Max-Level Trait

Duke was somewhat impressed when he heard the bard actually mention Count Hardy. This man truly had guts, daring to discuss the count within Count Hardy's territory.

Of course, that also had to do with this being the Adventurers Tavern, a relatively freer place.

It was only from listening to these people that he learned Count Hardy was also known as the Red Glove Count.

The reason was that Count Hardy wore a red glove on his left hand year-round. This glove possessed an exceedingly mysterious and sinister power, capable of causing people near Count Hardy to suddenly die.

This was also one reason so many people held Count Hardy in such awe. Faced with such an inexplicable power, all they could do was fear him.

"Red Glove..." Duke took a sip of wine, considering the truth of the matter.

It was his first time hearing of this as well. None of the people he had encountered before had dared speak carelessly about Count Hardy, unlike these adventurers, who were so bold.

Duke still leaned toward the Red Glove's power being real. After all, this was a supernatural world.

Although making nearby people suddenly die sounded rather bizarre, it only showed that he had encountered too little and understood this world far too shallowly.

This world was far more complicated than it appeared on the surface.

Duke stayed a while longer, but after failing to obtain any valuable information, he left the tavern and returned to the manor to continue grinding proficiency.

After everything that had happened over the past two days, he had become increasingly aware of his own weakness.

He had once believed that practicing a Breathing Method and becoming a Knight Apprentice, gaining greater strength, would give him more ability to protect himself.

Now, it seemed that anyone below Knight Level was merely cannon fodder.

Even Official Knights would struggle to deal with the power of spells.

Duke took a deep breath and stopped dwelling on it. All he could do was take each step properly and cultivate steadily.

One month later.

Duke stood in his room bare-chested, sweat dripping along the contours of his muscles.

He chewed a piece of magical beast meat, swallowed it, and continued his Stance Training.

By now, Duke could perform these movements with ease. Everything had become instinctive, without the slightest difficulty.

Correspondingly, however, the effects of the training had dropped drastically.

For ordinary people, this was generally their limit. Their bodies could hardly improve any further through Stance Training, and their path as knights had essentially come to an end.

Even when supplemented with magical beast meat, the gains they could achieve were extremely limited.

Duke was different. He possessed the Skill Tree. As long as he kept repeating his Stance Training, he could increase his Whale Breathing Method proficiency and would eventually break through.

Within his mind, the green sprout on the branch representing the Whale Breathing Method trembled, then blossomed like a flower and unfurled an emerald-green leaf.

[Whale Breathing Method: LV3 (1/1500)]

[Whale Breathing Method level increased. Constitution +0.5, Strength +0.3, Agility +0.5]

[Constitution: 8.2]

[Strength: 8.4]

[Agility: 8.2]

[Spirit: 8.1]

[Free Attribute Points: 3]

This improvement gave Duke an extremely obvious sensation. His whole body seemed to have expanded slightly, making him taller and stronger.

It was not obvious to the naked eye, but he himself could feel it in that instant.

All of Duke's attributes had now surpassed eight. The comprehensive improvement across every aspect had brought his strength to a qualitatively higher level.

During this period, he had also been observing the others in Nightingale.

Duke discovered that Mid-Tier Knight Squires generally had average attributes of around six, while High-Level Knight Apprentices only had around seven.

If not for the existence of Battle Qi, he would have been able to crush High-Level Knight Apprentices a month ago.

Everyone else had spent years cultivating before gradually raising their physical attributes to such levels.

Duke had never fully displayed his strength before these people. He had always kept a low profile, appearing to be nothing more than an ordinary Low-Tier Knight Squire.

Now that he had raised the Whale Breathing Method to its third level, Duke had successfully stepped into the threshold of a Mid-Tier Knight Squire. The amount of Battle Qi his body could contain had increased greatly.

He felt as though the meridians throughout his body had opened up somewhat. Battle Qi flowed more smoothly through him, as if the roads within his body had become wider.

These were internal changes that could not be seen from the outside.

As Duke sensed the changes within his body, he found that after advancing to a Mid-Tier Knight Squire, his widened meridians allowed him to use more Battle Qi at once.

He could now gather twice as much Battle Qi in his fist as before. His fist was as hard as iron, and its power was no longer comparable to the past.

Previously, each part of his body could contain very little Battle Qi. He could not gather a large amount in one place, as his meridians simply could not bear so much Battle Qi.

But now that his meridians had become broader and sturdier, the amount of Battle Qi they could hold at once had increased, indirectly raising his strength.

Duke's meridians had changed the instant his Breathing Method leveled up. For others, completing this step would take at least several years.

If their aptitude was poor, they might never cross this threshold in their entire lives.

[Basic Swordsmanship: LV5 (Trait: Bleeding)]

During this period, Duke had also casually ground Basic Swordsmanship to max level. Besides gaining one Free Attribute Point, he had activated a trait.

[Bleeding: When using sword-type weapons, there is a chance to impair the enemy's blood clotting function.]

Duke looked at this information, unsure of its exact effect.

Blood clotting was something that could be either significant or insignificant. It depended on the duration and whether the effect was noticeable.

If it could impair the enemy's blood clotting function for a long time, then when facing an enemy, he could land one slash and flee, then slowly wait for them to bleed to death.

But Duke felt it could not be that simple. It might have a chance of achieving such an effect against ordinary people, but knights with strong bodies were different.

After practicing a Breathing Method, one's body generally grew stronger and stronger. The Bleeding trait probably would not have much effect either.

Duke planned to observe it during actual combat later. It was better than nothing.

However, this made him think of something else. Since a trait appeared after Basic Swordsmanship was ground to max level, could other skills do the same?

For now, only Basic Swordsmanship had developed a trait, which indicated that it was chance-based.

Duke glanced at his Whale Breathing Method. It was only at the third level, still far from max level. He had no idea what changes would occur once he ground it to max.

After feeling out his improved body, he picked up the magical beast meat beside him, cut off a small piece, ate it, and continued his Stance Training.

A few minutes later.

[You completed one session of Whale Breathing Method cultivation. Proficiency +2.]

"Proficiency decreased?" Duke frowned.

He had been using magical beast meat to assist his cultivation throughout this period. Previously, even the lowest increase had been three proficiency points. This was the first time he had encountered an increase of only two.