Dean found himself standing in front of the Major's house without any idea of what he could do from now on. The others seemed to have in mind what they needed to do since the start, they probably spent all the journey thinking about it. After all, the group knew that Rick would just give them a few days to enjoy their break.
The boy wasn't willing to get rest already. He was exhausted, but he felt like there were a lot of things he could explore on that refuge, even though it was so small. Dean didn't want to spend his days just sleeping and not accomplishing anything,
'Well, maybe I should spend most of the time training, and I was planning to do it since the day I began that crazy routine while on our trip to this refuge. However, I can't train all day and night. There should have something else that I can do here. Otherwise, I will worn-out so much my mind and body, that I won't even stand on my feet to walk when the day of leaving this place comes."
Dean was aware of what overtraining meant. He once felt the taste of overtraining when he was in his crazy routine, trying to learn swordsmanship, smithy, and training his body, everything on the same day. It got to a point where his mind was able to catch up with everything, but his body wasn't. He needed to stay in his bed for four days in order to recover completely.
'Well, since overtraining myself won't be good, I need to find something else to focus on. It needs to be a productive activity, however.'
Then, an idea appeared on Dean's head, which made him smile.
'Oh! That's perfect! Come to think about it, this short sword with me isn't mine. The other member of the group is here as well, so he might get it with him again. If that's how it is, then I need to make a sword for me!'
Two years before the raid on Refuge Sarah happened, when he was thirteen years old, Dean was still struggling in his apprenticeship as a blacksmith. Nevertheless, after one year and a half of apprenticeship, taking it more seriously than before instead of passing all day looking for his uncle and bothering him, Dean could improve on that office.
Nowadays, he was able to craft at least a good sword, also as some other tools. He still needed to master those skills, but it was good enough for him to take care of himself.
When he made up his mind, Dean got away from Oslan's house and went to an isolated place where no one could spot him. There, he began to train his "Willpower" control.
The boy could pass roughly three hours doing that exhaustive activity, with pauses of at least ten minutes every half an hour. It was his very limit, and he felt like he was pushing himself to his extremes while doing this. However, as determined as he was, he wouldn't let himself slow down the pace. He wanted to catch up with the group as soon as possible, after all.
He did as he planned and found somewhere to train alone.
Unsheathing his sword, he began to do the forms. Firstly, fluid and slow movements, but then doing them more aggressively and stronger. Meanwhile, he focused on operating the "Willpower" inside his heart, spreading it across his body, then retracting. The entire process could last half an hour, but just when he did it right. When he lost focus, he would need to redo everything again, so it could spend an undetermined time to finish. Sometimes he needed to stop midway through the exercise to rest.
It wasn't an easy process, and Dean often wondered how hard it would be the next steps.
'I will need a lot of time training at this same pace to get really good at it. More than a year, for sure. Maybe I should try to focus on multiple steps at the same time. Otherwise, I won't be able to become stronger quickly.'
He was worried that he didn't have time. At least, not one year. However, the first thing that Will taught at the start of the book he was reading said assertively that the Path of Ascendance was harsh.
'I think I can't help it. I will need to be patient and improve myself little by little, even if the effort I am putting into it is too big. At least, this harsh routine I set to myself is helping me to get some progress done quicker than usual, I suppose.'
After the third stipulated hours, Dean kept his sword with him and went near the refuge again. He was wondering if there was a smithy near there. If so, it would be perfect for him.
'If I can't find anything around this small refuge to help me, then I will need to do an improvised sword with the resources and tools I have. The major problem will be the quality of the final product...'
Dean didn't want an average sword. The boy was willing to put his all on that work, so he could get a good weapon to help him in the battles.
The group often said that just two battles in three days of travel weren't the usual. They got lucky. If that was the case, then Dean wanted to be prepared for the other trips. He couldn't imagine how much dangerous it really was to walk out there. Maybe, the normal for them was to have two or three fights per day when traveling.
Luckily, that refuge had a smithy. It wasn't as big as The Forge, but good enough to draw Dean's attention.
Its facade was quite simple. The structure itself was made of stone and wood, but predominantly wood; it was all worn and rotten, probably because those materials weren't good enough to stay for too long in the harsh weather of Saphyr. Some tools and weapons were hanging in front of it, showing the blacksmith's works, also as some prices.
On top of the building, was a huge board. Written on it was: Black Hammer smithy.