Dean stood up from the ground with difficulty. Even if his battle lasted just some minutes, he was still feeling exhausted. Deep inside, the boy was dejected because of his last mistake, he couldn't even raise his head to look at the other members of the group.
Meanwhile, the others didn't seem to care much about the bad performance of Dean. Actually, they were expecting that something more serious would happen with the boy. For a moment, they wondered if Rick would let him die by the claws of that Dread from before.
When the Dread was chasing after Dean across the battlefield, the group was finishing fighting against the other enemies.
The Dread of the 6th generation was killed by Clay, who targetted him in a vital spot. Kevin ended that battle with several spikes pierced through his body, but no major harm was done. The remaining two Dreads of the 7th gen were killed easily as well.
The group was going to intervene in Dean's battle, but Rick ordered them not to do so. Of course, they didn't have any emotional attachment to Dean to make them go against their leader's orders. Because of it, they just stayed still in the same spot looking at the boy running everywhere and fighting fiercely against a Dread that was so weak.
Nobody there could deny the shame they were feeling when witnessing such a scene.
Rick just chained the dog, using his "Willpower" and skill, when he was sure that the monster was going to kill Dean. Otherwise, he would let that battle happening until one of the sides got exhausted or severely harmed.
Kevin, Hector, and Clay didn't say anything about that behavior. For them, that was just the usual, after all.
After that fuss was gone, and they gave a minute of silence for Dean to think for a while about his weaknesses and mistakes, then began to move.
"C'mon, boy. It's time to clear the mess we made. We need to bury their corpses because they start to exude a strong smell after dying. It can attract other Dreads who will want to eat their flesh in order to get more powerful." Hector approached him with a shovel. It wasn't so big, dig a hole with it would be difficult, but with three people at the same time, it would be quicker.
The group, except Rick, began to dig that hole in the soil. They needed to make it deeper enough to bury all the corpses and still be able to get three meters of soil above them, or else the smell would come anyway.
They finished their preparations.
The extended night had arrived a long while ago. That hour marked their first day of travel. As the others told Dean, they were lucky for not having other encounters in the first hours.
The group had two more days to go before they could reach the settlement they wanted.
Rick decided to set up a camp once they left the forest and went to another extensive field, but this time with more grass, although the grass was gray with some black spots.
Everyone was gathered in the fire camp now. Dean felt like he was too distant from the group as if that place didn't belong to him. He couldn't believe that he was so weak yet, even after Ascending.
'I read the first pages of the book Art of Ascendance. I remember well that the introduction was all about how an Ascendant should look at their path. I think that the most used phrase of the author in that introduction makes sense now: after the Path to Ascend, another different path will open in front of you. Don't be frightened when you see that it will be two times as harsh as the previous one.
'I am just at the start of my path. I don't know even the basics of Ascendance, and how to control "Willpower". I need to train a lot more and start to apply the techniques I learn in the book.'
The boy wasn't excited about it at all. For now, he was just sad. He wanted to be of more use for that group that was helping him so much, but for a moment he didn't know where to start. Also, Dean didn't want to show them the book yet. He knew that humans were selfish to some extent, and since it was only one book and was rare, he feared that one of them could want it borrowed, or then take it from him. They didn't have any strong bonds of trust, after all.
'I need to start to walk on my path to get stronger before they discard me. Next time when a battle happens, I will surprise them. Even if I lose sleep, I will train my "Willpower" and make it happen the next time. I just need this night of sleep to recover from these bad feelings and then start training for real!'
On that break, nobody said a word for Dean. They were too absorbed in their own tasks to do it.
Dean was properly treated by Hector before going to his tent. The same happened with Kevin. They both were the only ones who got harmed during that battle.
When Hector was done, Dean didn't stay at the fire camp with the others. He went to his tent right away and fell on his improvised bed. At the same moment when he laid his head, he fell asleep. In his mind, though, his determination was prompting his body to wake up early the next morning.
When Dean opened his eyes, just after three hours of sleep, the sun was starting to rise. The group would have three more hours to sleep, so they could enjoy half of the day walking before the night arrived again and they needed to move in the pitch dark of those fields.
Dean jumped out of his bed, opening his tent and going out of it, walking to a more distant point where no one could see him.
"Ok, I have three hours to understand where I should start my path to become a stronger Ascendant. I will make good use of this time for sure!"