Song stood tensely in the water, the still surface of the pool clinging to his bare knees. His eyes locked onto his prey, and his arm muscles tensed.

  He struck fast as a viper, his staff slicing through the water with a cleaving splash.

  And the pure-white Moonscale Carp spun majestically through the air, forming a nearly perfect yin-yang against the black of the night sky.

  “Master Crane, I did it!” Song cheered, his arms raised in triumph. He splashed out of the water, grabbed his deel, and dove on the fish before its frantic flopping managed to carry it back to the water. When he had it full and truly trapped, he delivered a merciful blow to the fish’s head, and it stopped struggling.

  The crane stared at the spectacle, wide-eyed in disbelief.

  “I could still just eat him…” it whispered.

  “Pardon, Master?”

  The crane held a claw up to its beak as though clearing its throat; a very human gesture. “Oh nothing! Yes, yes, good job. It took you long enough!“

  Crane stepped forward and stood before Song, who was still crouched on the ground holding his deel over the fish. “You have a Sign that matches well with my martial arts. Perhaps this was fate.”

  Then the Demonic Beast held itself regally aloft. “You wish to have this mighty Crane as your Master, little human child?”

  “Yes, Master,” Song said, quietly. He tried to kowtow, doing his best to ignore the treasure that lay beneath him. “Would you have this worthless Lee Song as your Disciple?”

  “Make the three bows, and I will take you as my Disciple. I shall teach you the secrets of the Void, and the names of the Dark Dreamer. I will share with you all that I have so that none may call you worthless ever again!” Crane declared, and flapped his wings. There was a burst of wind, and a flash of eye-watering light from the Demonic Beast, which filled the confines of the pool to the brim with an eldritch flickering aurora.

  Dutifully, Song knocked his head against the ground thrice. He felt Crane’s claw upon his shoulder and looked up to meet his new Master’s gaze.

  “Welcome, Disciple.”

  “Thank you, Master.”

  Crane considered him. “I can’t keep calling you little human, and as the only disciple of this noble crane, you must have a worthy Dao name.”

  Song’s heartbeat quickened. A Dao name? So early?? Most didn’t get their –

  “Haksaekki, with the ancient hanja characters for crane and chick. Little Crane Chick. Yes, Haksaekki works well.” Crane’s cheery voice interrupted Song’s wild thoughts, and brought him crashing back down.

  Song’s face fell. “Little Crane Chick, Master?”

  “Of course! Is there a problem with it, Haksaekki?”

  “... no Master.”

  “Excellent! Then let’s begin your first lesson.” Master Crane gestured to the fire. “Cold can be the death of any cultivator, no matter how strong. Warm up by the fire.”

  Song suddenly realized he was shivering, and dutifully crawled over to the fire, the Moonscale Carp clutched tightly in his deel. He laid the fish down beside the fire and focused his breathing, hoping to calm his shivering and start his lessons even a second sooner.

  When Song was finally warmed up, and the carp safely nestled inside a circle of rocks within the pool, Master Crane began his first real lesson.

  “There’s a common misconception that all Demonic Beasts are Demonic Cultivators. That we came upon a Name by chance, or found a place of strong elemental qi, and then deviated. This is mostly true, but in rare cases such as myself, we had some form of protection before learning a Name. This makes us more akin to unorthodox cultivators, such as yourself.”

  Song nodded. “My Father said the same.”

  “Then your Father is wise,” Crane acknowledged. “A Demonic Cultivator is defined utterly by their Sign. They cannot properly circulate qi, can gain no additional techniques, and only have the power that they've been gifted by the Great One. They increase their cultivation by forcibly taking the qi of others, such as by devouring the heart, or by learning a new Name without precaution. The Blood Cult uses the former, while the Heavenly Demonic Cult prefers the latter. Such ‘Demons’ often have broken minds, like the grasswolves”

  Crane tapped Song’s dantian. “An Unorthodox cultivator’s Sign is weaker, but it’s still a source of power. The strongest Unorthodox cultivators use their Sign to aid their techniques. On the other hand, the Orthodox sects believe that this is merely a crutch. They’ve completely eliminated Sign from their paths and prefer to channel their qi fully into their martial arts, honing them to the highest level.”

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  “Are they wrong?”

  Crane ruffled his feathers. “The power is all gifted by the Great Ones, so only They could say. But in all my years, neither the Orthodox, the Demonic, nor the Unorthodox have managed to become dominant over the others. I suspect there is no right or wrong way, just differing paths to power.”

  Song touched his head, where horns weren’t. How could a light in his dantian possibly help his martial arts?

  “How do you use your Sign, Master?” Song asked, pointing at Crane’s crest.

  “Oh, this thing?” Crane clawed at his crown of stars. “It's only the least part of my Sign. A core level cultivator's Sign can damage the minds of the weak. Many of us find a way to hide ours with our martial arts. This can prove a trap for the unwary, so don’t just assume anyone with a weak Sign is at refinement level.”

  Song grimaced, reminded of when he’d first seen Master Crane. He’d judged the Demonic Beast because of its weak Sign. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

  “That’s all I’ll say on the matter,” Crane finished. “Now, show me your martial arts, so I can decide how best to teach you.”

  Dutifully, Song stood went through the motions of the Way of the Ram, before moving onto Fox’s Footwork and the basic styles of Changpo. He also threw a few stones with his sling, just to show how it worked.

  When Song was done, Master Crane gave a long raspberry with his tongue. Song reddened, until he realized it was his new master’s version of a sigh.

  “My martial art is the Stellar Crane Style, and focuses on dodging, redirecting, and making strikes that come from impossible angles,” Crane explained. “Your martial arts focus on power and a strong core; they’re far too different.”

  Crane pointed with a wing at Song’s feet and staff. “Especially when you include that stick of yours. You have much to unlearn.”

  “I’ll work hard, Master,” Song said, bowing.

  “You’d better.” Crane walked around Song, his claws tapping on the stone. “I do like the idea of incorporating the stick though; you have some skill with it. And you’re lacking the necessary beak for some of my techniques. Let's start with the basic stance. Place one foot in front of the other, like you did when you were preparing to throw that stone.”

  Crane demonstrated, his long thin legs adopting the stance of a crane standing within the water. Song imitated him, his years of martial arts practice allowing him to easily keep his balance. Crane came up next to him and poked and prodded, pushing the young man’s arms and legs into a high stance – arms outstretched like wings and his staff held in both hands with the butt forwards. For a brief moment, it brought to mind the early days of practicing with Wook, and Song held back a smile.

  “Good, now hold that for two hours,” Crane said.

  Song nodded, his arms already beginning to burn as the new stance activated muscles he’d never really used before. “Yes, Master.”

  “In the meantime, let’s discuss the first qi technique of the Stellar Crane Style, Crane Reflects on Still Waters.”

  Song blinked. That was a technique he’d never heard of. “Master?”

  Crane took a step forward, and vanished.

  Song looked wildly around the pool, and eventually spotted his master walking calmly back down the ridge. Song rejoiced; that was the Void Step! Or at least something similar!

  “Crane Reflects on Still Waters is a movement technique that allows you to quickly step between spaces by using Void qi,” Crane explained when he stepped back onto the bank.

  “How does it work?” Song asked, excitedly.

  The crane croaked angrily, and smacked Song’s back with a wing, readjusting his stance. “Don’t get distracted! As with any qi technique, you will need some understanding of an aspect of the Great One. This particular technique requires comprehension of the mysteries of light. How it can touch and be reflected by a mere pond, and yet still fill the space around us.”

  Song frowned. “I don’t understand, Master.”

  “Of course not, chick,” Crane scoffed. “A good place to start is with the Name you learned. Names teach us about the aspect of the Great One we seek to emulate. This is one purpose of meditation.”

  Song opened his month and Crane hit him again. “Ah, but don't tell it to me! That’s dangerous!”

  Song’s face fell. “I wasn't going to… I don’t know a Name, Master. I underwent qi deviation.”

  Master Crane flapped his wings in a shrug. “No matter. It’s not unheard of; I can even help. Here, close your eyes and focus your breathing. Don’t enter meditation, just smooth the flow of your qi.”

  “Like this?” Song closed his eyes and circulated his qi as An Iseul had taught him.

  “Good! Now, I’ll enter your mindscape and see what I can puzzle out.”

  Song’s eyes snapped open. “Master, wait!”

  But the crane didn’t hear him; he’d already pushed his qi into Song’s dantian and entered his mindscape.

  —

  Master Crane looked around the black space, examining the constellation overhead with a quizzical eye.

  “Yes, yes. Very good. Similar enough to my own that I think we can work with this.”

  The only other thing in the space was an old fashioned wood and silver floor-mirror. There was something eerie about it that Crane couldn't quite put his beak on.

  “That’s odd.” Crane walked over to it, his wings fluttering in puzzlement. “What’s this – “

  “Hi!” Cyrus called, stepping into view of the mirror. “So you’re the new Master, huh? I wanted to talk with you. Nice to meet you, I’m – “

  Crane shrieked, stumbling backwards. “AWCK! INNER DEMON!!”

  The bird vanished from the mindscape a moment later, leaving Cyrus to call out plaintively to nobody in particular, “How many times do I need to say it – I’m not a demon!”