Bluff.

Both Spencer and Raymond had made numerous enemies just by existing, so if they didn't find any backers and just left on a journey, the odds that someone would attack them were quite high. Although beating someone up or teaching someone else a lesson was something you could do in most large cities, openly killing people would invite a lot of trouble, since it was an offence to the city lord. Naturally, if your background or personal strength was strong enough, then even the city lord would turn a blind eye if you openly killed someone in their city, but most people did not.

Most people that attained such strength would travel to more prosperous lands, where they could get access to more precious resources and fight for more opportunities.