As it turns out, this Abomination is named the Cursed Child. It's a Grade-A and marked as extremely dangerous. It commands a person to do anything as long as they're in range. One would need high levels of mental fortitude to resist its power, but even then, it was hard to stay unaffected. Its body isn't very strong, and its core is located in the brain.
'It also says it can only give one command at a time, which is probably the reason why I am still around. Once it commanded me to die, the previous command that stopped me from moving was lifted. It also can't make things magically happen, which is why I started to choke instead of dying instantly. However…'
The Cursed Child's ability bypasses any hearing protection one has. Its voice can travel through blocked ears, and even deaf people are affected by it.
'That's troublesome, and throws all my plans of killing it out the window. If I can't escape its ability, I will definitely die the next time I encounter it.'
Cullen went through the following pages until he found another familiar Grade-A Abomination, the Mindcradle.
'Similar to the Cursed Child, this one relies on mental attacks to kill its prey. Being close to it will inflict unimaginable pain, distort its victims, and keep them in a loop until they die of hunger or thirst. This is undoubtedly the one I was training at and got stuck in.'
In order to reach the core, you will need to resist its ability while traveling in a straight line. This will be difficult for most and is not recommended. The core itself is fairly durable and can only be broken by 20 Tavros.
'Tavros? I heard that before, but I'm not sure what it is… it seems to measure strength in a way.'
Cullen flipped back to where he had seen it earlier, on the Transforming Snake and Corrosive Swamp.
The skin of the Transforming Snake requires 5 Tavros to pierce, and the core 7 Tavros to break.
The core in the Corrosive Swamp requires 10 Tavros to shatter.
The core of the Cursed Child requires 10 Tavros to shatter.
It seemed that every Abomination had a number of Tavros describing how powerful one needed to be in order to break something. While Cullen didn't know the origin of this strange system, he could determine that he was around 8-9 Tavros.
'It says that the Kamikaze takes 8 Tavros to kill, and I was barely able to accomplish that. However, I have grown a bit stronger since then…'
Because of this, Cullen knew that killing the Transforming Snake wasn't impossible. It also explains why he couldn't even dent the Mindcradle's core, given that it was at 20. Frankly, Cullen was bothered by how 20 Tavros was described as 'fairly durable'. Just how strong were Gifted soldiers?
Putting that aside, Cullen continued to research the remaining Abominations.
There were two more left.
The first didn't even have a grade. Instead, it was called an Apex Predator. The description read:
Every Grade-E has an Apex Predator. There can only be two alive at any given time. If one is killed, another will be created. They are typically the strongest Abominations created by the Grade-E. These rules apply to every Grade-E.
This passage frightened Cullen a little, making the Apex Predator seem unbeatable, especially since Cullen knew that he must fight and kill one before The Island. If he couldn't defeat The Island's strongest warrior, how would he hope to beat it?
The name of the Apex Predator was the Jade Titan.
The Jade Titan is a 5-meter-tall knight with hardened green skin and a spear. It walks in a circle around The Island's core, always staying around 500 meters away from it. The closer it is to the core, the stronger it becomes. It fights with its spear to inflict lethal attacks with sheer strength. The Jade Titan's ability is complete control over The Island's vines within a ten-meter radius. The vines attack, constrain, and distract its opponent during the fight. Its skin requires 25 Tavros to pierce, and its spear 70. The core lies in its chest, requiring 30 Tavros to shatter.
'Well, now I know what to avoid. Piercing its skin alone is out of my capability, but its core is even stronger. Not to mention its spear can probably cut through anything on The Island. For now, I'd better focus on the other Abominations and leave this one alone.'
Even though Cullen had given up on fighting it, he already knew how beneficial its ability would be to him. He could recreate the spear it uses to fight, then give the holder the ability to control vines. Although it probably wouldn't be as formidable and would be useless everywhere except The Island, that kind of power would change everything.
Cullen would definitely kill it before challenging The Island.
Turning to the last page, Cullen was overjoyed to find information about The Island's core.
The core.
The Island's core is located in the center, underneath the recently built camp. Only authorized Gifted are allowed down there, and this information has not been released to the public. The exact strength of the core is unknown; however, the government has confirmed that some Gifted are capable of destroying it in case of emergency. The cavern in which it resides is home to many lower-level Abominations from all grades. However, there are no Apex Predators unless they were just recently created.
'That makes sense. The Jade Knights roam in a circle around the core, but never directly next to it. It will be easier to fight this way, but strangely inconvenient for The Island.'
There are also many vines in the cavern; these are far more dangerous than the surface vines. The hardest ones require 15 Tavros to cut, and they have small thorns that will poison anyone whose skin is pierced.
Now that Cullen had learned about the lower-grade Abominations, he began to develop a plan.
His desired order for hunting them was the Transforming Snake, the Mindcradle, and then the Jade Titan. Obviously, he would have to grow stronger between these fights and prepare cautiously.
Also, before hunting any of the Abominations, Cullen first wanted to kill a Kamikaze so he could gain another escape bomb. This way, if anything went wrong, he might be able to flee with his life.
In fact, Cullen dearly wished that he had one right now, because escaping from this building is almost impossible. There wasn't a view of the watchtower from inside, so he had no way of knowing if the guards were looking or not. They were stationed there 24/7, and new reinforcements came before the old ones left, so there were no openings either.
'I might be able to make a run for it and pray they don't notice me, but it's unlikely to work. Even the Eye Amulet can't prevent Gifted soldiers from seeing what's right in front of them. I also risk getting caught, which would be far worse…'
However, it wasn't looking like he had many options. There were no other exits besides the door he came in from, so he couldn't sneak out a different side. There were also no windows he could break through, not that it would hide him anyway. Loud noises would definitely alert the guards, rendering any idea of breaking through a wall impractical.
Seeing that he really was stuck, Cullen saw no other option but to go with his first plan.
'Chances are that they will discover I came, but I can probably outrun them back into the wilderness. It's better than rotting in this building forever.'
Cullen had many reasons for wanting to hide his visit to the center. First, they may think he died and stop or slow down the search for him. Revealing that he was still alive and infiltrating their base would definitely raise the bounty for him. Second, if they knew he had been looking at the Lower Grade Abominations, it would reveal his motives for killing them and getting stronger. This would make it easier for them to set a trap.
'All of that is out the window now… I guess I should get it over with.'
He exited the room and walked to the entrance, ready as he would ever be.
Then, he opened the door.
Wasting no time, Cullen instantly dashed into the forest, not even looking at the watchtower. Easily dodging vines and trees, he traversed the perilous jungle like he had lived there his whole life.
Just as he was about to stop and turn around, Cullen felt something grab the back of his head.
Slam!
His face was shoved into the ground, dirt smearing into his nose and mouth. Dazed, he attempted to get up, but was held down by an unbeatable force.
"Don't make this harder than it has to be, Cullen. I just need to bring you back with me; you've got a lot of people worried."
Just as he felt the grip loosen, Cullen swiftly pulled his dagger out and slashed at the man's arm. He felt it make contact, then slit through, leaving a gaping wound.
"Shit!"
The man reeled back as Cullen jumped to his feet and faced his attacker.
'This is the man from the watchtower! The one who was looking in my direction!'