Rey had a sudden change of heart. He realized he no longer wanted his revenge. Why? Well, for two reasons. One, that they hadn't actually killed any of his friends. Well, they hadn't killed ones that weren't supposed to die. Two, he had killed three for the two friends they had killed, and lastly, these tigers were scary as fuck, now that they were riled up. So, three reasons, actually.

  There were more than a dozen of them. He had planned to reduce the herd little by little. But he had never imagined in his wildest dreams that these battle-lusty tigers would decide to wipe the whole town of Terga just because some imaginary Sniffers killed their friends.

  Man, this is one of those schemes that's gonna boomerang straight into my ass like a heat-seeking missile.

  But then most of his schemes bit him in the ass. He was getting close to realizing he should stop making schemes and plans in general. And get strong enough that he could attack headstrong like these Tigermen were about to do.

  A part of him said that he would get quite strong once he killed all these Tigermen. It was the part that usually had suicidal thoughts, like 'Let's jump off this cliff and see what happens'. Anytime those thoughts surfaced, Rey drop-kicked them back into the void with professional enthusiasm. He would have to do the same to this one.

  "Well, I'll leave it to you then," Rey said to the leader, once the roaring had calmed down a little. "I'll be heading in the opposite direction of whatever massacre you're about to create."

  Rey had just turned slightly when the leader spoke.

  "No, you cannot leave us so easily," he said. "After all, who will take us to these Sniffers. We'll start the killing with these Sniffers, and then the massacre begins."

  "But you can ask anyone in town," Rey countered, trying his best not to make his voice sound too shrill.

  "The moment we set foot into any town, all the demons hide in their holes."

  "Then roam the streets," Rey snapped, making a few turn towards him. "What I mean is that the fighting took place in front of Grixi's shop, so if you just go there, I'm sure you can find them around there."

  A heavy hand or paw, actually a combination of the two, landed on Rey's shoulder. It was another Tigerman. They weren't as tall as the leader and were even more lithe, and Rey couldn't help but feel their features were more feminine.

  "You became their messenger very readily," the Tigerwoman said. It was a woman, her voice confirmed it. "Yet you won't lead us to our vengeance."

  "That's not the case at all, I just try to avoid conflict whenever possible," Rey replied.

  "Then how did you get so strong, I wonder?"

  "Didn't I say I'm a blacksmith?" Rey replied. "As I'm sure you know, there's more than one way of ranking up."

  There was more than one way to rank up in the system. Not everyone needed to be a fighter. However, it was the fastest way. Healers and Blacksmiths were next. They could interchange their craft with killing or stick to their craft. That was how Grixi had reached the D-Tier because the fat, drunk was shit in a fight.

  "Then why do you carry this dangerous scythe?" The female Baaghror commented as she flicked his scythe with a clawed hand.

  "Well, you don't expect me to go empty-handed in the wilds with all these demons about."

  "Eithri is right. You will assist us, and I will hear no more on the matter," the leader said.

  Rey smiled. "Of course, sir. But I will take you to the Sniffers, and then I'm gone. You and your clan seem more than capable of handling this on your own."

  "That is fair," the leader replied. "I am Aearbon. What is your name, human?"

  "Rey."

  The Baaghror were ready to march in what Rey figured to be ten minutes, while he paced the ground trying to come up with a plan to take down the Tigerman army. If worst came to worst, he could point them to Grixi's shop and make a run for it from there. By the time they figured out it was Rey who had killed their brothers, he would be long gone.

  Then I would be hunted by these overgrown tigers until I made it out of Purgatory. Correction—if. If I made it out.

  The number of unnecessary fights he was starting was not looking good for his long-term health. Though he needed to push himself for the next steps of his grand plan. To get stronger, he needed to fight stronger opponents so he could fight even stronger opponents.

  "We're heading out," Eithri said to Rey.

  "Huh?" Rey looked around. "But Aearbon didn't give the call."

  "He did." Then she smirked. "You just don't have the eyes and ears to hear it."

  Rey remembered the guards. How they had just twitched their whiskers and off one had gone to get orders from their supreme leader. It was a handy skill to have. Gloria had telepathy, and she would've been more than handy in the fight against Unokir, if not for Phil.

  Now that I think about it, she would've been handy in this situation, too.

  He could always acquire the basic skill from the Telepathy Element himself. It would only take about two Talent points, so it wasn't all that difficult, but that would have to wait until he could spare two Talent points. For now, he needed to focus on getting out of this self-created predicament alive.

  The Tigermen marched in silence. Almost too quiet. It was unnerving. Their feet barely made any noise. If it weren't for so many of them walking together, he doubted, he would've heard them at all. His Perception was pretty high, not too high, but enough that he could notice at least this much.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  He walked to the back of the group, directly behind the leader, with Eithri to his right. It was funny for someone they had kept along for leading them to the enemy; he hadn't done much leading at all. It was almost like he had been brought along to ensure that he was telling the truth. Contrary to popular belief, Rey had more than two brain cells. They were just on vacation a lot.

  So, as he walked, he noticed that the murder kitties looked at each other, twirled their whiskers, or growled gently, then adjusted their positions.

  Rey sidled beside Eithri. "Hey, what are they doing?"

  "Getting in position."

  "But we're pretty far out."

  "We like to be prepared."

  Almost on cue, he heard the bells of Terga.

  "Ah, I see," Rey said.

  But still, the clan didn't rush out; they took their time as if they were out for a stroll through the craggy land. He figured they didn't need to worry. After all, these guys could blow away the real estate in Terga with a single violent sneeze. Given their size, their sneezing must be quite explosive.

  Someone sniffed something to his right. Rey quickly turned to see it was Eithri sniffing in his general direction.

  "Say, that is an odd choice for a weapon?" She asked.

  Rey shrugged. "I was a farmer back home."

  She squinted her eyes. "And what did you farm in your homeland?"

  "Tatters."

  "What are Tatters?"

  Oh, so close. If she had just added a precious in there.

  "Potatoes. Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew. Lovely golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish. Even you couldn't say no to that."

  She gave him a frown with a tilt of her head. It was funny seeing that side of her since he was about to kill her soon. He knew he was going to need the demon side of him. He would never have been able to do this without him.

  Yes, let me out, and have some fun, finally. Demon Rey provided his unneeded thoughts.

  "I'm going to ignore that," Eithri said. "Tell me something, why does your scythe smell like my brethren's blood?"

  Rey sighed internally. I guess we're doing this, here and now.

  He smelled his scythe. "Doesn't smell like anything to me. Here, take a closer look."

  He swung his scythe and propelled the blade with Repulsion and thrust it into her chest. The female Baaghror's eyes widened as she dropped to her knees.

  The whole procession stopped at once.

  He ripped his scythe out of her chest, and she fell dead on the ground.

  [+1 Dexterity]

  [You killed a Baaghror (Exiled) – E+6]

  Blood dripped from his scythe as Rey looked to the leader. "Hey, good news, you don't have to slaughter a town of demons to find the killer of your brethren."

  Aearbon roared and lunged for Rey.

  "Yeah, no."

  He activated Gravity's Domain and dropped everyone to the ground. He had only increased gravity by 25 percent, and it was a testament to these creatures' strength that only one of them was lying flat on the ground. The rest were on all fours or while their supreme leader was down on one knee.

  "Damn, you lot are tough, eh?" Rey tapped a finger on his chin. "How about fifty percent gravity?"

  That did the trick. All of them gave the ground a love hug that looked like they were auditioning for a Wile E. Coyote cartoon. The ground itself sank a little, forming a crater. Given the size of these humanoid tigers, it was surprising that some still fought to get back on their feet. None succeeded. However, Aearbon was making significant headway.

  "That's more like it," Rey said. "Now, if you all could stay down. It would be great."

  "W-Why?" Aearbon asked.

  "Because you hurt my friends," Rey simply replied.

  It only took the tiger a moment to realize what Rey was talking about. "We let them go."

  "After killing two of them. I'm here to get even."

  "You've already killed four of my brethren. We're far from even."

  Rey cocked his head to the side. "You know, I never really understood this business of getting even. My philosophy is simple—if you hurt my friends, I will end your entire bloodline." Rey grinned like a psychopath. "So, let's start, shall we?"

  Rey walked into Gravity's Domain, and there was a slight downward pressure exerted on him. After all, it had been two weeks since he'd trained in an increased gravity environment, but it wasn't difficult. At least, he wasn't lying face down in the dirt. The tigers started squirming as he got close.

  As he entered the Domain or the soon-to-be killing field, he let go of the sane part of his mind and let Demon Rey take hold of him. After all, he was going on a murder spree, and he needed the psychopath. The first one tried swiping his claws at Rey's ankles. He lifted his foot and slammed it down on his hand, making him wince. He glared up at Rey, and he buried a scythe in his eye.

  [+1 Dexterity]

  [You killed a Baaghror(Exiled) – E+6]

  Rey skipped to the next one, who tried the same and died the same way.

  [You killed a Baaghror(Exiled) – E+6]

  "No!" Roared Aearbon. "Stop. You don't have to do this."

  "Oh, but I do. If I'd known it would be this easy, I would've just ended you all at your camp. Now, everyone stay still and die peacefully. Look at it this way. You'll be reborn soon, you can regain your soul, and I can kill you again. After all, who wants to live as a demon, am I right?"

  Speak for yourself, pussy. Demon Rey snapped.

  So what's it gonna be, champ? Back into your tiny mind prison, or are we continuing this tiger-murder power hour?

  The Baaghror roared and cursed at him in their tongue.

  Rey finished off two more Baaghrors. He had to admit killing them was leaving a bad taste in his mouth. They weren't demons, and they could hardly fight back even if they were giving him good experience.

  Then Aearbon managed to get to his knees.

  That was a feat so exemplary that Rey actually paused his massacre and stared at the large Tigerman, who, even on his knees, was about as tall as Rey. He bit into the back of his hand and spat blood in Rey's direction.

  "This is a formal challenge, human. If you have any honor, you will accept it."

  Rey had heard about this. Something about a one-on-one duel. The victor would take all the spoils, which mostly consisted of the women. Since Rey wasn't into furries, he didn't see what the tiger could give him that he would actually want, but he decided to hear him out.

  "What are the terms?" Rey asked.

  "The lives of my clan against all the treasures we've accumulated," Aearbon said. "You will stop this senseless massacre, and we will fight to the death. Should you win, you will let them live, and my clan will no longer pursue you or your friends, not even in retribution for the lives you have already taken. They will also forfeit all the treasures that we have acquired to you. On my word."

  "Brother, please reconsider," said the one to Aearbon's right.

  "The challenge has been issued and the terms spoken. It cannot be undone," Aearbon said.

  Rey contemplated this for a moment. The rewards were too good to give up, but then he could just kill them all right here. Though if he did that, he wouldn't know where the tigers were hiding their treasures. Also, there was a part of him that had had his fill of senseless killing. Besides, if he managed to kill this Rank 8 tiger, then he would make it to the next rank, anyway.

  Would killing it be easy? Probably not, but downing all these tigers was really taxing on his Mana, and he had just learned that the more they fidgeted, the faster his Mana dropped, and they were fidgeting like a fidget spinner on steroids. That was something new.

  "Okay, let's test out how much your word is worth, Aearyboy."

  Rey deactivated Gravity's Domain.

  All the tigers stopped squirming at once, as they realized they were free. They tentatively stood, and Rey did his best to look like shit wasn't running down his pants.

  You idiotic flea on a dog's asshole! Demon Rey shouted. Plus several adjectives unsuitable for children, adults, or anyone breathing

  "Everyone, stand back," Aearbon ordered. "Thacsar, you will be my heir. Carry out my will should I fall."

  The one who had spoken earlier bowed his head. "May the great Tiger bless your hunt."

  Everyone stepped back, giving them a wide berth.

  Rey tightened the grip on his scythe. "Let's begin."