"Guys, we found an Abomination."
"Understood. Keep close watch and make sure to pay attention to it's behaviour," she said. They had ample time to deal this one. The Aberration had to be dealt with immediately as it posed imminent danger to the group, but this one wasn't even aware of their existence. Still they didn't risk it with getting too close, as it could sense their presence.
The Abomination this time was an Armoured Armadillo, or as Jayden would call it, an Armourillo. Although a simple Rank 1 Red Abomination, it had an evolution that boosted it's defense and vitality, making it very hard to kill. The group did not have enough hitting power to kill it. Since they couldn't kill it, they would record whatever they could about it before handing in the report. If they couldn't find another Abomination today, they would spend the next day observing it.
Any information gained mattered when dealing with Abominations. Although similar evolutions could occur, no Abomination was exactly the same. Even with the same evolution, the potency of the evolution would vary. The Armourillo the trio found was an example of this. It's defenses was bordering on the upper limits of Red grade. Despite having a lesser grading than the Aberration, they simply could not kill this one.
The trio returned to inspecting the section they were assigned to after following the Armourillo for a bit. They could take it easy as they had killed a Green Aberration, but they would surely receive demerit for not finishing the sector they were given.
"There is nothing here," said Klein. "Did the Aberration control a larger territory than we thought? There isn't any Abomination other than a damned pacifist armodillo!"
"It's good that its a pacifist, we can't fight that," Sean rebuked. "Let's continue north."
The day progressed with them moving further north and slightly east. It was around mid day when their walkie talkie received a call.
"This is Alpha speaking, Bravo do you copy?"
"Cut it, Jayden. We hear you nice and clear." It was Sean who answered. " Tell me the good news."
"Well, I wouldn't say its good news necessarily, but we think we found why there were so many patches of oasises here. There is a Gate Crystal here. Probably a Nature attunement."
"Shit! Does it show any signs of crumbling?"
"Not from what we could see."
The findings of the other side worried the trio. They were right to worry. A Gate Crystal only formed when a Gate collapsed into itself, creating a potent and unstable crystal of Ether. These kind of Ether Crystals were named Gate Crystal as they were not stable as Ether Crystals that formed naturally. It was to be expected, nothing could cross the dimensional borders without being unstable.
When a Gate collapsed, they would either directly form a Gate Crystal or close for a while only to reopen after some time. Gate Crystals too could return to being a Gate if left alone, but it would be a higher grade one this time. Not only that, Gate Crystals also terraformed their environment. It was possible that all the oasis patches they saw was due to it's influence. And this influence meant Ether rich enviroment, which the humans and Abominations both liked having.
"Get around it. If the Aberration from before was not the strongest Abomination in the area, we wouldn't want to meet one that is stronger." Samantha said.
The Team Alpha, as Jayden called, wasn't near the Gate Crystal. Instead they were looking at it from a higher altitude.
"We don't see any Abominations, but there are too many trees with lush leaves here, they hinder our vision around the crystal. We will try to find a way around it without alerting the Abomination." Tyson replied and ended the call.
"Let's finish this fast, they may need our help," said Samantha, and the boys nodded. They upped their pace a notch and continued their assignment.
---
After ending the call with the other group, the trio continued their advance slowly. They did not want to alert the Abomination that would be near the Gate Crystal.
"Jayden, do you really not see anything?" Latoya asked Jayden.
"Nah, just a bunch of trees and bushes. No trace of an Abomination."
"Perhaps its a stealth type?" Tyson suggested.
"Then we are truly dead this time. Oh Harsen! Why are you cruel to this pure soul!"
"Not necessarily," Latoya said after a while. "Even if it has a stealth type ability, it would still leave behind traces. There are no traces here, as if it's empty."
"Couldn't the seniors have killed it?" (T)
"Even if they had to killed the initial occupant, it doesn't explain why there isn't one right now."
"Perhaps something is wrong with the Crystal then, is it impotent or what." Jayden cracked a joke, but the two was not laughing. What could be wrong with a Gate Crystal?
"Oh no." Tyson's voice was quivering. "We have to get back, quick!"
They started to run back, not caring about subtlety this time. If the Gate Crystal was really about the crumble and reform a Gate, there wouldn't be any Abominations in the vicinity anyways. When they were back at the camp, they would report this, and they wouldn't even get any demerit for not fully investigating their sector this time.
Reason for that was simple. When a Gate Crystal crumbled, it would contort the space around it and would swallow any organic life. Swallowed would find themselves at the other side of the Gate if they were luck to be alive then.
They quickly returned to their night camp. It would be safe around there as an Aberration had made it its nest before. The Abominations were more inclined to get a feel for this kind of things with just the surrounding Ether, unlike humans who used equipment collect data and analyze it. Savants also could detect such phenomenons as they were more intimate with the surrounding Ether than a normal Evolver.
"So, what do we do now?" Jayden asked. This question would bring horror to Sean and others when they were back.
---
Time passed, and sun was slowly setting. The trio of Sean, Samantha and Klein had continued their search was on the way back to their night camp. They hadn't found any other Abomination other than the Armourillo, but they had found several traces of other ones. They likely had left after sensing the volatile Ether in the atmoshphere. The Alpha Team had informed them of the situation,so they also did not advance much further and ended investigating early.
When they returned back to the camp, there was a surprise awaiting them. It wasn't a pleasant one.
"What is this smell?" Klein said, holding his nose.
"Our dinner for tonight!" Latoya was uncommonly cheerful.
"I think I will skip on the dinner tonight. I don't have any apetite." Sean refused to eat anything that this trio made.
"I already ate," Klein too refused just like Sean.
"It can't be that bad, right? It only smells bad." Samantha was positive as always.
"You are in for a treat!" Latoya grabbed the girl by the arm and dragged her near the fire. She gave her a bowl stew and warned. "Blow on it before you eat, it's still hot. They had mate stew from the rations they received and the whatever was left of Aberration's meat.
Thanking Latoya for her warning, Samantha blew on her spoon before gulping it.
CRACK!
"Did someone just cracked? I think I heard it." Jayden shouted from his tent.
The one cracked was naturally Samantha, who were hopeful about the dinner they made this time. It was both her hopes and soul that was crushed. Although it was bad, she couldn't just say it was terrible to Latoya who was anticipating her thoughts on it.
"Ugh, you did give a unique flavor to the bland military rations, it's an incredible feat. I don't think I should waste this, I will keep this bowl as a keepsake!"
They had indeed had given a unique flavor to the rations, a coal flavor! Despite not wanting to hurt her friend, she simply couldn't eat it so she dipped out.
"Alright, let's talk about our plan for tomorrow while you guys eat." Sean lended a hand and helped her dip out. "We did not find any other Abominations in our search, and did not continue after you told us it was crumbling. Since both of our groups did not encounter any Abomination, it is safe to assume we would in our way back. It's farther than here to Gate Crystal, many Abominations could've run towards there."
"Wouldn't we have seen other Abominations when we first got here then?" Jayden asked.
"The Aberration could've kept them at bay still." Tyson was the one who answered while munching on a nutrition bar.
"Exactly. Although the timetable is quite wonky, it is best to prepare for the worst case scenerio," Sean said."We might have to fight our way out."