No hard feelings... kid

~Did I miss one?~ he thought to himself, swinging around and pulling out his blaster in one fluid movement.

{It's good that you're alert, I can sense a high number of demons approaching. We have to get to a safe space, I doubt you can handle that many,} the voice continued. It took Atlas a moment, but he recalled where he had heard the voice before.

{Devourer of Paths, then does that mean-} Atlas wondered, before willing his Constellation Index into view.

With that, a familiar network of sparkling gems appeared in a window right in front of him. However, only one of the stars were currently glowing.

Atlas had half expected that the powers he had obtained in the tutorial wouldn't carry over here, but he couldn't say that he wasn't disappointed to part with the knife skills he had obtained.

"Not that it matters, with this I should be safe from harm," he whispered to himself.

"Interesting tech you got there. Is that why you were hanging around Oleary's lab?" A voice asked from above Atlas.

He moved to aim his gun at where the voice had come from, but was met with a blow to the face, sending him tumbling to the floor.

"I have to say, when they said you moved like a cat, I was a little confused. But I have to admit, you nearly fooled me with that trick you pulled back there," the voice said, as Atlas groaned on the floor in agony.

The wincing pain from his nose made his eyes teary, making it hard for him to see his attacker properly.

But after wiping the tears away, he noted the man who was slowly walking towards him. He was dressed in pseudo-tactical gear -pseudo because it was clearly made from many different fabrics, making it look somewhat untidy- however it held enough weapons for it to be practical.

"So how does this work?" the man asked, before bending over to inspect Atlas's Constellation Index -which was still floating right in front of Atlas.~

~He can see it too?~ Atlas asked.

{What did you think? Now get up and deal with this human before real trouble shows up,} the Devourer of paths replied.

"Hmm, its a hologram, huh?" the man in front of Atlas said as he swiped his hand though the Index. "Well, I'll have time to figure all that out later. All I need from you right now is your head," the man said, before pulling out an ion blaster from one of the holster on his tactical pants.

~3 blasters in one day, what the hell is going on today,~ Atlas thought to himself. "Devour!" he shouted right after. That was just enough to startle the attacker, causing him to miss his first shot by just a millimeter.

With that a single red line appeared, linking Atlas's arm to the ion blaster in his waist band. In one swift movement, Atlas pulled the blaster from his waist band and rolled to dodge another shot. However, the bullet managed to get his leg.

Wincing from the pain, Atlas fired three beams at the attacker's head.

"Seriously?" the attacker asked in a bored manner, holding out his forearms to block the attacks.

The issue with ion blasters was that there were 2 seconds where the beam powered up. And although that was more than enough to kill the average thug, the man in front of Atlas clearly had some form of training.

In a single fluid movement, the attacker threw three knives at Atlas, before firing another shot.

Atlas ran towards the wall behind him, dodging one of the knives as he kicked of the wall, and another as he flew through the air.

However, right as he landed, one the knives hit him in his left leg, and the beam from the ion blaster hit him in his arm, almost as if the attacker had wanted him there.

Atlas threw out his blade in response, aiming at the attacker's head, before firing a shot just to the left.

The attacker moved his head to avoid the attack, and just then-

Nothing.

"You learn fast," the attacker said, looking behind him at the hole that Atlas's shot left on the wall.

"With a bit of training you could'v-" the attacker was about to say before Atlas tried firing again. However all that came were 'whirring' noises.

"You emptied the barrel, its four shots a cartridge. That's the issue with unregulated ion blasters," the attacker explained, as Atlas continued trying to fire the weapon.

After a few more attempts, Atlas threw the blaster at the attacker, before attempting to make a run for it. The blaster hit the attacker's chest, bouncing off his tactical vest, before landing on the ground.

After hearing the same familiar thundering sound that had come every time he fired a shot, Atlas felt his leg give way.

As he fell down to his knees, he attempted to pick up a nearby piece of loose scrap. However the attacker kicked it out of his hands, before using his foot to roll Atlas over.

"Hmm, you did pretty well. But you've clearly never used a blaster in your life, no hard feelings kid," the attacker said before, adjusting his aim to Atlas's head, and firing.

The red line in Atlas's view slowly disappeared as the ion blaster's barrel lit up. Atlas closed his eyes in instinct, looking away from the shot.

~Fuck,~

Right as he had accepted his death, he heard a gurgling sound coming from in front of him.

He slowly opened his eyes, and saw a bloodied figure gnawing down on his attacker's body.

"Fuck, you saved me man," Atlas sighed in relief, though the only reply his savior gave him was a growl as it feasted on his attacker's body.

Atlas, quickly crawled towards the blaster his attacker had dropped, before firing a shot at the demon's head.

After taking a quick moment to regain his breath, he fired another three shots at his attacker's head.

"No hard feelings... kid," Atlas said in a mocking tone, before spitting on his attacker's face.

[New path unlocked...]

[Path of the Talented Fighter.]

{I hope you don't think that shooting a demon in the head will keep them down forever. Flee now before they regenerate,} the voice in Atlas's head warned.