After confirming his escape, Cullen took off the mask and began to examine it in depth. It was a black withering mask, similar to the Cursed Child's skin, but it had no strings attached to it. Instead, it magically stuck to his face, only covering his mouth. There was no mark or opening for Cullen to breathe through, yet he felt completely normal while it was on him. He almost forgot he was still wearing it.
'My getaway completely surpassed my expectations. Although my gut hurts like hell, I now have my most powerful object yet! This ability was even able to subdue Eddie, who is much stronger than me!'
On top of that, Cullen would be able to use it much better than the Cursed Child. Since it relied on its ability to kill its opponent, it couldn't do much besides give commands. It lacked strength, unlike Cullen. He could simply tell something to stop moving, then attack it while frozen.
'A fitting name for this is the Cursed Mask.'
With this new ability, Cullen felt much more confident fighting the Transforming Snake.
'The most challenging part of the Transforming Snake is its core, at 7 Tavros. Luckily, I've already broken the Kamikaze, which was 8. My strength has also increased a little since then.
Now, Cullen's objective was to hunt a few Wolves. He first needed a compass to the Kamikaze, then one to the Transforming Snake. Actually, he needed one for every Abomination he would fight.
'This is becoming too much of a burden now. I can't carry all these compasses, much less fight with them on me. However, I can't get rid of them or store them somewhere else…'
In total, Cullen had his dagger, the Cursed Mask, the arm band, the Eye Amulet, and four compasses. He used or trashed everything else he previously had in order to be more versatile. Cullen was also planning to get three or four more compasses and a new Mini Kamikaze!
For now, Cullen decided to travel to the next closest Abomination and figure it out later. With that, he took out the scarlet compass and started to track his prey.
***
Three hours later, Cullen was ready for the fight.
It took him two wolves to make the compasses, one to a Kamizake, and the other to the Transforming Snake. After, he hunted the Kamizake and killed it fairly easily.
Unlike last time, it only took two blows to shatter its core. He also told it "don't blow up", which hurt, but stopped it from sending him across The Island.
With an escape plan, a new ability, and enough strength to suffice, Cullen used triangulation to determine he was about 45 minutes away from the nearest Transforming Snake.
However, he had to make a sacrifice before leaving.
'With the two new compasses and the Mini Kamizake, my pockets are more than full. It's bad enough that it may even cost me my life in combat. I think the best objects to get rid of are the compass to The Island's core, and the compass to the nearest human.'
The reason for this was simple. He already knew where the core was, and could reach it by using the compass to the center. In fact, he probably should have realized this a while ago. As for the closet human, Cullen couldn't think of a situation where he would need it on The Island. Maybe he would find one later, but he could always recreate it if needed.
Cullen decided to bury these to ensure he wasn't being tracked or followed. He didn't want anyone to possess one of his objects, for fear of their studying them to learn more about his ability. Quickly digging a hole with his hands, Cullen put the compasses in and buried them while concealing the location.
After, he started his hunt.
***
"So let me get this straight…"
Eddie was awkwardly sitting in a chair, bracing himself from Rachel's scolding.
"You not only let Cullen get away, but you allowed him to steal the power of a Grade-B Abomination?! And a powerful one too! Did you give him anything else? Maybe something that turns him invisible?"
Eddie, Rachel, and Nova were in a private room at The Island's center, accompanied by Lucas, who was acting as their superior for now. He wasn't doing a great job, though, since he'd been laughing the entire meeting.
"That's my student! Who else could take down a Grade-B and steal their ability? I can't wait to see what other inventions he's come up with…"
This made Rachel even more furious.
"You aren't helping either! For how strong you're supposed to be, I put your intelligence on par with Eddie's!"
Rachel didn't listen to anything Eddie had tried to tell them and was beyond fed up with Lucas.
"I was more focused on surviving and protecting the kid than on what would come next. The Cursed Child is scary ya know!"
Rachel, who had long black hair and brown eyes, clenched her fists while trying to calm herself down.
The three of them had worked in the city before and had recently been assigned to guard this place. Although it was supposed to be a promotion, all they did was sit in the watchtower for 12 hours a day. Additionally, there was only one other group of Gifted individuals here. Including Lucas, that made 7 Gifted on The Island. Well, technically 8…
"Are you really saying you were scared?" Nova responded. "You'd probably get sent back to the city if anyone found out how much of a wimp you are. Wait… maybe that's not a bad idea…"
Nova, who looked the exact opposite of Rachel, actually had a pretty similar personality. Her medium ivory hair and blue eyes stunned any man she came across, which was put to waste because of her ability. Almost like a porcupine, her hair could turn stiff and extremely strong. Once she tore off some, she could flick them at an enemy, sending countless needles flying in their direction. Because of this, she often had clumps of hair missing from her head. Luckily, her ability came with increased growth speed, so it was back in a couple of days. Her strength was an 8 Tavros.
Eddie had the most physical strength out of the three of them, at a 14 Tavros. However, his ability didn't increase his fighting power like the others. Instead, it gave him rapid healing to any wounds that weren't fatal.
"Say, Lucas, how do you plan on catching him?"
Eddie interrupted his laughter, which was like daggers in his ears.
"You said that you were sure he'd come back, but he seemed pretty against it. I even told him that we wouldn't hurt him, but I'm not sure he was listening."
Lucas simply smiled.
"I haven't told you exactly why yet, but I'm sure his goal lies at the center. We just have to wait until that happens."
"What about the other thing you said?"
This time, it was Rachel who intervened.
"You claim to have the best sense, yet he slipped past you for the second time! How will we even know the next time he comes?"
After thinking for a moment, Lucas responded.
"I'm getting stronger by the day, so I should hopefully be able to reach past whatever object he created soon. Even if I can't, we will definitely know the next time he comes. It may be too late to stop him, though…"
"For now, I want you three to study everything about the Cursed Child during your breaks. We need to know what powers his new invention has, and how to counter them."
***
"Forget you saw me and leave."
As an excruciating pain shot through Cullen's head, the Abomination in front of him suddenly stopped. The Wolf, who was previously baring its fangs at Cullen, grew calmer and backed away from him. He watched as its gigantic figure disappeared into the lush jungle, something completely unbefitting of an Abomination.
'So that means the Cursed Mask's ability can also affect one's mind. If I tell someone to forget something, it will probably work for a little while. I doubt that I could completely erase a memory, though.'
On the way to the Transforming Snake, Cullen decided to take a detour and test his new mask to become more familiar with its abilities.
The most significant discovery was how Cullen's pain fluctuated in intensity. It seemed that giving more complex orders or trying to command a stronger opponent both increased the pain he felt. For example, saying "die" was more painful than saying "run away", because it requires more action to happen. Commanding a powerful foe directly, such as The Island, may knock him unconscious or even kill him.
With this knowledge, he was certain that killing the Transforming Snake would be fairly easy. All he needed to do was freeze it for a moment, then take it out in a single strike.
'Even so, I doubt it will be that easy. It's known for being unpredictable and deadly. I should never consider a fight easy before going in, as it may be my downfall.'
A bit later, Cullen found his target.