Lost in the midgame [KCD1]

I feel like I’ve completely messed up my progression in KCD. I’m in the mid-game but still feel super underleveled—my swordfighting is trash, so much so that I had to defeat runt with a bow and arrow (only took about a dozen reloads but all good). I only recently learned you actually need to train with Captain Bernard, and I just found out alchemy exists.

Everyone says mid-game is supposed to be easy because you get crazy loot, but I’m still wearing the shitass armor I looted from the first bandits I killed. Wtf am I supposed to do?

Can someone recommend a good YouTube guide or just drop some key tips on what I should focus on now to catch up? Any advice is appreciated!