The trial (2)

{Are you going to try and escape?} the voice in Atlas's head asked once they were alone.

~Are you kidding? This place is filled to the brim fucking monsters, I'll take my chances with the trial. If things go south then I'll attempt that suicide mission,~ Atlas responded, before calling on his index.

His index now had two glowing stars, indicating the new skill he had stolen in addition to devourer of paths.

~So how do I activate this one? Or is it always active?~ Atlas asked, before calling on information pertaining to his [Path of the Talented Fighter] skill.

┏──────⊱☸⊰──────┓

⊱ ──── {Star Details} ──── ⊰

[Path of the Talented Fighter (Novice).]

: A passive skill that gives access to talented fighter paths. Increasing this skill will give access to better paths.

Star flaw: Failure to devour or take certain paths will result in the permanent loss of that path. This applies to Path of the Talented Fighter. Failure to devour targeted paths three times will result in permanent loss of the star.

┗──────⊱☸⊰──────┛

~What's with this horrible description?~ he asked asked after quickly going through the information.

{All skills given by the index are only as good as the paths you use to create them. What sort of description would be able to encompass all that?} the voice in his head asked.

He remained quiet at this, before putting away the index and looking down the hallways they had just come from.

~For someone who lost all their memories, you know an awful lot about this... index,~ he replied after some time, before his stomach began growling.

{What is that preposterous sound?} the voice in his head asked in clear disdain. He ignored the voice's comment, before waltzing down the hallway, his stomach growling once again.

{Is that coming from you?} the voice asked in shock.

~What? Never heard a hungry stomach before~ Atlas asked, now looking down the corridor of one the other hallways. He had seen people coming from this direction with tray's earlier, so he was guessing that the cafeteria was probably in this direction.

{Fix it quickly, it's disgusting,} the voice commented.

As he continued walking down the corridor, he heard the sound of laughter and chatter coming from up ahead. Once he got closer, he noticed a large open door to his left, and upon entering he found a large hall filled with tables and platters of food arranged towards the other end.

~Bingo,~ he commented, before walking in.

The moment he entered the hall, it went dead silent. Now more self-conscious, he slouched his shoulders in an attempt to hide himself. He had been so hungry he forgot that he looked completely out of place here.

~You'd think I killed their mothers.~

By the time he was half way towards the food platters arranged towards the far end of the room, the chattering slowly began once more. However this time they were more hushed, and he could hear several people commenting on his appearance.

~Just a little closer,~ he thought to himself, now mere inches from the table. However, just as he had anticipated, someone blocked his path.

The man in front of him was a few inches taller, and wore navy blue tactical gear and jet black boots, just like everyone else seated here. The gear looked to be of lower detail than the commander's, and even the quality seemed to be inferior, though Atlas couldn't be too sure.

"I haven't seen you around here. Are you sure you're in the right place," the man said. He was probably in his early thirties from what Atlas could tell, though he was well groomed so that meant he was probably older than he seemed.

"I'm not staying here long. Only here for the night, now please let me through," Atlas replied with a smile, trying his best to be friendly.

"I'll need to see some ID," the man replied dismissively, before taking a step closer, getting right in Atlas's face.

"I don't have ID, I'm not a recruit, or commander or whatever you people are. I'm only here for something in the morning. Now please let me through, I just need some food," Atlas replied, now a bit jittery due to how close the man was.

The hall was quiet again, and nearly everyone was now staring at the interaction Atlas was having.

"So you're saying that you're an intruder?" the man asked with an eager smile, before reaching for something at his waist. Atlas instinctively moved back, with his hands raised.

Compliance right now was the best route he could opt for. With the current situation he was in, getting into a fight with people probably wouldn't bode well for him.

"Look, if we go to room 809, someone there can vouch for me," he tried explaining, though the man still proceeded to wield a long sword towards him. With a deep breathe, the man's eyes began glowing in a blue hue, and a blue energy began to encase the long sword, until it was completely covered.

A humming sound emanated from the blade, following the same wave patterns as the wesen being emitted by the man.

"We can clarify that after I've made my arrest," the man said with a smile, earning a few chuckles from the bystanders.

"Why is he always like this," a few people from the group commented, though the eager smiles on their faces seemed to indicate that they were more than happy to have the entertainment.

"Don't resist," the man said, before the man moved forward to attack him.

~I demand a path to avoid all his attacks,~ Atlas shouted internally, before letting his body go.

{That was a terrible choice,} the voice in his head warned, as seven red lines appeared into view, indicating diverging paths.

One line indicated a path that would allow him to avoid a punch, another indicated a path to avoid a kick, and so on. His body froze at this, incapable of choosing a specific path.

Atlas's opponent capitalized on this brief hesitation, and smashed a fist into his face.

Blood dripped from his nose, and a hot white pain blinded him temporarily. It felt like something had broken, but experience told him otherwise as his nose wasn't blocked.

[Warning!]

[User has failed to devour path. Failure to devour related paths 2 more times will result in the loss of [Path of the Talented Fighter.]]

A few people from the crowd voiced their concerns, however the majority of soldiers there cheered in excitement, their faces flushed from the booze they were drinking.

"Get up, intruder," Atlas's opponent taunted, his face flushed as well.

{He's a trained soldier, did you think your body would be able to avoid all his attacks? And what was your plan? To avoid attacks forever?} the voice in his head asked in a disappointed tone.

"You're all piss drunk. How do you feel taking advantage of such a young boy?" Atlas asked, as he wiped the blood from his nose.

This comment confused everyone, and as his opponent was still trying to process it, Atlas swung a punch at his face, mimicking his form exactly. The man fell to the ground, blood dripping from his nose.

~I demand a path to detect his weaknesses while avoiding most critical attacks,~ Atlas said internally.

{Good.}