Several days went by and the group needed to cross that dense forest of big trees to get to the place they wanted to.
Their senses were as sharp as ever, and their minds were in a rush. It was always uncomfortable to leave the plain fields and go to such an environment. After all, the forests, jungles, deserts, and these sorts of biomes were all places where the most powerful and annoying Dreads settled.
Also, once entering into one of these, it was hard to find a time where they could take a break. It wasn't easy to set a camp inside a forest, for example. Not even at the top of the trees. Predators could come any time. Even letting someone patrolling wasn't worth it because it was even darker than in the fields, so the person could end up not noticing something and the entire group dying.
Those places were dangerous and Rick avoided them as much as he could. If he didn't do so, he would be dead at any moment.
Knowing that they were at the Spear forest didn't make it better. That place was known because of a huge pack of Dreads that resided on those spear-like giant trees.
"I said, go faster, you idiot!" Kevin yelled, then the sharp song of something similar to a whip echoed in the forest.
The other members of the group continued walking as if nothing happened, even though a brief scream could be heard after the whip's sound.
'Endure it! Endure it and keep walking at your pace! Endure!' Dean gritted his teeth, closing his eyes firmly and waiting for the next blow.
The rope that was on Kevin's hand swung again and hit him on his back, making the boy grit his teeth even harder, which made it seem that he would shatter them at any time.
'Endure! Please, endure!' His chained hands were clenched tightly, all the few muscles of his back were tense.
"Hey, Rick! Why the heck do I need to take care of these little pigs now!? These pieces of scum don't even know how to walk by themselves! It's a bother!' Every exclamation of Kevin was equal to another punishment attack on Dean's back.
Rick, who was walking carefully with the rest of the group, looked behind, trying to find those people in the darkness of the night.
They were spread with a reasonable distance between each other in order to have a wider range of perception. If someone at a specific point didn't hear something coming, the others would.
It was somewhat risky as well because their distance could make it difficult to gather together if they were found by any Dread, but the objective was precisely not to get caught by surprise.
Rick could find them by the light of the torches that they were carrying. He rolled his eyes once he saw that Dean's expression didn't even flinch, even though he was being severely spanked while walking.
'Stubborn, kid. I hate these. When will he just break completely?' He was getting tired of dealing with Dean. Since he was an Ascendant, he was more profitable for them than Paul when transferring "Willpower". However, Paul was more obedient, and that alone was precious for their journey.
"Just hit him stronger, then he will start to walk faster," Rick said in annoyance.
"B-But I am beating him for almost five minutes already! He just doesn't hear me!"
"That's because you are attacking him damn weak, Kevin!" Hector mocked.
"I am not! I am just adjusting my strength, so I don't kill him, nor make it impossible for him to move."
Clay nodded his head to what he said.
"Well, he is right. An overly wounded slave is worthless, after all." His voice could just be heard because of the silence of the night.
Kevin clicked his tongue, stopping to hit Dean and just letting him walk at the pace that he preferred.
Now that his back was all covered in bruises and even some cuts, he wouldn't be able to walk any faster, anyway.
'It's good that this pig stopped to hit me. I can't go faster because of the train I had during the period that they were resting. It made my body get too weak. My legs are trembling just to walk. Train Nourishment and Control at the same time seem to be too much for my body when I need to pass for this tough routine as a slave.'
Dean was getting frustrated because of that. He needed to train and get stronger to free himself from that slave life. However, that exact same slave life was what prevented him to get stronger quickly.
'If I didn't have committed the mistake of believing in those guys, I wouldn't be at this mess I put myself on.' He gritted his teeth.
It was hard to take that his first days in the outside world needed to turn out to be like that. His very first mistake was the biggest one that he could ever make.
It was a lesson for life, an experience that he wouldn't forget, at least. But it didn't make it less difficult to go through it, anyway.
'Now I need to face the consequences of my choices. I can't run away from this.' Dean was determined to get to the level that he wanted in just some months more.
Now, he needed to keep with that training for one month and a half more to go to another pillar, assuming that he would train every day.
The group could pass an hour walking inside the forest without any encounter. Anyway, they knew that something would come at any time. They wouldn't pass that much time inside a forest without finding anything.
Dean was wandering with them across those lands for too much time, so he knew how things worked.
They had a rule that was almost certain when you were traveling: every hour of traveling equals to, at least, one Dread you will encounter.
This rule showed to be true once the group began to hear noises coming from the top of the trees.
"Hey, guys. No need to say, right?" Clay spoke, taking out his bow.
The others took their weapons as well, also grabbing two for the slaves.
"Yes, Clay. No doubt. It's time to warm up a bit. Our stay in the Spear forest will be long." Rick spoke.