Yining Village is a peaceful and serene little village, where Duke has lived for sixteen years.
As he returned to the village, he happened to see the sun's last rays, with wisps of smoke rising under the dark yellow sky.
Back in his mud house, Duke used the last bit of chestnut rice and wheat bran, along with wild vegetables he gathered on the way, to cook a pot of porridge, barely managing a meal.
This amount of food was not enough for him, but there was nothing else to eat at home, so he could only remain hungry.
After nightfall, the night was like ink, and no light could be seen in the entire village.
Duke had half a tallow candle left at home, which had been stored for a long time but was reluctant to use.
He stood in the yard holding a scythe, began to swing it with all his might, just to fill up the last few proficiency points.
Despite feeling a bit hungry, and physically exhausted, with his muscles aching, Duke held on tenaciously.
His thoughts were simple; since he had this golden opportunity, he needed to cherish it even more.
Only through hard work and sweat could he go further.
Five minutes later.
[Scythe Skill Level Up, Strength +1]
On the skill tree in Duke's mind, the green leaf representing the scythe skill quietly blossomed into a pale white flower.
"This time it's not free attribute points, but a direct enhancement of strength."
Duke realized that the rewards from each skill level up seemed not fixed; it could be free attribute points, a direct enhancement of some attribute, or something else.
This increase directly raised his strength to 5.4, surpassing that of an average adult male.
The enhancement brought by this strength was quite evident; Duke found his muscles all over becoming more robust, making him look more burly; his frame wasn't as skinny as before.
Apart from the physical changes, a lot of battle experience regarding the scythe also poured into his mind.
Duke contemplated these experiences, always feeling that fighting with a scythe seemed a bit odd, far less direct and effective than swords.
[Scythe: LV3 (0/1800)]
He glanced at the skill proficiency of the scythe, which still needed eighteen hundred points; it couldn't be fully leveled in a short time, so he washed up simply with water from the water jar before going to bed.
When sleeping, the scythe was right beside his pillow to make sure he could grab it as soon as he reached for it.
The world wasn't peaceful, with countless bandits, and robbers.
The weather hadn't been good for the past two years, with droughts in many places; the Jade Province where Duke was, often experienced robberies in villages and towns.
Lying in bed, Duke initially wanted to stay alert while sleeping, not sleeping too deeply.
However, the fatigue from a long day overtook him once his head hit the pillow, and he fell into a deep sleep until morning.
As the first light of dawn appeared, the village was already lively, with everyone preparing to head out to work.
The villagers didn't own their land; they mostly farmed for nobles nearby or did other work like horse raising.
Duke left with Uncle John and his family, and walking along the country path, his clothes were dampened by dew-covered wild grass.
His luck was good today; he discovered a bush of raspberries, picking them all for breakfast.
Uncle John looked at Duke, patted his shoulder, and nodded, "Young Duke has grown up and is quite sturdy. You might consider trying out for the Militia Team in the town."
"Militia Team?" Duke pondered while munching on the raspberries.
The nearest town to Yining Village was Endland Town, the largest town nearby.
There was a Militia Team in town responsible for maintaining local security, a quite decent job for ordinary villagers.
Endland Town was under the domain of Earl Hardy; joining the Militia Team was tantamount to joining the ranks of Earl Hardy.
Apart from the elevated status, one could earn a whole ten silver coins a month.
Duke and others helped reap wheat for five days, earning only twenty copper coins in total.
Today was the last day of wheat reaping, needing just half a day to finish the remaining work.
They took advantage of the cool morning before the sunrise to start a day's labor.
Duke found wheat reaping quite easy now; after a night's rest, he felt spirited.
He handled the scythe as if it was a part of his body.
With the strength boost, it only took a slight effort to reap a patch of wheat.
While Uncle John had only reaped half a row, Duke had already finished reaping one row.
It only took a little more than an hour in the afternoon to finish all the wheat here.
[Scythe: LV3 (1358/1800)]
Duke took a look. The scythe skill was still some way from leveling up, so he decided to continue leveling it up when he got back.
After reaping, they helped load the wheat onto carts. A well-dressed middle-aged man stood on the ridge, directing the people in loading.
This was Earl Hardy's steward, named Matthew.
Seeing the wheat almost completely loaded, Matthew cleared his throat and said in the Vera Kingdom's standard language, "Come line up for your wages, and those who worked today can also head to Endland Town to collect a bundle of wheat straw as thanks for the Earl's grace!"
Everyone lowered their heads, with their right hands over their hearts, expressing gratitude toward Earl Hardy.
"With this wheat straw, sleeping tonight would be more comfortable," thought Duke.
He was still sleeping on a hard wooden board, so adding a layer of wheat straw would make it softer.
After receiving twenty copper coins, Duke wasn't planning to return to the village yet; he wanted to first head to town to buy some chestnut rice, as there was no food left at home.
"You're going to town? Then you could talk to Captain Wood about the Militia Team; I remember they were recruiting recently," Uncle John said.
Wood was the Militia Team captain in the town, known for his uprightness, helping many commoners solve problems, and highly reputable in the nearby areas.
Duke nodded. After some thought, he also decided to give it a try.
By joining the Militia Team, he would undergo militia training and come into contact with more weapons, unlocking more skills.
He currently only had the scythe skill, and it was already in the flowering state; after reaching full level, there probably wouldn't be any further improvement.
Upon hearing that Duke was heading to town, Uncle Lian invited him to ride with him on the donkey cart.
The distance to town was quite far, so riding the donkey cart would be easier.
Uncle Lian was from a nearby village, primarily growing pumpkins and was heading to town to sell the pumpkins on the cart.
Duke tied the scythe at his waist and found a small spot among the pumpkins aboard, sitting on the narrow wooden board, keeping balance by holding onto the sides.
Uncle Lian wore a straw hat, a battered, old pipe in mouth, flicked the whip, and drove the donkey cart towards the town.