After the… incident, Song told Cyrus to wait right there while he reported to Master Crane. Cyrus protested, his excitement at being free of the mirror’s confines clear on his face, but he eventually relented.

  Master Crane congratulated Song on his efforts, then reminded the young man that he still had two hours of standing in Stellar Crane stance to complete. And after all, Cyrus wasn't going anywhere.

  Song figured that Cyrus had waited for weeks, so what was two more hours? And surely he could understand how important lessons from a core level Master were! So, Song resumed the position, and desperately drank in what wisdom he could before the sun rose fully over the western horizon.

  “The essence of Crane Reflected On Still Waters,” Master Crane explained. “Is that all light within the Void is the same. The light touching you from the moon and sun and stars is identical to the light that reaches the far distant mountains and all the spaces in between.”

  [“Testing, testing, one, two, three.”] Cyrus’s voice echoed in Song’s head, and he had to tamp down the urge to look behind him.

  Along with being free to explore his mindscape, the Canadian now had the ability to talk to him even while he wasn't meditating. Song was happy that his Spirit Guide wasn't quite as isolated anymore. On the other hand….

  [“Hey Song, thanks for subscribing to Crane Facts! Did you know that Cranes mate for life?”]

  Song twitched, but remained dutifully in crane stance.

  “Much of the Stellar Crane Style depends on true enlightenment in the nature of light.” Crane continued, pointing at the sunrise. It painted the sky in a swath of pastel pinks and yellows.

  [“The common crane can live thirty to forty years, which makes your master an old geezer!”]

  “Would you be silent!” Song shouted, unable to contain himself any longer.

  “*Awck!*” Master Crane stumbled back, then ruffled his feathers. “You dare, little chick!”

  “No! Not you Master!” Song said, clasping his hands and bowing low. “It’s that blasted Cyrus! He won’t be quiet!”

  [“Hey, if you couldn’t talk to anyone for a month, you’d be desperate for attention too! Especially when you’re being purposefully ignored. I’m looking at you, Song!”]

  “I’m not ignoring you,” Song stared up at the sky, replying in anger, “I’m trying to learn!”

  “ENOUGH,” Master Crane shouted, and a pulse rippled across the pool. Even with his refinement level senses, Song was able to see the wave of Void qi that smashed against his dantian. He fell to the ground with a *whoof*, dazed but otherwise unharmed.

  [“AHHHH! EARTHQUAKE!!”] Cyrus screamed. [“HOLY SHEEP! WHAT WAS THAT!?!”]

  “Both of you be silent,” Crane ground out. “I’ll teach you this only once, and you have until tomorrow to complete it. I need to leave after the Lotus Moon ends.”

  Song’s face fell. “Leave, Master?”

  “*Ack!* *Ack!* Surely you didn’t think I’d be able to drop everything for you, little chick. There’re some things I must do, but I’ll return to you before the end of the month,” Crane said, rubbing a wing on Song’s head.

  [“How’d he do that!”] Cyrus asked, excitedly. [“Ask him how he did that!”]

  “Will you stop bothering me?” Song asked, addressing the sky.

  [“I will if you ask!”]

  “Master, Cyrus wants to know what technique – “

  “Technique? *Ack*! *Ack*!” Crane laughed. “It wasn’t anything so grand. Any core level cultivator with sufficient training can force qi out of their body. After that it’s simple enough to batter it against the dantian of a helpless refinement level chick. Now, get up.”

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  Song pulled himself back up into Stellar Crane stance, and repeated his mantra until he felt centered once more. Breath in, breathe out…

  “You’ll need to work at strengthening your mindscape’s defenses,” Crane continued. “The Northern Ice Palace and the Qingcheng Sect favour such attacks. Most cultivators are weak to them, but I do wonder if Cyrus could prove a boon in your case. He’s inside your mindscape, after all, and practically full to bursting with Void qi…”

  [“Challenge accepted! On it, Master!”] Cyrus said, snapping a mental salute.

  Song held the crane stance, and soon his arms and legs began to ache. But he never faltered, and never wavered. When it approached the two hour mark, the silence was broken by his master's teaching.

  “Now, before I was so rudely interrupted by a cheeping chick.” Crane continued “The first technique of Stellar Crane Style. Allow me to demonstrate. Do you see my reflection on the pool?”

  Song looked at a spot on the eerily still waters a short distance away, and nodded.

  “How is it that I can be both here, and yet also upon the surface of the water at the same time? I raise my wing here, and the reflection raises its wing as well. It’s both me, and not me. Comprehending this is the first step. Then, by circulating my Void qi, I can connect to that ‘other me’ through the Void and swap places. Observe the qi flowing through my legs.”

  Crane took a step, exaggeratedly circulating as he did so. Song watched in fascination, the sheer amount of qi his master could command was incredible!

  Suddenly, Crane vanished, reappearing a moment later over his reflection in the pool. He lazily flapped his wings before he fell into the water, and launched himself back to the bank. “Did you see, chick?”

  “Yes, Master,” Song nodded.

  “When you’ve reached a sufficient level of enlightenment, you’ll be able to do the technique even when there’s no visible reflection, just light that touches both you and your target. Now, that'll be all for tonight,” Crane glanced at the rising sun. “You should hurry home before your parents worry.”

  “Yes, Master,” Song stood, then hesitated. “But Master, I still have to catch a jackal for my teacher.”

  Crane waved a wing dismissively. “What teacher? I am your Master. Don’t concern yourself with such trivialities, I’ll handle it, little chick.”

  Song imagined the core level Demonic Beast cornering Hunter An and battering her into submission. He really really hoped that wasn’t what his Master meant. But all he did was bow at the waist, and say, “Yes, Master.”

  —

  The trip back to the village was bittersweet for Song. He’d gotten a Master, new martial arts, and finally learned the Name of the Great One. But it’d cost him.

  Oh, how it’d cost him.

  [“What’re those things? Does that guy have a tentacle on his back? Why’s this village so far away from everything else? Is there a bigger city somewhere? I want to see it! You’re really short compared to all the other people your age, huh? Do you have a girlfriend? If you do, that’s gonna get real awkward, man.”]

  “Would you please stop,” Song begged. “Other heroes get beautiful True Immortal fairies to guide them. Why did the heavens inflict me with another older brother I never asked for?”

  [“Hey, you already had the serious overbearing brother, the gym bro, and the pretty boy. What’s one more to complete the set?”]

  “Does that make you the annoying brother?”

  [“Nah, I’m the sporty one, remember?”]

  “Fine. But you need to stop distracting me. I can’t just talk to you when we’re in the village, people will think I’ve lost my mind.”

  [“What about doing what your Master did? With his Void qi? Sound is just vibrations so… vibrate your Void qi against your dantian. It would be good training.”]

  “Sound is what?” Song asked, coming to a stop just outside the village gate.

  “Oy! Do you have holes for eyes!? Move out of the way!” A voice snapped from behind him, and Song had to dance out of the path of a horse and rider heading out to the fields.

  “Sorry!” Song moved past the gate and started trekking up the hill to his yurt. He yawned. Now that he was nearly home, he suddenly felt the accumulated stress of the day catching up to him.

  [“Sound is just your vocal chords vibrating the air in specific patterns,”] Cyrus explained. [“The vibrations travel through the air to your ears.”]

  Song shook his head and whispered, “No, sound travels through the Void.”

  There was a moment’s hesitation. [“Okay, I admit the physics could be different; this is a new world. But vibrations still have to be a part of it. Just feel your throat when you talk.”]

  Song did so, massaging his throat and trying a few humming notes. A young woman passing him by turned and gave him an odd look before hurrying on her way. Song blushed, and his pace quickened.

  “Fine, I’ll try talking to you with Void qi,” Song finally said when he reached the flap of his yurt. “If only to not completely torch what’s left of my face.”

  [“Your face?”] Cyrus asked, but Song didn’t hear him.

  The young man tottered to his bed, pulled off his still slightly-damp clothes, and collapsed into a sleep full of pleasant dreams for the future.

  —

  Inside Song’s mindscape, Cyrus looked around the bright starry sky. “Well… what to do, what to do? How do I go about ‘strengthening those defenses’, eh?”