.I guess it is fitting since I am a bird but is it truly a worm? Didn't my mother say it was a serpent? I hover above the worm still thinking about if it's a serpent or not. I'm reluctant to hunt it down.

I mean what if it tastes disgusting? I sure am struggling hard thinking about eating a worm. I’m a bird now, it might taste good. I guess even if I don't eat it I can bring it to Mother as a gift for my first hunt. I'm sure she would love it. Yes, that’s exactly what I would NOT do! Should do as a dutiful son.

I puff my chest out thinking about receiving her praise. I start to laugh heartily “Caw Caw Caw” I laugh to myself. I'm becoming a Momma's boy, I thought to myself.

The worm looked up and noticed me cawing to myself like a lunatic. Ahem! Ahem!, I mentally cough and try to compose myself. I stare down at my vicious prey and I get myself ready for an epic fight.

I flap my wings, increasing my speed as I dive towards the mighty worm. I can imagine my beak piercing the fowl thing like a spear through flesh. I get closer and closer but suddenly the prey disappears from my eyes. I strike the ground with force and a loud thud permeates the surrounding area. Ugh, it hurts. I try to move but my beak is stuck in the ground which is much harder than anticipated. I struggle to get out then I see it from the corner of my eye it wiggles around at me. Is it mocking me? Fury arose from my chest. I focused on my core and drew strength. The core started to pulse with warmth as I put the strength all into my wings and flapped as hard as I could. A comical pop sound is made as I escape and focus my anger at this mighty opponent which had avoided my dive. It must be smarter than it appears to avoid my attack. Yes, that must be it. I try to calm my agitated heart and prepare for another fearsome exchange with my fated enemy.

The worm ignores my presence and continues to wiggle around tauntingly. The anger spikes and my eyes glow red as I thirst for blood. When suddenly the human-shaped constellation starts to glow subtly and rationality hits me like a ton of bricks. Calmness returns to my mind and I notice a slight glow on the worm. It must be affecting my mood and rationality. This is such a fearsome creature. I take a big breath to calm myself further and I start to think about how to deal with this creature.

It continues to wiggle around not noticing that my calm and rationality have returned. I get slightly embarrassed at my previous behavior but I power through the negative emotions. I think about my previous attack and notice that I should have been more stealthy. I start to fly higher hopefully away from the worm's attention. it stopped wiggling and looked around but it didn't see me. I can't believe I lost aggro that quickly.

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This time I quietly started to glide down, being careful not to make any noise. I quietly landed on the ground next to it and before it noticed me I gave it a quick peck. Boom! A loud explosion happened as soon as my beak hit the worm and an awful stink exploded all over me. It was disgusting and made me feel dizzy, my eyes were watery and I felt like I was breathing in deviled egg farts. I had to quickly fly from this hell. That worm wasn't an ordinary worm, it was a Worm of Mass destruction I thought to myself. I tried flapping my wings but. I couldn't get any power behind my wings. The smell had drained me of all my strength. I had to settle for hopping out of the area of effect stank. I had to settle for hopping.

After 30 or so hops the smell started to lighten up and I continued to hop in hopes of fresh air but the smell never left it clung to me. I felt like a failure. I couldn't even hunt a worm and now I was smelly. I bet I couldn't hunt like this. I would just be giving away my position.

I decided to return to Mother and I explained my failure and of course, she laughed.

“Caw caw caw!” She laughed loudly at my misfortune. “Why did you go after those nasty things? Heart-rending calamity bugs have little nutritional value. She replied to me while still laughing.

“I thought those were the serpents you were talking about…” I couldn’t help but reply.

“Those are worms so how can you not tell the difference between a worm and a snake? Are you dumb?” She chastised me harshly.

“Mom I...I dunno how to answer that.” I replied somewhat disheartened. I felt great shame at my mom's chastising.

Look son just watch the eggs I'll be right back. She just flew off and left me alone with my shame. The feeling of shame quickly turned into anger and I made a vow to kill every one of those worms. In the middle of my righteous fury, Mother quickly came back with a sample of the serpent she had mentioned before.

“This is what you were supposed to hunt, son.” She placed the serpent by my side and she quickly jumped into the nest to watch her eggs.

“Thank you, Mother, I'll be sure to hunt better next time now that I know what I'm supposed to hunt,” I replied to her with gratitude.

I then picked up the snake and flew towards my nest where I placed it inside. I examined it for a while, noticing the patterns and characteristics and then I decided to eat it. Tomorrow I will hunt a snake for my mother but right now I’m hungry. I take my beak and tear into its flesh and blood flows out into my nest. I will not fail again I said to myself as determination flowed in my veins. This was the last thought I had before eating the snake and falling back into my cultivation routine.

The pain of the Grand Astral Technique was still strong but I felt the energy from the snake toughen up my body a bit. It was a mix of pain and pleasure but I started to feel a bit drowsy.

“I guess today was much tougher on me than I thought.” This was the last thing that went through my mind as I passed out in my nest.