Dean was wearing leather boots by now, also as a black worn-out cloak that he and Paul used while traveling.
Before, they walked barefoot, but once Rick got more money, he threw away some old items and bought new ones. Those clothes that he considered trash wasn't valuable for him but served quite well for Paul and Dean.
Paul was good at handling clothes, so he made them fit their teenage bodies.
Walk with boots was better when fighting, so Dean was glad that he got those clothes before his first time hunting Dreads.
'It's time. There is nothing much to think about instead of going on full force, then retreating at max speed. After I kill this Dread, many more will come afterward, so I need to be quick when subduing them.' He tightened the grip on his sword while walking away from the bush he was hiding in.
The Dread was standing in the same place, looking to aleatory directions and fidgeting his claws. It was acting just like a normal mindless inset, but Dean wouldn't get fooled by the looks.
'It is probably trying to localize its next prey. I have seen other Dreads doing the same thing. Some of them need to get idle in order to sharpen their senses properly.' Dean narrowed his eyes, watching carefully his movements.
'I will attack once it looks away from me.'
Although his hand was already getting red by holding the grip of the longsword so strongly, Dean tried to tighten even more his grip.
He couldn't get agitated, nor say anything or fidget a single muscle that didn't need to move. It was necessary for him to not get noticed by any means. After all, his best advantage was the surprise element.
Nonetheless, Dean would be lying if he said that he wasn't nervous. Actually, he was sweating profusely, even though that was a cold night. His legs were trembling because of the anxiety. He needed to always remember to control his breath, so he wouldn't make any kind of noise.
All this tension and anxiety held within him needed to be released somehow, and he could only find some relief when feeling that he got a weapon and that he was prepared to use it.
'Don't worry, it's just a single Dread... You just need to do everything that you have been doing until now. Just think like it was a group fight. Rick is holding one or two Scythes. Kevin is occupying three. Hector and Clay are helping out the others. As per usual, you are alone with one of them. Nobody will help you.' Dean tried to calm himself down.
As his mind imagined the usual battle formation that his group did when entering in a fight and all the others fighting around him, Dean began to step cautiously, nearing the Dread.
His footsteps were swift and silent. He did no sound while sneaking toward the back of the Scythe.
'I need to gather "Willpower" as I swing my sword and deliver the attack. If I do it before attacking, the Dread will have enough time to react. This kind of situation will test my First Pillar, Control, to its limits!'
He concentrated entirely on that surprise attack, feeling all the energy within his heart screaming to go out and subdue that monster.
Nevertheless, before he could get into range, the Dread turned its head to him suddenly and creepily.
Dean almost fell backward while retrieving several steps.
'W-what!? It knew that I was here? How!?'
At the time, the boy didn't know about the properties of the antennas of that Dread. For him, their senses worked roughly the same way as the other Dreads, but that wasn't the case.
Dean suppressed a scream that was going to leave his throat and looked at that Scythe with a perplexed expression.
The monster, though, did not waste time analyzing that boy and just went for the kill, jumping toward Dean.
Dean rolled to the side before he got impaled by those two big scythe-like claws.
The boy got up as soon as he could and poised his sword in front of him.
The Dread assaulted him with a flurry of blows, always surprising Dean with sudden leaps to the side, or using his wings to propel his body forward or upward.
'It is... just too fast! I can't...!'
Even though he was in deep despair, Dean was still a swordsman. His body instinctively looked for any openings or flaws in the Scythe's pattern, which led him to parry one of his blows in almost perfect timing.
Dean didn't allow himself to falter while seeing that opportunity. Instead of retrieve, he stepped in as firmly as he could.
He strengthened his body at its peak with all the "Willpower" on his heart. He never did it before. It was almost like, instead of flowing swiftly like before, that energy came exploding across his body.
He released all that energy on that single attack and struck the Dread with a vertical slash, splitting its head in two.
After this, Dean couldn't resist the impulse to fall to the ground and rest for a bit.
"I did it..." He muttered. "I can kill a Dread of the 7th generation by myself..."
While he was still absorbing what he just did, the boy got aloof and forgot about the most important part of his plan: run.
When he realized, he was getting sieged by several Scythes of the 6th and 7th generation.
"D-damn it..." He cursed his own dumbness.
After one of them roared in fury upon seeing that a similar got killed by that boy, the rest of the pack began to leap towards Dean or fly clumsily in his direction.
Dean saw that as his best and only chance to start running.
He imbued his legs with the bit of "Willpower" that remained and ran away as fast as he could.
Although he killed just one Dread, that little step made on that night would be a good start for Dean's development.