Broken Extra: I Awakened with the Strongest System

"Are you insane?" Derek stared at me like I'd suggested we all jump off a cliff. "We barely survived that attack. You want us to go looking for more trouble?"

"I want us to save lives," I replied, checking my equipment. The practice sword had held up better than expected, but I could see stress fractures in the blade. It wouldn't last much longer.

"Marcus is right," Lisa said, surprising everyone. "We can't just run back to the academy while other students are being killed."

"We don't even know where they are," Tom protested.

I pointed toward the northwest. "There's a group about half a mile that way. I can hear the fighting."

That was a lie. I could see their location on the system map, but I couldn't explain that to the others.

Derek looked torn between duty and self-preservation. "Even if we find them, what can we do? We're just students."

"We're students who just killed six enhanced Crimson Wolves," I pointed out. "I think we can handle ourselves."

The sound of distant screaming made the decision for us. Even Derek couldn't ignore that.

"Fine," he said. "But we stick together, and if things go bad, we retreat immediately."

We moved through the forest as quickly as we dared, following game trails and stream beds to avoid making too much noise. As we got closer to the fighting, I could hear individual voices shouting orders and crying for help.

"There," Lisa whispered, pointing through the trees.

Ahead of us, another student group was trapped in a natural depression surrounded by rocky outcroppings. They'd taken shelter behind fallen logs and boulders, but at least eight Crimson Wolves had them surrounded. I could see bodies on the ground, students who hadn't made it to cover in time.

"We're too late for some of them," Derek said grimly.

"Not for all of them," I replied.

Among the surviving students, I recognized several faces from the novel. There was Marcus Chen, a third-year with lightning magic who was supposed to become one of Ace's allies later in the story. Elena Brightwater was there too, her ice magic creating barriers that were slowly being worn down by the wolves' attacks.

And pinned behind a boulder, bleeding from a wound in her shoulder, was another character I recognized. Sarah Goldleaf, a healer who would play a crucial role in several later story arcs.

In the original timeline, all three of them died here.

"What's the plan?" Tom asked.

I studied the terrain, calculating angles and timing. "Tom, I need you to create a distraction. Big earth spikes, lots of noise, draw their attention to the north side of the depression. Lisa, fire magic on my signal, target the wolves closest to the injured students. Derek, you're with me. We go in fast and hard."

"What about you?" Derek asked.

"I'm going to do something stupid."

Before anyone could protest, I was moving. I slid down the rocky slope into the depression, my enhanced speed carrying me past two startled wolves before they could react.

"Marcus!" Elena shouted in surprise as I landed next to her ice barrier.

"Stay down," I told her, then raised my voice to address the trapped students. "When I give the signal, everyone move to the center of the depression. Trust me."

"Who put you in charge?" Marcus Chen demanded, electricity crackling around his hands.

"The guy who just killed the alpha wolf that was about to eat your face," I replied.

That shut him up.

I looked back up the slope where my group was positioned. "Now, Tom!"

Earth spikes erupted from the ground on the north side of the depression, each one ten feet tall and sharp as spears. The wolves spun toward the distraction, snarling and confused.

"Signal!" I shouted.

Lisa's fire magic blazed down from above, forcing three wolves to scatter away from the injured students. Derek came sliding down the slope with his sword ready, looking terrified but determined.

"Move!" I called to the trapped students.

They scrambled toward the center of the depression while I engaged the nearest wolf. This one was even larger than the alpha from before, with scars across its muzzle that suggested it had survived many fights.

[System Alert: Elite Crimson Wolf detected]

[Threat Level: Very High]

[Recommended strategy: Extreme caution]

The elite wolf moved with deadly precision, its claws leaving gouges in the stone where I'd been standing a split second before. My practice sword caught it across the shoulder, but the blade shattered on impact with its enhanced hide.

I rolled away from its counter-attack, coming up with just a broken hilt in my hand.

"Marcus!" Elena threw something toward me. A real sword, one of the backup weapons the students carried for emergencies.

I caught it smoothly and immediately felt the difference. This was academy-forged steel, designed to channel magical energy and hold an edge against supernatural creatures.

The elite wolf circled me, its red eyes calculating. Around us, the other students were fighting desperately against the remaining pack members, but I could see they were losing ground.

"System," I subvocalized, "learn Advanced Magical Weapon Techniques."

[Skill Acquired: Advanced Magical Weapon Techniques - Mastery Level Achieved]

[Host combat effectiveness increased significantly]

[Warning: Magical energy expenditure rising]

The knowledge flooded into my mind, and suddenly I understood how to channel my magical energy through the sword. The blade began to glow with a faint blue light, and I could feel its weight change as it became an extension of my will.

The elite wolf lunged at me with supernatural speed, but I was ready for it. I sidestepped its attack and brought the enhanced blade down across its back, cutting deep enough to reach bone.

The creature howled and spun to face me, dark blood streaming from the wound. But instead of retreating, it seemed to grow larger, its muscles swelling with dark magical energy.

"It's berserking!" Marcus Chen shouted. "When they take enough damage, they go into a rage state!"

The elite wolf's next attack was fast enough that I barely saw it coming. Claws raked across my chest, tearing through my academy uniform and drawing blood. I stumbled backward, my enhanced reflexes the only thing keeping me alive.

But the injury triggered something in the system.

[Host health compromised]

[Emergency protocols activated]

[Unlocking restricted combat abilities]

[New Skill Available: Sword Saint Techniques]

[Warning: Using this skill will mark host as abnormally powerful]

[Proceed?]