It was a cold morning like usual in the island where Goats outnumber humans.
The gentle breeze flows past the small cozy town of Tórshavn, rattling slightly the windows of the small colorful houses, while the waves of the ocean slowly crashed on the lands's edge, visible to the waking Faroese islanders.
With the faint rattling of widnows, comes the sounds of cloth moving as a young redhead boy jumps off his warm bed, waking up full of energy, directly into the cold air.
"I love feeling my nuts freeze!"
The boy then takes a deep breath while facing his open window, and immediately smiles wide
"Ahhh, nothing like the smell of Qi in the morning..."
"You mean 'Mana", you dummy, we are mages Brandur." a young female voice mutters behind the young man. A short blond girl wearing a long set of pijamas is sitting on another bed, having a blunt and annoyed expression on her childish face.
"EEEEW! Mana is cringe, little sis! How can you even compare it to Qi!?" The boy, Brandur, proudly pokes his chest with his calloused thumb while smiling wide. "I am a cultivator! Not a skinny nerd that need to use a stick to fight."
"Well then show me at least one Qi technique." the little sis shows no hesitation, momentarily making Brandur pause still on his epic pose, sweating buckets.
The girl sighs with annoyance, but also a hint of...relief, at her borther's inability. "Come on, lets eat-"
"Hold on, junior! I-I will show you! What i have been training for months already!"
Brandur's sudden confidence makes the little girl stop her dismissive track. "T-Tch..." she clicks her tongue in frustation, mixed with a hidden softess in her blond eyes that goes unnoticed by her big bro.
Brandur clears his troath and step back to the bedroom window, taking a Karate-like stance while aiming towards the sky outside, concetrating the weak levels of Qi into his calloused fist.
"Heaven shattering golden spear!"
Brandur's fist shoots out with near superhuman speed and...sends a small fire blast that dissipates in the air with a fart sound before even crossing the window.
"T-That was...the most pathetic fireball spell i have ever seen...even our oven makes stronger fires." the little sis states, looking both blank and amused.
"I-It wasnt a spell! It was a Martial Technique ok?" Brandur puffs with red cheeks while trying to defend his pride as a cultivator.
Suddenly, a sweet mature female voice speaks from the street outside. When both siblings look down from the window, they see their mother putting boxes of food in the door step.
"Oh son, was that firework spell your's? It was really pretty." the sweet ginger woman smiles up at her kids, gesturing for them to come down.
"Yes mom..." Brandur sulks at his defeat, having to silently accept his cultivated technique is a firework spell.
Meanwhile, the little sis is smiling wide, like a satisfied goblin.
"S-Shut up Anna, you only won this one..." there is no bite to his frustation.
The sibling duo get dressed into normal clothes for the day and head down to help their mom, who greets with a warm long hug first,
"There you are, my two little angels...slept well?"
Both Brandur and Anna nod on the same manner, with the same warm smile towards the woman, despite their opposing personalities.
"Thats good, really good..." the woman hug them yet again for a long moment, then let them go, stepping back slightly and gesturing to the small box of food besides her, that is covered with a note saying 'From Rebekka'.
"Can you two go and give these meals i made for the Workers in the Plantations and Fishing site? I am already going to help your dad on the Hospital for-"
"Is it because of the preparations for the tournament travel!?" Brandur interrupts Rebekka, excitedlyinvading her personal space while smiling like a human golden retriver.
Anna just sighs and hugs herself closely, holding back to not scould Brandur. Meanwhile the mother thinks for a moment, concern etched on her gentle pale face.
"Y-Yes son, its for the Healer team preparing to head to China for the...Tribulation Arena." Rebekka asnwers honestly despite her hesitance, being too well-mannered and kind to lie to her own son. The name of the tournamant seems to make her physically wince just at the tought of the violence she knows happens there. And she also knoes what that travel means to her son.
"Lets Gooooo!" Brandur moves his tall young form quickly, lifting the entire crate of meals into his arms like a worker that got promised a raise, then immediately runnng away towards the Workers' area of town.
"W-Wait for me you buffon! You know mother wants us to stay close in the streets!" Anna spouts in embarrasment while grabbing her wand and flying after her big brother, struggling to match his trained speed even with magic.
And Rebekka watches them go, wearing a expression that mixes hesitation and concern with pride and hope, hearing Brandur repeating "Tournament" like a excited mantra on the distance.
Little does she knows, the first ever travel of her son will change their life in ways she cant even predict.