The Extremely Inconvenient Rescue
By noon the next day, Sam had decided three things.
One: The monster army was definitely coordinated.
Two: The presence behind it was definitely intelligent.
Three: He was definitely not getting involved.
"Senior—"
"Don't."
"—there's smoke again."
Sam looked up.
There was, indeed, smoke. A lot of it. Thick, oily, and rising from the direction of Stonebridge Pass — the main trade artery into the capital.
Darius squinted. "If that falls, supply lines to three cities collapse."
"Tragic," Sam said. "Very tragic."
He kept walking in the opposite direction.
The ground in front of him cracked.
Not dramatically.
Just enough to suggest reality was refusing to cooperate.
Sam sighed.
"Fine."
They changed direction.
***
Stonebridge Pass was chaos.
Caravans overturned. Merchants scrambling. Cultivators locked in desperate combat against heavily armored rhino-like beasts that moved in shield formations.
In shield formations.
A young woman in green robes spun twin crescent blades in elegant arcs, wind spiraling around her as she darted between monsters.
She was losing, not because she lacked skill, but because the monsters were baiting her.
Darius gasped, "That's coordinated flanking!"
The beasts split deliberately, herding her toward a canyon wall.
A trap.
Sam exhaled through his nose.
He stepped forward.
The canyon wall shifted three feet closer.
The monsters collided with it mid-charge.
Confused roars echoed.
The woman blinked, "…Did the mountain move?"
"Yes," Sam said.
She turned.
Darius froze, "Oh no," he whispered. "She's going to ask what realm you are."
She sprinted toward them, "Which sect are you from?!"
"None."
"Impossible."
"Common misconception."
She pointed a blade at him, "You altered terrain without hand seals!"
"I prefer minimal gestures."
A tremor shook the pass and more monsters emerged in perfect ranks. Behind them walked a tall humanoid figure clad in bone armor.
Another commander.
Its violet gaze fixed directly on Sam, "Escalation," it intoned.
Sam groaned softly.
Darius muttered, "It said escalation."
"I heard."
The commander raised both hands and the monsters shifted into rotating attack circles, outer ring defending, inner ring charging in timed waves.
The woman swore. "That formation is textbook siege doctrine!"
Sam considered the formation thoughtfully, then he snapped his fingers.
The formation rotated the wrong direction, nonsters collided and the commander stiffened.
Sam tilted his head. "You forgot wind resistance."
The woman stared at him like he had personally insulted physics.
The commander shrieked and lunged.
Sam stepped slightly left.
The commander passed through the space he had occupied—
—and continued flying for three miles before disappearing into the horizon.
Darius shielded his eyes. "Is it dead?"
"No," Sam said. "It's reconsidering its life choices."
The remaining monsters retreated in orderly lines.
The woman sheathed her blades slowly,
"My name is Lyra."
"Sam."
She looked at Darius.
"You follow him?"
Darius nodded solemnly. "I think I have to."
Lyra studied Sam carefully, "You didn't cultivate that technique."
"No."
"You didn't circulate qi."
"No."
"…You bent the battlefield."
Sam looked uncomfortable, "It was already bent."
Lyra stared at him for a long moment.
Then she said, "I'm coming with you."
Sam blinked.
"Why?"
"You're either the greatest hidden master alive or a walking catastrophe."
"That's not mutually exclusive," Darius offered.
Lyra nodded firmly, "Exactly."
And just like that, without approval, consent, or strategy—
Sam had acquired his second companion.