This set of fine linen clothing costs at least ten silver coins, which ordinary civilians can hardly afford to wear.
"This..." Duke was about to refuse, but Wood turned and left directly, saying, "Just take it. I have other things to do, so I'm leaving first."
Duke could only remember this favor in his heart, and he indeed needed a set of fitting clothes.
His home was truly bare, with only this one set of clothes to wear.
It's said some poor people in the village had only one set of clothes for the whole family, so whoever went out wore it.
Duke fastened the wooden sword and scythe to his waist and tightly held the set of clothing as he left the town.
From the town, it was all wilderness, with a muddy road leading towards Yining Village.
Duke stopped after walking for a while, seeing several figures ahead. Upon closer look, it was Levin and his group.
Levin was accompanied by four others, all youths from Endland Town who usually hung around with Levin.
This group was already disliked by everyone in town, causing trouble everywhere every day.
Seeing Duke today, Levin found this peasant boy amusing and wanted to have some fun to kill time.
"Yo! Isn't this Duke? Where did you steal the clothes in your hand from?" Levin laughed.
"None of your business, get out of the way." Duke said with a frown.
Levin pulled out a silver coin from his pocket and said, "Don't be hasty. Look, here's a silver coin. As long as you're willing to kneel and bark like a dog three times, I'll give you this silver coin. How about it?"
"Brother Levin, why don't I do it? I can bark like a dog really well." A skinny boy beside him suddenly said, his eyes fixed on the silver coin.
"You get lost!" Levin slapped the boy on the head, then looked back at Duke.
To ordinary civilians, a silver coin was quite a small fortune, enough to buy a lot of food.
Levin was confident, thinking that this farmer boy from the small village wouldn't miss such an opportunity.
Of course, he wasn't planning to give him the coin; he had more fun things planned.
Duke looked at Levin expressionlessly and said, "Not interested, get out of the way."
Levin was stunned, not expecting Duke to refuse so bluntly, leaving him momentarily at a loss.
While he was dazed, Duke walked straight over, preparing to pass by them.
Levin naturally wouldn't let him leave just like that, but as he was about to reach out to block Duke, he suddenly felt a huge force crash into him.
He immediately lost his balance and fell flat on his face.
When Levin came to his senses, he was instantly furious and was about to say something.
"How dare you knock me over!" Duke angrily pointed at Levin and accused, as if it was him lying on the ground.
Levin and his group were stunned and couldn't react for a moment.
The next moment, Duke's giant fist was already in front of Levin's eyes, and two teeth flew out with blood, with the left side of his face swelling quickly.
"Hit him!" Levin tried to speak, but his words were slurred. He crawled a few meters on the ground away from Duke.
The others came around, but Duke easily dealt with them all.
With Duke's current physical condition, even a regular adult strong man wasn't his match, let alone these skinny boys.
In no time, five people were lying on the ground, all groaning while clutching their painful areas.
Levin was also shocked, not expecting this farmer boy to be so tough.
Not wanting to admit defeat, he said, "Just you wait..."
Duke didn't listen to what he said next and directly drew his wooden sword, pointing it at Levin's throat, forcing him to swallow the threat he was about to utter.
"A wooden sword can be lethal too. I have no family, no ties. If you bother me again, I'll kill you." Duke said this lightly, his expression calm.
Levin lay on the ground, not daring to breathe, as the wooden sword pressed painfully against his throat.
He didn't dare utter a word, fearing that the next second he'd have his throat pierced.
Duke didn't want to kill yet. Killing in Earl Hardy's territory would mean ending up on the gallows.
He still needed to continue enhancing his abilities; developing quietly while times were still peaceful was the best strategy.
If he killed Levin, he'd have to flee, facing the bounty issued by Earl Hardy.
Duke wasn't confident in dealing with those bounty hunters or the rumored knights yet.
Knights were said to possess extraordinary power, unmatched by ordinary people; Mr. Wood was such a knight.
However, Duke hadn't seen Mr. Wood in action yet and wasn't sure of his power level.
Even after Duke left, Levin still sat on the ground, not because he was injured but because his legs were weak from fright.
He could feel that had he said a few more words earlier, Duke really would have killed him.
This was the first time he had felt death so closely, and the fear still haunted him.
After returning to Yining Village, Duke continued practicing basic swordsmanship and scythe, grinding proficiency tirelessly.
He didn't dwell on today's events, just as he had said.
He was truly alone, with nothing to lose; if truly provoked, he'd kill Levin without second thought.
...
The next day at Endland Town's training ground.
When Duke arrived, he found that Levin hadn't come today, reportedly because he was ill.
Wood continued to have them practice basic swordsmanship, guiding them on the side.
[Basic Swordsmanship: Level 1 (112/300)]
[Scythe: Level 4 (256/3000)]
After returning yesterday, Duke kept grinding proficiency, alternating between scythe and basic swordsmanship.
Except when sleeping, he didn't relax for a moment.
This training lasted four days, and after four days, out of more than ten youths, only eight remained, Duke being one of them.
Since that day, Duke hadn't seen Levin again; it seemed he had directly given up the militia training and had no plans to join the Militia Team.
After this period of training, Duke finally gained enough proficiency for both skills.
[Basic Swordsmanship: Level 2 (0/500)]
[Basic Swordsmanship Level Up, Constitution +0.5]
After grinding basic swordsmanship to level two, aside from a 0.5 increase in constitution, he also received a vast amount of experience about swordsmanship in his mind.
This experience was all related to actual combat, and Duke was now practically a battle-hardened veteran with extensive combat experience.
Now, even without relying on his robust physique, he could easily take down others with swordsmanship alone.
[Scythe: Level 5]
[Scythe Level Up, Gained 1 free attribute point]
The scythe's blue-green fruit had grown to the size of an orange and had a somewhat pale yellow color.
After reaching level five, the scythe skill was maxed out and could not be increased further, awarding Duke one free attribute point.
Duke found it puzzling that reaching level five didn't offer more points than level four.
But upon reflection, he realized that reaching level five provided a free attribute point, meaning he could decide where to allocate this attribute point.