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.
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!
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!
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.
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.