Passive defense, especially against a county town gang with no bottom line, Rein thought was not a good approach.
So, what he could do was to carefully plan and see if he could take the initiative to strike first and solve the problem once and for all.
Otherwise, the disappearance of such a core group in Flashgold Town would certainly alarm "Dog King" Cole.
Once they attacked again, it would not just be a few people.
It's possible that "Dog King" Cole would personally take action!
At that time, not only would Anna be taken away, but it could also jeopardize the safety of Rein's family.
This was something Rein simply could not agree to!
As for seeking help from Hamilton?
Rein had already considered this, and even if they agreed to offer protection, unless the whole family stayed indoors all the time, there would always be a day when a slip-up occurred, giving the Hyena gang an opportunity to catch them.
This was a risk Rein could not afford to take, nor could he dare to.
From the recent interrogation, Rein had obtained some key information.
It turned out that although most of the Hyena gang's operations were in the county town, "Dog King" Cole had an unbreakable routine of returning to the dog-fighting farm almost every day to rest.
Accompanying him were over a dozen core members of the Hyena gang.
The dog-fighting farm, although named like a "manor," was in fact just a farm situated between Flashgold Town and County Town, according to the bald man and another gang member.
The huge wooden dog sculpture at the entrance was its hallmark.
The dog-fighting farm, as the name suggests, was a place "Dog King" Cole set up for dog-fighting gambling, where almost every day was filled with the barking of dogs and the shouting of gamblers, never-ending chaos.
Therefore, "Dog King" Cole came up with a solution by surrounding the entire farm with a two-meter-high white birch fence.
At the same time, a large number of fruit trees were planted inside the fence, effectively blocking the noise from inside the farm, otherwise, the clamor from dog-fighting could probably be heard miles away.
In addition, Rein was relieved to learn from the bald man's description that "Dog King" Cole was tall and strong.
But "Dog King" Cole's strength was not that of a formal Knight, meaning that he had not yet reached the Transcendent level.
However, the Hyena Queen could not be underestimated even more; as big as a wild boar, with immense strength, and she had birthed a large litter of pups, which "Dog King" Cole let roam in the dog-fighting farm.
Those five hyenas were all offspring of the Hyena Queen!
After raiding their loot, Rein pondered as he walked towards home.
Just as he was about to reach the front door, he saw Anna and little Bo He.
They both seemed to be anxiously explaining something to a few Night Watchmen, frequently pointing towards the forest, with expressions close to tears.
Additionally, Rein took a closer look and recognized these three Night Watchmen; they were Captain Weilun and the two elite members of the Night Watch he had stayed with previously.
He was naturally quite familiar with them, after all, they had fought against vicious Worgs together and slaughtered murlocs.
"Why have they come?"
"Could it be that Anna called for them?"
Without hesitation, Rein quickly stepped forward.
Seeing Rein return, Anna and little Bo He immediately rushed over excitedly.
"Brother, Sister Anna and I were so worried about you!" little Bo He plunged straight into Rein's arms, holding him tightly.
"Sister Anna was going to the administrative hall to call for the guardian officer, but halfway there we ran into Uncle Weilun and the others."
Rein's heart warmed, and turning his head, he saw Anna looking at him with concern; her face was pale, and her chest was heaving, clearly from running with her frail body.
Seeing Rein look at her, their eyes met, and Anna shyly lowered her head.
At this moment, Weilun stepped forward and said to Anna and little Bo He, "You two worry too much! I told you nothing would happen to Rein, but you didn't believe me."
"Now you believe it, huh! Haha!"
"Rein, what's the situation? Was it a few scumbags from the Hyena gang?" Weilun turned and asked Rein.
Rein nodded.
"Yes, four or five Hyena gang lackeys came here with their hyenas, they were investigating the disappearance of Blackbeard."
"This matter!" Weilun glanced at little Bo He without saying much more.
Rein immediately understood and patted Little Bo He's head, saying, "Bo He, you go home with Sister Anna first. Big brother and Captain Weilun have something to discuss."
Bo He blinked her large eyes, glanced at Rein and Weilun, then turned to take Anna's fair hand of her own accord.
"Mm, big brother, make sure you come back early, okay? We'll wait for you to have dinner together."
Rein smiled and nodded, saying, "Go on, then."
After watching the two of them enter the house, Rein's expression became solemn before he spoke to Weilun:
"Captain Weilun, there are the bodies of some of the Hyena Gang members I killed in the forest. I might need your help dealing with them."
This statement immediately caused the other two elite Night Watchmen to change their expressions and cast sidelong glances at Rein.
Weilun's face hardened. "You killed them all?"
Rein nodded.
He hadn't spared even a single dog!
"Alright, I'll take care of it!"
"However... once the Hyena Gang finds out, they're likely to target you like mad dogs! Rein, be careful on your own. I'll strengthen the nighttime patrols around your house."
"Thank you, Captain Weilun. I'll be careful," Rein said with a warmth in his heart as he nodded.
Weilun patted Rein's shoulder and quickly led his two subordinates in the direction Rein had indicated.
As soon as he entered his house, Rein could sense something odd about the atmosphere.
He heard his mother ask, "Rein, I heard from Sima that a group of people with hyenas were loitering at our doorstep?"
"But when I just asked Anna and Bo He, both of them said they were in the yard planting vegetables and hadn't noticed," his mother Emma continued with a hint of suspicion as she looked once more at the two women.
Rein immediately had a clear understanding in his heart.
It seemed Anna harbored the same thoughts as him, not wanting to overly worry their parents about the matter.
"Mother, Aunt Sima must have seen wrong, as I didn't see anyone with hyenas when I came back either!"
"Is that so? Sima really is getting old; her eyesight is going!"
Hearing Rein say the same, Mother Emma finally relaxed and stopped probing into the matter.
After dinner, Rein went back to his room.
But shortly after, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in!"
It was Anna knocking, and little Bo He was also peeking around the doorway.
"Come on in, both of you!"
Once the two women were inside, Rein closed the door and said in a low voice, "Don't worry about the Hyena Gang, I'll handle it."
"And, Anna, thank you for not telling my parents about this. Otherwise, it would have just caused them unnecessary worry."
"No, no! It should be me thanking you, Rein... you've helped me once again!" Anna said, lowering her head with interlocked fingers, nervously twisting the hem of her long waist-clinching dress.
Little Bo He giggled and said to Anna, "Sister Anna, if you pull any more, the dress will tear!"
"Ah!" Anna immediately let go of her hands, but realizing Bo He was teasing her, a blush couldn't help but spread across her face.
...
After Anna and Bo He had left, Rein remembered to check the system notifications:
[Your skill Giant Bear Sword Technique has been improved, Experience +67]
[You have been through a battle, Night Watchman Professional Experience Points +34]
The experience points were not much.
It was expected, after all, a few gang members were involved, and their contribution to the experience points probably largely came from those few hyenas.
Rein glanced at the remaining 1 Skill Point he had and, after a moment of thought, decided to continue to allocate it to the Blacksmith's Strength.
Since he was about to go do a job, naturally, he had to invest points in a skill that could "Decisive Hammer"!
After Blacksmith's Strength was upgraded from lv3 to lv4, the text suddenly distorted.
What used to be the "Blacksmith's Strength" in four characters was changed to "Strength Burst," which could not help but greatly surprise Rein.
There was such a change!
[Core Skill: Strength Burst (Active)]
Effect: When the skill is activated, your strength will double!
(Note: This skill originates from the Blacksmith's Strength pushed to its limit and its duration is directly proportional to the host's constitution and spiritual power.)
(Note: This skill cannot be further improved at this stage.)
Rein noticed that after the evolution of Blacksmith's Strength into Strength Burst, not only had the name changed, but the lv sign was also gone, indicating that the core skill Strength Burst, like Dark Vision, could no longer be enhanced through Skill Points.
Moreover, the description of the skill effect had undergone a significant change, from "greatly enhanced" to "doubled."
This change perfectly complies with the rule "less is more!"
Doubled!
This meant that during the period the skill was activated, Rein's current 10 points of strength would instantly increase to 20 points.
This already surpassed the likes of an official knight like Hamilton and was on par with the ferocious hyena-men, perhaps even slightly beyond!
What does this imply?
This means that as long as the enemy's strength is below that of an official knight,
during the duration of Strength Burst, it would be nearly impossible for them to match Rein in strength!
What this represents goes without saying; Rein licked his lips, his corners turning up slightly.
"This really came at the right time!"
Previously, when Rein was interrogating the leader of the Hyena Gang in the dense forest, he had asked about the strength of "Dog King" Kole,
"Is your boss Kole, an official knight?"
The other party shook his head.
At that moment, Rein was greatly relieved!
At the same time, a plan slowly started to take shape in his mind.
Since the strength of 'Dog King' Kole was not that of an official knight, he was in trouble.
Revenge couldn't wait for another day!
Rein intended to strike directly at the heart of the Hyena Gang before they could react!
Previously, faced with the assassination among the heirs of Earl Harris's family, Rein had already been boiling with rage.
But there was no helping it; the situation was stronger than people!
And now these darn Hyena Gang were bullying him?
After some thought, Rein took out a small sharpening stone he had purchased from Blacksmith Boris, and dropped a few drops of oil on it.
He then picked up the Fine Steel Greatsword and started to sharpen it energetically.
The Dual-Handed Greatsword had a tiny notch that had been damaged by a black dagger during a fight with an assassin.
As the greatsword was sharpened on the oilstone, the fine notch on the blade soon became barely visible, becoming incredibly sharp once again.
Was that the end of it?
No.
Coat it with paralyzing poison?
Too kind.
Coat it with wounding poison?
Still not quite right.
So, deadly poison was the best choice!
Rein took out a black square bottle and poured a few drops of brownish poison liquid onto a small piece of cloth, then gently wiped the Fine Steel Greatsword with the cloth.
Mainly on both sides of the blade.
Oh? Not enough to use!
Rein discovered that applying poison to the Dual-Handed Greatsword really used a lot of the poison.
After adding it three times, it still wasn't enough.
Finally, Rein poured about one third of the bottle before it was sufficient.
He applied it to both sides of the blade, front and back!
Looking at the Fine Steel Greatsword emitting a faint green glow, Rein finally nodded in satisfaction, then wrapped the greatsword again in sheepskin.
After checking one more time, Rein seemed to remember something, took out a long strip of gray cloth, fiddled with it on his face, and used a black dagger to cut two holes in the middle before tucking it into his chest.
Everything was ready!
Before departing, Rein still practiced the Giant Bear Breathing Technique for a while.
A fist always ready, a song always on the lips.
As long as he was breathing, the practice of the breathing technique would never stop.
However, Rein was very good at controlling the extent, in order to adjust his body's functions to their optimal state.
After his family had fallen asleep, Rein quietly left the house through the second-floor window.
Looking up, Rein noticed the sky was pitch black tonight, devoid of moonlight and starlight, covered instead with thick clouds.
With his Night Watchman core skill 'Dark Vision,' Rein felt no discomfort; instead, he felt a slight thrill.
His heart beating a bit faster, he carefully avoided the patrolling Night Watchmen and hastened toward County Town.
According to the information he had extracted earlier, he needed to follow the main road heading north, and after about an hour's walk, he would see the conspicuous sign of the Dog Fighting Farm.
After seeing the sign and turning right, another five minutes' walk would bring him to the Dog Fighting Farm.
Before long, having covered most of the distance, Rein suddenly felt his face getting wet.
He looked up and saw the dark, unlit sky now starting to drizzle.
This was actually a good sign!
Rainy nights, perfect for murder without leaving traces.
Carrying a sheepskin-wrapped greatsword, Rein first walked a full circle around the Dog Fighting Farm from a distance.
Originally, he had planned to hop directly over a fence into the farm.
But with his passive skill 'Danger Perception lv1,' Rein felt something was off as soon as he approached the birch fence.
He faintly sensed danger, as if climbing over the fence would be perilous.
Therefore, Rein stood outside the fence and inspected the inside carefully.
With his Dark Vision, he quickly spotted the problem.
It turned out that behind the fence, in the wooded area, the ground was lined with many large wild boar traps, the serrated jaws of the traps covered with fallen leaves – if one wasn't observant, they would be hard to notice.
If one were to get caught, there was a high probability of breaking a shinbone, unless you were a Knight wearing thick plate armor boots.
Beyond that, Rein also spotted quite a few doghouses in the orchard.
These half-meter tall doghouses were almost all occupied, each housing a glossy-furred fierce dog.
The night rain grew heavier!
The sound of the pouring rain, "wharalala," masked Rein's footsteps and also diluted his scent.
Allowing Rein to observe the Dog Fighting Farm from outside at ease.
After a moment's thought, Rein quickly circled back to the main entrance of the Dog Fighting Farm. Although it was very late, he could still faintly hear bursts of cheering coming from inside.
Clearly, some dogfight competition was still ongoing inside the farm.
This was a bit later than Rein had anticipated.
Thinking it over, Rein decided to wait a little longer before making his move.
It would be better to act after the dogfight competition inside had ended and the crowd had dispersed.
After all, not everyone who came for the dog fight belonged to the Hyena Gang; a significant portion were customers from County Town.
Rein even saw several carriages, each bearing various intricate designs representing the family crests of some nobles.
This indicated that at least some nobles' heirs came to this Dog Fighting Farm in Coer for entertainment.
It seems the rumor that the Hyena Gang had backing was probably true.
Not going to Hamilton was also the right move.
As a Lord and the town's security officer, Hamilton might agree to protect his family, but he definitely would not offend certain nobles in County Town for him, to eliminate the Hyena Gang.
If it were doable, Hamilton would have done it by now.
After all, from a security perspective, taking down the Hyena Gang would certainly be a notable achievement.
But the Hyena Gang's continued existence must have its reasons.
Rein was never lacking in patience when it came to important matters.
Over an hour later, the competition inside the farm seemed to have ended, and the carriages at the entrance had also returned to County Town with their owners.
The Dog Fighting Farm was rarely this tranquil.
With the night deepening and the rain softly falling, the two young gang members responsible for guarding the gate were languidly hiding under a nearby shelter to rest, not even bothering to close the farm gate.
One of them was already sound asleep, while the other had his arms crossed and his head down, dozing off against a porch pillar.
As a local gang in Meister County, the quality of the Hyena Gang's members could easily be imagined, with most being mere thugs.
Expecting them to stand guard dutifully in the rainy weather in the middle of the night was simply a fool's dream.
The negligent guards naturally made things much easier for Rein.
Rein took a grey cloth out of his pocket, covered his eyes with it, and tied it tightly at the back of his head, resembling 'Zorro.'
Except that Zorro's mask was black, while Rein's was grey.
Sneaking in quietly, Rein, with ten points of Strength, simply used both hands to snap the neck of the dozing young man and slowly laid his body down.
Then, he grabbed the throat of the man who was fast asleep and dragged him into the curtain of rain.
In the dense forest.
At first, the man didn't understand what was happening and tried to struggle fiercely, but when Rein landed a punch in the upper right section of his abdomen – right where the stomach was – his eyes bulged out immediately.
He became much more compliant in an instant.
But that wasn't the end of it, as Rein wasn't in a rush to question him.
After stuffing his mouth and giving him another round of brutal beating, only after breaking two of the man's fingers did he leisurely ask, "Is Kol inside?"
"Yes, yes!" The man, subjected to a beating and finger breaking without a word from Rein, was nearly driven to a mental breakdown.
If you're going to interrogate me, then ask!
If you don't ask, how do you know I won't cooperate?
You just beat the shit out of me without even asking a question?
However, the upside was that as soon as Rein started asking questions, the man spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube.
"How many people are inside, and tell me everything you know in detail."
"There are about fifteen or sixteen core members of our Hyena Gang inside, plus our boss, Kol."
"What about the Hyena Queen?"
"The Hyena Queen never leaves Kol's side; she's inside the big house."
The next second, "Snap!"
The Hyena Gang member's head twisted at a strange one hundred and eighty degrees.
With his bulging eyes staring in death, as if to say, I cooperated so well, why did you still kill me?
There were no noble scions staying at the dogfighting estate.
This made Rein all the more unconcerned.
Rein, sneaking his way in, would choose to kill on sight any patrolling members or affiliates of the Hyena Gang.
It wasn't until Rein reached the three-story wooden lodge at the heart of the dogfighting estate that he was spotted by several wandering hyenas.
"Woof woof!"
"Who's there?"
As soon as Rein saw them, he stopped hiding and instead rushed straight towards the house's front door.
"Whoosh!"
A Smooth Cleaving Slash sent two Hyena Gang members guarding the door flying, and at the same time shattered the thick wooden door to smithereens.
In the hall, aside from a fat, white, corpulent man sitting at the center, there were two ordinary-looking middle-aged men, likely higher-ups of the Hyena Gang, apparently tallying the evening's dogfighting proceeds.
On the long table, there lay stacks of gold coins, over a hundred silver coins, and even more shillings and pennies.
From the amount and variety of coins on the table, it wasn't hard to tell that the daily gambling income from dogfighting at the estate was substantial.
Moreover, it catered to all classes; the poor could place bets with pennies and shillings, while wealthy merchants and nobles naturally bet with gold coins as the unit.
When the two Hyena Gang upper echelons saw Rein bursting through the door, they couldn't help but stand up and shout.
"Guards! Guards!"
"No need to shout anymore; all your guards have returned to the Goddess's embrace."
Rein took a look around, his gaze skipping over the two normal-sized humans and focusing instead on the enormous fat man and a huge hyena.
This was a fat, bald, white giant of a man who stood over two meters tall, seated comfortably in the center of the hall on a custom-made soft chair upholstered with tender deer leather, his heavy weight causing a deep depression in the cushion.
Clearly, this was the boss of the Hyena Gang, Kole.
His dangling left hand was stroking a huge hyena that rivaled a wild boar in size.
When it noticed someone had entered, the massive hyena slightly lifted its head that was resting on the ground and squinted its eyes to look.
Rein immediately realized that this enormous hyena must be the rumored mutated Hyena Queen.
Confronted with Rein's sudden intrusion, the fat man 'Kole' didn't panic like the other two upper echelons of the Hyena Gang.
Instead, he seemed leisurely as he sized up Rein, his fleshy face making his small eyes stand out, his black and rolling pupils moving briskly, a glint of slyness flashing in his squinted eyes.
"This strange friend, if there has been some misunderstanding, we can sit down and have a good talk."
"If you're an assassin, that's also simple. Look, there's plenty of money on the table. If someone hired you to kill me, you can take twice the amount they're paying you, right from there."
Unfortunately, despite his smooth talk, Rein didn't believe a single word.
Because Rein already knew Kole was known for his stinginess, furthermore, the conflict between him and the Hyena Gang had reached a point beyond reconciliation.
Either you die, or I do!
"Whoosh!"
Without an ounce of hesitation, Rein pushed off the ground and charged swiftly towards Kole.
Just then, the two upper echelons of the Hyena Gang roared angrily, swinging their iron batons as they lunged at Rein from both sides, trying to block Rein's strike at their boss.
"Clang!!"
The two Hyena Gang leaders coordinated their attack flawlessly, striking almost simultaneously, and managed to block Rein's sword with their iron batons.
Although both were shaken to the point that their knees buckled, and their arms went numb, this brought them some joy, and they thought to themselves:
"We thought a lone assassin would be so ferocious. Turns out, he's about the same level as us!"
One of them shouted triumphantly, "Boss, leave this overconfident fool to us—we'll make sure he never returns!"
'King Canine' Kole also relaxed his expression at this point, his right hand that was clutching the chair's armrest loosened quite a bit, instead showing a look of someone enjoying a good show.
In his heart, he was laughing: "The strength and speed of that sword blow just now—just the level of a primary Knight Attendant, about the same as my two boys, and nowhere near my own."
"Really don't know who hired this guy to assassinate me, didn't even figure out their own strength; what is this, a joke? Pure stupidity!"
Rein had just invoked the 'Blacksmith's Strength' in his heart, but after he swung his sword, he remembered that 'Blacksmith's Strength' had already upgraded to a higher level, 'Strength Burst.'
Looking at the two smug Hyena Gang leaders, Rein said with a smile:
"Overestimating your capabilities? Who gave you the confidence that you could stop me?"
The next second!
A sound similar to ripping silk echoed!
This was Rein's first time executing the newly acquired skill 'Strength Burst.'
Instantly, he felt his heart contract forcefully, pumping a great torrent of warmth, every major muscle in his body seemed to have been injected with adrenaline, all becoming engorged, swelling, and bulging.
As his stature suddenly increased by more than twenty centimeters, Rein's loose plate armor, a product from Hamilton, was stretched taut, and the cotton cloth at the arms, devoid of any metal plates, even ripped open several large gaps,
"Swoosh!!"
With another Whirlwind Slash executed, the two dumbstruck Hyena Gang leaders were suddenly cut in half at the waist, blood splattering everywhere. The lower halves of their bodies remained upright in place for a few seconds, while the upper halves fell to the ground and started to twitch.
"Ting Dang!"
The iron batons slipped weakly from their hands, their faces frozen in disbelief and excruciating pain!
"A full-fledged Knight!!"
Kole, the heavy white fat man weighing several hundred pounds, leaped up from his soft chair upon witnessing the scene, his squinting eyes bulging, a face filled with horror and surprise.
And the massive Hyena Queen, who had been lying around lazily, also instantly got up, focusing her wary gaze on Rein.
Rein had never felt so good before!
At this moment, his body was filled with explosive strength, as if his body had been a dormant volcano, but after being guided by the core skill "Strength Burst," it instantly became an active volcano, with the magma erupting suddenly!
"A formal Knight?"
Rein chewed on the four words that Cole had blurted out and looked down at his swollen body.
He instantly realized why the other party had this misunderstanding.
Because his current appearance greatly resembled Hamilton when breaking limits; his arms suddenly doubled in thickness, twisted with muscles.
At this point, Cole's expression was no longer composed but instead extremely solemn, holding tightly onto two long crescent-shaped greatswords, one meter long blade plus a half-meter handle, totaling one and a half meters in length, not much different from Rein's Dual-Handed Greatsword.
"Even if you are a formal Knight, you shouldn't have intruded into the Dog-Fighting Estate!"
"How long can your breaking limits state last!"
However, Rein didn't mean to explain.
His core skill "Strength Burst" could only last a few seconds, and listening to the opponent for even one more second was a waste of a chance to fight.
To listen, he would wait until he had absolute control of the fight.
Taking advantage of the chubby Cole's rambling, Rein pushed hard with his right leg, shooting towards him like an arrow released from a bowstring!
"Clang!!"
Rein and Cole fiercely struck each other!
The grating sound of metal clashing was almost nauseating!
Rein stepped back slightly, but Cole had it worse; his two or three hundred pound body was directly sent flying back to the spacious armchair!
"Smack!"
No matter how sturdy the chair was, it couldn't withstand the high-speed impact of several hundred pounds of flesh, it immediately split into pieces, dust flying everywhere.
And Cole was in a terrible state, sitting on the ground, nowhere near the poise of the Hyena Gang leader!
"Damn it, launching a sneak attack!" chubby Cole saw that Rein simply didn't bother with small talk, attacking without a word, even more sneaky than him, cursing out loud in anger.
"Maria, summon the pack of dogs! Bite him to death!!"
At that moment, the Hyena Queen named Maria, upon receiving her master Cole's command, immediately cried out to the sky, "Awoo!!"
Suddenly, a group of vicious hyenas, slightly larger than normal size, baring their teeth, sprang out from all directions, swiftly closing in on Rein.
Rein quickly estimated that there were about forty to fifty in front of him, and moreover, an unending stream of hyenas kept appearing from behind!
Indeed! There are only wrong names, no wrong nicknames.
The nickname "Dog King" truly deserved its name!
These barking hyenas, which seemed to be hybrids of the Hyena Queen and other dog-fighting breeds, appeared to be unified due to the strong genes of the Hyena Queen, mostly spotted.
Even the length of canine teeth, the protrusion levels of the upper and lower jaws, and the shapes of ears and tails varied greatly, but each was definitely robust and fierce, with sharp claws and teeth.
At first glance, they were intimidating!
Seeing this scene, Rein instantly understood why the Hyena Queen was called "Queen." She was damn prolific!
An army of one?!
"Awoo!" The Hyena Queen cried out once again.
Upon receiving this command from the "Queen," these strong hybrid hyenas attacked Rein from all sides.
Had it been an ordinary person, they might have been overwhelmed by now, but Rein's Giant Bear Sword Technique was well-suited for this situation.
"Whirlwind Slash!!"
Rein swung the Dual-Handed Greatsword, unleashing a fierce slash, where a silver arc about two meters in radius flashed by.
In front of Rein, at least four or five hybrid hyenas were torn apart, limbs and flesh scattered.
After two or three consecutive Whirlwind Slashes, this group of forty or fifty hybrid hyenas had been reduced by nearly half.
The rest, emitting 'whining' noises, tucked their tails and started retreating.
This scene greatly enraged the Hyena Queen!
Nearly half of her offspring were slaughtered by this human right before her eyes!
The Hyena Queen's face twisted viciously, her eyes glowed red, and with a powerful push of her forepaws, her huge body charged at Rein like a young calf.
Meanwhile, the chubby white man, Cole, also charged with a greatsword raised high.
Their coordination appeared to be quite seamless.
This was exactly what Rein had hoped for.
He had been most concerned that his opponents would keep summoning hyenas and engage him in a drawn-out battle; unexpectedly, Cole and the Hyena Queen decided to directly clash with him!
The other hybrid hyenas, seeing their queen charging forward, also took the opportunity to attack Rein from all directions once again.
"Leap Slash!!"
Facing the approaching Hyena Queen, Rein chose to directly confront her head-on, leaping high into the air and slashing down with lightning speed!
In midair, the Hyena Queen's fierce 'claw strike' contested Rein's 20 Strength under 'Leap Slash'.
But after all, the Hyena Queen was not a truly wild beast, she was just a mutated hyena with a massive body.
"Crack!"
In an instant, three-quarters of the Hyena Queen's right forepaw was severed by Rein's fine steel greatsword.
"Aoww!!!" The Hyena Queen howled in pain immediately!
At this moment, Cole's greatsword chop attacked from the side, but was neatly blocked by Rein's 'Guard'.
"Clang!!!"
Rein blocked Cole's powerful and forceful strike using 'Strong Blade', shaking it fiercely to repel Cole, who weighed several hundred pounds, back several steps.
Without stopping, Rein faced the surging tide of hybrid hyenas all around him, once again wielding a magnificent silver crescent arch!
"Swoosh swoosh swoosh!"
Two Whirlwind Slashes followed by a Smooth Cleaving Slash, the whistling sound of air being cut echoed, and hybrid hyenas were grazed and severed upon contact.
The formidable momentum of the hyenas was utterly quashed by Rein!
The crowd of hybrid hyenas whimpered and retreated once again.
Suddenly, there was empty space around Rein!
At this time, the Hyena Queen, curled up with her severed paw and standing on three legs, let out another mournful howl, her body swaying unsteadily as if she was about to fall.
Cole, initially puzzled, scanned around quickly and saw those hyenas injured by Rein's greatsword lying motionless on the ground.
Some had merely their skin nicked, yet they were motionless!
This shocked Cole immensely.
But the next second, an idea struck him, and he looked at Rein incredulously, exclaiming, "You... you actually poisoned your blade!!"
To still use poison at the level of a formal knight?
Poisoning a Dual-Handed Greatsword?
Could this really be something a typical knight would do?
At this moment, Cole's world view was shattered!
A head full of question marks ???
Hell, who had he gotten himself involved with this time!
Facing this powerful and shameless enemy, Cole completely lost his will to fight.
Just as he planned to find an opportunity to escape, suddenly, the 'assassin' before him shrank back to his original size like a deflated balloon.
At the same time, he staggered unsteadily and almost fell!
This gave Cole a sense of revival from despair!
"Hahahaha, so after your Strength Burst, your body can't hold up anymore!" Cole couldn't help but laugh heartily.
What a turnaround!
At this moment, Cole felt he was back in the game!
He could finally avenge his beloved Maria!
"Then die!!" Cole's face twisted viciously as he raised his greatsword high.
Just now, Rein's "Strength Burst" duration ended.
So, his physique shrank from "Schwarzenegger" back to that of an ordinary person's.
Since it was his first time using this new skill, Rein realized he had underestimated the 'aftereffects'.
At this moment, his muscles were incredibly sore, and he almost lost his balance for a moment.
No wonder the panel notes said it was not to be further upgraded at this stage.
If he boosted it further, while it would certainly be strong, once the duration was up, the 'aftereffects' might just kill him on the spot!
However, Rein quickly thought that this was probably because his Constitution was too low.
His Strength surged to 20 points during the outburst, supported only by a Constitution of 9 points.
A small horse pulling a heavy cart is bound to struggle!
If his Constitution were higher, like 10 or 11 points, or even more, the effects of the 'aftereffects' would presumably be much more bearable.
Facing the ferociously charging Colin, with a fierce and smug expression, Rein lifted his head and gave him a mysterious smile.
"Are you sure?"
These three words made Colin's pupils shrink, a chill running down from the top of his head to his heels, as if he had been struck by lightning, his rushing hulking mass suddenly frozen in place!
The next second, the portly Colin bent his knees slightly, preparing to retreat!
But sorry!
Too late!
For just as Rein lifted his head, his panel's remaining attribute points suddenly dropped from 1 to 0, and his Constitution surged from 9 to 10.
Instantly, Rein felt as if the thousands of ants biting his muscles were swept away, the soreness and swelling gone!
His body's condition returned to its prime in an instant.
No, it was even 1 point stronger than at his peak!
The next second, as Rein silently invoked "Strength Burst" again.
Instantly, he felt a powerful surge of warmth from his heart, accelerating his blood flow, veins bulging, and muscles swelling intensely.
His body swelled once more, transforming back into "Schwarzenegger"!
So, in the face of Colin, who was now panicking and somewhat baffled, Rein swung the Fine Steel Greatsword, empowered with the strength of 20 points once again!
"Furious Slash!"
In the blink of an eye, a huge shadow blocked in front of "Dog King" Colin.
But without a second thought, Rein stepped forward and, with a sweeping slash, split the bulky Hyena Queen in two, her fetid blood and organ fluids splashing directly onto the portly Colin!
"Ah! You bastard! I'll kill you!! You actually killed my Maria!!"
"Do you know how much effort I put into raising Maria! I'm going to chop you into minced meat!!"
Rein, who had initially considered capturing Colin alive and interrogating him, saw him raving madly like a lunatic, wildly swinging his greatsword around.
Rein knew it was highly unlikely that he could get any useful information out of Colin's mouth anymore.
He had gone mad!
"Swoosh!"
So, decisively, Rein ended it, cutting Colin's throat with a single sword stroke!
"You... you dare kill me, the Wilderness... Brotherhood will sooner or later... avenge... me!" Colin clutched his neck, bubbling blood from his mouth, his face filled with resistance, threatening intermittently.
"Don't tell me you have another brother, the leader of the Wilderness Brotherhood?"
"You are... pfft!!" Colin suddenly understood something.
He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, eyes wide with rage, and died instantly!
In the moment before his death, Kolt finally realized that the man before him was actually brought here by his own younger brother, Blackbeard.
However... what truly made Kolt die with his eyes open was, damn it, how the hell did Blackbeard piss off the other party?
With the deaths of both the Hyena Queen and 'Dog King' Kolt, the mongrel hyenas scattered, tails tucked, fleeing in every direction.
Rein swung his greatsword with force, shaking off the blood and wiping it down. The Fine Steel Greatsword, which had been emitting a faint green glow, now shone like new.
Rein wrapped the greatsword up again in sheepskin and slung it over his shoulder.
Then, he immediately began searching 'Dog King' Kolt's body.
A green agate ring and a pure gold ring were quickly removed by Rein.
On the other's neck lay a thick gold necklace, heavy in Rein's hand, likely weighing three or four pounds.
After that, Rein walked over to the large coffee table and put dozens of Gold Coins and several hundred Silver Coins into a large cloth bag all at once.
As for the multitude of shillings and pennies, Rein ignored them entirely.
They were too low in value, heavy, and took up too much space.
Clearly, this dogfighting manor, as the lair of the Hyena Gang, should have a place where 'Dog King' Kolt stored important items.
Thus, Rein began to rapidly check each room, one after another, floor by floor.
Soon, in a luxurious bedroom on the second floor, Rein discovered a hidden compartment.
The location of the compartment was rather secretive, behind a painting, with just enough space to fit a backpack.
Moving aside the painting, there was only a brown wooden box inside the compartment. The box appeared quite valuable. Upon opening it, Rein was taken aback to find a book inside.
The book's cover was extremely ornate, seemingly crafted from pure silver material, inlaid with noble sapphires, rubies, and turquoise. Its most distinctive feature was the extremely delicate carving of animals, patterns, and leaf veins.
Rein's first impression was that the book looked more like a rare piece of art than anything else.
Considering 'Dog King' Kolt's appearance of weighing several hundred pounds, Rein couldn't for the life of him associate this book with Kolt.
Rein would never believe for a second that Kolt was a man who loved to read!
The Hyena Gang's boss a cultured man?
Therefore, there must be something peculiar about this book!
However, before touching it, Rein stood at a distance and cautiously used the tip of his Fine Steel Greatsword to gently lift the cover of the book and flip through a few pages.
After confirming there was no issue, Rein then approached and quickly skimmed through a few pages.
Rein's expressions changed rapidly, one moment smiling, the next moment showing a puzzled look.
He finally understood how Kolt had acquired that mutated Hyena Queen.
Aparently, Kolt had created her using some records and recipes from this book.
The contents of the book were highly eclectic, and the handwriting was quite sloppy.
Furthermore, one could clearly see the writing of two different people.
For instance, there was a passage that read:
"Damn it! Why did the other party only bring one bottle of that strange potion? If there had been two, then I could have had two beloved 'Marias'."
"I copied the unknown text onto a piece of paper and sought out several so-called scholars, but none could understand it! These charlatans..."
"..."
The handwriting was definitely Kolt's.
Naturally, the other type of handwriting must be that of the book's original owner.
Rein tentatively concluded that this was likely the diary or notes of someone, which recorded some insights and experiences in taming dogs, horses, birds, and other creatures.
Since the record keeper did not leave behind their name, for the time being, Rein referred to the book as the "Beast Taming Diary".
What set it apart was that the later entries in the diary required certain special potions to be realized.
The last few even necessitated chanting some incantations that Rein couldn't understand at all, in combination with specific rituals for completion.
This immediately led Rein to speculate, could this be the diary of a Beast Tamer?
Or could there be Druids in this world, and this was written by one?
Rein's mind raced with possibilities, but unfortunately, whether it was the potions or the rituals, large portions were interspersed with unknown script, making it presently impossible for Rein to concoct these potions or set up the rituals.
In other words, the only sections he could fully understand were a small part at the beginning of the notebook.
Mostly, there were recipes beneficial to the nurturing of animals....
Oh! Underneath the book in the wooden box, there was even a wooden amulet being pressed down.
The amulet was strung on a sturdy, thin leather cord, with the front bearing a flourished large tree with a straight trunk and a canopy like a large mushroom, and on the back, a roaring Giant Bear, both carved with lifelike detail.
Rein picked up the leather cord and carefully examined the amulet before slipping it inside the book.
He planned on retreating first.
Because for the moment, he couldn't decipher the significance of these two items.
After securing the important book against his chest, Rein searched the rooms where valuable items might be hidden one more time.
Indeed, in a small compartment on the third floor, Rein found a hiding place for Gold Coins, roughly counting close to three hundred.
Rein quickly pocketed them as well.
Before leaving, Rein set fire to the three-story house!
Afterward, Rein took advantage of the darkness and quickly left the dogfighting estate.
Since most of the house was made of pure wood structures, although there was light rain outside, it had little effect; soon, the firelight illuminated the nearby sky.
Rein, who sneaked back home in the night, only felt completely relieved after entering his own room. Then, he began to feel an all-over muscle soreness and exhaustion.
It seemed that even though his Constitution had improved slightly, he still couldn't completely eliminate the 'side effect' of muscle weakness following the use of 'Strength Burst'.
However, there was obviously an improvement.
Rein distinctly felt that the muscle soreness was much weaker than the first time he ended 'Strength Burst'.
Furthermore, the onset of this 'side effect' of soreness and weakness seemed to be delayed, not appearing immediately.
All these should be due to the increase in Constitution.
After carefully stashing a large bag of Gold and Silver Coins under his bed, Rein finally had the spare time to pay attention to the system prompts:
...
[Your Skill Giant Bear Sword Technique has improved, Experience +245]
[You have experienced combat, Night Watchman Professional Experience Points +123]
The Giant Bear Sword Technique surged by nearly a quarter of an experience bar, reaching lv4 (245/1000).
And to Rein's surprise, his Night Watchman Profession Level went from lv2 (207/300) to lv3 (30/500), gaining another attribute point and Skill Point.
Name: Rein Carlan
Profession: Blacksmith lv2 (0/300)/Night Watchman lv3 (30/500)
Constitution: 10
Strength: 10
Agility: 9
Spirit: 11
Remaining attribute points: 1
Remaining Skill Points: 1
Attribute points are still at a constant 1 point, so there's no plan for that.
As for Skill Points, Rein thought it over, and since "Strength Burst" could no longer be improved, he naturally leaned toward "danger perception lv1" over the other upgradable core skill, "hammer proficiency lv1".
After all, the weapon he was currently using was a Dual-Handed Greatsword, not a hammer.
Moreover, the earlier one detected danger, the sooner one could seize the initiative.
Especially when Rein had encountered a sudden attack from an assassin last time, "danger perception lv1" had come in really handy.
So, after a moment's thought, Rein added a Skill Point to the core skill "danger perception lv1", instantly upgrading it from lv1 to lv2.
At the same time, Rein immediately felt his sense of touch, hearing, and vision sharpening further.
And... an indistinct, almost imperceptible innate response.
"Is this the sixth sense?"
The term spontaneously popped into Rein's mind.
But Rein quickly shook his head, since he had never possessed a sixth sense and naturally couldn't determine what this faint response really was.
Let's assume it's the sixth sense for the time being.
Simultaneously, the panel's description of danger perception also changed accordingly.
[Core Skill: danger perception lv2 (Passive)]
danger perception lv2 (Passive) effect: Your awareness of danger in your surroundings has slightly increased.
(Note: The acuity of danger perception is related to the host's Spirit; the stronger the spiritual power, the sharper the perception.)
Changed from 'slight' to 'small degree', this was similar to the changes after upgrading the Blacksmith's strength earlier.