Kael's new Vow had given him purpose. He was the guardian of the Mortal District. He didn't
seek trouble, but he had become a presence. He spent his days using his silver to fund repairs,
to buy food for the shelter, to create a small, mortal-run "city watch" of men who, while weak,
could at least report trouble.
And everywhere he went, Lin Yue was there.
She was the ghost at the feast. When he mediated a dispute between two merchants, she
would be sipping tea at a stall across the street, her eyes never leaving him. When he patrolled
the dark alleys, she would be a silent, graceful shadow on the rooftops above, her arms
crossed.
It was unnerving. And, more often than not, incredibly frustrating.
One evening, he tracked a small gang of human-traffickers to a warehouse by the docks. They
were low-level cultivators, preying on the mortal population. Kael was ready. He'd brought his
sword, his new [Bulwark] skill was an untested but solid presence in his mind, and his Vow was
already half-formed on his lips.
He was about to kick in the door when the temperature in the alley dropped by thirty degrees.
Lin Yue landed beside him as softly as a snowflake. "Four inside," she said, her voice bored.
"Two at 3rd-level Qi Condensation, two at 4th-level. They have ten captives. You will be
wounded. You might even fail."
"This isn't your concern, Lady Lin," Kael said, his hand on the warehouse door.
"It is... an interesting experiment," she countered. Before Kael could protest, she simply placed
her palm on the thick, wooden door.
A network of intricate, beautiful frost spread from her hand, covering the entire door in a second.
There was no sound. No screams.
She lifted her hand. "It is done."
Kael stared at her, then kicked the door. It fell inward, shattering into a thousand frozen pieces.
Inside, the four traffickers were frozen solid in blocks of ice, their faces masks of surprise. The
ten captives—women and children huddled in a cage—were shivering, but unharmed. A perfect,
bloodless, effortless victory.
Kael turned to her, and his face wasn't grateful. It was angry. "You... you were in my way," he
said, his voice low and shaking.
Lin Yue was taken aback. "In your way? I saved you. I saved them. This is the... 'efficient'
solution."
"You took my choice," Kael said, striding past her to break the lock on the cage. "You took my
fight. I don't... I don't get stronger by standing here while you solve my problems. My path is not about efficiency. It's about the struggle."
He began ushering the crying, terrified captives out.
Lin Yue watched him, a new, dawning understanding on her face. He needed the conflict. It was
his "cultivation." His Vows, his struggle, were his spirit stones. By "helping" him, she was, in his
world, stealing his resources.
"I see," she said, her voice quiet. "This... this is more complex than I thought."
Kael looked back at her, his anger fading into a weary sigh. "Please," he said, "just... let me
handle my own path. You have yours."
"No," Lin Yue said, a strange, faint smile on her lips. "I think, for now, your path is far more
interesting than mine."
A grudging, strange partnership was born. She would not intervene, not unless he was truly
about to die. She would watch. And he... he would have to get used to the fact that his guardian
angel was a cold, terrifyingly powerful, and endlessly curious cultivator prodigy.