"That's the big man covered. Looks like the portal is beginning to shrink, too." Kenneth said as Catalyn placed the body of the Karman inside her personal portal storage. "Should we head back or look for some more? It's up to you guys."
"I'm still good for more. Not too tired." Lucas said.
"I can keep going, little bro. Should we look for more?" Lena voiced her approval.
So did his other siblings, who agreed to hunt for more.
"Alright then. We'll stop after the next one. We'll head back home after then. Let's move out. Could you head on forward, Aurelia?" Kenneth requested Aurelia to scout the surroundings going forward.
"At once, my lord." Aurelia went on ahead, running through the nearby grass and leaped through the nearby trees. Whenever she found a considerably taller tree, she'd ascend it all the way to the top in hopes of finding something worthy of notice.
**********************8
*Aurelia's POV*
My lord has sent me on a recon mission. Scouting out the surroundings was the main thing I did in the party, besides providing support from far away. As I leapt through the many crowded trees, I noticed many of the Karman, usually lone warriors, also prowling around. They were most likely scouts as well.
Taking care to not catch their attention, I slowly, but delicately hid myself in all manner of the environment. Any types of thick bushes worked extremely well, along with sturdy branches overhead that I would occasionally use to stay out of sight.
If by chance I couldn't reach an adequate hiding spot in time, I would use Overgrowth on the grass to instantly hide myself.
"Gurje.. diag fhsia?" One Karman asked the other. (Did.. you guys hear anything?)
"Saidhau.. vucsh wiad. Morty haifhs sciaud thaw arie." (Must've been the wind. Morty already scannned the area.)
"Mabys li traidm." (Maybe I was tripping. Damn Krudoa planet, how long must you struggle?)
"Ubava, Krush! Wwpa saocu! Krush?" (Quiet, Krush! We're scouters, remember? Krush?) The Karman turned around to find his partner gone.
"Wtay icha bwhdu iz hsua?" (What manner of sorcery is this? Damn primitive people! Show yourself, primal!)
"I don't understand a single thing you're saying. One thing I know is that you're interfering with this planet, and as the protector of Nature, I must not allow you to stay a minute longer!" Drawing her bow, Aurelia fired an arrow at the Karman's back, piercing the alien's armor.
"Danjs Priam!" (Damn Primal!) Was the Karman's last words as the seed in the arrow rapidly grew until multiple thorny spikes emerged from his body. Thorn Leaves, deadly, yet beautiful.
"I should move on. I can't have my lord waiting forever. Life Eater, go!" Aurelia threw a Life Eater's seed onto the ground, casting Overgrowth at the would-be monstrosity. A moment later, the tiny seed grew to be twice the size of the Karman, looking like a Venus Fly Trap. And we could all guess what happened next. *Chomp*
**************
"My lord. I have returned." (Aurelia)
"Oh. Welcome back, Aurelia. What did you find?" (Kenneth)
"Smaller sized portals are littered everywhere. My discoveries indicate that smaller portals generally produce around six or seven Karman at most, over the course of an hour."
"And? Any noticeable differences with other types of portals?"
"Damn hell it'd be weird if bigger portals just mean more of them." Lucas thought out loud.
"Actually... you're right. At least for the ones that don't expand and contract like with the larger Karman from earlier." (Aurelia)
"Wait.. really?" (Lucas)
"Indeed. While moving through the area earlier I spotted multiple groups of adventurers slaying the aliens. The lethality of the portal isn't measured by the size, but rather by the intense "breaking" of it."
"So what you're saying is that the one from the bigger one earlier was a special one?" (Lena)
"That is exactly what I'm saying." (Aurelia)
"Anything else?" (Kenneth)
"Well, my lord, there were some cases where the Karman would not come through, even if the one hour mark had passed. I'd like to refer to these portals as "deviant" portals. After an hour, these deviant portals would begin to violently shake and change color."
"Gotcha. Good job, Aurelia. So, any suggestions on where to go next?" Kenneth asked his siblings.
"It's up to you, little bro." (Lena)
"Stronger the better, ay?" (Lucas)
"I will follow young master's commands." (Catalyn)
"It is my lord's decision." (Aurelia)
"You guys are making me panic. Alright then, let's head for one of those deviant portals you talked about."
"Very good, my lord. Please follow my lead." Aurelia went on ahead.
**************
"That should be the portal. Do you see it, my lord?" (Aurelia)
"The one that's clearly going crazy? Well yeah." Kenneth said, viewing through Aurelia's eyes.
"Alright! Looks like something strong is gonna come through." (Lucas)
"I don't really have any plans on what to do because of our lack of information, but just be careful, I guess." (Kenneth)
"Let's head on over then!"
***************
"Tdyao hreaul iz ekahd guad!" (Today's haul is pretty good!)
"Danms ruagd. Iqma aifh jwb fyr a priayfm ixt wrg getwa thsa tuza baafs." (Damn right. I'm all set for a promotion once we bring this back to base.)
"Alrya? Iam niat evaah csbgs yeat." (Already I'm not even close yet.)
"Betadhd geta itua ia thsn." (Better get to it then.)
"Heyas! Yoau taji! Getaa bacjyw tiya woryaj!" (Hey! You two! Get back to work!) One Karman wielding a glaive screamed out.
"Glad to see we're hard at work."
"Wgafsa?!" The Karman with the glaive was sent flying with a punch from Lucas.
"Tah priamitavs atsa hwrs!" (The primitives are here!)
"Here to disrupt your operation, that's what." (Kenneth) The rest of the siblings appeared and surrounded the Karman working, who numbered around twenty.
"Little bro, you understand what they're saying?" Lena asked with a surprised reaction.
"Indeed. It's only recently, but I get what they're saying. Something about primitives. Probably us." "Go ahead and start. Try to bring back at least two or three of them, I'll attempt to interrogate them." (Kenneth)
"Copy." (Lucas)
"Very well. My lord, please stay back." (Aurelia)
"I'm far enough, don't worry." (Kenneth)
"Right here, Karman!" Lucas dashed towards one, grabbing it by the throat and slamming it's body against the ground. Noticing the attack had begun, the ones who were working hurriedly rushed to the glaive user, who surprisingly wasn't down yet, but had just recently pulled itself together.
The glaive user, while bloody and bruised from Lucas' hit, still managed to ready itself into a battle stance, wielding the glaive over its head, its body stretched down towards the ground.
"Iaam cumand, priam!" (I'm coming, Primals!)
Its weapon glowed a strange light, and electricity began to converge around the blade. Pointing the blade's end at Lucas, the sparks were shot from it, rapidly approaching Lucas, who dodge out of the way.
Yet the endlessly moving electricity seemed to change direction the moment Lucas move out of it's radius. The seemingly "heat-detection" ray kept on following Lucas as he danced his away around the area.
"Mind.. finding a way to stop this?!" Lucas said, clearly preoccupied with not letting the electricity hit him.
"As funny as this is, we need to stop it. The glaive user is the most likely cause. Would you mind, Catalyn?" (Kenneth)
"Not at all, young master." Catalyn conjured a portal behind the unaware Karman. Stretching out her whip, she struck it through the portal, the body coming through on the other side and wrapping around the Karman's body.
The Karman didn't notice the feeling of leather enclosing on its body. Only until the particularly rougher end of the whip had lashed itself against the Karman's skin did it feel something pulling him. Startled by the whip tugging at his upper body, it dropped the glaive it was wielding, making the sparks that were following Lucas, who was evading it with a series of flips and tricks, stop.
"Relakd mea thadf issamnt, priam!" (Release me this instant, Primal!)
"Here he is, young master." Clutching the handle of her whip, Catalyn pulled back the still struggling, using all its effort to release itself from the tight leash on its body, and dragged it near Kenneth.
"Thanks. Could you restrict his limbs and have him on his knees?" Kenneth asked Aurelia.
"Right away." Casting Overgrowth on some seeds she threw on the ground, sturdy vines soon grew from them. Now they was both the whip and the vines wrapping around the Karman and keeping it from making any big movements.
"Big sis, could you lower me just close enough that I can touch its forehead with my hand?" (Kenneth)
"Be careful, little brother. Something might go wrong.." (Lena)
"No worries. Catalyn and Aurelia are clearly handling it. Please hold on for about a few seconds or so, he might struggle." (Kenneth)
"Alright then, but I'm pulling you back if I notice anything dangerous." (Lena)
"Fair enough." Slowly Lena brought Kenneth closer over to the Karman.
"Let's see... "Probe." Closing his eyes, Kenneth pressed his open palm onto the Karman's forehead. This prompted the Karman to somehow recover the strength and started to struggle furiously, stronger than earlier for some reason.
"Easy... Alright, I'm in. Everybody shush." (Kenneth)
Inside the Karman's mind.
'waahd iz thad pplxwa?' (Where is this place?) The Karman thought as it walked through a familiar looking landscape. It was the Karman's version of a playground. Various assortments of playground equipment were scattered around the area.
And on one side of the playground, was Kenneth, playing in the sandpit. Sitting on the coarse surface, he assembled a series of small castles, using the nearby toy shovels and bucket.
"Oddly enough, our version of a playground is the same." Kenneth said, looking at the confused Karman.
"Wahss iz dwha sayasd? IFn unadneesa, bah azdf thwa squre tieam, I cjjauu." (What is he saying? I don't understand, but at the same time, I can.)
"Welcome. Sit down." Kenneth pointed at an area of the sandpit that didn't have any structures.
For some reason, the Karman didn't feel any hostility from the Primitive, so it sat down. "Wahdt iz thaud psca?" (What is this place?)
"This...
Is my World."