Ray opened the tome and looked at the first page.
The first thing he noticed, the spell did not translate a single word in the book. Just to make sure, he even turned the page multiple times, but the result remained always the same. Nothing more than mere runes.
*sigh*
After releasing another sigh Ray closed the book.
Just to make sure that this was the case with the others as well, he reached out to them, receiving five more zaps, as he touched them. This basically meant that from his oh so great Aspect Legacy, only 1/7th was available, and even that was useless right now, with Ray not having the ability to read runes.
He dismissed them for the day, tomorrow would be the next hunt with the cohort, and Ray still wanted to work on the fangs he got from the last hunt. Some small cutting knifes would always be great to have like that. While it was true that he could always use his [Oblivion's Thread], it would take time for it to get weaved into existence. Time that one doesn't always have here in the dark city.
From then till the end of the day, Ray worked on making the fangs more usable. Sharpening, smoothing and adding a grip.
Working on such things was very unusual for Ray, therefore this task took a lot longer than he originally expected. The hardest part, finding something that could be used as a handle and refining it to the point where it could actually be attached to the fang.
Ray succeeded in this by forming a slight drill like shape on one end, making a small hole in the fang and attaching both pieces with some leather straps, he had lying around in his hut.
By the time he was getting tired, and the sun was going down, Ray managed to create three of such knifes in total. They were far from perfect for now but would do the trick for the time being.
Upon finishing the third one, Ray breathed a sigh of relief, laid down everything he had used in the process and proceeded to his bed afterwards. The night would be short.
---
The next morning at dawn, the group met up again in front of Effie's house. The six of them were readying up for their hunt.
The air was still cool as dawn crept over the ruined horizon. The group gathered without much conversation, all of them quiet in that half-asleep, half-ready kind of way. Ray gave a small nod to the others when he arrived, slinging his bag over one shoulder with the new fang knives secured inside.
Effie stretched, cracking her knuckles. "Hope today's more exciting than the last one."
"You say that while you hadn't even fought the last time," Sunny mumbled under his breath, earning a short snort from Caster.
Nephis stood calmly like always, blade on her back and that ever-present, unreadable look in her eyes. Cassia gave Ray a small smile as he approached, and just like that, without needing to say much more, they set out.
The designated prey was once more the Bramblebacks.
The hunt took them deep into one of the old industrial districts again. Crumbling buildings, shattered glass, and the stench of rot. The Bramblebacks were there - more of them than last time, but nothing overwhelming. The group fought like they had done it a dozen times now. Clean, efficient. Nephis moved like a storm. Ray had her side and repelled most that came towards him. Caster took care of any stragglers that managed to get through. Sunny could be seen standing in the back, sword at the ready, protecting Cass like the last time.
As for Effie, while she had her spear and shield out, she only killed those that targeted her directly.
By the time the fighting was done, they had more than a few injuries and another decent haul to show for it - fangs, their rough pelts, and more than a few shards harvested from the nightmare creatures. Nothing major, but the kind of loot that added up over time.
No one died. No one got too badly hurt. That was enough to call it a success, especially because Nephis could heal everyone right away.
At one point of the day, just as they had cleared another group of them, Ray could be seen kicking one of their corpses in irritation, while the others, besides Cass where already butchering the others.
Noticing his behavior, Cass turned her head in his direction and chose to ask, "Is something the matter, Ray?"
"Nah, nothing you can help me with at least," answered Ray not even really looking up.
"Why what's up?" Effie asked from the side, having heard their conversation.
*sigh*
After a long sigh, Ray responded, "Well, I'd need to learn how to read and understand runes for something."
"Why?" Cass asked puzzled, "Doesn't the spell translate all kinds of languages and runes one can find?"
Ray shrugged, more to himself than her, "Well, guess this time not. Regardless, if I can't read them, then there is nothing to dwell on. Or does one of you know that?"
Most shook their heads upon hearing the question, but a few seconds later, Sunny spoke up, "Actually, I do."
Everyone turned their heads towards him, as this development was quite unexpected.
"What? It was part of my training in the academy, different to you guys I did have the opportunity to just swing a weapon all day," grumbled Sunny.
"Then, can you teach me?" Ray asked, looking a lot brighter, compared to before.
"Should be possible, but you owe me one," was Sunny's answer, eyeing Ray.
Ray shrugged upon hearing this, in his mind, favors are something for the future him to worry about. While at some points it could bite one heavily in the ass, he could always decline.
Having cleared this up, the group continued on, for a few more hours.
---
As the sun dipped lower, they returned to the slum region, exhaustion slowly catching up with them. Just like last time, the group stopped near the middle of the area, and Effie started pulling out the food. Only this time, something changed.
A few of the locals stepped forward without being asked. One of the more experienced looking men, face sunburnt and lined, motioned toward the pile.
"Can we help?"
Nephis, who had already started separating the rations, paused for a moment, then nodded once. "Yes."
That was all they needed. A few more came forward - some teens, a woman in her twenties, a guy with a missing hand - and started helping divide and hand out the food. It went smoother than last time. Calmer, more orderly. The crowd didn't push or shout. People still looked hungry, desperate even, but there was less of that wide-eyed panic. A bit more trust.
Ray stood back and watched the scene unfold. Quietly satisfied, but also deep in thought.
Once the food had been distributed, Nephis stepped back over to the group and passed out the remaining shares. Each of them received their cut of the loot - shards, fangs, and whatever else they had pulled off the dead creatures. Effie held onto hers with a grin, already thinking about her next meal, no doubt.
After that, the group mostly split as usual, the only exception being Ray, who followed Sunny without saying anything. Intent on learning to read runes as fast as possible.