Dean and Rick still needed to keep hiding in the forest for a couple of days more before they could start to move. They were tired and had great damage on their bodies, particularly Dean. Their minds were also exhausted due to the amount of pressure they needed to pass before.
After the fight against the Dread of the 5th gen, they needed to hide and rest in a small cave that formed in the forest for some time.
They didn't have any way to contact the others, but they would find out that Rick was still alive after they tested if the Monarch's touch was still working on Paul.
Rick was only concerned if they would be idiot enough to enter the Spear Forest again and try to find him. If they did so, they would surely die.
However, it wasn't like they were fond of Rick in any way. They were partners, but that was all. The only guy there that Rick could consider as a friend was Clay. The other two would surely leave him behind if they had the opportunity to.
Rick was aware of the personality of the people who surrounded him and that he needed to deal with every day. They were opportunists. They only wanted money, nothing more. Rick's spell was profitable because he could get good slaves and sell them or just their "Willpower" for high prices. If he didn't have this kind of power, then they wouldn't stay with him.
Also, those guys feared him. They knew that Rick was especially strong against humans. Whatever they tried to do would be useless. They just could kill him if he was asleep or something, and that was why Rick never slept for too long. He didn't want to get into a heavy sleep and not hear someone trying to mess with him.
It happened a couple of times in the past, and he would like not to get surprised by a night attack.
Dean opened his eyes slowly. He felt kind of awkward when waking up in that pitch dark cave. It was moist and cold, giving a feeling of discomfort and disgust to him.
'That's the second cave that we need to stay inside. The previous one was better...'
They were two days walking inside Spear Forest. That span of time was filled with fights for their lives and crazy runs.
Both were running and fighting all the time since they finished that battle against the Stone Gorilla.
The Venom Monkeys began to appear in waves after that, and they nearly bumped in some Screamers in the way.
Dean thought that he was going to die a lot of times.
When he thought that they could pull through something easily, destiny fooled them and they needed to struggle doubled.
All that time he was obliged to get food to Rick, but he barely got to eat. Rick would do patrols when he was asleep, but Dean needed to patrol for a longer time than him so his master could get more sleep.
Rick, of course, was always a priority. Just because they were in a life-or-death situation, it didn't mean that Dean wasn't a slave anymore, after all.
'This jerk. Even in a time like this, he can keep treating me like this.' He grimaced while looking at Rick, who was still asleep in front of him.
This time, Dean couldn't hold on anymore and fell asleep while patrolling. He just woke up now, thankfully before Rick woke up himself.
'Last night, Dreads appeared and I needed to deal with them alone because he didn't want to wake up. I think I am slimmer than before because he doesn't let me eat properly. Also, he never uses his resources to treat my wounds...'
As he thought about all those things, he got more and more furious. His fists were clenched tightly on the grip of his sword.
Dean stood from the moist ground of the cave.
'If just his spell had a limit, a weakness... I am sure that it has, but I can't find anything no matter how much I search.' He was frustrated.
Even if he managed to get stronger every day, it wouldn't be worth anything if he couldn't know a way to overcome Emperor's touch.
Dean gave a step toward Rick, then another.
He raised slightly his sword, frowning hard.
'I just needed a single opening. Something that I could take advantage of. I need to know what he is hiding behind this perfect image of his spell.'
He took another step forward. The sword raised more until it stopped right above Dean's head.
Nonetheless, before he could exert any strength in his muscles and attack him, Dean felt a strong pressure on his heart as if it was being squeezed.
He clicked his tongue, stepping back and leaving the cave. The boy needed some fresh air to soothe his mind.
Rick stayed lying in the cave. His eyes were slightly opened and he was holding his chain tightly.
'Stubborn boy.' He thought, angry.
...
After Rick "woke up", he decided to begin their trip again.
In the pace they were going, they would arrive at the end of the forest one day later than the rest of the group.
Hector, Kevin, Clay, and Paul should have been there already, waiting for his arrival.
Rick just needed some hours more to get to the end of that hell of a forest.
Thankfully, they didn't have many encounters when crossing that place this time. Since it was far away from the center of the forest, the Dreads got fewer and weaker than before.
Just as he predicted, they could finally pull through that last part of the trip and get to the edge of the forest. They didn't last too long to find the others and catch up with them.
"Hey, Rick! I thought you were being maintained as a hostage with those monkeys, haha!" Hector said, making Rick click his tongue in annoyance.
"Shut up, Hector."
"Good to see you, man." Kevin greeted him, slapping his back.
"Yeah, it was a struggle, but these things always happen. What's important is that the slaves are okay, so our next destination will give us a lot of money."
Spirited, the group began to move away from the Spear Forest and head to a mountainous biome with many lakes around.