A long time ago...
Dean was leaning on the short fence that surrounded his house. He wasn't particularly paying attention to anything. He was just having time to himself.
Sometimes, it was good to be alone. When in a frenetic routine, he would always appreciate a bit of a slow and boring pace, like looking to the streets of his town while leaning on a fence.
'I think that's good enough.' Dean thought, suddenly. This very thought got pushed away by him right after. He wasn't the type of boy to be satisfied with the things that he had. He wanted to aspire and pursue his goals, so he didn't want to settle down.
However, he couldn't deny that that was a nice time he was having.
It became nicer when his parents saw him in idleness and decided to tag along with him.
Dean was aloof while looking at the wandering refugees and the buildings in the distance, so he got startled once he saw the long brown hair of his mother touching his shoulder. His eyes met hers, and he got a bit mesmerized by that blue color.
Right after, his dad appeared on his other side, placing his hand on Dean's back.
They didn't show any kind of gentle, nor happy, or fond expressions. In truth, they just remained beside him without saying anything, nor hinting at any emotions.
Anyway, Dean knew them for time enough to be used to that kind of situation.
His dad's gesture of placing his hand on his shoulder was like a hug. The profound and intense stare of his mother was like she was saying "I love you". Their silence was their most bright smile and laughs.
He felt good when spending time with them.
'I think that they reserve their emotions for when they go all lovey-dovey when no one sees.' He thought, sighing.
"Dean, you know that I am not good at this, but I have something in mind to say."
"Go ahead, dad."
He cleaned his throat, never looking at Dean's face, but forward instead.
"My right arm is broken for some days, as you can see... I didn't tell you how I broke it, just that it was an accident on my job, right?"
Dean nodded his head.
"The reason why I broke my arm isn't the matter here, but why I decided to let it get broken."
The boy understood what he meant, and even got a bit surprised. After all, his dad got that bad injury because he wanted to. He made it sound like he could have avoided it.
"Why did you decide to take it?"
"Because, in life, we can aspire for two different things. One of them, we earn by giving in exchange things that we can easily replace again. You can think about money now, but I am talking universally.
"The second are those that we can't earn by giving replaceable things. Sometimes we want to have, or want to do, more than we can. At times like this, you need to make sacrifices. And sacrificing is basically when we give out irreplaceable things.
"I am telling this to you because you will always need to make sacrifices once you grow up, and maybe even at this age of yours. So, when you do it, make sure not to regret anything and bear the consequences."
...
Dean's arms got less stiff once that memory was brought back to his mind. The words of his father soothed his overbearing thoughts and let him at ease.
'Why now? Why at this moment? Why does he need to appear right now?'
Before he could find the response, a metallic sound echoed, followed by a shockwave that nearly got him unsteady on his feet.
Kevin was now utilizing all the "Willpower" that he had available, reinforcing his spell Titanium Armor and his weapon.
He clashed directly with the Dread, and it was powerful enough to cause a light earthquake.
Kevin had resolute eyes. He wasn't fearing that Scythe at all. The bulked man recognized its power and knew that he barely could match, but he wasn't going to back away there.
He was the tank of the group, after all. Their very defensive source. If he flinched and let the Dread take the control of the fight, the rest of the group wouldn't be able to win.
Even if he needed to give his own blood for that, he would fight that Dread closely and not let him go.
Clay showed before Danger Sense and Energy Projectile (the spell that he used to form his arrows). Those were the only two skills that he used in those months. However, now he unleashed another one.
Closing his eyes, he firstly used his base skill to form an arrow on his bow's string. He pulled it to the max.
The amount of "Willpower" that he began to spend while casting that spell was enormous. Its quantity was such that Dean got flabbergasted.
'His nourishment must be... rank 4, at least. Maybe rank 5. It is way too much energy to reserve.'
All that energy was gathering on his arrow, making its shape get thicker and longer. Its latent power was increased five-fold, at least.
"Solar Beam!" He chanted, loosening his grip on the string and shooting that arrow.
That projectile drew a straight line on the air, leaving a trail of blinding golden light behind. The name Solar Beam was suitable for its looks.
The beam struck the Dread on his side, piercing through its armor and wounding it.
Without losing time, he began to cast it again.
Meanwhile, Rick was rushing to help Kevin.
He didn't have any offensive, nor defensive spells. The leader's spells were practically worthless in that situation. He went to the fight, whatsoever.
What Dean saw was the most unexpected thing.
Rick began to spin his chain as fast as possible, also using Iron Serpent to increase even more its speed. Also, the most impressive thing, he was accumulating "Willpower" on his chain.
His "Willpower" wasn't as dense as Kevin's, nor its quantity matched Clay's.
However, what made it so amazing was how refined and well-controlled his "Willpower" was.