"I'll think of a way to create what you want, but I can't guarantee anything."
Cullen wanted to gain as much experience as possible before leaving, making this a valuable opportunity to practice.
"Thank you, Cullen. I promise I'll repay you somehow."
After thanking him, Greye walked back, and Cullen continued to search. However, with the limited access he had, he found no Abominations that were useful.
'Besides Cannon and that storage Abomination, I don't see a way to create anything that can help me. Of course, I could turn one into a weapon based on its physical appearance, but I don't want to waste its ability.'
On his way out, he went through the Abominations one last time to check if he had missed anything. He didn't.
The door creaked open, revealing the elevator Cullen had come down from.
'August is gone?'
He entered the elevator, traveling back up to the surface. Someone he wasn't too excited to see greeted him.
"Hey, Eddie."
Ever since The Island was destroyed, the Gifted stationed there had to find new roles in the city. Eddie had been driving Cullen around in secret and hiding him from the public.
"Cullen, you're meeting Adam at the training grounds now. August said to keep the Abominations you chose in mind while you work with him."
'Great.'
He didn't hate Eddie, but felt awkward around him after they fought. Adam, though, was a different story.
They left the building and drove off, starting a silent car ride.
'I don't know when we're leaving, but I need to make sure I'm as prepared as I can be. If I'm lucky, I can slip away during the mission and leave all this behind.'
A few days ago, they allowed Cullen to visit Char. The doctors said there was no telling when or if she would wake up, but they knew that she was asleep and couldn't hear anything. For that reason, Cullen left after seeing her once. There was nothing he could do for her there. He did look for a solution in the Abomination Center, something that may wake her up, but found nothing.
Cullen arrived at the training grounds and then proceeded to an enclosed area where Adam was using his ability. A pebble, the size of a bug, floated above his hand. But Cullen knew it was much more than a pebble.
"Finally, I've been waiting for half an hour. Any Abominations catch your eye?"
The government had machines, similar to punching bags, to determine one's Tavros accurately. Right now, Cullen's strength was 25. Adam's was 80. The Triarchs kept theirs a secret, but it was definitely in the hundreds.
"A few. But none that I can create weapons from."
"Whatever. With your ability, you'll be switching weapons left and right, so it's best to learn hand-to-hand combat first. Maybe you'll find an Abomination on our mission once we get there."
"More importantly, you need to increase your strength." Adam looked cautiously at Cullen. "Are your vines gonna attack me if I give you a suit?"
Two days ago, during training, Cullen had fought with Adam for the first time. It was there that he discovered how the vine tattoos work.
Cullen had no command over them. Instead, they react to protect him from physical harm. When Adam attempted to punch Cullen, the vines shot out from his shoulder and blocked the strike. When Adam threw rocks at him, the vines deflected them. In other words, Cullen had a Grade-E Abomination protecting him at all times.
"I… don't know."
Adam rolled his eyes.
"Try to calm your friend down."
The pebble in his hands expanded, then formed a stream of rocks that traveled to Cullen. With Adam's ability, telekinesis, he could condense a material to unreal pressures. The small pebble probably came from a boulder.
The stream wrapped around Cullen, then condensed back into a vest around his chest. Surprisingly, the vine tattoos did not come out.
'I guess this means that Adam's intent isn't to do any harm? No, it's more complicated than that. Falling boulders don't have any intent, but the vines still came out.'
The stone vest finished forming around Cullen, then immediately pulled him to the ground. It felt like his entire body had become heavier. It took all his strength to stand up, but his legs still felt like they would crumble.
"This is the best way to train your strength. Tell me when it gets too easy, and I'll add some weight."
'Too easy? I don't think this will ever be too easy.'
For the rest of training, Adam taught Cullen how to fight with his hands. Although they couldn't spar, Cullen could still follow instructions and learn the technique.
Ding.
Adam pulled out his phone.
"It's time. Let's go to headquarters."
'Already?'
Cullen stood there, waiting for Adam to take the vest off him. Instead, he started to walk away.
"Hurry up, please. Probably not a good idea to keep the Triarchs waiting," Adam taunted. "Oh, keep the vest on. You need it."
They arrived at headquarters, then a secretary led them to a room. In it, four people sat at a table—Greye and Lyra, whom Cullen had met before, and two others. One he had never seen in person, but of course knew him: Eric, Ruler of the Seas. The other Cullen had no clue.
"Great, we're all finally here." Lyra stood up. "Cullen, you probably know Eric, but I'm not sure you've met before."
She then signaled to the unknown man.
"This is Ryan. He will be joining you on your mission."
Cullen looked at Ryan, but was having a hard time focusing because of the vest.
"The five of you boys will be leaving tomorrow for your mission. Eric will be the Triarch who accompanies you and will also explain the details now."
"Wait—", Adam interrupted. "You won't be coming, Lyra?"
Cullen noticed Ryan rolling his eyes while Lyra smiled at Adam.
"No, we agreed that Eric is more fit for this mission."
Adam didn't say anything.
"Well, I'll leave you guys to it."
Lyra left the room, and Adam and Cullen sat down. At the same time, Eric stood up.
"Our mission is to eliminate Grade-E Abomination, The Amethyst Burrow. We have very little information on the Abomination itself, meaning there's no telling how long it will take. There's no telling if it's possible, either."
"What we do know is that the entrance is a massive chimney in Brazil. Inside, the Abomination works as a mining colony. It grows by gathering resources underground and expands its civilization beneath the surface. That's all we know."
'Wait… did he say Brazil?'
The Triarch signaled to Greye, who then stood up.
"I can teleport us there, but not easily. We will have to move in intervals, probably three times, and wait around 24 hours in between for the Abomination to recharge."
Cullen began to realize the size of this mission.
'Greye never mentioned that he could transport other people with him! Am I really going to travel to a different continent?'
"We will have to protect Greye for the entire mission, which will mainly be up to Ryan because of his ability."
"Once we arrive, we will take extreme precaution and examine everything closely before proceeding. We have no clue what kind of Abominations and abilities are created by The Amethyst Burrow."
"Cullen."
Everyone looked at him.
"The best result is you stealing the ability of The Amethyst Burrow. But if there is no way for you to kill it, I will take matters into my own hands. You should at least be able to use your ability on the lesser-grade Abominations."
"Aren't there other ways to enhance my strength so we can make the most of its death?"
Cullen knew how much of a missed opportunity it would be not to get its ability, whatever it may be.
"There may be, but we can't be sure it will work. If a Gifted could enhance your strength, they may get credit for the kill, and your ability won't activate. We don't have enough time or resources to test this."
'I may have made a mistake…'
Cullen knew the answer to that, but he couldn't tell them. He already lied and made up an excuse for killing The Island.
"We do know that you can use your ability if someone else weakens the Abomination, however. But that is a rare and dangerous situation. We'll discuss it again once we understand more."
After a few more words, Eric instructed the rest of them to meet back at headquarters at noon the following day. But Cullen had one more thing to do before he slept.
After confirming with August and forcing Adam to remove the vest, he was brought back to the Abomination Center.
Cullen found himself in the elevator talking with August again.
"Every Abomination is already weakened right now; that's how they're kept here. It should be easy for you to kill each one."
The door opened, revealing Lyra, who stood there smiling.
"Finally, choose your victims?"