The next day, after nearly getting killed by a horde of Dreads, Dean decided to go out to hunt again.
It didn't please Paul, though.
"Are you really going to kill yourself? You nearly died on the last day, Dean! Imagine if you can't escape the next time! It will be the end for you?" He was exasperated.
Paul couldn't let his only key to freedom get killed like that. However, it was hard to deal with Dean when he had a plan on his mind that he didn't want to let go. The freckled boy was yet to discover a way to manipulate the mind of that guy and make him listen to people.
"Don't be a busybody..." Dean was taking care of the wounds that he got.
On the last night, the boy needed to run away from Scythes for a couple of hours. He couldn't allow himself to escape to the camping due to Emperor's Touch. Once he tried to go to the encampment with Dreads going after him, he would feel the pain of the Punishment. Once he felt that excruciating pain in his heart, he surely would get paralyzed for some seconds. Those seconds were the thin line between life or death for him.
That's why he needed to run for so long, in order to outwit those Dreads and then come back.
He arrived nearly at the time when the rest of the group usually woke up, so he wouldn't have time enough to treat the wounds that he got while escaping.
He just got the opportunity to do so when it was night again.
"Busybody!? I-I am just being prudent..." For some reason, Paul got insecure every time someone called him something that he wasn't, because he didn't have the confidence to deny that.
Sometimes, that personality of the boy made Dean very angry. He never met someone as shy and insecure as him. He often wanted to smack some sense on his head.
"Whether it is prudent or not, it is needed for me to evolve faster than anyone. It is probably the best way to go because we have a deadline here." Dean raised five fingers. "We have five months until we can arrive at our destination. This trip will be very long. Once Rick reaches the next refuge, he will sell his goods like a demon and earn quick money.
"I do not know why he is in such a hurry to gather money, but it doesn't matter. As long as we know at least his motivation, we have something to use against him. But this alone is useless if I don't have destructive power enough to surpass him."
Paul gulped.
"D-Do you really think that we will be able to get things done before five months?"
Dean rolled his eyes, sighing.
'This boy... How helpless, huh?' He thought while approaching Paul, who was sitting on the ground, and gave a light kick on his arm.
"Hey... Don't worry about it. I have been struggling until now and doing my best. Yesterday I killed one Dread alone while hunting. I just need to get the hang of it and everything will be fine."
The freckled boy scratched his neck.
"Even though you are hurt?"
Dean nodded to him.
In fact, Dean stopped caring about exhaustion and pain a long while ago.
"Well, anyway..." He took his black cloak that was laying on the ground, then his sheathed sword, "I will be going now. Take care of things for me. If they wake up asking where am I, just say that I chased after a weak Dread that tried to mess with us. I think that this excuse will do."
Dean double-checked the tents before leaving.
He was sure that, at that time, Rick was still awake. Actually, he couldn't know whether it was the same for the others or not.
Nonetheless, he just needed to be sure if someone spotted his suspicious movements and was watching him leaving.
If they found out that he was hunting, it wouldn't end well.
Rick would probably figure out that he was doing as such to become stronger and would restrict this action by improving Emperor's Touch restrictions.
Dean repeated the same process of searching and then lurk a Dread.
It was a Scythe again, naturally.
Around that region, the variation of specimens was very low, so you would always find more of the same. After all, when a predator was added to the equation, it was hard to find any other types of animals on its domains.
That night Dean got spotted by the Dread again. It turned its head right when he was going to attack him, but this time he could notice the flinch on its antennas.
When questioning Paul, who knew a lot about Dreads, the boy explained to him a bit more about Scythes and their way to analyze their environment and spot their prey.
Anyway, the second day didn't even have kills. He needed to run away from that Dread since it was stronger than the previous one that he fought.
When the other night arrived, Dean didn't pay attention to his bruises and cuts all over the body and went hunting again.
This time, his problem wasn't relied on having the element surprise or not, but how to fight those things.
The days went by and he kept going out to hunt more Dreads. The first week was quite hellish, but the others turned out to be more productive.
Without even realizing it, Dean began to take a grasp on how to hunt and fight Scythes.
It made him break through the first rank of the Third Pillar in three weeks.
[First Pillar, Control: Rank 2
Second Pillar, Nourishment: Rank 1
Third Pillar, Density: Rank 1]
The change in his power was noticeable.
His "Willpower" became more explosive when traveling on his body, and the latent power that it had was quite impressive.
Because of that improvement, he could now train to use almost the same basic technique that he used when fighting against the lion.