Even though Rey wasn't adept at reading a Tigerman's expressions, but looking at Aearbon's face, he could tell he had guessed right. It made sense. There were about twelve of them, actually a little more than that. The number made sense, and the fact that they still retained their souls. If their world's population had been integrated into Hell, then Aearbon's group wouldn't have been lurking around in Purgatory.

  Aearbon nodded. "That is correct. A little over a year ago, when the apocalypse began in my world. Thirty of us were chosen by Zalathar and thrust into this place. He gave the task of reaching the D-Tier by the end of the year. We failed in that task, so he abandoned us here."

  "How did you know about the castle?" Kassandra asked.

  "He left us in a clearing in the dead forest."

  Kassandra glanced at Rey, but he was far away. Anger was bubbling in the back of his head, threatening to boil over into violence, and if not that, then at least frustration.

  "He did the same to us," Filomena said.

  Aearbon paused to look at her, and then the others, who nodded.

  Kassandra nodded. "We were chosen by Zalathar as well. He picked twelve of us and dropped us off in the same clearing."

  "I figured as much since you're the first humans we've come across that still retain your souls. There are usually no new additions to Purgatory unless Hell takes over a world."

  My thoughts exactly.

  Aearbon went on. "After he dropped us off in the dead forest, we stumbled around for weeks until we accidentally ran into the castle that was occupied by the gelatinous demons called Neraths. Clearing them out wasn't hard. Then we had some time of peace and a place to rest our heads and not be afraid of demons, but that changed when Unokir came."

  Rey's eyes widened at that. "Unokir? As in the shapeshifting mutt. One second, he's a used car salesman, and the other, he's an overgrown dog with a gorilla's body."

  Aearbon stared at him. "You know of him?"

  "Know him? I put down the mad dog."

  "Then you did something that we could not."

  "Even with thirty of you?" Kassandra asked.

  He looked down. There was a sadness in his eyes. "We weren't thirty when Unokir came. Our numbers had dwindled considerably, as we made some key mistakes. We didn't know that a soul attracted all the demons around, so when the first of us fell to the Vorclaws that attacked us in the clearing, we didn't leave our fallen and run. We were surrounded by demons almost immediately."

  "Wait, Vorclaws, as in the lion-like demons, attacked you in the clearing as well?" Rey asked.

  Aearbon frowned. "Did the same happen to you as well?"

  Rey nodded. "Oh yes, it did."

  His suspicion was turning into reality. The more Aearbon spoke, the more Rey was sure of it. There were only two more things that he needed to confirm.

  "How did Unokir attack you?" He asked.

  "He caught us unawares. He sent his horde first to soften us up. Two of us fell to the demons. Before we realized that this was unlike the time when the demons were coming for our comrade's soul, it was too late. Unokir showed himself, and three more fell to him as we fought to make our way into the castle. We held out for nearly two weeks, but they were too great for us. He had secretly converted one of us into a demon, and they betrayed us to him by unlocking the castle door and inviting him in. We fought, and more of us fell. Ultimately, we had to leave one of us behind and leave through the third door." His face fell. "Tar'nraok volunteered to stay behind while the rest of us escaped. He faced off against Unokir alone as the rest of us ran like cowards."

  Rey glanced at the others, and they were thinking the same thing he was.

  "Funny, our story is almost the exact same as yours," Rey said. "Say, one last thing, did he change the system for you, so you can pick any skills from any class, using something called Talents?"

  Aearbon frowned and shook his head. "No, we had to choose classes, and we gain skills as we rank up."

  "Oh, so we're special, I guess."

  "His story is almost the same as ours," Kassandra said. "We would've lost people too in Unokir's first push, if it weren't for Rey's premonitions."

  "No, Kassi, there is more to this." Rey gritted his teeth. "He is using us. Playing with us like we're pieces on a board, and he sends us enemies to see how we will perform. This is his Purgatory, and we're stuck in here until he decides that we're worthy, and Aearbon is proof that he would abandon us in here if we don't make it to the D-Tier. I would even say that he sent the Luthtrols we just killed as a test, or he got bored of watching us do nothing but train. It's all a fucking game to him. Our lives are nothing but a game. He can move us as he wills. No wonder he skinned my family members back on earth."

  This alarmed everyone.

  "He did what now?" Filomena asked.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "He didn't like me revealing everything to you guys. Do you remember the leather coat he was wearing?" He didn't wait for them to respond. "It was made of my family members' skin. He went around skinning them alive every time I told you of the future or how the System worked."

  Kassandra was horrified. She placed a hand on his back. "I'm so sorry, Rey. Why didn't you say anything?"

  "It wasn't your burden to bear." Rey shook his head. "Besides, I couldn't do anything for them at that point. I had to make sure enough of us survived, so that he wouldn't do the same to me, or we didn't end up as Aearbon's group."

  Rey clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles had turned white. The fucking dipshit of a Sovereign was using them. Rey had known that much to be true, but the fact that this was all a game. He did the same thing every time he found a new group of suckers. Put them through the same tests and expect different results. With Rey's knowledge of the future, he had still failed everyone. That was what pissed him off the most. All that knowledge of the prior events and Fate made sure that only the five of them left the castle as humans. Rey somehow dragged Sergei out of the castle, but Fate made sure he didn't last long, and he used Aearbon and his friends to ensure that.

  We're just fucking pawns to them. He raged on the inside. Just fucking pawns to be used and discarded, if we don't dance like monkeys for them.

  Kassi rubbed his back. "It's okay, Rey. I don't know what else to say. I didn't know that you were going through something like this. Plus, the added pressure of saving us all and making sure we made it to the D-Tier, paired with the premonitions of our deaths. I understand why you left. It would've broken any one of us."

  "She's right. We judged you too harshly, and I'm sorry," Filomena said.

  Ajay nodded. "I don't think anyone's ever said it. So, I will, because the gods know that I owe you my life. I would've been dead many times over if it weren't for you. So, thanks, man, for all that you did for us."

  The girls nodded and thanked him as well. Kassi even gave him a side hug as she did, and he was sure, if it weren't for all these people watching. She would've held his hand again.

  "Aw, you're going to make me cry. Besides, the only member of the Gill family that I really cared about…"

  Died in my arms…again.

  But he couldn't bring himself to say the words. That was another wound that wouldn't heal any time soon. Not until he killed that shit snorting Zalathar. Then and only then would he truly grieve for his grandmother.

  Rey noticed they were looking at him, and he couldn't afford to cry here. After all, he had just converted a Tigerman that by rights should hate Rey's guts to their side.

  "Anyways, we're stuck here, and there is only one thing that we can do—reach the D-Tier before the year is done." Then he rolled his eyes up into his head or as far as they would go, as his eyelids fluttered.

  "Rey?" Kassandra shook him lightly. "Are you okay?"

  Then he stopped the show and smiled. "Okay, that was really helpful."

  "Did you have another premonition?" Kassandra asked.

  "Oh yes, I did, and was this one insightful?"

  "But you never had premonitions like this before?" Filomena asked.

  "Are you looking the gift Rey in the mouth? I would prefer that you didn't, since you know I haven't brushed my teeth in months."

  The girls made a face as if they had been getting regular dental cleanings at the local dentist.

  He didn't really need to make this fantastic presentation. The truth was, he just felt like it. After all, he needed to sell the fact that he was indeed a Seer; if not that, then he just wanted to act all mysterious.

  More like a dumbass. Demon Rey barked.

  Rey sighed. "But if you must know, most of my premonitions happen when I sleep. The visions come to me in my sleep." Once again, Rey was so happy that he had become such a great bullshitter that these sorts of things just flowed out of him like raging diarrhea...of words. "Yes, so as I was saying, we need to reach the D-Tier, and in order to do that, we will need to kill a D-Tier demon or a person who is at the D-Tier."

  "Huh?" Ajay frowned.

  "You heard me, hotman. I just learned that the progression from Rank ten to the next tier isn't as simple as killing higher-ranked demons. Well, yes, you do need to gain experience by killing more rank ten demons, but once we reach rank 10, we'll be given a special quest to proceed to the D-Tier, and in our case, it will be to defeat a demon who is already at the D-Tier."

  He let them process that for a minute. They recovered from that sooner than expected.

  "But isn't that just what we've been doing already?" Kassandra said. "Killing higher-ranked demons to rise higher."

  "Well, technically yes, it is," he replied. "But in this case, you could kill all the rank ten demons in Purgatory, and you still wouldn't progress to the D-Tier, until you offed another D-Tier demon."

  "And you just saw that?" Aearbon asked.

  "Oh yes, Aearyboy," Rey said.

  "Please don't call me that."

  "Sure thing, Aearyboy."

  He clenched his fists, but Rey also knew that since the Tigerman had pledged himself to Rey, he couldn't really attack him, so he was going to use this little loophole to chip at his respectful mannerisms.

  "Don't take it personally, he does that to everyone," Kassi said.

  "Except for you," Filomena pointed out. "I've never heard him calling you anything except Kassi."

  A shade of color came to her cheeks, while Rey rubbed his chin.

  "That can't be right," he said. "I must've called her something other than Kassi."

  "Not that I've heard," Ajay provided.

  "Huh?" Rey grinned at Kassi. "Well, we'll need to remedy that soon enough."

  Lover. Girlfriend. Wife.

  Mother to my demon babies. Added Demon Rey.

  Yeah, okay. Relax buddy.

  Apparently, Aearbon wasn't satisfied with Rey's answer. "But how can you see that? Since it's not really a future, it's more of a System mechanic."

  Rey's smile vanished. "I saw myself ascending to the D-Tier, and escaping Purgatory."

  Nothing more needed to be said. His friends understood the meaning of that statement. Since he wasn't a true Seer, he couldn't tell whether he had actually changed Ajay's future. If saving his leg from Kiogne had even changed anything. Though he desperately wished that it was his canon event, and that he had changed his friend's future.

  "Just yourself?" Aearbon asked.

  "For now." Rey clapped his hands. "Anyways, so this means that we need to find D-Tier demons, and I only know of two demons at the D-Tier, which means as much as I hate to do it, we're going to have to pay that fucking triclops a visit. Say, Aearbon, do you know of any D-Tier demons lurking about in this blasted land?"

  He shook his head. "We never came across any demons higher than rank 7."

  "That's okay, that just means we need to find three more D-Tier demons."

  "Three?" Ajay asked.

  "What? We're not going to leave our Apex Predator behind, are we?" Rey clapped his hands. "Enough talking. Eat and then back to training."