The collision was devastating, hidden entirely beneath the guise of a clumsy, panicked flail.
Ethan's fist connected with the side of the Kobold scout's head with a sickening, muffled thud. To the old merchant cowering under the table and the mercenary guard wrestling in the dirt, it looked like a blind, lucky strike from a man swinging for his life. In reality, it was the concentrated physical maximum of a peak Tier 1 combatant.
The blunt force fractured the creature's jaw instantly, sending a shockwave through its skull. The Kobold scout didn't just fall; its body spun mid-air before slamming hard into the gravel path, its bone-handled dagger skittering away across the dirt. It twitched once, its large black eyes glazing over, before falling completely still.
[Target eliminated: Forest Kobold Scout (Level 4).]
[System State: Standby. Zero amplification applied due to witness presence.]
Ethan didn't let his guard down. He immediately dropped back to his knees, panting heavily, clutching his fist as if he had just broken his own hand against the monster's face. "Ouch! In the heavens... my hand! My hand!" he groaned loudly, rocking back and forth in the dirt to sell the performance.
A few paces away, the remaining mercenary guard delivered a final, desperate plunge of his short sword into the chest of the last Kobold archer. The creature let out a wet gasp and went limp.
Silence returned to the valley, broken only by the heavy, ragged breathing of the mercenary and the soft whimpering of the merchant. The air was thick with the metallic tang of blood and the acrid smell of the dying campfire.
The guard stood up slowly, using his sword to balance his shaking legs. His leather armor was sliced in several places, and sweat mixed with dirt on his face. He looked at the bodies of his two fallen companions, his expression hardening with a mixture of grief and exhaustion, before his gaze drifted over to Ethan.
"You..." the guard panted, wiping blood from his forehead with his sleeve. "You threw that rock?"
Ethan looked up, forcing a pale, terrified expression onto his face. He held his bruised-looking hand against his chest, making sure his ruined Westmere College robes were visible. "I... I didn't know what else to do! It was going to shoot me! I just grabbed a stone and threw it!"
The old merchant slowly poked his head out from beneath the canvas-covered wagon. Seeing that the monsters were dead, he scrambled to his feet, quickly adjusting his fine, embroidered tunic, though he kept a tight grip on the leather pouches filled with silver coins.
"A scholar?" the merchant said, his voice high-pitched and trembling as he looked at Ethan's attire. "By the gods, boy, your wild throwing saved our skins. If that scout had gotten to me..." He shuddered, looking at the dead Kobold with the fractured jaw just inches from his feet.
The guard walked over, heavily inspecting the dead scout, then the archer that had been brought down by the stone. He shook his head in disbelief. "A lucky strike to the throat, and a blind punch to the jaw. Idiotic. You're lucky these beasts have brittle bones, scholar. If you had missed, you'd be a corpse right now."
"I know," Ethan whispered, letting his shoulders slump as if the adrenaline was leaving his system. "I was terrified. I got lost in the forest after... after a disaster up north."
The merchant walked over, his eyes scanning Ethan's mud-caked appearance with a mix of pity and suspicion. "Lost? The lower valley forest is crawling with Tier 1 beasts. It's a miracle a Level 1 novice like you didn't end up in a Shadow Hound's belly."
Ethan caught the phrase instantly. *Level 1 novice.* They assumed his level based on his clothes and his clumsy behavior. He kept his expression humble. "I only survived by hiding. Please, sir... where exactly am I? I just need to get to the nearest town."
The merchant sighed, stashing his coin pouches securely inside the wagon. "You're on the southern trade route to Oakhaven, boy. I am Master Jeremy, a trader of fine textiles, and this is Aaron, the last of my vanguard." He looked somberly at the two dead guards. "We need to load our dead and move before the scent of blood draws more pack hunters. If you can help Aaron lift the bodies into the wagon, you can ride with us to the gates."
[Objective Updated: Reach Oakhaven.]
[Current Status: Cover Intact.]
Ethan nodded quickly, pushing himself up from the dirt. "Thank you, Master Jeremy. I'll help."
As he walked over to assist the guard with the heavy lifting, Ethan made sure to move with a slight, deliberate limp, carefully hiding the terrifying lightness and fluid grace that the million-point torrent had granted his body. He had found his bridge to civilization, but the real test of hiding his anomaly was just beginning.