The cackling of a fire woke Cullen, who was lying on the ground under a starry night sky. He sat up, feeling his sore muscles screaming at him. Henry and Flora were across from him on the other side of the fire, both awake and staring at him.
'Did Flora make that light?'
The atmosphere was extremely awkward with no one talking, so Cullen decided to ask a question:
"How long has it been?"
Instead of answering, Flora suddenly got mad at him.
"What was that back there?"
Cullen, looking confused, didn't know what to say.
"How can you call yourself a Gifted and almost let someone die? It's your job to protect people. Have you ever prepared for that?"
'Oh… I understand. Usually, Gifted train their whole lives to fight Abominations while also acting kind and noble. They expect to receive their powers, unlike me.'
"No. I never planned on being Gifted, and I still don't want to become a hero."
Surprised, Flora looked at him like he had two heads.
"I don't know how to fight, and I don't even want to learn."
Flora gritted her teeth and stood up like she was about to attack him.
"How the hell were you chosen? Do you know how hard I worked to become worthy? Whether you like it or not, you have to start acting like a Gifted!"
Henry tugged at Flora's shirt, trying to calm her down. Scoffing, she sat back down and looked away.
"We will head to the center of the island in the morning, and then we should be able to get back to the city."
'The center of the island… how would that help?'
"Wait… do you know where we are?"
Flora looked back at him with disbelief.
"How can you know so little? We are on one of the seven strongest Abominations right now."
"What!?"
Cullen looked down, afraid that the ground might suddenly eat him at any moment.
"You mean the Grade-E Abominations?"
Flora sighed.
"Yes, there are seven discovered Grade-E Abominations in the world, and we are on number four."
Grade-E Abominations were the strongest and most unique ones. Another name for them was the seven Ecosystems.
Cullen knew that they existed and a little bit about them, but he never paid attention to the details.
'All I know is that they are more like places instead of monsters. While they still have a core, it is very difficult to locate and destroy it. The most dangerous part about them is that they are capable of creating lower-grade Abominations to inhabit their areas.'
Suddenly, Cullen figured out something that was bothering him.
"That's why there were two of those monsters on the beach. The only way to get identical Abominations is when they are created from a Grade-E. They were never humans."
Flora nodded and added to his discovery.
"The island we are on now is alive. The vines are part of the island, but there are also other Abominations that come with it."
'It's good that she knows so much about the island; I wouldn't have figured that out.'
Still upset, Cullen didn't want to admit that, though.
"Before this place existed, there was an island and a small town in its place. Once the Abomination was born, it swallowed the island and killed its people, fueling its growth even more. The army could fight it off and hinder its progression, but not destroy it."
Flora kept talking.
"If we go to the shore, there will most likely be battleships stationed a few miles off the sides to monitor the island. So it is unlikely that we can escape that way. However, the Gifted have a camp at The Island's center. That's where we need to go."
Cullen bashfully stared at her for a bit, then gave up being stubborn.
"When are we going?"
Flora looked at him with anger.
"Henry and I will be gone in the morning. If you want to come with us, you need to get your head straight. I can't carry another helpless person along the way."
'Helpless?'
Even though Cullen was offended by her, he knew that she had knowledge about the island that would save him a lot of trouble.
"What do you even want from me?"
Flora answered.
"You can start by telling me what your ability is."
Cullen expected this, yet still didn't know exactly how to describe it.
"I can… uh... turn things into weapons. Things, as in the Abominations I kill. At least I think…"
Flora looked stunned.
"How can you not know what your ability is?"
"I've only ever killed one Abomination before, and it turned into this after it died."
Cullen pulled out the dagger in his pocket.
"After that, my ability had never done anything for me."
Flora stared at the dagger, then met Cullen's gaze and spoke honestly.
"That sucks."
'Who does she think she is?'
"What about your ability? All I saw was a beam of light before I passed out."
Flora spoke hesitantly, like she was deciding whether to trust him or not.
"I can channel the sun's energy and use it in my attacks. But it only works when I have enough in me; it drains quickly in the night."
Then, an idea popped into Cullen's head.
"So you need someone to protect you during the night?"
Before he could continue persuading her, she suddenly picked up a stick and threw it at his head.
"Of course not," she shouted. "I don't need my ability to keep myself and Henry safe; my strength is good enough! Don't think for a second that I need you!"
Cullen sat still in awkward silence for a couple of minutes after that, then got up after he couldn't take it anymore.
"Where are you going?"
Cullen looked back at Flora, indifferent to her attitude.
"For a walk. Why would you care anyway?"
Although the thick leaves blocked most of the sky, some of the full moon was able to shine through. He could see most of his surroundings, enough to avoid the restlessly active vines even during the night.
'I really wish I didn't have to follow them, but can I make it back myself? Maybe I should live here now—it's not like anything is waiting for me in The City.'
Cullen pulled out his dagger and examined the black blade reflecting the moonlight.
'It's a strong weapon, but there are still many flaws. Is this small dagger what my ability amounts to? I guess it makes sense… I wasn't worthy of this anyway.'
After walking for a few more minutes while deep in thought, Cullen realized that he might not know where he was. After looking around for a while, he confirmed that he was lost.
"Shit. If I can't find my way back, I really might be living here."
Suddenly, a bush rustled beside him, forcing Cullen to jump back and narrowly avoid a vine on the ground.
'What just moved? An Abomination?'
Cullen looked closer at the shrub and saw a light poking out from the top. It was pulsating a dark red color, slowly getting closer to him. Below it, he could make out a small figure slowly emerging and growing larger.
Cullen pulled out his dagger, ready to fight whatever was coming out now. But as more of it appeared, Cullen slowly backed up.
A wolf-like figure coated in black fur stepped out from hiding and revealed itself to Cullen. It was probably two meters tall and three meters long, larger than any wolf Cullen had seen before. However, the most disturbing part was the antenna coming out from the back of its head, shining red and pointing right at him.
It leaped forward, gnashing its teeth and attempting to bite his head off. Cullen jumped to the left, making sure to dodge the attack and the vines.
The Abomination landed facing away from Cullen, yet the antenna was still pointing to where he stood.
'Can it track me with its antenna? That's probably how it found me in the first place. Also, it seems to be avoiding the vines as well. That should mean that it's an Abomination created from the island, not a part of it.'
Cullen was scared, but not as he had been before. He was confident in his ability to handle Abominations after Arthur. Even with his little experience, he knew he could kill this monster.
'It looks intimidating, but I can see its core clearly. All I have to do is chop off that annoying antenna."
Because its core was so exposed, it would have a hard time protecting itself. If Cullen were to disconnect the core from the rest of its body, it would be killed instantly.
The wolf turned back to Cullen and started running, but he was already on the move. He carefully maneuvered up a tree, avoiding the deadly vines and gaining height on his opponent. The Abomination reached the base and seemed to be deciding whether to climb it or wait.
Cullen didn't give it any time to think.
With a few slices, he used his superhuman strength and dagger to cut through a meter-long branch, causing it to fall down on the clueless Abomination.
'This won't be enough to kill it!'
Hearing the branch snapping, the wolf looked up and saw its death plummeting on top of it. With quick reflexes, it dodged to the side and was only hit by a few smaller branches off the side of the larger one.
It let out a small yelp, then looked up the tree with an insane look in its eyes. But to its surprise, it didn't find anyone where the tree had been cut.
Cullen, who had ridden the branch down, stood right next to the Abomination. He swiftly thrust the dagger at the antenna, cutting it clean in half.