Did I level up wrong?

Did I level up wrong?

Currently fighting executioner smough and ornstein . They’ve had plenty of me so far ( around 10deaths) . I usually run past the knights since they revive anyway, no point in killing those bums. I tried fighting one of them at a time, but that’s seeming nigh impossible with the way things are going. Every time I try to focus on smough, this ornstein dude gets out of my fov and next thing you know, smough’s belly is having lighting bolts shooting out of it. Unlike recent boss fights, I honestly can’t picture myself beating these guys with the way I am. My drake sword(not upgraded btw)doesn’t do much against ornstein . I have a laito+2 though, it’s almost like the drake but with a bit less damage and awesome critical damage if I nail it. Got any advice?

Btw this is my first souls game