Mystery

I didn't know a lot about Spirit Beasts. So the next day, after resting for a few hours, I woke up before the bat girl and pulled out Si Chou's book. It took some careful flipping, but I confirmed something.

The last thing Si Chou had been adding to the book was stuff on Spirit Beasts. And it hadn't finished.

God help me. Didn't people in these settings usually have like four masters before they left puberty? I was left with an unfinished manual. Beetles can't be choosers though.

I laid the book down and read carefully through it. Spirit Beasts. We were products of normal animals who, either through generational breeding or a product of our environment, gained a core of Qi dense enough to allow us to do things a normal animal couldn't. Once we gained it, we had some differences from normal cultivators. For example, we could naturally circulate ambient Qi into our bodies without needing to learn a cultivation technique first.

We were more durable, stronger, faster, and in exceptional cases even capable of using techniques in combat. At the higher levels, about Earth Realm or so, some Spirit Beasts even learned how to take human form.

I stopped reading for a moment to glance in the direction of the room the bat girl was still asleep in. She was stirring, about to wake up. I wasn't sure if she was di or nocturnal, but thus far she seemed okay with either.

I went back to reading and stopped. Si Chou had… left his own words. Not a clinical explanation of things, but something personal.

"My friend. While I write these words, I must share my own hopes. You have grown so quickly. Baring a bottleneck of some sort, I expect you will one day learn to speak, to even take human form. I cannot wait for those days. While I have trouble thinking of you as more than a fun project, I know you have more intelligence than I ever believed. I hope to one day share tea with you as we speak at long last. I imagine you have much to-"

The words stopped there. The book, the whole book, ended with that.

I snapped the book closed and shuddered in place for a moment. Damnit. Si Chou…

I sat there in silence for a while, circulating my Qi through me. Through my body like breathing oxygen, letting it flow into me and through my limbs, my heart, my chitin armor and my wings, then back through again.

Losing Si Chou hurt more than I thought. Losing anyone hurts though. It's a part of living. I couldn't let it stop me from growing. Si Chou's book hadn't included anything about heart demons or Qi deviation, but the little Xianxia media I'd read made it clear those were real possibilities.

Accept the pain, but don't let it become overwhelming. I was tempted to sink down into my beetle instincts again, give up my awareness in favor of ignoring my own turmoil. I focused instead. No ignoring the hurt. Just survive it. Si Chou was gone, the sect was gone, but his memory and theirs would live on. I was alone in this world, but that didn't have to be permanent. And one day, I'd tell someone about a bug nerd who had given me a shot at life.

And I had one more gift from them. Pursuit Arrow. Something I could teach others. Something I would carry with me forever.

While I was circulating my Qi, the flapping of wings drew my attention. I focused on them, expecting the bat girl. Except that she was still in her room.

Instead, a bird dropped out of the sky to land in front of me. We stared at each other for a moment.

A crow. An inky-black feathered crow, with a purple sheen to his feathers. I tried to take a bit of a measure of his Qi-

Profound Realm. 5th Stage.

"...Oh holy shit," I gasped out. I was in Foundation Realm, 3rd stage, and the difference between stages was huge. This crow was stronger than Si Chou had been. What the hell!?

"Holy excrement?" The crow didn't exactly smile, but his eyes did crinkle in amusement. "Beetles truly do have strange customs."

He was talking. In the same way that my batgirl tried, but it was like the difference between doing arithmetic and physics. All the parts were similar, but this was so much more. His voice felt clear in my mind.

"We are also famously gross tasting," I responded. "No nutritional value."

"I wouldn't be so harsh. Many beetles I have eaten have been quite delicious," the fucking cultivating crow said casually. "I must admit, I haven't met one capable of cultivation."

"...It's something my master taught me before he died," I admit, trying to think carefully. The difference between us was huge, but that didn't mean he was about to kill me. But if he did, I'd have to figure something out.

"A master. Even more unusual," The crow waved his wings briefly, shaking them out before curling them back in. "And the little one within those rooms? A future meal?"

"A future student," I said, glaring. "I eat fruit."

"Hmm," the crow cocked his head to the side, those old eyes staring past its black beak. "...Very well. This Violet Wing will allow it."

Except he didn't say Violet Wing. He said 'Zi Yi', but I translated its actual meaning in my head. The way we spoke, through intent and Qi, made that happen. That was weird.

"Allow it?" I asked. "I don't want to be rude, have I made an error in making a home here?"

"Yes. But as I said. This Zi Yi, a magnanimous soul, will allow it. Concessions must be made in matters of war. I will see you in battle, strange worshipper of feces."

Before I could complain about that, his wings snapped out. Then he was gone. No flapping of wings, no lead up at all. He just disappeared.

"...War?" I asked myself quietly. What the-

"Bug?" The bat girl came flying out of her room, heading over to land before me. She stared at me, confused and yawning. "Bug good?"

"Uh… yeah, yeah, mi amiga. Just processing things. Felt like my whole world got rocked, you know?"

She stared at me. Finally she nodded, coming to a conclusion. "Hungry."

I barked out a laugh, shaking my beetle head slightly, my horns slicing through the air a bit. "All right. Too big a concept for now. Go ahead girl, the peach tree is always yours."

Her confusion became a brilliant sort of happiness. "Thank!"

She flew towards the tree and begin eating. As she did, I took the measure of her Qi. Then I shuddered in surprise.

The bat girl had been close to igniting, but now she might as well be one step away from it. In a single night? Or maybe… did the crow do something?

Well. It helped me either way. The faster she learned to understand me, the faster we could come to some kind of deal. I'd picked her to have a fast, powerful way of getting around, but I didn't want her to be a slave or something.

I watched her eat with a bit of bemusement. Okay. For now, this was a good thing. I'd figure out the rest later.

I flew over to the tree and landed next to the bat girl. She hesitated, then held out her peach. When I shook my head, she brightened and went back to chewing away.

"I need to give you a real name," I said to her. "Something other than 'bat girl'."

She glanced at me, uncaring. I hummed. "How about… Daji? Cause you're a flying fox?"

"...I, fox?"

"Kind of?" I hesitated though. Daji was… a loaded name. I had watched a movie featuring the famous fox lady. She hadn't exactly been a good role model. More of a ridiculously evil bitch.

Still, Daji was a good uh… last, name? Maybe? Well, she did need a first. From someone good. Strong, and kind.

Bat girl… Batgirl.

"Cass," I hummed. "How about that? Cass Daji."

The newly named Cass swallowed a bit of peach and looked at me fully. "Kasi?"

She sounded slightly different. More clear, somehow.

"Uh… sure. Kasi Daji. Sounds perfect," I pet the top of her head with a single claw, getting a confused look in response. "So, Cass. How about we go flying in a bit? See what sort of food we can find?"

She brightened. "Mmm!"

-----------

From the back of Cass, the whole forest was a lot easier to scan. In fact, she was so fast that we actually had to slow down and dip into the forest proper to get a good look at things. I realized a few things about the forest, or mostly confirmed a few things.