The bottom half of the wolf, no longer connected to the core, went motionless. The bloody body collapsed to the ground, yet the antenna was still lively. It squirmed around desperately, clinging to hope.
'The strange thing about this Abomination was its ability. Although most Abominations' powers don't directly involve their core, this one was tracking food with it. It wasn't very convenient considering how exposed it was.'
Cullen plunged the dagger into the glowing core, shattering and ending its movement.
'Will my ability work now?'
As if to answer his thoughts, the broken core started to suck itself in. Just as Arthur had done, the entire body of the wolf was swallowed and left behind as a single object.
This time, a scarlet compass lay on the ground.
He picked up the dead Abomination and examined the new item. There were no markers of direction, only a single needle that pointed to his left.
'There is absolutely no way to tell what it's pointing to… should I just follow it and see where it leads?'
Left with no other option, Cullen started walking in the direction of his new compass, thinking about how killing giant monsters had suddenly become normal.
*****
Henry, who was supposed to be sleeping, was lying on the ground while watching Flora pace around the campfire.
Even though she acted indifferent to Cullen, Henry knew she could never leave anyone behind.
"I thought you wanted him gone, Flora. You should stop worrying and sit down."
Flora looked at Henry, surprised to see him awake.
"You should be sleeping. The sun will be up in an hour, and we need to leave right away."
"Are you really going to leave him behind? He is still Gifted, even if he doesn't want his powers—you said it yourself."
Flora scoffed.
"I know that! But he left hours ago and didn't say anything about where. He's probably lost right now, and there's no way we could find him in this massive jungle."
"Shouldn't we wait a little longer to see if he returns? I think you underestimate him, even if his power sounds useless."
***
Cullen stood before another Abomination, wondering how his luck could get worse.
As it turned out, the compass did not lead to anything helpful. Instead, it brought Cullen to the same type of Abomination he had fought before.
All Cullen could do was stare at it, trying to understand what had gone wrong.
'The wolf's ability was its antenna that tracks prey, so why did it lead me to another wolf?'
Although it seemed like a dead end, Cullen was trying to think of a way to alter his situation.
This couldn't be the extent of his power! There had to be more he could do.
Cullen took out the two objects he had created with his ability and carefully inspected them.
'Every Abomination is different, except when a Class-E creates them. I've already seen the two walking orbs on the beach, and now this tracking wolf. If I killed the same Abomination again, would my ability generate the same object?'
Just then, an idea popped into Cullen's mind.
'If I could control my power, could I alter the object to what I want?'
After a couple of minutes of thinking, Cullen came up with a plan to test his theory.
He would kill the Abomination before him, but this time, he would try to create a compass that would lead him to the nearest human!
Cullen had just received his ability, so he had no idea whether it would work. But still, he couldn't think of anything better to do.
He took out his dagger and began to approach the wolf slowly. Since he had fought the other one, he already knew its weakness. Also, it appeared to be resting its ability, which meant that it couldn't be active at all times!
Sadly, the Abomination was lying in a fetal position while covering its antenna with its limbs. He could see it shining through a small opening, which would be where he aimed to strike.
Without much trouble, Cullen climbed the nearest tree and found a spot where he could jump from. He would use this force to land on the wolf and instantly shatter its core with his dagger.
Cullen jumped.
CRACK!
Unfortunately, the force he used to make his jump broke the branch he was standing on, sending it flying down with him.
'Shit!'
The branch hit the ground before Cullen, startling the Abomination as it jumped to its feet. Cullen sadly couldn't change his direction midair. He would land right on the wolf's back!
'As long as I can cut through its antenna before it notices me, it won't be able to attack!'
The wolf couldn't tell where Cullen was until he had landed on its back, but it was already too late.
Cullen cut the wolf's antenna off before it could react, causing its main body to go limp.
He looked at the squirming antenna on the ground.
'I need to focus this time. If I can really change the objects it turns into, my ability will be much more useful than I thought.'
Cullen knelt on the muddy ground and lifted his dagger above his head. He closed his eyes, thought about Flora and Henry, and tried to imagine himself finding a way back.
A compass that would track the nearest human.
Plunging the dagger into the core, he tried his hardest to imagine and shape the object. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and looked at his creation.
Another compass lay on the ground, colored ivory instead of scarlet.
***
"I can't believe you left him behind!"
Flora was walking in front of Henry, clearing a path through the vine-covered jungle while also trying to ignore him. Just like she had said, they left as soon as the sun came up.
"What type of Gifted leaves another Gifted behind. I mean, aren't you supposed to team up and protect humanity? What will happen if the Academy finds out you left him back there to die?"
Although Henry was young, he still had a way of getting to Flora.
"I didn't leave him behind- he wandered off himself. He also made it clear he didn't want to be with us! I wasn't gonna wait around and jeopardize our survival waiting for someone who wouldn't show up!"
Henry had no response to that. Instead, he kept following Flora through the dense jungle.
They had been walking for over an hour, yet nothing had changed. It was still infested with living vines and overgrown plants. Like before, Flora could cut through the regular vegetation, but the vines were still too dangerous to touch.
On their walk, they had encountered one Abomination, but it was only a small bird instantly vaporized by Flora's beam. Although it may have posed a threat at night, most Abominations they encountered stood no chance against Flora during the day. She was just too powerful with the sun fueling her ability.
From dawn, the sun's angle became more and more direct. Once it is directly above them, Flora will reach her maximum output, putting her above most Gifted around her level. After, the sun's angle became shallower until eventually it set. Once it's night, Flora can still use some of the sun's energy, but it is around ten times less than at her peak. However, her strength was enough to keep them alive during the night.
Flora cut another branch in front of her, but stopped this time after she heard rustling in the leaves ahead of her.
She whispered to Henry, "Stay behind me", and placed herself in front of him.
However, what came through the brush ahead of them was not an Abomination, but Cullen holding a compass.
He smiled as soon as he saw them.
'It worked.'
***
"How did you find us?"
Flora knew how hard it was to move through The Island, but navigating it seemed almost impossible. There were no noticeable landmarks to follow, and they'd been walking for hours!
Suddenly, Flora realized he might be more interesting than she thought.
"I killed an Abomination with the ability to track its prey. I then used my ability to transform it into this compass, which led me back to you."
On his way back, Cullen decided that he wouldn't give up his life that easily anymore. He came scarily close to dying before when he was tangled in vines. Now, after he proved how useful his ability could be, he figured that there were countless ways he could use it. Dying without exploring his ability would be a waste, so that came to be his reason for living.
"You can use your ability like that?"
'I thought it was just a way to make weapons, but capturing the ability of an Abomination? That's an unheard-of power!'
"So if we found and killed another, could you make a compass to track anything?"
Cullen paused for a second, unsure how he would do that.
"I think- maybe? I'm still not really sure how it works. I've only killed two of them so far. I believe one compass tracks the nearest Abomination, while the other tracks the nearest human. If we find another, I could try to target a specific point, but I don't know if it will work."
Flora was shocked at how useful his ability could be. She glanced at Henry, who was grinning with an "I told you so" look.
"We're heading in the general direction of the center, but I don't know exactly where it is." She explained. "If we find another one of those Abominations, we should try to track the center of the island with your ability. We can also use the other compass to stay away from any Abominations while we travel."
Cullen stared at her for a while, feeling like she had forgotten what had happened earlier. But instead of arguing, he just agreed.
The three of them continued walking towards the center, hoping to avoid any problems.
Five minutes later, a man fell out of the sky.