Perhaps it was the magic of the moment, beside a moonlit pool that shouldn't exist. Perhaps it was the beauty of the crane as it stood there, its white feathers glowing like starlight. Maybe it was the fact that seeing a crane was meant to be good fortune, coupled with his father's oft repeated advice to exercise caution when facing strange things. Perhaps it was a small voice screaming soundlessly in his mindscape, or the words of his teacher, rising unbidden to his mind at that moment.

  Even Demonic Beasts need to eat.

  Whatever the reason, Song stood still as the crane’s head speared into the water and emerged a second later with a fish wriggling in its beak.

  Song sighed and slowly lowered his staff. What to do? He could skirt far around the pool, but he'd lose the trail, and the jackal would be long gone.

  Tonight was a waste.

  Ah well, there was always tomorrow night, or the night after. He was used to disappointment these days.

  He slowly crept down the embankment, then bowed in the direction of the pool. “I apologize for disturbing your meal, Sir Crane,” he muttered, half mockingly, and turned to leave.

  Then stopped.

  The crane stood directly behind him, staring at him with black beady eyes. It was nearly his own height, and the crown of stars upon its crest let out a soft pulse as it took a smooth step forward. Back down at the pool, the space where the crane had stood a moment ago was empty.

  Song desperately stumbled back, raising his staff to the ready. He skittered on the scree and his backpedaling feet met the edge of the ridge. He was barely even able to scream before he pitched over and down into the pool below.

  He plunged into the icy depths, panic clawing at his throat. He needed to breathe! His fingers reached for the surface, and his legs kicked wildly as he tried to right himself.

  But then, down in the inky depths of the pool, a flickering light caught his eyes. It was a second moon, gliding majestically through the weeds, a ghostly finned twin to the orb sitting on the surface.

  Song’s eyes widened.

  A treasure carp! One bite from its flesh could be enough to raise his cultivation by a full step!

  Then darkness crept into his vision, and he desperately kicked upwards. His head broke the surface with a ragged gasp, and he barely managed to pull his soaking and bedraggled body up the embankment before he collapsed onto his back.

  The crane stood a few paces away, its head cocked quizzically.

  Song’s fingers reached for his sling-staff, but it floated on the surface of the pool several meters away. He scrabbled for a rock, a stick, anything to–

  Suddenly, the crane tipped its head back and began flapping its mouth with an *Ack!* *Ack!* *Ack!* sound. It sounded like it was choking, or about to throw up. This continued for several seconds, long enough for Song to come to a horrified realization.

  The crane was laughing at him!

  Hateful!

  “*Ack!* *Ack!* *Ack!* Amusing, respectful human child! So amusing! In all my years, I’ve never met such a clumsy cultivator!” The crane's voice cracked the silence, and Song felt an icy chill that wasn't from the cold water soaking his clothes.

  It could talk?!? This was a core level Demonic Beast! A monster out of legend!

  And he’d been about to hit it with a rock!

  The crane walked in a slow circle around Song, who stayed deathly still on the riverbank. “I wondered what you were doing, with your silly little stick,” the crane continued in its crackly voice, like an old man with a sore throat. “Had you come seeking death like so many cultivators before you? Or were you simply an inquisitive little fox, sticking your paw where it didn't belong.”

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  “I didn't know you were here, Sir Crane.” Song said respectfully, finding his voice. It only quivered a little. “I swear! This Lee Song was sent to hunt a jackal and I followed it here by accident!”

  “Truly? If you lie to me, human child, I'll peck out your eyes and eat them while you watch.”

  Idly, Song wondered how he was supposed to watch without any eyes. He pointed up the ridge and explained, “you can find its tracks just over there!”

  The crane considered him for an excruciating moment, then jerked its head to the north, “I did indeed see a jackal earlier this night. It was wiser than you, and fled when it sensed me. If you hurry, you might be able to catch it before dawn.”

  Was the Demonic Beast… helping him? Song considered his words carefully before bowing and saying, “Thank you, Sir Crane?”

  “What a curious human child,” the crane said, ignoring his thanks. “Your cultivation is crude and unrefined, with no sign of proper training. Are you a Demonic Cultivator? But no, you couldn’t be.”

  “No,” Song agreed, quiet shame in his voice. “I underwent qi deviation.”’

  “And you didn't go mad? Or turn into a wriggling mass of maggots? Impressive.”

  Song didn't know what to say to that, so he stayed silent

  “Who’s your Master?” The crane prodded. “So I may call them a fool, and slap them if I ever meet them.”

  “I don't have a Master. There’s no one to teach me,” Song replied bitterly. Hunter An was his teacher, not his Master, after all. A student could have many teachers, but they could only ever have one Master. “There’re no Void body cultivators in all the Nakjo plains.”

  “*Ack!* *Ack!* Ignorant human child. Do you have holes for eyes? Are you so blind that you cannot see Mount Tai?” The crane leaned forward, showing off the faint crown of stars sitting perched upon its crest. “I am a Void body cultivator. The greatest in all of Nakjo.”

  This close, the crane’s wicked beak felt like a blade pressed to Song’s neck. His heart pounded in his chest like hoofbeats.

  “Are you going to eat me for my insolence, Sir Crane?” Song asked. Better to be done with it. He didn't bother with threats, even his father was a mewling babe before the might of a core level cultivator.

  “No. Not here,” the crane replied, looking wistfully up at the enormous Lotus Moon, his eyes swirling with memory. “Not today… It's too meaningful a night for bloodshed. Though I would’ve wreaked terrible vengeance on you if you'd spoiled it by hurling that rock. Can you stand, human child?”

  Song pushed himself to his trembling feet and nodded mutely.

  “Then go hunt your jackal. And tell no one of this. I will know if you do.”

  The crane turned back to watching the pool, dismissing Song as the mere gnat before a giant that he was.

  Song slowly climbed the embankment, relief making him feel faint. But when he stood atop the ridge and stared in the direction of the village, sudden indecision warred within him. He turned back and looked down at the crane as it stood silently in the pool. From up here, it seemed so small and alone, nothing at all like the terrible monster he’d imagined it to be.

  Even now, his father was preparing to hire him a teacher at great expense to his Lee family. A Void cultivator who'd be expert refinement at most. He was a frog in a well, and he knew it.

  But a core level cultivator. There were few at that level on the entire continent of Lemuria, mostly geniuses of the Nine Sects or heads of the Five Noble Families. Each one was an esteemed hero of the Gangho who’d never even dream of setting foot in his tiny Changpo Village.

  Yet there one stood, idly fishing in a pool in his own backyard. The crane stood alone, almost forlorn, like it was waiting for someone.

  It was fate. It was a chance. It was his fortuitous encounter.

  He already had an Inner Demon as his ‘spirit guide’, so what more was a Demonic Beast as his teacher?

  And it’d already shown him a kindness. Maybe it would do so again.

  Song nearly fell head over heels in his haste as he slid back down to the bank of the pool.

  “What now, human child?” The crane asked, its tone growing dangerous. “Are you so desperate to be eaten?”

  “I know I'm not a genius, or from a prestigious Noble family, but I swear that I work harder than anyone else,” Song declared, throwing himself to the ground and kowtowing with his face in the mud. “I beg of you Master, accept this Lee Song as your disciple!”

  The crane stared at him incredulously, “What?”

  “As you said, Master. You're the greatest Void cultivator in all of Nakjo,” Song replied. “And I’m the worst. It must be fate that we met! Please have mercy on this Lee Song and his clumsy cultivation!"

  The Demonic Beast regarded him for a long moment. Then its *Ack!* *Ack!* *Ack!* echoed within the confines of the pool before spilling out into the starry sky.