"Damn it damn it! I almost had it!"
Cullen had taken a fighting stance with his dagger, while Flora extended one hand and shielded Henry with the other.
They watched as the young man in front of them pounded the ground with his fists, obviously angry about something.
Cullen was the first one to speak, alerting the man to their presence.
"Who are you?!"
He looked up from the ground, revealing an Asian man with dyed blond hair; his expression became just as shocked as theirs.
Then, his eyes widened even more.
"You three! Are you the Gifted that August was with?"
Before answering, Cullen quickly glanced at his compass to ensure he wasn't an Abomination.
'It's pointing away from him, so he probably isn't one. We should still be careful though…'
"We are. Do you know where August is?"
The man jumped to his feet and approached Cullen.
"Of course! He's currently leading a group of Gifted to fight against The Island's attacks. He was extremely worried about you three- it's good to see you safe!"
Cullen had to back up a little because of how close he had gotten to his face.
"Yea… and who are you?"
The man smiled, extended his hand, and spoke unreasonably loudly for someone so close.
"I'm Lucas, a group leader in the Academy!"
Cullen shook Lucas's hand with absolutely no idea what he was talking about.
Finally, Flora spoke:
"You said August was fighting against The Island? Does that mean he's here now?"
"And… how come you fell out of the sky?" Cullen added.
Lucas laughed.
"I guess you have missed a lot, that explains why you're so clueless. Let me explain what's been happening while you've been gone."
As it turned out, they were the first victims of The Island. Like all Grade-E Abominations, The Island needs to absorb organic matter in order to grow. No one knows how it was created. No one knows who became it. It just popped up on an island in the middle of the ocean one day and began to eat everything. The Island absorbed all marine life as it continued to grow. Eventually, the government fought back and established warships to prevent its expansion. They also sent Gifted to The Island to try and destroy the core, but no one could find it.
Recently, the Abominations that sent Cullen, Flora, and Henry to The Island started showing up on the shores nearby. These were named "Kamikazes", whose sole purpose was to bring food to The Island. These Abominations grow on The Island and travel on the ocean floor to beaches.
Somehow, they were unnoticed.
This revealed a dangerous truth about the seven Ecosystems: the power to evolve. When humanity shut off The Island, it developed other ways to get food. This severely raised the caution humanity must take towards the Grade-E Abominations.
Lucas was a part of a Gifted force in The City fighting against the Kamikazes. Sadly, this meant that August wasn't on The Island.
However, Cullen's opinion of August rose as he learned he commanded a whole army of Gifted.
'How much power did he have in the government?'
"Anyways, I was fighting the Kamikazes when one of them got the jump on me! Those damn monsters better be sorry they delivered me straight to their motherland. I might just destroy the whole island to get my revenge!"
'He is way too optimistic for someone who was just sent to one of the strongest Abominations…'
Flora spoke, interrupting Lucas's babbling.
"We've been trying to reach the center of The Island, but we don't exactly know how to get there. Can you help us?"
Lucas paused in thought for a second, then looked back at the three of them.
"Of course! I must return anyway, so I'll bring you three along. Just give me a second…"
Flora and Cullen spent the next minute watching Lucas become even stranger. He was swiping and touching the air in front of him, almost like he was conducting a band. All while this was happening, he was shouting swears and obscenities at the nothingness in front of him.
"1,000,000 QI for this?! I must be getting scammed!"
That last sentence made something click in Flora's head, and Cullen noticed her shocked expression.
"Wait… I've heard of you before! You're the Cultivator!"
Cullen had no idea what Flora was talking about, but Lucas just looked at her with a friendly expression.
"Yep, my ability allows me to cultivate QI and spend it to strengthen myself."
Cullen looked at Flora, confused.
"Wait, how do you know him? And what does cultivate mean?"
Flora, reminded of Cullen's cluelessness, just rolled her eyes at him.
"He received his ability at a very young age and was one of the first humans to become Gifted. He also has an extremely unique ability."
As Flora spoke, Lucas bent his knees and jumped into the air.
This jump, however, even puts August's to shame.
He easily cleared the tree line, soaring into the sky and scouting the surrounding area.
After a few seconds, he landed back on the ground, cracking the Earth and sending dust flying all around him.
Lucas sighed.
"I didn't see anything that looked like the camp at the center. They should really put a beacon down or something…"
Cullen was still in shock at the insane display of physical strength.
"H-How did you do that?"
Lucas looked at Cullen, not annoyed by his questions at all.
"I spent my QI to enhance my physical body temporarily. It will take a while to get back, though."
'So he can gain temporary boosts by spending QI, but he has to generate more in order to do it again. Still… I've never seen anything that powerful.'
As Cullen examined Lucas, he noticed a slight grin appear on his face.
"Watch this!"
He lifted his hand and aimed at a nearby tree, shooting a burst of blue lightning out of his palm. Not only did it put a hole straight through the wood, but his entire body glowed like he had been electrified.
"I can also fuse lightning into my attacks, but it's quite costly to do real damage. What I just showed you was only a fraction of my QI, so it wasn't that impressive."
'Wasn't that impressive?'
Cullen had never seen a Gifted show off like this before. His view of the government was changing more than ever now that he was forced to get involved.
"Enough, you two! We need to get to safety. Did you forget there's a regular human with us?"
Flora began to explain their current situation to Lucas. They were traveling in the general direction of the center, but didn't know exactly where it was. She also talked about Cullen's ability to create compasses by killing the Wolves. Sadly, they had to find another Abomination to test it, and they didn't know if the compass would lead to a Wolf or a more dangerous Abomination.
Lucas listened with great interest.
"August told me about both your abilities, but I never expected Cullen's to be that extensive. If you learn to control it more, you should visit the Abomination Center in the city. Your ability could be beneficial there."
Cullen looked confused, so Flora spoke for him:
"He doesn't know what that is, and probably is clueless about many more things. I don't even know how he became a Gifted when he is this uneducated."
Flora's insults offended Cullen, but Lucas chuckled and didn't seem to mind.
"The Abomination Center is an underground jail in the city that holds all the Abominations we've been able to capture. It relates to you because of the vast number of abilities that are held in there. You may be able to turn some of those useless monsters into something that can benefit us."
To Cullen, this sounded like he was a child picking out presents at a toy store. Not that he had even been to one...
'I should definitely ask August to bring me there once we get back, but I don't know how involved I can get with the government. I'm still a criminal after all.'
"I have a great idea! You three were on your way to the Academy, right? I mentioned that I was a new group leader, so I can practice with both of you!"
Cullen looked skeptical.
"Practice with us?"
"Absolutely! I'll need to train and command a group of Gifted soldiers pretty soon, so I can start with you two. This works especially well, since you have no clue what you're doing."
Flora was also doubtful of Lucas's idea.
"Shouldn't we focus on escaping The Island first? Henry is still a normal human and is in constant danger while we are here."
Her words seemed to fly right over his head.
"Don't worry about that, you have me to protect you! We can start by following that compass of yours and killing a few Abominations."
Lucas's bright spirit made it hard to contest him.
"C'mon, it'll be easy!"
The three of them couldn't argue as they reluctantly followed him.