The loud thud of that blow echoed some times, then vanished, leaving just the sounds of the agitated birds and little animals in the distance, the type of animals who usually wouldn't be so aggressive when mutated in Dreads.
During this time, the group got completely silent and just watched while both Rick and Dean stared at each other. They had anger in their eyes, leaving the atmosphere more tense. They could unleash another blow at any time but didn't move a single inch.
Paul was the only one that, although shocked, was still moving. His breath was unsteady and his voice trembled when saying Dean's name. He never felt so relieved before.
On the previous night, they talked about a lot of things. One of them was about what Rick would possibly do when he found out about Dean.
They both were sure that the man wouldn't be any happy by seeing that the slave that he just beat to a pulp got aided by someone else. He never ordered Paul not to do so, but it was something that the freckled boy could suppose alone.
Paul couldn't play the naive boy, because he was too much time together with Rick's group and knew how things worked. Always when another slave got severely beaten in the past, they were left to take care of the wounds by themselves.
Rick did this kind of punishment a lot of times, so Paul didn't have any excuses.
After reasoning and analyzing all the outs that they had from that situation, they both decided to go through the most dangerous path, but that would be the most effective as well.
Because of it, Paul knew that Dean would come to save him, but not that the boy was capable to do something like that.
'I am surprised... How can a boy that is about my age do these kinds of things? Just... just how can Dean be so obstinate?' He gave a step back, supposing that something was going to happen there. It was better to back away in order to not get hurt.
Rick got paralyzed for several seconds. He was just waiting that the dream he was living ended once and for all. Nonetheless, the slight pain in his fist confirmed that the situation was real.
"You damn slaves never learn your places, huh? It pisses me off."
"It's fun to see you pissed off since you were always composed before. That's why I am doing all these things." Dean gave him a mocking smile.
That affront was enough to make Rick get red. Anyway, the leader of that group decided to soothe his mind. He knew that this type of reaction was exactly what Dean wanted from him and it hurt deeply his pride to be fooled by that brat.
Rick finally pulled his hand back but showed no signs of attacking again. His posture just showed that he was wary of Dean, even though he knew that the boy couldn't attack him.
"That's something surprising, you know? I never thought that Emperor's Touch had so many holes. After all, it doesn't stop me from protecting Paul since I am not attacking nor threatening you, right?"
Every day that passed meant a different weakness that Dean would discover about their spells, no matter how hard they tried to hide it.
"What is passing through your mind to cause me so many troubles!?" Rick asked, looking at him disgusted. "You won't gain anything by making me furious. The only thing that will repeat over and over again is your ass being beaten!"
Dean laughed at Rick's face.
"I think that this one isn't the question here, right? I bet that you have something more interesting to ask me~" Dean's mockery was now getting even the other three members of Rick's group angry. However, they knew that Rick would kill them if they interrupted.
Rick gritted his teeth. Dean could read through his reactions quite well, he knew that the man wasn't pissed off because he helped Paul. In truth, what confused him was...
"How could your "Willpower" recharge so fast? I stole it nearly until the last drop! The remnants should be enough just to prevent you to be intoxicated. Also, with those many wounds on your body, all your "Willpower" must have been spent when regenerating."
"Do you think that I have been just slacking all this time, Rick? By now, we are more than two months together. All this time, there wasn't a single moment when I wouldn't do something productive, you know? Or did you think that someone as stubborn as me would just sit quiet and watch while he was being forced to do all those things?"
Dean couldn't lie under Monarch's Touch. Even if he wanted to hide the fact that he had been training, he wouldn't be able to do so. Anyhow, Rick would ask him about it soon. They always fought together and he would notice the changing in Dean's power.
Rick gave a step closer to him.
"You can improve "Willpower" Control by instinct when being an Ascendant. However, to recharge it so fast and have a greater reserve, you need to train Nourishment. How could you get the right technique to do it!?" Rick was gesturing like a crazy guy.
In his eyes, anyone could see bloodthirsty. He was just holding himself because he didn't want to spank him and left him unable to speak.
"I took the knowledge from my folk, in Refuge Sarah." He smiled.
'Although I can't lie, it doesn't mean that I can't omit some details. That book, the information inside it, and the writer are from Refuge Sarah. There is no lie in this statement. I can fool him as long as I keep telling half-truths.'
Rick narrowed his eyes at him, taking another step forward.
"How far did you go, scumbag?" He asked slowly, in a threatening voice. "Which rank are your pillars?"
"First Pillar, Control, rank 2. Second Pillar, Nourishment, rank 1. The others are zero."
Rick got slightly pale once he heard that affirmation coming without any hesitation from Dean's mouth.