Even without flight, her powerful legs were more than enough to let her travel great distances, and Audrey guessed she must be fast approaching her destination. Perhaps in a few hours, she would be able to demand reparation from those fake friends that had left her behind.

While relatively barren, the plains were not completely deserted, and with Avery’s help in locating prey, she had managed a few hunts. Most of her attempts failed as her lack of control over her strength made stealth very delicate, but each successful kill was exhilarating, as if she was finally satiating some primal instinct.

While she was far from satisfied, as the few critters she had managed to eat did little to alleviate her hunger, it still provided her enough energy to support her rush to civilization.

She hooted happily, addicted to that overwhelming sentiment of freedom and unbridled confidence in her newfound strength.

A few days passed as a blissful dream, an idyllic journey with the sun, moon and stars as companions, roaming the immensity of the earth with impunity, racing along with the wind, untethered by any of her troubles.

Only Mister Spirit’s long-winded speeches did not fit the carefree atmosphere, but that disembodied voice certainly added to the mystery of her current existence.

Even after a week of constant exercise, she never felt tired, never felt the need to stop to rest, never felt pain or fear. Only her hunger remained, but even that faded away as she started immersing herself in her body’s growing melody, that savage song of blood and authority. She heard it grow louder each passing second, her heart beating according to a strange, hypnotic rhythm. It was constantly flooding her veins with power, pushing her already perfect body to even greater heights.

Not only that, but she also felt her spirit slowly melding with her new body, giving her a feeling of wholeness, and a heightened sense of existence that brought about a deep-seated joy.

Still, she had not truly broken free from earthly considerations, and had a lot of questions plaguing her mind.

“Mister Spirit? Are you here?”

She received no response, but she had expected that. She used to believe he was purposefully ignoring her, but she had come to realize he seemed to spend his existence deep in thought, completely unaware of anything else.

Self-deprecating mocking herself for having picked up such an unreliable spirit, she tried to activate her blood qi, since he had said he would feel that.

Even after a dozen attempts, she still felt nothing, but she must have succeeded, as her mind was suddenly invaded by an ethereal presence. Said presence said nothing, but it radiated a faint aura of impatience and displeasure.

Gulping silently, she reminded herself that he was only a spirit, she spoke in a soft voice.

“I was told we would arrive at our destination in less than two days, but it’s been more than a week, and we are still not there yet. Am I actually running really slow?”

That impatient aura was suddenly tainted by a trace of mirth, and despite the impassive tone of his response, Audrey got the distinct impression he was mocking her.

“What does your speed have to do with anything? It wouldn't matter if you were going faster than light, you won’t get any closer to your goal if you keep running in circles.”

“What? I’m running in circles? Why didn’t you tell me?”

That mocking atmosphere disappeared in favor of his usual profound wisdom, but she was not convinced by his defense.

“Because the more time you have to get accustomed to your strength before interacting with mortals, the better. Since there is no rush in getting out, I thought it best to let you do your own thing in peace. It would be a much better learning experience.”

“No rush? No rush! I’m starving here! You are saying that if you had only deigned to give me a helpful comment, I would have arrived long ago? That right at this moment, I could be comfortably sitting in an inn eating dinner?”

Her beak watered as she thought of all the delicacies she could be eating, instead of those rare rodents she had painstakingly hunted. What right did Mister Spirit have to take that away from her?

“You're just hungry, not starving. You are perfectly capable of surviving this way for years. And don’t push all the blame on me. I’m not the one stopping to do happy little dances every few minutes and randomly choosing direction

She instinctively lowered her head when chastised, but then immediately raised it again defiantly.

“It’s not random! I am very careful each time, always following the sun. I remember it was blinding us because it was just in front of us, so it must be in the right direction! And there is nothing wrong with dancing. It’s fun!”

She held her as soon as she stopped speaking, twitching uneasily, standing on one leg then the other, nervously awaiting his reaction. She was also a little proud of herself, interiorly telling herself that she was right, and that and that she should not be afraid to speak her mind.

As the long silence dragged on, apprehension won over her pride, and she became so uncomfortable she began absentmindedly grooming herself.

“Perhaps I need to take a more active role in your education. Sit down, it’s time we talk about cultivation.”

For a long time, she didn’t react, wondering why he was suddenly talking about something completely different.

“If you learn what I will teach you, not only will you become even stronger and faster, but you won’t have to worry about food ever again.”

That mention of food seemed to restart her brain, and she obeyed hesitantly.

“If cultivation is so useful, why didn’t you tell me about it sooner? It’s really mean to let someone starve if you have a solution!”

“What do you think I was doing all week while you were fooling around? I was creating a custom cultivation technique that was perfectly suited to you, that's what I was doing! And if it had not been for you bothering me every few hours, I would have finished it half a day ago, and you wouldn't have to start learning the unfinished product. Now stop blaming me for your failure, stop asking so many questions, and listen carefully.”

It all sounded very important, and Audrey promised herself she would listen attentively, but by the first sentence, she already knew there was no way she would understand or learn anything he was saying.

“To cultivate atavism is to accumulate blood qi, to purify your blood and unearth the power of your ancestors. From shallow to profound, and from complex to simple, this is a process of returning to genesis, to shed the ordinary, and to become extraordinary.”

“Now, you may be asking yourself, why blood? What link does it have to our ancestors? Why not our bones, our muscles, our feathers? The simple answer is that blood courses through our bodies, carrying our vital energy. The complex answer is that it isn't only blood. The fact that plants can use sap to do the same shows that…”

Audrey wondered why the moon changed her shape so much? Was she being eaten by the sun? That must hurt a lot! But why would the sun do that? And why did it let the moon heal up afterwards? Perhaps it was being chased away by the stars?