As they walked together beneath the vast canopy of the Everstrife Forest, Cain couldn't help but study Zarak more closely. There was something profoundly different about the old man, something beyond cultivation or power. His willpower carried a purity Cain had rarely seen, even among the most enlightened.
Cain's own Ego Eternal Path was far more advanced in structure and reach, yet Zarak's felt freer. His spirit radiated detachment, not the cold absence of emotion, but a serenity that seemed to flow from the very core of his Alter-Ego, as if he had transcended the last fetters of desire. The man walked as one utterly unbound, harmonized with the world and the life around him.
Cain smiled faintly, murmuring to himself, "I suppose choosing a path that could easily kill you grants that kind of freedom."
