After Duke learned of Hewen's death, he still felt a bit sentimental.
After all, they had entered the Nightingale together and were quite familiar with each other.
Hewen had climbed up step by step from being a slave. He had decent talent and worked very hard, yet now he had suddenly died like this.
Duke realized that he was actually just like Hewen, both ordinary people striving hard to live and to become stronger.
If it weren't for his own Skill Tree, he would most likely have perished last night.
In this era, the lives of ordinary people are so fragile, lacking the ability to cope with the whims of fate.
Despite just experiencing a hard-fought battle, Duke didn't take much rest and continued to grind proficiency in the Breathing Technique and Dragon Spine Burning Wave Sword Technique.
Duke is now working harder than before, allowing himself only six hours of sleep each day, fully immersing in training during the rest of the time.
A few days later.
Duke held a Longsword, a layer of white Fighting Spirit attached to the blade, with an extended white sword light at the tip.
The entire blade's white Fighting Spirit continued to vibrate and rotate, exuding a captivating aura.
This is the change that appeared after mastering the Dragon Spine Burning Wave Sword Technique to proficiency, the high-speed vibration.
Duke felt for a moment and thought to himself, "Isn't this like a chainsaw?"
He discovered that the current effect is essentially akin to a chainsaw, with strong cutting and destructive capabilities.
After mastering this ability, Duke could pose a threat to enemies even wearing full body armor.
Ordinary armor could only withstand for a while before being pierced under such a sword light.
However, this also greatly consumes Fighting Spirit. While maintaining the vibration state, his Fighting Spirit gets depleted rapidly, lasting at most three minutes before being exhausted.
He plans to use it as a killer move, not yet as a regular offensive method.
[Dragon Spine Burning Wave Sword Technique: LV3 (1/300)]
[Dragon Spine Burning Wave Sword Technique level up, constitution +0.2, strength +0.2, agility +0.2]
Duke noticed that the attribute points gained from this level-up were quite limited.
Now his constitution, strength, and agility all reached 8.9, just 0.1 short of nine.
He vaguely felt that nine should be a small checkpoint, crossing it would likely result in a qualitative change.
Based on his experience over time, Duke estimated that nine should be the body attributes of an Official Knight Level.
[Giant Whale Breathing Technique: LV3 (1471/1500)]
He glanced at the Giant Whale Breathing Technique's progress, only a little more proficiency to level up, staying up a bit longer tonight would max it out.
Duke decided to forgo sleep, pushing the Breathing Technique's progress first.
By morning, Duke saw in his mind's Skill Tree, a new green leaf growing on the branch representing the Giant Whale Breathing Technique.
This is the first time Duke has seen a skill growing two leaves, previously it would blossom after growing a leaf.
[Giant Whale Breathing Technique: LV4 (1/1700)]
[Giant Whale Breathing Technique level up, constitution +0.3, strength +0.3, agility +0.3]
[Constitution: 9.2]
[Strength: 9.2]
[Agility: 9.2]
[Spirit: 8.1]
[Free Attribute Points: 3]
Duke clearly felt that after reaching the fourth layer of the Giant Whale Breathing Technique, his physique had bulked up a notch.
His entire stature was also taller than before, roughly from one meter eighty to about one meter eighty-three.
Height enhancement was secondary; the body's muscles underwent a qualitative change.
Duke took a deep breath, then grunted as his arm and shoulder muscles instantly swelled up, becoming much larger.
With a thought, the muscles contracted back to their original size.
"By training this way, I feel I might not need Fighting Spirit to punch and kill an Official Knight," a thought suddenly popped into Duke's head.
He still had three free attribute points left, valuable resources not to be used recklessly.
If he put all three points into strength, this power might indeed punch and kill an Official Knight.
The reason Knights are stronger than ordinary people is not just due to greater body attributes but mainly relying on Fighting Spirit to amplify body power and toughness.
Duke continuing this silent development, given enough time, his body attributes could reach the utmost.
By then, without relying on Fighting Spirit augmentation, just the raw physical strength alone would suffice to sweep most Knights.
As for whether he could rival a Great Knight is unknown, as Duke has yet to see one and doesn't know the power level of a Great Knight.
When Duke gripped his sword again, it felt somewhat lightweight, like using a toothpick, feeling very awkward.
He immediately thought of Vivian's Giant Axe, suddenly understanding why a noble lady like her would use such a weapon.
For Knights, as physical strength increases, ordinary Weapons can no longer meet their needs.
For now, Duke can only use the Longsword he has, and Vivian's Giant Axe is out of the question for the short term.
That kind of axe likely required significant mineral resources, something he couldn't afford to forge.
After reaching the fourth layer of the Giant Whale Breathing Technique, the next step was towards a High-Level Knight Attendant.
Duke estimated that at the current pace, it would take less than a month to become a High-Level Knight Attendant.
By then, he could aim for the Official Knight Level.
Duke always felt that reaching the Official Knight Level would mean having some self-preservation capability, as now there's a constant feeling of insecurity.
From the atmosphere around the manor, he sensed some tension.
The higher-ups hadn't disclosed what might happen, but the perceptive Duke knew they must be aware of something, hence the defensive deployments across the territory.
From Cavemen to Fishmen, and recent attacks by beasts and magical creatures of varying levels, all indicated something was happening in the Moonlight Forest.
And Earl Hardy, Vivian, and others were likely aware, preparing for it all along.
Recently, besides those recovering from injuries or just completed missions, there were few idle people in the manor, nearly everyone was dispatched to various locations for tasks.
Many of Earl Hardy's Personal Soldiers were also dispatched, combined with local militias forming the basic defense strength.
...
Two days later, Duke received a task, specifically assigned to him alone.
Wood had disappeared.
Upon learning of this, Duke immediately sought out George, who had informed him of it, for more details.
After inquiries, he found out that Endland Town had also been frequently attacked by beasts and magical creatures recently, often resulting in citizens being killed or carried off.
Several days ago, Wood chased after to rescue a child taken by a magical creature and then went missing, with no whereabouts known till now.