Just like he practiced, Cullen entered a stance with his sword that allowed him to plunge it forward. He could use his entire body in the attack, as well as the growing properties the Transforming Spiralblade had!
He bent his knees, loosened his muscles, and prepared himself to go all out.
Then, in a flash too quick for a normal eye to see, he struck the core while simultaneously activating his sword's ability. The force generated by this one blow was astronomical, the highest output Cullen ever achieved!
And yet, when it hit the core, it felt as if all that power shot straight back into Cullen.
He was launched backwards. A headache began to form as the rest of his body tried to overcome the numbness.
'Shit! I'm too far away from the core!'
Cullen hurriedly scrambled back towards the center and checked that his arm was still attached.
'Damnit! Am I still not strong enough?'
As the taste of blood appeared in his mouth, he dropped his sword and started punching the core.
"I need more strength!"
Blood began to fly around Cullen, and his eyes began to water.
"I can't be weak anymore!"
If Cullen weren't Gifted, this would be like punching a brick wall. Except that the wall would at least suffer a little.
He hid while Darron was fighting Arthur and let him die. He gave up trying to save Henry and was willing to kill a kid. He ran away from Lucas and Flora because he was afraid.
Cullen gritted his teeth and glared at the core.
Arthur was the first Abomination he had ever seen, and it's the reason he's here now. Abominations were the root cause of everything wrong.
Then, he picked up the sword, his grip strong enough to compress the hilt, and struck again. The Spiralblade expanded right before contact, adding useless force that would only backfire.
Over and over, he got knocked down and rose back up.
Even after he couldn't feel his arm, after getting sent flying into a brutal mental attack, his eyes remained focused on one object.
'Is this what every Gifted feels like? Is this what Flora was talking about? Abominations are definitely humanity's greatest enemy, because all I want right now is to destroy this thing.'
Cullen had been to and from this single Abomination many times. And every time he reached the center, it was like the Mindcradle was mocking him. The core was right there in the open, yet Cullen was too lacking to break it.
If Darron had become a Gifted, he would be strong enough to lift mountains. If Charlotte were chosen, she would be able to command armies. He did not doubt that they were better candidates, but instead of those two, The God chose Cullen.
'I'm useless!'
He pushed off the ground with his feet, thrust his sword while extending it, and used his whole body to amplify the blow.
Clank!
Yet again, Cullen was flung backwards, but he noticed something strange.
He hadn't been thrown as far. When he landed, the core still remained close enough to block the mental attacks.
Looking back at the core, he noticed a small flake had fallen to the ground.
'This isn't enough!'
Blinding light from the inside shot out through the minuscule opening, as if showing Cullen his goal.
So he rose again, lifted his sword, and aimed for the gap.
After repeating the process of striking the core, he no longer felt any backlash. Instead, he found that the Transforming Spiralblade had gotten stuck inside!
"JUST DIE ALREADY!"
Cullen used every ounce of strength left in him to enlarge the blade past its limits while it was stuck inside. Portions of light escaped the cracks, as a mind attack bombarded him.
Even this close to the core, there was no escaping it this time.
Never-ending nightmares festered in his head, trying to convince him to let go. The unimaginable pain he felt was far greater than the Mindcradle's previous ability.
Let go, and it will all end.
You can see your family again.
The parents you've never met.
Darron and Arbor wait for you.
But Cullen had felt these thoughts before.
Instead of releasing his weapon, his grip only grew stronger. Instead of walking away, his legs pushed harder.
And during all this time, even through the agony, Cullen's eyes remained locked onto the Mindcradle.
Fighting against the desperate Abominations' final effort only gave Cullen satisfaction. And as he felt his sword break through the entire core, he finally allowed himself to give up.
***
Cullen slowly came to his senses as he woke on the ground, thinking about how many more he would pass out like this.
Once again, the sunlight slipped between the small openings in the treetop and shone on Cullen's face, reminding him that he remained on The Island.
'I did it. Even if I had to degrade myself, I shattered a core at 20 Tavros. The only problem… is that I passed out before I could create something from it.'
Cullen closed his eyes and faced the direction of the core, not willing to open them and be let down.
He tried to accept that it was most likely not what he envisioned. After all, Cullen never fully finished that idea. When he first killed Arthur, it turned into a dagger because he was thinking of a weapon. After he killed the Wolf, which gave him a compass even though Cullen wasn't imagining that, it seems that the ability manifested itself in whatever he was familiar with.
What was he thinking of when he killed the Mindcradle? How much he hated it. No, how much he hated Abominations. As a result, Cullen had no clue what to expect.
He slowly opened one eye and saw nothing at first. There was no sign of the core or anything created from it until he looked closer. Right below where it hovered, a small silver ring rested on the ground, covered in dirt and blood. Cullen's blood, from before.
Cullen was filled with hope for a short moment, but realized that this could be any ability, harmful or helpful. He approached it and bent down, tapping it gently with one finger. Half-expecting to be bombarded with mental attacks, Cullen was glad to find out that was not the case.
'Maybe it works like the Mindcradles' ability? If I back up a bit, I should start to feel its effects.'
After moving far enough away, he confirmed that the ring hadn't directly replicated its ability. And by walking just a small distance, he also confirmed how severe his injuries were.
Cullen's entire body was sore as a result of his all-out attacks. But worse than that, he could barely lift his right arm. This wasn't the same feeling he got after training, either.
'I can tell it isn't broken, but I might have a minor fracture. Hopefully, my Gifted body can heal quickly; otherwise, I won't last long on The Island.'
The good news is that Cullen could now confirm that the Tavros of an Abomination doesn't mean you absolutely need it. And if he ever came across another Gifted that didn't want to capture him, he would ask what exactly it meant. For now, he assumed it was the strength required to break something with relative ease.
The bad news is that Cullen is still far away from competing with the Jade Titan or The Island. He definitely couldn't muster enough strength to beat those two in time, so he would have to rely on other strategies. With any luck, they will have more weaknesses than the Mindcradle.
'The first thing I want to do is find a weaker Abomination to test the ring on.'
Cullen approached the ring and picked it up cautiously, this time noticing the designs. It seemed to be made of silver, which was strange considering the Mindcradle didn't have any. Well, its body only consisted of a core, but who knew what those were made of.
Looking closer, he saw five hands ingrained on the side. They were like palm prints, except one of them was missing a pinky finger, and a different one had a hole in the middle.
'This is strange… it has nothing to do with me or the Mindcradle! So why did my ability put these on it? Could it be involved with The Island? That's my only logical guess, since The Island creates the Mindcradle.'
Ignoring that for now, Cullen braced himself as he was about to put the ring on his finger. He carefully slid it in, yet nothing happened. After taking it off and trying each finger on both hands, he was met with the same result.
'At this point, I must be immune to it. Or maybe it only targets Abominations? The sooner I can find one to test it on, the sooner I can plan my attacks.'
The problem with that was Cullen's injuries. It would be reckless to encounter any Abomination, regardless of its strength. One wrong move could still mean the end.