With Lyra's authentication, the three of them entered the cage of the unnamed Abomination.
Cullen looked at the ability one last time before walking in.
Ability: Can capture and store items in its own body, then bring them out for later use. The items it can hold far exceed its size.
'I decided that a backpack would be the best way to use its ability. I'll have to leave it behind during fights, but I should still be able to fit everything in there. It's also not hard for me to create.'
Inside the cage, Cullen saw the Abomination held in place by a stone prison, only its head poking through. He paid attention to the small core in its brain.
"This one's a 20 Tavros, so it shouldn't be hard for you to kill." Lyra handed him a small knife. "This will help."
Cullen grabbed it, then was immediately reminded of his dagger.
"What is this?"
"It's a weapon made by a certain Gifted in the government. It's Tavros is 72, and should help you get started on your mission."
Cullen examined the small blade, surprised at its durability.
'72? This small thing?'
"Go on, test it out."
He looked back at the Abomination, then pictured his creation. Just like the dagger, Cullen held the blade up, then brought it down into its skull.
It cleanly slid through, like cutting paper. He barely needed any effort to pierce and destroy the core.
Lyra and August, who had never seen his ability in action, watched the scene closely. Eventually, a furry backpack was left behind. Cullen walked over and picked it up.
'This is pretty much what I wanted. Besides the fur, though. That came from the Abomination.'
Cullen opened it and peered inside, not entirely sure what he would see. His eyes widened after.
Noticing his change, Lyra and August also looked.
Through the backpack's opening, an ample space, approximately 5x5x5 meters, could be seen. But strangely, when Cullen reached his hand through, he could feel every edge as if it were close to him.
"That's freaky."
Cullen took the items from his pocket and placed them in the backpack, then zipped it shut.
"Let's go to the next one."
'Cannon.'
Ability: Can suck in matter through its mouth, including air, normal objects, and even [RESTRICTED]. It will compress this into a single bullet, then fire it back out.
"This one's Tavros is 50, but is being weakened in its restraints. You should also be able to handle it yourself. Just make sure you destroy both eyes quickly before it regenerates."
Cullen turned from Lyra and forced himself to look at the mess in front of them. Just like the description said, it was a putrid blob of some flesh, forcing Cullen to block his nose.
'I've tried to come up with the perfect use of its ability, but it's much harder actually to make. It has such firepower, but will be used by a normal human.'
Greye would be coming with Cullen on their mission, meaning that his protection was even more critical now.
'Luckily, I'm familiar with guns.'
Cullen, not wanting to look at the creature anymore, quickly raised the knife and thrust it into its left eye. A little resistance opposed him, but it wasn't strong enough to stop Cullen's attack. Next was the right eye. He didn't even breathe in between strikes, and the Abomination was dead.
Left behind, a small pistol was all the massive blob amounted to. Cullen picked it up and held it in his right hand, ensuring that every piece was put together correctly.
"How does it work?" August asked.
"It slowly gathers air in the chamber and compresses it, then it will fire after the trigger is pulled. I don't know how strong the bullet can get, but I do know it will take a while to recharge. I needed to create it in a way so that a normal human can carry it around."
Cullen handed the gun to August.
"Thanks, I'll give it to Greye and let him know how it works. You can probably explain it better than I, though, so let him know when you leave tomorrow."
***
Cullen returned to his room in headquarters late that night. Tomorrow, he would go farther away from the city than he ever had before. But it didn't scare him, actually; he felt good.
Lucas's words that day, before he killed The Island, made Cullen realize what he wanted the most.
To leave.
Frankly, it hurt his brain to think of all the government's schemes. It wasn't hard to tell that they were using him, along with almost everyone he had met. The few that weren't, though, all knew the same thing. How much better it would be without them.
The government wanted to push humanity further. Although they may not admit it, they believed that The God and The Devil's arrival was a good thing. That it was the next step in evolution.
But for Cullen, no matter how far humanity advances, it would have never been worth it. Still, being on the outskirts by himself didn't seem like the worst thing.
'I need to be stronger. If I want any of these things to happen, killing The Amethyst Burrow is the next step.'
With that and only that in his head, Cullen fell asleep.
***
"Everyone needs to grab my arm. It will feel like you never left this place, like you blinked and found yourself somewhere else."
Cullen, Eric, Ryan, and Adam held onto Greye's arm with skepticism. It was hard to trust an Abomination.
"When we travel far distances, it's hard for me to control where we end up. Expect anything."
"Yeah, yeah, just go ahead and do it," Adam said impatiently. "You're acting like we're a bunch of ki-"
Moist air hit Cullen in the face before he even realized what happened. His feet sank into the ground beneath him, and trees appeared around him.
"We're somewhere in the Florida Everglades. It should be around 24 hours before we can jump again."
Cullen looked around, then pulled his compass out of his pocket.
'Oh… I forgot.'
It pointed at Greye.
"Are we gonna set up camp here or move while it recharges?" Ryan asked.
Instead of speaking, Eric looked at Greye for an answer.
"It really doesn't matter. It will take two more trips, no matter what, so you can do what you want."
"Then we'll find an open area and wait." Eric held his hand out, the water below responding. "It would be a pain to travel with a normal human anyway. I can sense an area this way."
The four of them followed Eric to a vast river, around 100 meters wide. Then, Cullen witnessed as the water in front of him parted.
Despite it traveling in one direction, Eric's ability disrupted the flow and completely drained an area.
"Whoa."
Without saying a word, Eric jumped to the middle and sat down.
Out of the five of them, the Triarch was the only one who wore armor. Golden blue enveloped his chest, along with an elegant cape showing a serpent. Of course, he also carried his sword, which Cullen had yet to see used. But he'd heard stories.
The rest of them followed, taking advantage of the open area and eliminating most sneak attacks.
"So you just want us to wait here for a day," Adam asked, annoyed.
"Yes."
It was around noon, meaning they had a lot of daylight ahead of them. Knowing Adam, Cullen doubted he would make it that far.
Adam scoffed at Eric, then looked at Cullen and smiled.
"Oh, I almost forgot."
He took out a pebble from his pocket.
'Great.'
Four hours later, Cullen couldn't stand anymore and lay sprawling across the drained river bottom. He wore the vest the entire time, which Adam claimed would, without a doubt, pay off. But Cullen felt trapped not having a say in the matter.
He looked at the others, then found Ryan staring at him.
"Have I told you about my ability yet?"
After a few minutes, Cullen's view on abilities had changed completely. In fact, he no longer thought his was the most unique.
"I'm telling you this so you can understand what I've been going through."
Cullen looked confused.
"What are you talking about?"
"Those vines of yours are really something. I've tried to attack you multiple times now, but get stopped no matter what I try."
Cullen shot to his feet, and Adam started laughing.
"What? You've been attacking me?"
"Relax, kid. It didn't really happen, did it? I just want to understand that power of yours."
"Did you really need to tell him?" Greye intervened. "You could have just said nothing."
"Seems like you're trying to get on his nerves, huh!"
Ryan glared at Adam.
"So you've been getting beaten up by a month-old Gifted for how long now?"
"I'd like to see you try," Ryan shot back. "C'mon, I can give you a signal, then if you really do get through him, I'll just change pathways."
During all of this, Cullen could only pray Eric would intervene.
'This trip is already making me regret coming.'