Arty ignored them for the moment as his focus turned inward, scanning the warehouse floor, the bent bracket, the warped shelving edge and the broken remains of the creature he had just killed.
If he wanted to pre-load Shear points before the next push, he needed the materials positioned in advance, allowing less reaction and greater certainty.
He stepped toward the corpse, breathing steadier now that the immediate strain had passed, though the ache behind his eyes still pulsed with every deeper thought.
The body had already begun to degrade, its edges softening strangely as though the structure holding it together had started collapsing once its movement ceased.
That part wasn't new, though something denser buried near its centre mass caught his attention, forming a pressure knot within the dissolving remains.
"Crystal."
The system responded immediately.
[Resource Detected: Deviant Crystal]
Arty crouched beside the remains, one hand braced on his knee as he studied the thing through the warehouse connection rather than his eyes.
Normally, he would need to cut into the body, reach through the remains and extract the crystal manually.
That was hardly ideal while multiple Deviants waited outside, and his jaw tightened slightly as another possibility surfaced.
Inside the warehouse, the connection treated materials differently because stored objects answered faster and reinforced structures responded more cleanly.
Even loose metal developed a faint sense of belonging after remaining within the boundary long enough, and both the corpse and its crystal were already inside.
"System… Can internal resources be claimed directly?"
There was a short pause.
[Claim Function Available Within Bound Territory]
[Line of Intent Required]
[Organic Obstruction Negligible: Deceased Targets Only]
"Well, that was extremely useful, thank you System."
He extended his awareness toward the crystal, not with force, but with intent, the same way he would call a tool to hand or tighten a bracket into alignment.
For a moment, nothing happened, then the remains twitched as a dark shard tore free from the dissolving torso, cut through the brittle matter and slid across the concrete towards him.
Arty caught it instinctively and found it sharper than the earlier crystals as he looked from the shard to the fading corpse.
"Yeah… That changes things."
[Territory Utility Expanded]
[Manual Recovery Time Reduced]
Arty turned the crystal over once before feeding it into the Adaptive Reserve, converting its energy into five stored points against his maximum capacity of ten.
[Adaptive Reserve Increased: +5]
[Adaptive points 5/10]
He committed one Adaptive Point to accessing the pre-loaded Shear framework, leaving four points available for the fight ahead.
[Adaptive Reserve Consumed: 1]
[Pre-loaded Shear Access Enabled]
[Adaptive Reserve: 4/10]
As the Adaptive Point settled into the framework, the pressure behind his eyes loosened, allowing the additional mental capacity to absorb part of the remaining strain.
"No kidding… This changes everything. No kneeling over bodies, no fumbling during combat and no wasted seconds. Anything killed inside the boundary can be claimed with a thought."
His gaze shifted toward the entrance where the Deviants still pulsed beyond the reinforced line.
Seconds mattered now, but before drawing another crystal from his pocket, he turned his attention towards the trap.
If he spent another crystal without improving the process, he would still be reacting to one fight at a time.
"No… Not this time. The infrastructure comes first."
Arty moved through the warehouse with steadier purpose, selecting metal lengths, damaged shelving rails, mesh rolls.
Brackets and loose panels before dragging each into place through short bursts of control rather than carrying them by hand.
The effort still carried a cost because every movement tugged at the headache behind his eyes, though controlled bursts remained manageable where sustained combat strain did not.
He laid two rails parallel near the narrowed entrance lane, half-hidden beneath debris and shadow.
He anchored a bracket line above them and connected it to a warped shelving side that he could collapse inward with minimal effort, creating a guided kill zone rather than a perfect machine.
"Manual configuration… Fine."
[Shear Point Framework Recognised]
[Trigger Efficiency Dependent on Placement]
Arty almost smiled as one Deviant moved closer outside, pressed against the edge of the boundary and withdrew again, testing him while watching him work.
"Good, I want you curious."
He adjusted the lower rail by inches before tightening the angle between the upper and lower lines.
Too wide and the Deviants would slip through, while too narrow would cause the mechanism to jam before contact.
Precision mattered more than strength, and that lesson had already cost him enough.
His headache flared when he lifted the shelving side into temporary tension, holding it there while locking a bent hinge into place.
He hissed through his teeth before releasing the structure slowly once its weight settled, leaving the force stored with the minimal ongoing control he needed.
Less mental load during activation meant greater control when it counted, and Arty straightened before rolling his shoulders against the lingering tension.
The framework now had context and purpose.
Arty reached into his pocket and withdrew a second crystal, keeping the four remaining Adaptive Points untouched for the trap ahead.
"System… What's the best use for immediate defence?"
The response came fast.
[Recommended Allocation Options:]
[Structural Control Capacity +1]
[Metal Manipulation Precision +1]
[Reserve Retention +1]
"Man… That's annoying. Three good choices."
He wanted all three because capacity meant longer control, precision promised cleaner traps and reserve retention offered greater staying power later.
Arty looked toward the entrance again as two Deviants shifted positions in subtle coordination.
They weren't going to wait forever, and although capacity would extend his control, precision offered the clean activation that could decide the next exchange.
Arty closed his hand around the crystal.
"Metal precision."
The crystal dissolved instantly, not into light, but into a cold current that ran through his hand, wrist, shoulder, then settled somewhere behind the eyes.
The ache sharpened once before settling back to the manageable pressure already held in check by the Adaptive framework.
His awareness of the rails near the entrance sharpened, their edges becoming more clearly defined within the warehouse connection than they had been moments earlier.
"Interesting… Very interesting."
[Upgrade Applied: Metal Manipulation Precision +1]
Arty exhaled slowly, satisfied that the improvement was worth the crystal, before turning towards the trap and testing its trigger with a gentle thought.
The upper line tightened by a fraction as the lower rail shifted cleanly into alignment, while outside the nearest Deviant crossed the boundary.
Instead of charging, it advanced carefully with tighter movements and considerably less recklessness than the earlier Deviants, having learned caution from their deaths.
Arty stepped back into shadow beside the reinforced frame, one hand resting lightly against cold metal as the connection steadied around him.
The creature entered the lane, pausing once as if sensing something wrong but not yet understanding what.
Behind it, the second and final Deviant hovered just beyond the line, unwilling to commit first.
"You two are smart, but not smart enough. It's already too late."
Arty let the lead creature take two more steps.
"Now."
The upper bracket snapped loose as the shelving side dropped inward, the lower rail drove upwards, and the entire lane closed like a pair of scissors.