The trap hit harder than Arty expected and far cleaner than he had hoped.
The upper shelving side slammed inward with stored weight while the lower rail snapped upward beneath it, turning the narrow lane into a converging kill box.
The creature reacted instantly, twisting sideways as it tried to thread through the shrinking gap before the two metal lines could meet, but its earlier caution had already cost it time.
That half-second pause in the lane, born from suspicion before commitment, had already sealed the outcome.
The upper edge clipped its shoulder line, the lower rail caught beneath the torso, then the two forces crossed.
The creature shrieked as compression tore through its movement pattern, ruining its momentum before the converging metal reached flesh.
Arty didn't waste the opening. He tightened both lines with a thought, no longer forcing them wildly, but guiding the pressure inward through the cleaner control his Precision upgrade provided.
The gap vanished, cutting the shriek short as the body spasmed once before collapsing between the rails when its structure failed.
[Pre-Loaded Shear Trigger Successful]
[Mental Load Reduced: Significant]
Arty exhaled sharply.
That mattered more than the kill because he hadn't needed frantic timing or wrestled moving metal through raw force.
He had prepared, triggered and finished the attack with minimal strain. That was scalable, and scalability meant survival.
Outside the boundary, the final Deviant immediately withdrew three steps.
Its pressure signature pulsed in short, deliberate intervals as it studied the ruined lane and the broken remains inside it.
"Yeah… It's your turn."
[Remaining Local Hostiles: 1]
[Behavioural State: High Caution]
For the first time since the cluster formed, the warehouse felt larger than the threat outside it.
Arty extended his awareness towards the fresh corpse and reached out with intent.
The crystal tore cleanly from the dissolving remains and slid across the concrete into his waiting hand.
[Claim Function Efficiency Improved Through Familiar Use]
He almost laughed because practice apparently applied to looting now, though this crystal felt colder and denser than the last.
He rolled it once across his fingers while watching the final Deviant reposition near the sideline.
It had learned not to enter the lane, which meant direct repetition was dead already.
"System… Immediate recommendation."
There was only a brief pause.
[Recommended Allocation Options:]
[Structural Control Capacity +1]
[Reserve Retention +1]
[Sensor Sweep Clarity +1]
Arty's eyes narrowed slightly because Sensor Sweep Clarity tempted him. If the creature tried circling through blind zones, better tracking could end the fight quickly.
Structural Control Capacity tempted him more, promising longer holds, wider manipulation and less collapse after each effort.
He glanced toward the sideline where the Deviant pressed lightly against reinforced ground, then withdrew before committing.
It remained patient, testing for fatigue, which was far too clever to leave alive.
"Capacity."
The crystal dissolved into a cold pulse that ran through his chest and spine before settling deeper than the last upgrade had.
The warehouse connection responded instantly. Its range did not expand, but its depth increased, making every nearby metal point feel heavier, clearer and more prepared to answer.
[Upgrade Applied: Structural Control Capacity +1]
Arty rolled one shoulder and felt the difference immediately through reduced drag and resistance. He remained limited, though the improvement was already enough to matter.
The final Deviant moved again, skirting the entrance entirely and sliding toward the stabilised fencing line where earlier pressure had nearly found weakness.
"Fair… But that won't be enough to stop me."
He stepped away from the entrance and moved parallel through the warehouse interior, keeping pace with the creature from the safer side of the wall.
Metal shelves, wall braces, loose panels and fence posts entered his awareness as linked possibilities along the entire line.
The Deviant paused outside the fencing as its pressure narrowed in preparation for a breach, but Arty did not wait.
He seized three loose panels stacked near the wall and drove them into the soil from inside the warehouse, creating buried vertical blades beneath the weak point.
He tightened the fence posts inward by several inches, disguising the change while narrowing the path.
The effort still stung, though the additional Capacity carried the strain more effectively than before.
[Field Adjustment Successful]
The Deviant pressed forward, and the soil gave way exactly where it expected before the hidden panels rose beneath its own momentum.
The creature jerked sideways as one panel tore along its lower flank while another blocked its escape line.
It launched backward immediately, but Arty was already moving.
He ripped the nearest fence post free at the base and swung it outward through the mesh like a spear driven by stored torque.
The post struck the creature mid-leap and pinned it against the outer concrete lip as a harsh shriek ripped through the yard.
Arty's vision blurred for half a second from the effort, though he maintained enough control to finish the creature even without finesse.
He drove the second buried panel sideways until metal crossed metal and the creature convulsed once between the converging lines.
Then it stopped… True silence rolled outward across the boundary.
Arty remained still for three full breaths, one hand braced against the wall as he waited for another pressure pulse.
Nothing came.
The System flickered slowly across his vision.
[Remaining Local Hostiles: 0]
[Immediate Territory Pressure: Cleared]
[Warehouse Survival Window Extended]
Arty closed his eyes for one second, then opened them again.
It was not relief, but assessment. Three smarter creatures had come and died, with each forcing him to evolve and adapt on the fly.
He reached outward one final time, drawing the last crystal from the corpse pinned beyond the fence and dragging it through mesh and dirt before it landed in his palm.
He looked down at it, then toward the dark streets beyond the warehouse.
"If this was the scouting party… I'd hate to meet the management team."
The System answered immediately.
[Warning: Larger Deviant Movement Detected Beyond Local Zone]
Arty stared into the darkness for a long moment.
"Good… Let them come!"