'This is getting hard...' Silas noticed as he was fighting against the swarm of those dark fur-covered beasts, the swarm was like the spawn of the devil, massive in numbers and tough to kill swiftly.

'When they work in groups, they have strong coordination, despite knowing their weakness. I can't utilise all their weaknesses against them with my current limited skill set.' Silas thought while thrusting metal rods in the back of the heads of two beasts and pulling out once again charged over another one.

'Because of their thick coat of fur, the slashes barely have any impact; even a blunt fist isn't enough with my current strength; the only thing that works is thrusting sharp metal rods...' He clicked his tongue, and his gaze went over his wolves.

They, on the other hand, were more energetic, but even they were slowly starting to show the signs of exhaustion as time went by.

"Tch!" Silas frowned, and his attention was finally drawn to the enormous Soul Core inside the pocket of his pants, which he obtained after killing the first Iron Fang Goat.

"... I wanted to absorb when I was alone and relaxed since it had a stage mark over it," Silas muttered as he jumped over the branch of a nearby tree and took out that special marked Soul Core.

It was a flat stone-shaped crystal core with a strange black mark imprinted on it. Silas was hesitant, but just then, suddenly, the nearby beasts started to smash their skulls on the tree he was standing on, trying to crush the tree.

"Tch!" Silas clicked his tongue. "Whatever!" he cussed and crushed the Soul Core under his hands, and this time it was strange; in an instant, he felt a surge of energy flooding inside his body.

"Huh?"

But that wasn't all; it was as if his muscles, tendons, bones, and skin had suddenly obtained a layer of iron over them. 'It can't be--!'

'Skill - Ironhide Reinforcement (Tier 1)

Type - Active

Effect: Skin and muscles subtly harden, granting enhanced durability and resistance to physical damage. Blades struggle to cut deep, and blunt strikes are dulled. The duration and defence increase with skill rank.

Current Effect: Enhances your overall defences by 10% and over 35% when the skill is activated, accelerates stamina recovery.'

"Amazing..." Silas muttered in awe, 'So it was indeed a skill after all, like regeneration? I can obtain skills like this too?'

Silas was surprised, but just then the tree suddenly shook again, almost making him fall off in the middle of the swarm of beasts gathered below.

"Let's think about it later..." Silas sighed and once again diverted his attention towards the swarm of beasts, "Attention-seeking retards..."

Silas scoffed, and tightening his grip over the metal rods, he jumped down with a roar, "Ironhide Reinforcement!!!"

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In an instant it felt like his body was covered in some sort of shell, as if he had reached the prime of his current mortal state. Silas landed straight on the head of one beast, crushing its skull. He flexibly moved over to another one.

Instead of exhaustion, he was feeling more energetic while moving forward; the punches, which were taking a toll on him, felt much more relaxed and powerful, whilst he needed to punch twice to crush their skulls till now; just one punch was enough to end their souls now.

"Ride on the flow!!!" Silas commanded with a grin; his wolves followed it.

"Gruff!!!!"

"Wooooooo~"

They charged ripping off those beasts in front of them; there seemed to be some sort of synergy between them. Just like Silas, they also seemed much more energetic; exhaustion tiring them felt to be loosening up.

'Is my skill also shared with my beasts?? I never saw them receive serious wounds, so it's possible my regeneration skill never activated around them, but I can definitely feel they are more active and free...' Silas noticed there was a sudden change of mood on the battlefield.

The three who seemed to be fighting cautiously and defensively suddenly started to charge like frenzy warriors; of course, they received some charges, but the effects were almost negligible.

"Crush these ma ma black sheep!!!!" Silas grinned while raining blood across the whole area.

Metal rods pierced through skulls like needles into fabric, and Silas danced between the beasts like a ghost clad in iron. His body felt unbreakable, fists hammering through fur and bone with raw, relentless force. Each step forward left another corpse behind, and the wolves mirrored his savagery, tearing through the swarming beasts without hesitation.

By the time the last beast dropped, gasping its final breath beneath Silas's boot, the road was unrecognizable. A mountain of mangled corpses lay stacked upon each other, their glassy eyes reflecting the faint rays of the sun peeking through the branches.

"Hahh... Huff... Haaah..." Silas exhaled slowly, his muscles throbbing in pain now as the effects of his skill had washed away. The sweat fell down his forehead, full of blood across his face. With a grunt, he sat down at the highest point of the pile, full of exhaustion.

'Crazy bastards... To think they will remain in such a frenzy that they would jump over corpses of their own kind to try and kill their target...' Silas sighed, 'Considering them living beings is foolish; they are just killing machines...'

Silas scoffed, and his eyes fell over the scenery he had created with his own hands, carcasses lying dead everywhere and thick blood dripping from the leaves of the trees nearby; the humid air was full of the scent of blood. And the two wolves devouring the flesh in a corner.

It was almost beautiful in a twisted way.

Finally the faint hum of engines brought Silas back to a subtle state of consciousness. The convoy returned, trucks rumbling down the road as the people who had fled returned with even more people and weapons in their hands, many with even guns in their hands. Their vehicles slowed to a crawl as they approached the scene, eyes widening in disbelief at the sight awaiting them.

Silas sat atop the mound of bodies, like a king on a throne of flesh. His face was calm, his eyes half-lidded, with blood dripping from the corners. The wolves stood up, licking the blood from their fur.

Charles stepped out first, his boots sinking slightly into the mess of blood beneath him. "Holy shit..." His voice trailed off as he took in the destruction.

The others followed, some unable to mask their disgust while others simply stared in awe.

"You took them all down yourself...?" Charles asked, still processing the carnage.

Silas shrugged. "Better than letting them follow me back home..."

A faint chuckle left Charles's lips as he shook his head. "Unbelievable..."

"Believe it." Silas sighed as he jumped down from the mountain of corpses and, pointing over the bags of grains at the upper area of the road, instructed, "Grab the grains."

They nodded, and Silas quietly took a seat inside the truck closest to him. The two wolves jumped back over the trunk of the truck, and Charles geared up the vehicle, and with that, the convoy returned to their homes in the hills safely.

"..."

A crowd had gathered around Silas's house. As the vehicles returned, Silas's parents stepped out of their homes, with their eyes scanning for Silas in the seats of all those vehicles.

"Silas?"

It was only as Silas stepped out that their eyes finally felt relaxed and relieved. His mother couldn't even take a moment away from her son in such a situation; she rushed in, and without care for all the blood he was drenched in, she immediately covered her child in her hands with a warm hug.

"Mum..." Even Silas was quite taken aback, but he needed it. He wasn't some Incarnate of a thousand-year war general. Just another young man who knew more than others...

"... I'm fine." He felt relief in that embrace, the weight and burden lifting off his body, "Bring in the water!!!" His father instructed, and the people around immediately rushed in to help, showering him with several water pipes with a good thrust of water, washing off all the blood that drenched his body.

Now with washed-off blood, he seemed to look like any other ordinary youngster wet like some cat; with a chuckle, he was brought inside to home; the wolves also followed the suit, showering in water.

"Gruff!!"

"Ruff!"

'How... adorable!!!!!'

But it seems for them there will be a special service. The two wolves looked like any other giant pups to people when they were showered, the dog lovers immediately stepping in, thoroughly scratching their fur and showering every bit of their body.

And finally the day ended with minimum casualties and securing some amount of food enough to survive for just a few more weeks, but a symbol of hope... whose existence alone was enough to live for years.

*******

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