Improvement

Yining Village was a peaceful and tranquil little village where Duke had lived for sixteen years.

When he returned to the village, he caught the very last rays of the sun, and thin wisps of smoke rose under the dark yellow sky.

Duke returned to his earthen hut and boiled a pot of porridge using the last of his millet, wheat bran, and some wild vegetables he had gathered on the way, barely managing to scrape together a meal.

This amount of food was nowhere near enough for him, but there was no more to eat at home, so he had to go hungry.

After nightfall, the darkness was like ink, and not a single glimmer of light could be seen in the entire village.

Duke still had half a tallow candle at home, which he had kept for a long time, unable to bring himself to use it.

He stood in the courtyard holding his scythe and began to swing it vigorously, just to max out the final few dozen points of proficiency.

Even though his stomach was hungry, his body was exhausted, and his muscles were aching, Duke gritted his teeth and persisted.

His reasoning was simple: since he had obtained such a Gold Finger, he had to cherish the opportunity all the more.

Only through hard work and sweat could he go further.

Five minutes later.

[Scythe Skill level increased, Strength +1]

On the skill tree in Duke's mind, the green leaf representing the Scythe Skill turned into a small, pale white flower that bloomed quietly.

It wasn't Free Attribute Points this time, but a direct increase in Strength.

Duke realized that the rewards brought by each skill level increase were not fixed; they could be Free Attribute Points, a direct increase in certain attributes, or perhaps something else entirely.

This increase brought his Strength to 5.4, already surpassing that of an average adult male.

The improvement brought by this point of strength was obvious. Duke found that the muscles all over his body had become a bit stronger, his entire frame looked more robust, and his build was no longer as thin as it had been before.

In addition to the physical changes, a wealth of combat experience regarding the scythe flooded into his mind.

As Duke contemplated these experiences, he felt it was somewhat strange to use a scythe to fight enemies; it was far less direct and effective than a sword or blade.

[Scythe: LV3 (0/1800)]

He glanced at the proficiency of his Scythe Skill. It still needed 1,800 points, which he couldn't max out in the short term, so he washed up simply with water from the vat and went to sleep.

When he slept, the scythe lay right beside his pillow, ensuring he could grab it the moment he reached out.

The world was not peaceful, filled with countless roving bandits and robbers.

The climate had also been poor for the past two years, with droughts occurring in many places. In the Jade Province where Duke lived, incidents of bandits looting villages and towns were frequent.

Duke lay on the bed, intending to remain vigilant and not fall into too deep a sleep.

However, after a day of hard labor, his body was so exhausted that as soon as his head hit the pillow, a wave of intense drowsiness swept over him, and by the time he woke, it was already dawn.

As the sky was just beginning to brighten, the village was already bustling, with everyone preparing to head out to work in various places.

The villagers did not own their own land; almost all of them worked as farmhands or stable hands for the nearby noble lords.

Duke set out with Uncle John's family, walking along the country path, his clothes dampened by the dew-covered wild grass.

He was very lucky today; he discovered a cluster of raspberries and picked them all to eat for breakfast.

Uncle John looked at Duke, patted him on the shoulder, and nodded. "Little Duke has grown up, and your build is quite solid. You could consider trying out for the Militia in town."

"The Militia?" Duke pondered while eating his raspberries.

The closest place to Yining Village was Enderland Town, which was also the largest town in the vicinity.

There was a militia in the town responsible for maintaining order in the surrounding areas, which was considered a very good job for ordinary villagers.

Enderland Town belonged to the territory of Count Hardy; joining the militia was equivalent to joining the ranks of Count Hardy directly.

Beyond the increase in status and position, one could also receive a monthly salary of ten silver coins.

Duke and the others had helped harvest wheat for five days, and their final pay was only twenty copper coins.

Today was the final day of the wheat harvest, and it would only take the better part of the day to finish the remaining work.

The group took advantage of the cool morning air before the sun had fully risen to begin their day's labor.

Duke found harvesting wheat quite easy now; after a night's rest, he was full of energy.

Holding his scythe, he already felt as if it were an extension of his own arm.

Coupled with his increased strength, he only needed to exert a little effort to cut down a patch of wheat.

By the time Uncle John had only finished half a row of wheat, Duke had already finished his own.

In the afternoon, it took only a little over an hour to finish harvesting all the wheat in the field.

[Scythe: LV3 (1358/1800)]

Duke took a look; the Scythe Skill was still some distance away from leveling up, so he would have to wait until he returned to continue grinding for proficiency.

After they finished harvesting, they helped load the wheat onto carts, while a well-dressed middle-aged man stood on the ridge of the field, directing the workers.

This was Count Hardy's steward, named Matthew.

Seeing that the wheat was mostly loaded, Matthew cleared his throat and spoke in pure Vira Kingdom Common Tongue: "Come over here and line up to receive your pay. Also, those who worked today can go to Enderland Town later to collect a portion of wheat straw. Be grateful for the Count's benevolence!"

Everyone bowed their heads, placing their right hands over their hearts to express their gratitude to Count Hardy.

With this wheat straw, sleeping at night will be much more comfortable, Duke thought to himself.

He was still sleeping on a hard wooden board, and a layer of wheat straw would make it much softer.

After receiving his twenty copper coins, Duke did not plan to return to the village immediately; he wanted to head to town first to buy some millet, as his home was out of food.

"You're going to town? Then you could look for Captain Wood and ask about the Militia; I remember they've been recruiting lately," Uncle John said.

Wood was the captain of the town's Militia, a man of integrity who had helped many commoners solve their problems and held great prestige in the surrounding area.

Duke nodded, and after some consideration, he decided he would give it a try.

Joining the Militia would mean participating in Militia Training, which would allow him to come into contact with more weapons and unlock more skills.

He currently only had the Scythe skill, and it had already reached the flowering stage; once it bore fruit, it should be at max level, and there would likely be no further room for improvement.

When Uncle Lien, who worked with him, heard that Duke was going to town, he invited him to ride along on his donkey cart.

It was quite a distance to town, so taking the donkey cart would be much easier.

Uncle Lien was a villager from a nearby settlement whose main trade was growing pumpkins, and he was heading to town to sell the load on his cart.

Duke tucked his scythe into his waistband, found a small gap among the pumpkins to stand in, sat on the narrow wooden board, and held onto both sides to keep his balance.

Uncle Lien wore a straw hat with a mottled, old pipe clamped in his teeth; he flicked the whip, and the donkey cart began to roll toward the town.