After killing another Kamikaze, bringing his total to two, Cullen decided to go to the core and figure out what he needed to destroy it.
'With two Mini Kamikazes, I should have no problem looking around before I use one to escape. Besides, it shouldn't be anything I haven't seen before.'
The files stated that the core was located in a cavern below the center, and that all kinds of Abominations from The Island were there as well. Additionally, there are stronger vines with poisonous side effects.
'The main purpose of this is to find out three things. One, where exactly the core is. Two, where the other Abominations are, and how many of them guard the core. Lastly, I want to test out if this scepter will still work on the poisonous vines.'
Cullen believed it would, but he still wanted to make sure. Attacking the core without confirming everything would be rash.
Before, Cullen had found entrances to the cavern near the center.
Now, he stood in one of them.
It was a narrow cave that led into darkness, another problem Cullen hadn't considered.
'I'm pretty sure the Abominations can't see in the dark, so there should be some form of light down there. But I still have to get there through this area…'
After thinking for a bit, Cullen realized a solution.
One of the abilities of the Wolf was the glowing antenna on its head, which meant Cullen could kill it and then use his ability to make a light source.
About two hours later, Cullen was once again back at the cave entrance.
'It took me a while to find a Wolf, but my plan worked.'
In his hand was a small torch, the tip of it a glowing red orb.
He wasted no time and started proceeding cautiously down the tunnel. Around 50 steps in, he noticed a strange type of vine on the wall.
'These must be the poisonous ones.'
Coming from the middle, a few of these vines were on the edges of the tunnel. They looked just like the normal ones, except they had purple thorns on the edges.
Cullen held the torch in his left hand and the Jade Scepter in his right. He focused on its ability, sensing the vines around him.
'Unlike the normal vines, my range of control over these ones is only three meters. It's probably reduced for the Jade Titan as well.'
This was not a problem, as it still solved the issue of being attacked by them. Cullen could still order them not to attack if he accidentally touched one during battle.
Moving forward, Cullen continued for another 200 steps before he finally saw light ahead. A greenish-white color that slightly reminded him of the Jade Titan. Now, Cullen inched closer, being extremely careful of what may be ahead.
He saw that the tunnel ended around 10 steps ahead and opened into a larger space, one that he couldn't see too clearly this far away. Since there was now light, Cullen put away the torch and instead held a Mini Kamikaze.
He was ready to leave at any moment, preferably before an Abomination could attack him.
After a few more steps, Cullen reached the end and looked through the opening. As he took in the scene, his eyes slowly widened.
It was a vast cavern covered in vegetation and vines, and also swarming with Abominations. On the edges were dozens of lower-grade Abominations, all ones Cullen had seen before. Wolves, Ghost Monkeys, even a few Transforming Snakes were scattered throughout the area. At the center, a massive core with a diameter of 5 meters lit up the entire room. It shone a radiant emerald light and was held up by thick vines Cullen had never seen before. These vines themselves didn't move, but the poisonous vines were looped around them and the core at the center.
'This is it… The Island's core.'
The Abominations wouldn't notice Cullen unless he entered the cavern, so he was free to examine it for now.
'It's a fairly open space, and all the Abominations are on the walls, floor, and ceiling. This means that I'll only have to get past a few to reach it, which is the good news. The bad news is that I'm looking at a Grade-E core. With my strength right now, I just can't imagine myself destroying it.'
Cullen beat the Jade Titan because of an overwhelming advantage; the Abomination it was created from has to be much stronger.
'The only thing I can try is jumping from the top and onto the core. I will achieve the highest speed by doing this and will stand the best chance of breaking the core. But besides this, there's nothing else I can do except train my strength and-'
"Cullen."
A familiar voice came from behind him as a chill went down his spine.
Cullen was frozen in place, but eventually forced himself to turn around. In the tunnel he had come from, Lucas was standing ten steps away from him with a flashlight in his hand.
"I finally get to see you again."
Lucas sized Cullen up, and only then did he realize how much he had grown. His muscles were larger, his hair grew out, and he possessed many new weapons and strange objects from his ability.
"So are you here to kill The Island?"
Cullen was silent for a while, holding the Mini Kamikaze tightly.
"Yes, and you can't convince me otherwise. I don't care what will happen after or how impossible it may be."
Lucas smiled.
"You definitely haven't changed… in fact, your resolve is even stronger."
As he spoke, his smile gradually faded.
"I know my words won't change your mind, but I just want to tell you something."
He paused.
"A Triarch will be coming soon. I don't know if they plan to fight you or not, but you won't get your way if they're here."
"What?!"
Of course Cullen knew who the Triarchs were; everyone in The City did. But to think that one of the strongest Gifted would be coming to stop him... was insane.
"You've gotten a lot stronger, I can tell. Still, you're nowhere near the level of The Island. There are no tricks, no weaknesses, just a ball that you need to destroy. Unless you have some magic strength enhancer, there's no way you can do it alone."
He was running out of time.
Once the Triarch arrived, Cullen's plans would be ruined.
"Tavros was invented by a Gifted whose ability was to determine the physical strength of an individual. It's measured in "times stronger than an average human." I assume you saw this in the files, but never completely understood this."
Cullen didn't know what to say.
'I could guess this much, but why is he suddenly telling me?'
Lucas's eyes hardened.
"The Tavros of The Island's core isn't in the files… do you want to know?"
"It's 100. Your body needs to have the strength of a hundred humans to break this. Sure, you could knock it down a few with some tricks, but it won't be enough."
Just like that, Cullen's world shattered.
He knew Lucas, and even though he was trying to stop Cullen, he wouldn't lie. At this point, Cullen's strength might be a little higher than 20 Tavros. To reach 100, it would take years. On top of that, none of The Island's Abominations had abilities related to physical strength.
"Please, Cullen, there's still a chance if you come back now. You haven't done any irreversible damage, and you're still a kid."
He didn't realize it, but Cullen's eyes had started to water.
"I don't want you to kill yourself doing this."
After that, no one spoke for a while. Cullen's eyes were fixed on the ground below him, while Lucas's gaze was on Cullen.
To Lucas's surprise, Cullen was the one who broke the silence.
"Did they find anything out about me back at The City?"
Lucas's brows furrowed.
"No?"
'I guess I have nothing else to hide now…'
"I'm a criminal. Before I became a Gifted, I used to steal from people with my friends, who died that day. Pharmaceutical companies, wealthy business owners, and anyone who had money they didn't need. It was how we were able to live."
Lucas didn't say a word, but many things finally made sense.
"That day, our target was a worker who had been smuggling stage five pills from his own company. We thought he was selling them and decided to take them from him, but that wasn't the case."
A spark of understanding swept across Lucas's face.
"He turned into an Abomination right there on the street, chased us into a library, then hunted us down. That's when I became a Gifted. The God chose a criminal, someone completely unworthy."
When Cullen was finished, he looked up at Lucas to see his expression unmoved.
"So that's why you won't return. You're scared that the government will silence you because of your background."
Strangely enough, Lucas smiled.
"I don't think I need to tell you this, but the government isn't great. It's actually not crazy to feel the way you do. If I've learned one thing my entire time being a Gifted, it's this: Abominations aren't evil, and Gifted aren't righteous. This isn't good guys fighting bad guys; this is war. Two sides battle, each led by a leader. And the leaders don't care about anything besides winning."
After Lucas spoke, a lot of things made sense to Cullen. He still didn't know why The God had chosen him, but he knew why he was here right now.
'I'm running out of time...'
"Thank you, Lucas."
Cullen raised the Mini Kamikaze in his hand.
"Cullen, wait!"
But to Lucas's surprise, he didn't crush it in his hands. Instead, Cullen threw it right at him.