"Mira, I’m about to leave is there anything you need from  Alf's shop?” 

“Give me a minute to sort out what I’m lacking dear."

At this moment a young man who looked to be no more than 25 years of age could be seen leaving a 3-storied house made completely of green wood. It had the look of a huge tree that had been hollowed out and a home had been built in it. The house was surrounded by lush herbs, shrubs, and trees all around. The house seemed to be the only man-made structure in the place but due to its unique design, it melded perfectly with its surrounding.

The young man walking out of the house was slimly built with medium height. He had on a brown rough-looking cloak, a white long-sleeved shirt that had its sleeves rolled to the elbows, black fitting pants, and brown boots. At his waist, he had a shirasaya blade that had a dark earth-brown hilt and matching scabbard. It was simple and unadorned except for two golden eyes that seem to resemble a bird’s that were engraved on the hilt of the sword and the scabbard with one eye in each of the two places.

He had his hair tied up in a bun with loose strands appearing everywhere. His hair was deep blue in color. He had matching deep blue eyebrows and lashes. His eyes were also deep blue except for the dark golden pupils that seemed to stand out in complete contrast to his eyes.

By all accounts, this seemed to be a normal home that one would find anywhere if one ignored the various animal noises that echoed all around the compound. There was a mix and marsh of different bird noises, mammal noises like sheep and goats, and the occasional bark and insect noises.

The young man groggily and lazily made his way over to the right side of the house appearing as if he had just woken up. The first rays of the sun had just hit and the dew had not left the grass yet. He slowly arrived at what seemed to be a storage shed built a couple of meters from the house. The storage was medium-sized about 50 square inches.

He gently placed his palms at the center of what seemed to be the entrance of the storage shed. However, there was no door or lock or even a way of entering the shed. The front was the same as all the other sides fully boarded up with no entrance whatsoever.

Once his palms were firmly placed on the boards of the wooden shed he gently pushed his palms forward as a blue light was produced from his hands and transferred onto the wooden boards as he tiredly muttered “Open.”

A glowing white circle made of strange arcane symbols and glyphs was soon formed on that board then a magical scene happened. All the boards facing the young man disappeared. 

He slowly walked forward as he yawned.

“I wonder if that little brat is up yet so he can help with the packing of the wool,” he silently muttered.

He gently snapped his fingers as he moved into the shed. The darkness that had enveloped the whole shed was soon replaced with a medium-lit glow.

That glow originated from white glowing stones the size of a drum fitted sparsely around the roof of the shed. These were luminescent stones that absorbed surrounding mana to give off light. They could recharge naturally or be manually charged using one own's mana.

Everything within soon came into view. The size of the inside of the shed was multiple times bigger than what its actual size outwards seemed to depict.  Outside it seemed like a medium-sized shed but inside it was the size of 5 large sized sheds combined together.

The shed was filled with over a dozen rows of shelves filled with all kinds of objects.

There were shelves filled with jars containing different things. Some had golden runes flickering on and off that seemed to hold liquids of different colors, some were filled with preserved parts of animals and other jars seemed to hold small particle-sized grains of different colors.

Other shelves had books and scrolls,  while others were stacked with small locked chests that had some type of rune inscribed on them. Other shelves were fashioned into weapon racks holding different kinds of weapons from swords, sabers, and spears to halberds. There were even rows of mannequins fitted with armor and shields made out of the same materials. Some were made of metal and others of leather.  Among the different armors and shields there were some that seemed to have a faint cloaking glow around them of varying colors from white, red, brown, and blue if one looked close enough. While some shelves seemed to be holding herbs and even racks and racks of different-sized, shaped, and colored eggs.

The number of things stored in the shed numbered at least in the hundreds. The young man made his way to his left side much closer to the entrance where there was a small mountain hill of what looked to be blue wool whose quantity had reached the roof of the shed. The wool was his target for coming into the shed. 

“No time like the present. I can’t wait to see what I can trade them for. I hope Alf has some really nice things in today. I went spent so much effort to get this blue wool from the blue sapphire sheep,” said the young man with excitement showing in his voice. He knew he would get a pretty penny for all this wool as the blue sapphire wool was the preferred material in making clothes for nobles and the affluent.  It had a smooth soft texture and it could conduct and handle high volumes of mana making it a good choice for making clothes with magical inscriptions in them.

“Mmmh I think Mira should have decided by now and I need to wake up that little brat to help me pack all this wool.  Manual labor at the crack of dawn should be the right reward for all the snitching he does around the house. That little lad sings louder than a siren. Here I always thought fathers and sons had a deeper bond. Heheheh just you wait Dyr, your dad has an amazing gift for you.” A crazy scheming glint flashed in the young man’s face as he made his way back into the house after confirming the blue wool was still in perfect condition.

Inside the house, the first room was the living room adorned with all kinds of furniture with the same luminescent stone at the ceiling of the room. Further ahead was an open-door kitchen there were  pots, pans, and other utensils that were hung on hooks and 3 brick red ovens. By the left and right side of the living further along the center, there were other rooms though they were locked.

The young man quickly made his way up the flight of stairs near the living room entrance. He went past the second floor and rose to the third floor. Upon reaching the 3rd floor he gently and slowly made his way towards the first door on the right side of the hallway.

He gently opened the door leading to a medium-sized room that had clothes and boots arranged haphazardly on the floor, a reading desk and chair with a small shelf filled with books and at one corner of the room was a bed that had a small outline of a body fully covered in the covers. There was also a finely crafted small wooden sword laid standing next to the head of the bed.

“Which move should I pull today? I’ve already used all the good ones and I can’t reuse them as they won’t have as much effect as the first time.” The young man held his chin in deep contemplation before he suddenly smiled.

“Let’s go with that. It should be fun. Luckily I have some leftover sap from the bleeding crown tree.” He quickly fiddled around his pocket and pulled out a small vial filled with a blood-red liquid that anyone would assume to be blood.

He uncorked it and poured the contents on one side of his face. From his head dripping down his eye. He ruffled his hair and his clothes to put on a disheveled appearance.

“For better effects, I think a small-scale earth surge spell will do.”

He slowly pointed his palm towards the bed and silently muttered, “Earth surge’’ 

The floor beneath the bed seemed to be made of quicksand as it rippled back and forth before it solidified and rocked the bed above it upwards before the bed covers and the occupant of the bed were thrown off in force. 

A little boy who seemed to be about 4 years old quickly fell to the floor and woke up in a state of shock from the fall. He woke up disoriented wondering what happened and how he ended up rolling on the. As he shook his head to try and collect his bearings he spotted someone with a bloodied appearance staring at him with a worried look.

“Huuuuh Dad is that youuuuu?!! What’s happening?”

The young man quickly made his way to the young boy who too had a head full of deep blue hair, matching eyebrows, eyelashes, an iris, and a deep golden pupil.

He quickly grabbed the boy the hand and said.

“Son we need to run quick. Your mother has already gone to fetch your uncle and grandmother. THE VILLAGE IS UNDER ATTACK!!! We need to get you and the other children as far away from the aftermath. Quick put on your shoes.” He finished hurriedly 

“Huuuuuuuuuuuuuh…….wai..wai…wai…wai…” The boy was now visibly terrified adding to his earlier confusion he ended up stammering a few times before he even managed to put a few sentences together.

“WAIT WAIT DAD Dad….what do you mean the village is under attack, who is even crazy enough to try it? None of these makes sense at all.”

“We don’t have time for this son, we need to leave. I’ve always told you anything can happen even those strong empires can be toppled in a day…Hurry up.” He even added a few cracks and trembling in his voice to add to his theatrics. He was secretly pleased with himself.

“Hehehehe looks like my prank worked. Look at how he is shaking. Serves you right siren. Too bad I don’t have a lot of time or I would have staged it better.” The young man silently thought to himself though outwardly he had on a worried appearance and the disheveled appearance and the “blood” further amplified that look.

"Huuh, what, why how ?...Huuuh......

“Dad can you please use a water ball spell on me? My head feels a bit woozy from the fall and I need to be sure this whole thing isn’t just a crazy nightmare I’m having.”

“Fine.” The young man quickly agreed as he conjured up a water ball the size of a human head and threw it at his son. However, he had secretly lowered the temperature of the water so much that there was a faint foggy mist to it and threw it to his son with such force that the young kid ended up rolling over backward twice.

The kid quickly stabilized himself from the roll as he madly dashed out of his room. Before his dad figured out what was happening the kid was in the hallway of the 3rd-floor yelling, 

“MOOOOOOOOOOOM MOM!! Dad used a frost spell on me again. I even suspect he mixed it with lightning elements..Heeeeeeeelp” He loudly yelled.

The young man was dumbfounded as he hurriedly came down the hallway only to find his son throwing an innocent smile at him that had some hint of pride and mockery to it.

“Dad, I expected you to pull something. I’ve always known how petty you are and quick to get your revenge on me with your many little tricks. Hehehehe today's victory is mine. Wait till mom gets her hands on you.” 

He just stared at his son with a dumbfounded expression on his face as he wondered out loud,

“What has just happened? Did I just get tricked during my trick by a 4-year-old?”

“LEO WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SON AGAIN?” an angry woman’s voice traveled over from one of the rooms on the 3rd floor as the door at the end of the right side of the hallway opened.

The young man couldn’t help but gulp in fear.

“Don’t worry dad, I have a feeling you’ll soon be like the siren you like calling me. I am your son after all, father siren,” The young kid patted his dad’s leg as a show of fake pity as he moved to the side to get a better place to enjoy the show that was to come.