Broken Extra: I Awakened with the Strongest System

I looked around the depression at the students fighting for their lives, at Elena whose ice barriers were cracking under repeated attacks, at Sarah who was too injured to defend herself properly.

In the original timeline, they all died here. But I had the power to save them.

"Proceed," I said.

[Skill Acquired: Sword Saint Techniques - Legendary Level]

[Host is now operating at capabilities far beyond normal human limits]

[Recommendation: End combat quickly to minimize exposure]

The knowledge that flooded into my mind this time was different from the others. It wasn't just technique or theory, but understanding that went to the very essence of what it meant to wield a blade. I could see the flow of combat like streams of light, could predict movement and counter-movement three steps ahead.

The elite wolf charged at me again, but now it seemed to be moving in slow motion. I stepped aside at the last possible moment and brought my sword up in a perfect arc that caught the creature across the throat.

The blade passed through its neck like it was cutting air.

The elite wolf's head hit the ground a full second before its body collapsed.

Around the depression, the other wolves suddenly stopped fighting and looked at me. In their animal eyes, I could see something that might have been fear.

Smart creatures. They knew when they were outmatched.

The pack retreated into the forest, leaving their dead behind.

For a moment, the only sound was heavy breathing and the drip of blood on stone.

"How did you do that?" Marcus Chen whispered, staring at the elite wolf's corpse.

"Training," I said, the same answer I'd given before.

"That wasn't training," Elena said, her violet eyes wide with shock. "That was impossible. Nobody moves that fast. Nobody cuts that clean."

I looked at her, this character I'd read about so many times, and realized that she was right. What I'd just done was impossible for a normal human. Even an enhanced human shouldn't have been capable of sword techniques at that level.

I'd revealed too much. Again.

"We should get back to the academy," I said, trying to deflect attention from what had just happened.

"Marcus." Sarah struggled to her feet, wincing from her shoulder wound. "Thank you. All of you. We would have died without your help."

"Don't mention it," I said, meaning it literally.

Derek looked around at the carnage, his face pale. "This wasn't a training exercise. Someone wanted us dead."

"The question is who," Marcus Chen said grimly.

Before anyone could speculate further, we heard new sounds from the forest. Voices calling out, the crackle of powerful magic being deployed.

"The professors," Elena said with relief.

A moment later, Professor Aldric emerged from the treeline accompanied by two other faculty members I didn't recognize. They took in the scene with professional calm, but I could see surprise in their eyes when they looked at me.

"Mr. Vale," Professor Aldric said. "I should have known you'd be in the middle of this."

"Just trying to help, Professor."

"Indeed." He looked at the dead elite wolf, then at my bloodied sword. "We'll need full reports from all of you. But first, let's get the injured back to the academy."

As we made our way through the forest, escorted by the professors, I noticed Elena walking beside me.

"That sword technique you used," she said quietly. "I've seen something like it before. In old books about legendary warriors."

"Have you?"

"The Sword Saints of the Ancient Kingdom. They say some of them could cut through anything, move faster than the eye could follow." She looked at me sideways. "But that was centuries ago. And those techniques were supposed to be lost."

"Maybe some things aren't as lost as people think," I said.

"Maybe." She was quiet for a moment. "Marcus, what's really going on? Yesterday you were just another student. Today you're fighting like a hero from the old stories."

I could have deflected again, made another excuse about hidden training or natural talent. But looking at her earnest face, I found myself wanting to tell the truth.

"Would you believe me if I said I was trying to save everyone?"

"Save everyone from what?"

"From the story they're supposed to be part of."

Elena frowned, clearly not understanding what I meant. But before she could ask more questions, we reached the academy gates.

The main courtyard was in chaos. Students were being treated for injuries, professors were coordinating search and rescue operations, and Academy Director Morrison was shouting orders to anyone who would listen.

In the center of it all, I spotted a familiar figure. Ace Luminhart was helping carry injured students to the medical wing, his uniform torn and bloodied but his expression grimly determined. He looked every inch the hero he was supposed to be.

When he saw me, he stopped and stared.

"Marcus," he said, his voice strange. "I heard what happened. How you saved two entire groups."

"Just did what needed to be done."

"That's not what the other students are saying." He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "They're saying you moved like a Sword Saint. That you killed an elite Crimson Wolf with a single strike."

"People exaggerate when they're scared."

"Do they?" Ace's blue eyes were hard as steel. "Because I've been hearing a lot of exaggerations about you lately. Your sudden improvement in combat class. Your match with Seraphina. And now this."

I could see where this was going. Ace was the protagonist, the chosen hero, and I was disrupting the natural order of things. In stories like this, there were only two kinds of people who could match or exceed the hero's abilities: other heroes, or villains.

And I definitely wasn't acting like a hero.

"Is there a problem, Ace?"

"I don't know," he said. "Is there?"

Before I could answer, Academy Director Morrison's voice echoed across the courtyard.

"All students involved in today's incident report to the main hall immediately. We need to understand exactly what happened in those woods."

As we filed into the main hall, I caught sight of Seraphina near the back of the crowd. She was watching me with an expression I couldn't quite read, but there was something calculating in her violet eyes.

Whatever was coming next, I had a feeling it was going to be complicated.

[System Alert: Major story deviation complete]

[Original timeline casualty rate: 73%]

[Actual casualty rate: 12%]

[Protagonist confidence rating: Severely compromised]

[Regressor subject stress levels: Critical]

[Warning: Multiple individuals now view host as potential threat]

[New Quest Available: Navigate the consequences of heroism]

I looked at that last notification and almost laughed. Navigate the consequences of heroism. That was one way to put it.

The problem with saving people, I was beginning to realize, was that it made you stand out. And standing out in a world full of heroes and villains meant people started wondering which category you belonged in.

Given some of the looks I was getting from the other students, I wasn't sure they were going to like the answer.