Blocked in the Road

A set of coarse linen clothes cost at least ten silver coins. Ordinary commoners could hardly bear to wear something so expensive.

"This..." Duke was about to refuse, but Wood turned and left at once. "If I'm giving it to you, take it. I have things to do, so I'm leaving first."

Duke could only silently remember this kindness. He truly did need a set of clothes that fit.

His home was truly bare to the walls. This was the only set of clothes he could scrape together to wear.

It was said that in some villages, poor families only had one set of clothes between them. Whoever went out wore it.

Duke tucked the wooden sword and Scythe into his belt, clutched the clothes tightly in his hands, and left the town.

Outside the town was wilderness, with a muddy road leading toward Yining Village.

After walking for a while, Duke stopped. Several figures appeared ahead, and upon closer inspection, they were Levin and his group.

Four people followed beside Levin, all youths from Enderland Town who usually liked to hang around with him.

Their group had long been hated by everyone in town, causing trouble everywhere all day.

When Levin saw Duke today, he found this farmer boy rather interesting and wanted to have some fun to pass the boring time.

"Yo! Isn't this Duke? Where did you steal those clothes?" Levin laughed.

"It's none of your business. Move." Duke frowned.

Levin took out a silver coin from his pocket. "Don't be in such a hurry. Look, here's a silver coin. As long as you kneel down and bark like a dog three times, I'll give it to you. What do you say?"

"Brother Levin, how about I do it? I'm really good at barking like a dog." A skinny boy beside him suddenly spoke up, his eyes fixed on the silver coin.

"Get lost!" Levin slapped the boy on the head, then looked back at Duke.

One silver coin was no small sum for ordinary commoners. It could buy quite a bit of food.

Levin was very confident. He believed this farmer boy from a small village would never pass up such an opportunity.

Of course, he had never intended to give him the coin. He had even more amusing things planned.

Duke looked at Levin expressionlessly. "Not interested. Move."

Levin was stunned. He had not expected Duke to refuse so decisively, and his mind could not process it for a moment.

While he was dazed, Duke had already walked straight over, intending to pass by them.

Naturally, Levin would not let him leave so easily. Just as he reached out to stop Duke, he suddenly felt a tremendous force slam into him.

He instantly lost his balance and fell flat on his face.

Once Levin came to his senses, he flew into a rage and was about to say something.

"You actually dared to ram into me!" Duke pointed at Levin furiously, as though he were the one lying on the ground.

"?" Levin and the others were utterly confused, unable to react.

The next moment, Duke's huge fist was already in front of Levin's face. Two teeth flew out along with blood, and the left side of his face rapidly swelled up.

"Get... get him!" Levin's words leaked air as he crawled several meters away from Duke.

The others surrounded Duke when they saw this, but Duke easily dealt with every one of them.

With Duke's current physical condition, even ordinary strong adult men were no match for him, much less these skinny youths.

Before long, five people lay sprawled on the ground, all clutching their injured spots and wailing.

Levin was dumbfounded as well. He had never expected this farmer boy to be such a good fighter.

Though defeated, he refused to lose face. "Just you wait..."

Duke did not listen to what came next. He directly drew his wooden sword and pressed it against Levin's throat, forcing him to swallow the threat he had wanted to make.

"A wooden sword can kill too. I have no parents, no family, no one to rely on. Provoke me again, and I'll kill you." Duke said it lightly, his expression calm.

Levin did not even dare breathe heavily as he lay on the ground, the wooden sword pressing painfully against his throat.

He did not dare say a single word, afraid that his throat would be pierced the next second.

Duke did not want to kill anyone yet. Killing was not allowed freely within Count Hardy's territory, or he would be sent to the gallows.

He still needed to keep improving his strength. While times were peaceful, quietly building himself up was the best course.

If he killed Levin, he would have to flee as well and face the bounty Count Hardy would issue.

Duke was not yet confident he could deal with bounty hunters, or the knights spoken of in rumors.

It was said that knights possessed extraordinary power and were difficult for ordinary people to match. Mr. Wood was a knight.

However, Duke had yet to see Mr. Wood make a move, so he did not know what level of power he possessed.

Even after Duke left, Levin remained sitting on the ground. It was not because he was injured, but because his legs had gone weak with fear.

He could feel that if he had said a few more words just then, Duke truly would have killed him.

It was the first time he had felt death from such close range. That fear still hung over his heart.

After Duke returned to Yining Village, he continued practicing Basic Swordsmanship and the Scythe, grinding proficiency like mad.

He did not take what had happened today to heart, just as he had said.

He had always been alone and had nothing left to lose. If Levin truly angered him, then at worst, he would simply kill him.

The next day, Enderland Town training ground.

After Duke arrived, he discovered that Levin had not come today. It was said that he was sick.

Wood continued having them train in Basic Swordsmanship, guiding them from the side the entire time.

[Basic Swordsmanship: LV1 (112/300)]

[Scythe: LV4 (256/3000)]

After returning yesterday, Duke had continuously ground proficiency, alternating between the Scythe and Basic Swordsmanship.

Other than sleeping, he did not relax for even a moment.

This training continued for four days. After four days, only eight out of more than ten youths remained, and Duke was among them.

Since that day, Duke had not seen Levin again. It seemed the other boy had directly given up militia training and no longer intended to join the militia.

After this period of training, Duke had finally filled the proficiency requirements for both skills.

[Basic Swordsmanship: LV2 (0/500)]

[Basic Swordsmanship level increased, Constitution +0.5]

After grinding Basic Swordsmanship to level two, Duke not only gained 0.5 Constitution, but also had a great deal of swordsmanship experience flood into his mind.

All of that experience concerned actual combat. Duke could now be considered a battle-hardened veteran with abundant combat experience.

Even without relying on his overwhelming physical condition, he could easily defeat others with swordsmanship alone.

[Scythe: LV5]

[Scythe level increased, gained 1 Free Attribute Point]

The bluish-green fruit representing the Scythe had now grown as large as an orange, and its color had also become somewhat pale yellow.

After reaching level five, the Scythe skill had reached its maximum level and could no longer be improved. It granted Duke one Free Attribute Point.

Duke was somewhat puzzled. Judging from the numbers, reaching level five had provided fewer points than level four.

But on second thought, the point gained at level five was a Free Attribute Point, meaning he could decide for himself where to place that point.