. This was no longer a surprise. Though he did distribute the cups to everyone, Wiggles included. Soon some tea was poured and he claimed the other plush chair.

It was silent for a while as everyone took their first sips. It was... good tea? Kat thought so anyway. It tasted nice, very florally and almost sweet just not quite there. Which Kat found to be a nice flavour. There was a complexity there she couldn’t really pick at, but all in all a pleasant experience. Wiggles seemed to be enjoying himself, while Appoline was looking at her cup as if it held some sort of secret but was unwilling to speak on it. Perhaps she could identify whatever tea this was by taste alone?

Eventually, after a few minutes of savouring the tea, it was Appoline that spoke up first, "So what exactly do you DO here? I noticed the garden but it seems to be entirely hardy plants that require minimal maintenance, and even the enchantments are meant to keep them watered without your input."

Grunkle nodded, "Yes well, I wanted to be an enchanter when I was younger. Hated the work once I got into it, but I kept at least a bit of the skill. I’m sure my enchantments are a right mess to look at. Nothing anyone would really approve of for proper use but," Grunkle shrugged. "keeps my things working and if I’m responsible for the lot I can fix or replace it when something goes wrong.

"As for what I actually enjoy doing? I mostly study the weather as well as a few other things. I’m one of those rare mages with Cloud affinity, which is debated as to if it’s a real affinity at all or really just a closely aligned Water and Air dual affinity. Not like I know of anyone making cloud spells and I don’t know how to do so either. Plus, it’s not like the legendary Storm affinity so nobody really cares, especially not when it’s so rare and rarely useful."

Lily poked Kat to ask, "Storm affinity?"

Grunkle nodded, "Surprised you haven’t heard of it. Once again people aren’t sure if it’s actually a tri-affinity or one single affinity that can be broken down... but it’s known for being exceptionally powerful. Same as cloud, just with lightning thrown in. There are a few historically important users of the magic... but eh, I’m not particularly good at water or wind magic. Doesn’t mean I actually have cloud as an affinity... at least to my guessing, but boy does it make for a good excuse to throw at my parents or for my teachers to throw back at me.

"Even still... left me real interested in the sky and the weather so... I watch the clouds, the sky, the sun... and this entire place has become exceptionally interesting since the mountain fell apart. Some things repeat as if on a perfect loop, others different. The mountain now has hundreds if not thousands of micro-climates and yet sometimes rain sweeps through the entire area! It is perhaps the single most fascinating area for weather observation in existence. It’s been a great time," Grunkle smiled as he finished off his tea.

Appoline nodded, "Yes there are a lot of fascinating alchemy ingredients for me to find so I understand the fascination with the area. Not all of them are that potent, but alchemy has a place for them as well. I don’t share your love for the weather, as my home essentially had none, but I can appreciate a fellow professional."

While Appoline and Grunkle started to gush about their professions to each other, Kat and Lily started to converse mentally. Somewhat ignoring the other conversation. It was... it wasn’t uninteresting, but they didn’t exactly feel included, nor feel like forcing the matter to ensure they were. For now, they trusted Appoline to pull them in if it was necessary.