The one-armed Sniffer quivered in Rey's grip, as he did his best to keep the urine inside his body. Rey naturally found this quite amusing. He would've loved to prolong the moment and mentally torture the soul hunter, but as it turned out, the guards wanted their panty sniffer back, and Rey wasn't keen on giving him up.

  A few fists pounded on the door in rapid succession. "Open up!"

  Aearbon and Kassi were up on their feet in a heartbeat. From their expressions, Rey could remember the one-armed Sniffer they had let go to inform his friends about their impending doom.

  "What do we do about them?" Kassi hissed, motioning towards the door.

  "People are watching," Aearbon said, eyes still glued to the window.

  It was like the man knew what needed to be done without even being told what to do. In other words, competence had personally chosen him as its champion. It was almost like he had been some great leader before some scythe-swinging asshole came about and killed his entire group.

  Rey squinted at the demon. "Tell your friends to go away."

  "T-They won't," he stammered. "They really want your head."

  "Then you'd better find a way to come up with a very convincing lie, because their deaths are guaranteed, and you will die a slow, agonizing death right alongside them."

  The Sniffer gulped. Rey didn't give him much time and turned him towards the door, which opened promptly, before the guards outside broke it down.

  "How can I help you wankers?" Rey snapped, in true demon fashion. If he had been any more cordial, they might have stuck him with their rusty blades right then and there.

  It was a group of four gruff-looking demons wearing the leather armor that most city guards wore. They looked mostly the same with one demon deformity or another. It really didn't matter much as long as they left them alone, which he knew they wouldn't, so they would all be dead soon enough.

  The short, stocky demon with a thick beard barged into the house and gripped the Sniffer by the collar. "What the fuck are you doing, Noidet? And who the fuck are these clowns?"

  "They—"

  But the demon was fumbling so much that Rey did not doubt that he would give them all up, and they would be in it for real.

  "Oh, come on, pal." Rey put an arm over the Sniffer's shoulder, making him flinch. "You don't need to hide it from them. Noidet and I are friends. Have known each other for years. It's because of my actions that he's alive today."

  "Y-Yes." Noidet nodded.

  From the corner of his eye, Rey noticed that Aearbon had vanished. For a second, Rey had forgotten that the Tigerman could go invisible. He noted the large shadow on the wall, which meant that whatever this invisibility spell was, it only made him invisible to others' eyes, but not to light itself. It was a fun tidbit that he would need to think on later. For now, he needed to get everyone inside, so the murder-cat could do what it did best.

  "Why don't you all come in?" Rey said, stepping back, motioning them inwards. "Honey, let's get some refreshment ready for these hardworking guards."

  The guard looked past Rey and noticed something in the corner of the room. Rey followed his gaze and found him looking at the demon that still lay on the mat, excellently cosplaying as a dead body.

  The bearded demon pushed Rey and the Sniffer aside as he sauntered into the room to get a better look at the permanently sleeping demon. The other guards followed their leader and made their ultimate mistake.

  The door quietly shut behind them, and the massacre began. It didn't even take Aearbon a whole minute to sever or pull their heads off completely. As it turned out, Aearbon wasn't great at killing demons; he was excellent at killing demons. For the tenth time, Rey was happy that he was on his side and not trying to actively murder him.

  Only the guard captain remained, who stumbled backwards as Aearbon dropped his invisibility skill.

  "Well, any last words?" Rey asked.

  "He's mine." Kassi threw her dagger at him, which got him in the eye, and made his head explode.

  "That was scary, wasn't it?" Rey asked the Sniffer, who was staring wide-eyed at the demon guard's headless body, and nodded. Well, he mostly just trembled, so Rey took his trembling for nodding. "So, if you don't want that happening to you, you will help us find our other friends, understood?"

  "Y-Yes, and a-after that you'll let me go?"

  "Of course, but before you start sniffing away, we need to go shopping.. Mainly, some Healing potions and weapons. I would also like to have my scythe repaired, as it is as good as broken. Thanks, Aearbon."

  The tiger looked on unapologetically. Rey wasn't even sure he could look apologetic, or if he did, Rey wouldn't even know what an apologetic tiger would look like. It was hard to read his face. He could be utterly devastated right now, and Rey would have no way tell.

  "Speaking of your scythe," Kassi said. "I think it would be best that you store it in your satchel. It's too obvious, and we don't want to draw any more attention to us."

  "Right, but what are we going to do about the cat in the room?"

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Only Kassi understood that reference. She nodded. "That would be tough. Aearbon, you might have to stay behind."

  "That would not be ideal," Aearbon replied. "I can go invisible and follow along."

  "But how long can you go invisible for?" Rey asked.

  "I have never really tested the extent of its duration, but I suppose we have no choice."

  "He could follow us from the rooftops," Noidet added. "They aren't really watched all that much."

  Rey patted him on the back. "Way to go, Norbet.

  "It's Noidet."

  "That's what I said."

  The demon wanted to say more, but decided it wasn't worth his life. After all, what's in a name?

  Rey clapped his hands together. "Kassi, I think you must've received a Talent point. Why don't we crack it open and use them wisely before we move along? By 'wisely,' I mean prioritize your Element's skills. If you do not have any new skills for the Moonlight element, then get the Rapid Regeneration skill. It's basically plot armor lite or, as I call it, walk-it-off protocol."

  She frowned, but nodded. "You sure?"

  "Trust me, babe."

  He had two Talent points, and he was hoping to receive another crazy Gravity skill. He took a seat in one of the chairs, and Kassi joined him, and together they opened up their respective menus to see what birthday gifts were waiting for them.

  He opened his Talent menu and went straight for the Skills sub menu, and he was utterly disappointed when no new Gravity skills had shown themselves. So much so that he wanted to close the whole thing, but since he couldn't get any Gravity skills, that didn't mean he couldn't get any other skills.

  He surfed through the other sub-menus. It was a good thing he had done this thing before and knew what skills would be beneficial, no matter where he was. Besides, his last battle had shown him that he wasn't immune to pain, nor was he strong and fast enough to avoid all attacks. No matter how strong his gravity skills were. He opened up his Core sub-menu and found the skill he was looking for.

  [Pain Suppression - Your body no longer begs for mercy from pain, it ignores it. Incoming damage still hurts, but the shock, staggering, and debilitating effects are heavily reduced, allowing you to fight through wounds that would drop lesser warriors. Bones can crack, muscles can tear, and blood can pour, yet your will keeps your body moving. The greater your Willpower, the more pain you can endure. Pain still exists. It just stops being the one in charge.]

  This was a dangerous one to have, but if Aearbon hadn't shown up when he did to save him, he would've been done for. The spear in his thigh made it difficult to stand, let alone fight. Despite his gravity skills, they would've eventually gotten a good shot in and dropped him.

  Of course, there was a massive downside to this skill. Pain existed because it was the body's way of saying, sit the fuck down, asshole, before you do yourself a mischief. Next thing he knew, he kept on fighting, and he ripped a muscle so thoroughly that he might as well have lost his leg—good thing Rey knew how to counter this skill's downside…somewhat.

  [Rapid Regeneration - Your body enters overdrive, accelerating its natural healing processes to brutal efficiency. Cuts knit, bones mend, and fatigue burns away far faster than usual. It's not instant salvation, but relentless recovery that keeps you in the fight while others are still bleeding out. The greater your Endurance, the faster you will heal. Your enemies cannot kill what won't stay broken.]

  This skill wasn't as broken as the description made it seem, but with both of these working in tandem, it practically made anyone a tank, especially at higher levels of Endurance and Willpower. At the A-Tier, he would literally walk through fire as if it were nothing. However, he would never try that with shit with Hellfire, as that thing would burn anything.

  The best part about these skills was that they were both Passive skills, meaning they didn't take up active skill slots. They would be on perpetually and not need him to consciously activate them, as with his Gravity skills.

  If there was one thing that Zalathar, the sister-humping, shart-guzzling Sovereign, did right, it was to create this open-for-all System for them. These two skills would've been tied to a class that was most likely tank-oriented.

  His two skills began working as soon as he acquired them. The pain from his bruises and the spear wound was already pretty much non-existent now. And he could see in real time, his bruises withering away. It was moving at a snail's pace, actually even slower than a snail, but at the higher Tiers, he would be walking through broken bones like they were nothing.

  Rey couldn't help but giggle. Low amounts of pain and faster healing, just what a growing boy needs.

  "What?" Kassi asked.

  "Kiss me, and I'll tell you."

  "Knowing you, it's probably something filthy."

  "Ah, you know me so well, my love."

  Aearbon coughed. "We should head out before their absence is noticed." He motioned to the dead guards.

  Rey looked to Noidet. "Okay, Nosedrip, take us to the best blacksmith in town or a weaponsmith or somewhere, my lady can buy a bow, and if you lead us into a trap, I'll be covering my scent with your blood."

  ***

  Kassi picked up the bow and pulled back on the string. The bow looked like a horror version of her old bow. It wasn't bad or looked frail in any way. In fact, it was made of iron and had sharp edges that she could easily whack her enemies with, slashing them down to the bone.

  The weaponsmith leaned greedily. "I see that you like it," he rasped. "If you want, I can throw in a few steel arrows for you that will rip through just about anything, for an extra silver coin."

  "A fucking silver coin!" Rey exclaimed. "I will give you one silver coin, and I'll take the bow and the arrows."

  "What do you think this is? Charity?" the weaponsmith snapped.

  "Or I can kill you and take everything you own," Rey replied calmly, pulling his scythe out of his satchel. They had decided that it stood out too much and that it was better he store it in his satchel while they moved about the city. "Say, have you heard of the group that is going around flattening neighborhoods and killing guards like they are weeds that need to be pulled out?"

  The demon smith's eyes widened, and he looked to the Sniffer, who nodded his head slightly.

  "Oh, no, I meant, no offense, sir," the smith said. "Anything you give me will be a fair price."

  "That sounds like a good deal to me. I also need my scythe repaired." Rey tossed him the scythe. "See, the broken shaft, I need a new one. Preferably a metal one. Also, I need a Runic skill embedded in the new one."

  "That's all, I'm sure."

  Rey raised an eyebrow. "Was that sarcasm?"

  "No, of course not, sir."

  "Good. I need my scythe back by tomorrow, and if it's not ready by then, I will make myself a new satchel with your hide." Rey looked to Kassi. "Anything else you need?"

  "No, I think this bow and those arrows should be okay for now. Thanks, babe."

  Rey flipped a silver coin to the smith. "I might be generous tomorrow, if you do a good job on my scythe. Also, I'm going to borrow this spear. I'll return it tomorrow." He picked up a half-rusted spear and examined it. It wasn't half bad, and it was the closest thing to his scythe. He was sure there would be some overlap in moves that he could rely on his Scythe Mastery skills.

  The smith mumbled something to himself as he walked into the back of his shop.

  Rey shrugged and turned to Noidet. "Okay, No Shit, use that nose of yours to find my friends, and you better be quick."

  "I need a scent, a piece of cloth, anything that belonged to them," he replied.

  Kassandra produced a woman's shirt that no doubt belonged to Filomena. "Here."

  "Now, sniff away, my search dog, and you better hurry up, I will not tolerate tardiness."