Ducking below the abominations clumsy blow, Audrey called the wind to her aid and savagely pecked out one of her opponents eyes, keeping her beak tightly closed to avoid accidentally tasting anything.

The wound she had just inflicted did little to blind the thousand eyed monstrosity, but her beak attack could not penetrate its thick scaled armor, forcing her to target the thankfully numerous weak points. It might be only surface level damage, but judging by its maddened roars and uncontrolled spasms, it certainly seemed to hurt.

“Audrey. Left!”

Unhesitatingly following her teammate's instruction, she dived out of the way, trusting him to capitalize on the opportunity she had just created. Sure enough, she felt dozens of invisible wind blades rend through the air, eventually bisecting the corrupted serpent in half.

The fight wasn’t over, those that had fallen to the old ones' corruption all had an unreasonable amount of vitality. They had only traded a single overpowering monster in for two still powerful foes. However, she wasn’t scared. Noticing the presence of the Great Rune of Healing had abated slightly, and knowing Zaen and Yan would soon rejoin the fight, she fearlessly charged towards the biggest of the recovering flesh amalgamation.

With her friends by her side and one of the Gift of Stars protecting them, she had no doubt they would be victorious, finally felling this evil creature. Besides, if anything truly went wrong, she still had Mister Spirit, he always had solutions for everything. They were never any fun, but they worked, and were the reason she could be so reckless in her fight, abandoning herself to the thrill of battle.

Silently watching over the merry band’s raucous dinner, Avery reflected on the complicated feelings occupying his heart.

He found Audrey both amusing and irritating, and he had to admit he had grown quite fond of her. He felt like he was raising a small child, someone lacking in experience, knowledge and critical thinking skills, but so full of the joy of life, possessing such an infallible optimism, that he found it impossible to dislike her.

More importantly, that whimsical happiness was infectious. It was not a coincidence that he had chosen to accompany a young bird with a personality so different from his. Nor was it without reason that he allowed himself to act according to his whims, constantly engaging with everything on an emotional level, in a manner alien to his usual restrained serenity.

In these last months, he had felt somewhat human again, his new life animated by a beautiful chaos of colorful activity.

He had been a solitary tree, growing peacefully in an untouched wilderness for millennias. He had incarnated in his inner world to try and recapture the past, returning to a life of a man amongst many, fighting his way through the crowd in a bustling world.

His plan had worked. He had spoken more in the last month than in the previous millennia, experienced more variation in emotions and expended far more energy. This was the life he had on earth, a life that was so much simpler and more complicated at the same time, a life where seconds mattered, where decades and centuries were but distant dreams.

It let him understand what it was all about, the treasures that were buried in the simplicity of life, the million and one joys and sorrows that everyone experienced and shared, the insecurity and impermanence of just about everything, that gave so much meaning to any hint of eternity.

Perhaps it was not as worthless and delusional as he had thought, to seek contentment through mundanity, to accept one's place and work to find happiness in it, rather than seeking to become something different.

After all, mortals were part of the Tao too, and were far more numerous and impactful to the world than immortals.

They had no need for great aspirations or eternal pursuit, the present was enough, only striving to be better oneself day by day. In a way, this was one of the purest ambitions, for there was no end to such a path of self-improvement.

Living through and resisting the caprices of fate, slowly polishing yourself into a diamond capable of progressing through the tempest of life, this was a path he could respect and admire.

Yet even as he slowly came to understand why some did not share his all encompassing worship of the Tao, and forced himself to take a few steps on this alternate path, he quickly realized he had no wish to return to a life of mundanity.

Perhaps this way was not inferior to his, but it still wasn't his, and they were not compatible. The more he forced himself to tread the red dust of the mortal world, the more he could feel his all-important connection to the Tao slowly erode, leaving him lost and confused.

He wasn’t a small fish in a pond, having to wander the world to explore the world and witness its profundities. He could not swim about with the current and leave no traces behind. He was a powerful dragon capable of peering into the secrets of the pond from where he was. He had no need for movement, and instead, the more he moved and waved, the muddier the water became, hiding the truth from his eyes.

He had a new understanding of the meaning of the “Red Dust” of the mortal world, and a new hatred for its pernicious power, covering up his connection to the Tao, dissipating that profound beatitude that came with it.

However, despite his acquired distaste of his current situation, he had no intention of abandoning Audrey, and still planned to live a complete human life.

It was normal to feel uncomfortable when leaving his comfort zone, and it was normal for a beginner to be unable to reconcile two ideas that seemed contradictory, but that did not mean that it was impossible.

The path to sainthood was still as murky as before, and there was no way he would ever choose to risk cutting off an important part of himself just because it was uncomfortable or because he could not see any instant benefits. What if he needed that remnant of mortality to become a Saint?

No, he would see his plan through to the end, comprehending as much as he possibly could. Even if the path were different, and he could not tread both of them to the end, it did not mean there was nothing to be gained. For the sake of eternal communion with the Tao, he was more than ready to suffer a little loneliness.