All around the table were scraps of torn paper littered around. Except for a small pile of ripped sheets which Rick had placed carefully in a pile. The pile was the one which contained all of the successfully crafted runes.

Rick stayed up all night crafting more of the [Word-Transmission Rune Scroll]. He had dark-circles forming under his brown eyes but he did not care.

Under the light of the flickering candle, he kept drawing continuously, But even after four hours, he was only successful in crafting another six of them.

But through the failures, he gleaned quite a bit of information on how the rune worked. The [Word Rune] alone was of no use. All it would do after being torn is display the first word written on one of the scrolls on the other and thereafter stop working.

But after several modifications, Rick realized that if he were to draw the [Word Rune] along with the [Mana Gathering Rune], the two resulting [Word-Transmission Rune Scroll] could transmit endless words one after another. A moment after a word is written on one scroll, the word would then disappear and then a moment later re-appear on the other scroll.

Even the positioning of the two runes affected the efficiency of the final product. The better the positioning, the quicker the message would be transmitted. After various orientations, he finally figured out the optimal positioning. The best [Word-Transmission Scroll] is produced when the [Word Rune] is placed between the two [Mana Gathering Runes], each six centimetres apart.

The only concern was that the resulting [Word-Transmission Scroll] was only nine centimetres in length.

Using the same methods Rick even tried to craft a [Sound Rune Scroll] as well, with the hope that it would be able to transmit speech. But the final result was not what he expected. The only change which happened when both the [Sound Rune] and [Mana Gathering Rune] were combined was to amplify the sound.

Ding

[Congratulations!]

[You have successfully crafted a Low Ranked Noise Rune Scroll]

"It's a failure" A slight disappointment appeared on his face which disappeared a second later when he smiled and consoled himself, "It's fine, now I know how to make another talisman."

Although he did not get what he was trying to craft, Rick still made a few more of the [Noise Rune Scrolls] as well.

The one thing that kept him going doing the repetitive work again and again was the notification he received every time he crafted the [Word-Transmission Scroll] successfully. But what made him even happier was the increase in his skill proficiency. Every now and then, he received a new notification.

Ding

[The proficiency of the Skill: Rune Craftsmanship has increased]

By the end of the night, his proficiency in the [Rune Craftmanship] skill had increased from one per cent to a sixty-three per cent.

"I might as well take a break now!" Rick yawned. It was way past midnight and Rick had nothing else he could do tonight.

He had to now check how far apart the two [Word Transmission Scrolls] could still communicate with each other. After all, the [Communication Stones] only worked within a distance of half a kilometre from the other pair.

Rick blew the candle out and climbed onto his bed for the night.

---

The next morning, Rick packed the talisman he had crafted the last night and his bamboo staff before leaving the house. He locked the door behind him and looked up at the grey clouds gathering overhead. The weather was quite comfortable.

Rick's plan was to move in a straight line through the neighbourhood while sending messages through the [Word Transmission Scrolls]. He had six of the [Word Transmission Scrolls] with him, while the corresponding talismans were kept in his bedroom. When he got back to his bedroom, he could check the scrolls which did not transmit the message and thereafter calculate a rough idea of the distance at which the Scrolls would work.

The driveway was empty as Samira and Jay had both taken their vehicles with them on their hunt. Rick picked up his cycle from the garage and walked down the road. The streets were completely desolate and empty. The trees lining the sidewalks picked up a breeze, and the leaves rustled. He pulled the jacket closer.

Rick had a mechanical odometer on his cycle which he was going to use to measure the exact distance he had covered.

On reaching the half-kilometre mark, Rick picked up the first scroll and wrote "One" on it. He then continued to move further away. When he reached the one kilometre he took out another one and wrote "two". After covering two kilometres he wrote "three". He continued this way till he had cycled sixteen kilometres where he took out the final scroll and marked it "Six".

Rick got off the cycle to take a short break.

He had not climbed out of the cycle when Rick heard a crash followed by a frantic cry…

Awooo…

The hair on his arms immediately stood in fear, It was not just a single howl.

Aw.. Awooo...There was more howling that followed simultaneously!

Rick perked his ears and found that the sound was coming over from right around the corner.

Rick immediately activated [Stealth Walk] and peaked across the building. What he saw completely overwhelmed him!

There were five mutated foxes less than half a kilometer away from him on the middle of the road. But this wasn't what shocked him, the foxes were all eying each other with hostility, while keeping their distance from each other at the same time.

Rick drew out the Lemegeton from his jacket to check what these beasts were

[Red Foxes: It is a mutated fox.

The mutated fox has very sensitive ears and can sense the smallest of sounds from far away. It is very quick and agile. Although its attack is not very strong, it attacks at a rapid pace to cause death by a thousand cuts.

Red Foxes are pack hunters and always move around in packs.

Its fur is boiling hot to the touch. Most probably, the mutation in it has not completed.

This discovery was made by Tarun Mathews]

Cold sweat formed on Rick's back. The Red foxes must have already noticed that he was there. So the only reason that they were not pouncing on him right now was owing to the fact that they did not consider him to be an opponent at all.

Rick was wondering as to what could have happened between these Red Foxes for them to turn against each other, when out of the blue, one of the foxes lunged at the other. The other fox bent its hind legs and immediately jumped out of the way. The other three mutated foxes also joined the fray.

A bloody fight ensued. The foxes mauled and bit away at each other without giving each other an inch! It was a fight to the end.

In less than five minutes the victor was decided.

"Hawooooo," covered in blood, the red fox stood over the corpse of the last competitor and howled in victory.

All this while Rick stayed glued to the spot, unwilling to leave.

Right after, the Red Fox looked straight at where Rick stood and started charging towards him. He had been found out!

But it did not faze Rick. He knew that there was no way he could outrun the Red Fox, so fleeing was not even an option.

Rick opened his backpack.

"Let's see how sensitive your ears are!" he smiled.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Rick screamed.

The Red Fox did not stop for even a second hearing Rick's scream. Instead, it increased its pace hearing the bleating of its prey.

But a moment later it stopped at his track when a much louder scream resounded as soon as Rick ripped the [Noise Rune Scroll] in his hands.

The Red Fox shook its head for a second and with bloodshot eyes charged again. The fox no longer had the calm indifference of a hunter, he was now furious and wanted to rip Rick up in pieces.

But Rick had no intention of letting that happen. He took the rest of the [Noise Rune Scroll] he had and repeated the process.

A bellowing scream resounded the entire block. Rick's head felt dizzy and he felt a trace of blood flowing down his nose. Feeling dizzy, his feet gave way and he sank to his knees.

But the Red Fox had it much worse. It came to a tumbling halt. Fear still in his dead eyes, it lay still.

After a full ten minutes later, Rick recovered enough strength to get back up on his feet and walked up to the Red Fox to check if it was dead.

"What made you guys so desperate to kill your own kin?" Rick thought out loud.