"What?"
'He wants me to kill it?'
"You can take its crystals with your ability, right? It'd be helpful if we had more weapons, especially for you."
Cullen remembered standing there, doing nothing while everyone was being erased. Having one of those crystals would undoubtedly make him feel less helpless.
But could he kill it on his own?
Cullen would've told Adam that he only needed to break the core, but he had a feeling that Adam wanted to see Cullen defeat it.
'We have no way to test our Tavros here, but we also have no information on the Jewels, so I guess it doesn't matter. Only one way to find out.'
The Abomination was closer now, allowing Cullen to inspect its appearance. In fact, it looked just like the Jade Titan, but with floating crystals instead of a scepter. Those were its only weapons, but it could probably fight with its fists in close range.
Cullen didn't notice it, but Adam and Greye slowly backed away from him.
'It sucks, but most of the creations I brought are useless for fighting. The only ones worth utilizing are the knife and armband.'
The ring, The Cursed Mask, and the Eye Amulet were far too weak to work on these creatures. The toll they take on Cullen would outweigh the help they provide. That is, for everything besides the miners. But Cullen wasn't sure he would fight them. So, for now, he only had the armband on.
The Jewel took the first move, sending one blue crystal whistling through the air at Cullen. He paid it no attention and ran straight for the Abomination, his vines effortlessly knocking the attack away.
'These move much slower than the previous Jewel's, not to mention it only has two. I could stand still and take no damage from this, but that's not the problem.'
The problem was that Cullen needed enough strength to kill it. His safety was necessary, but the only reason he came on this mission was to use his ability.
As Cullen closed in, the Abomination sent out its second crystal. And when that was deflected, the previous crystal tried reaching him again. By the time Cullen was in striking range, his vines had blocked a total of six attacks.
'It almost feels like cheating.'
Almost, but Cullen knew how hard it was to kill The Island. He deserved something nice for once.
The Jewel tried to punch Cullen as a last resort, but relentless vines caught its fist. He twisted his body, striking the Abomination's chest where the core was. The knife easily broke through its skin, then put a large crack in its core.
'Damn… One still isn't enough.'
But the damage was done, and the Abomination had no more strength left. Cullen finished it with one more attack.
"That doesn't seem too fair," Adam said to Greye.
"Hey!" he shouted. "You didn't do anything to deserve that kill!"
"Can't you just be glad he did it?" Greye rolled his eyes.
Their blabbering slowed down as Cullen's ability activated, the Abomination caving into itself. By the end, one blue crystal and a ring were left behind. This was the first time Cullen made two things with one Abomination.
He knelt to the ground, put the ring on his pointer finger, and gained control over the crystal.
Cullen commanded it to levitate, and it followed easily. It wasn't as difficult as he expected.
'I could probably control many of these at once…'
"That's strange," Adam said. "I still can't control it."
Cullen looked at him, confused.
"What do you mean?"
He saw Adam staring intently at the floating crystal.
"My power can control everything except humans and Abominations. Even parts of Abominations, like the crystals, cannot be affected. The only reason I could control the houses out there was because they were built using materials from the mines, not the Amethyst Burrow itself."
He paused.
"Still, it's strange that even after you use your ability, I can't move it."
Cullen had never considered the limitations of Adam's ability, but it made sense. If he could control everything, he would tear the Abominations apart from the inside.
"Adam, do you think the Jewel from before would have been here by now? If the miners alerted them?"
"It's hard to say. I'm sure it could've traveled here, but the information may take a while to reach it. Why?"
Cullen paused. He had to remind himself that he wanted this.
"I think I should stay in the mines while you two go to the castle."
Adam raised his eyebrows while Greye showed no reaction.
"I can keep killing these Jewels and get crystals for all of us. That's the reason I came, right?"
And, Cullen wanted some alone time. But he didn't say that out loud.
"I guess it's fine," Adam concluded. "It's not like you would help too much at the castle."
Cullen was shocked that Adam agreed, but realized it was just a way to get rid of him. Greye, on the other hand, intervened.
"Is it really a good idea? You shouldn't be left alone in a Grade-E we barely know anything about."
"I survived on one myself when I was far weaker. And besides, if you only have to teleport one person, you two should be able to leave now, right? Who knows how much trouble they're in."
Adam and Greye looked at each other.
"Fine," Greye agreed. "But, we need a spot to meet up. Since it's dangerous for you to travel in the town, we should meet back here in a day's time."
After talking a bit more, Greye and Adam left the cave and teleported to the castle. Cullen, surprised at how easy it was to convince them, began to doubt whether it was the right choice.
'I want to test my ability, mainly how much I can use it. If I only run into the type of Jewel I just killed, it'll be fine, but…'
Cullen would bet that there was more than that in the caves. Also, he needed to keep track of where he was and not get lost—something he wasn't too great at.
He put on his backpack and turned toward the cave, peering into the darkness. Playing with the crystal, he began to walk along the tracks.
'I'm not too sure about its Tavros, but it feels weaker than my knife. However, it has a range advantage and doesn't rely on my lacking physical strength. If I get a lot of them, I may start to pose a threat.'
Cullen passed a few more miners pushing carts before the cave split three ways. To remember, Cullen decided to pick the middle path every time. And then the next split was only two paths.
'I would've been fine if I'd gone left or right, but now I have to mix it up. Am I an idiot?'
But before he could choose, another Jewel came from the left. This one was red. According to Adam, the red crystals would knock Cullen back if he came into contact with them.
Like the last one, it used two crystals and was built the same way.
Instead of charging in, Cullen wanted to test his own crystal first. He sent it darting towards the Jewel's core, but was intercepted by its own crystal before it made contact.
Ding!
The Jewel's second crystal came for Cullen, but he dodged out of the way in time.
'Once I have more, I'll be able to win fights without much effort. But for now, I'll have to finish it off myself.'
Cullen ran to the Abomination, able to distract one crystal but forced to dodge the other. He killed it in a few seconds, just like the last one. This time, a red ring and crystal were left behind, giving Cullen a total of two.
As he prepared to move on, he noticed a few miners approaching from the left path. But this time was different. One of them lifted its head and stared right at him. Its face was black, eyes heavy, and no human emotion anywhere. Its head followed Cullen as it passed by him, sending a chill down his spine.
'I know that kid interacted with me before, but I'm not used to it.'
This strange interaction worried Cullen. What if that miner were to tell the town? Cullen had the power of a Grade-E protecting him, but this one was far deadly. Could he alone survive an interaction with that Jewel?
He watched the cart disappear behind him, dismissing any thoughts about attacking them.
'If I were to get on the miners' bad side, I'd be a dead man. My only hope is to go further into the mines and hope it doesn't follow.'
So that's what Cullen did, repeating the process of killing over and over again. His ability didn't tire. A few hours later, he possessed eight different crystals: one red, three blue, two green, and two purple. There were no yellow Jewels, at least none that Cullen had run into yet.
But deep in the mines, he encountered something terrifying.