The distortions outside the boundary didn't rush him, and that patience made them more dangerous than noise ever could, Arty ignored them for the moment.
His focus had already 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 pre-loaded shear points, he needed materials placed before the next push, less reaction, more 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 softened strangely, as if the structure that held it together had started collapsing now that movement was gone.
That part wasn't new, what caught his attention was something denser buried near the centre mass, a pressure knot.
"Crystal," he said quietly.
The system responded immediately.
[Resource Detected: Internal Variant 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 mess, and extract it manually.
Not ideal while multiple distortions waited outside, his jaw tightened slightly as another thought surfaced.
Inside the warehouse, the connection treated materials differently, stored objects answered faster, reinforced structures responded cleaner.
Even loose metal carried a faint sense of belonging once it stayed within the boundary long enough.
The corpse was inside, the crystal was inside the corpse, which meant maybe—
"System," he said quietly, his tone sharpening with interest.
"Can internal resources be claimed directly?"
There was a short pause.
Then—
[Claim Function Available Within Bound Territory]
[Line of Intent Required]
[Organic Obstruction Negligible: Deceased Targets Only]
Arty blinked once, that was useful, that was extremely useful.
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.
A dark shard tore free from the dissolving torso, cutting through brittle matter before sliding across the concrete directly toward him.
Arty caught it instinctively.
Sharper than the earlier ones.
He looked down at it, then back at the fading corpse.
"Yeah," he said quietly.
"That changes things."
The system flickered.
[Territory Utility Expanded]
[Manual Recovery Time Reduced]
No kidding, this was a game changer, no kneeling over bodies, no fumbling during combat, no wasted seconds, any kills inside the boundary, claim with just a thought.
His gaze shifted toward the entrance where the distortions still pulsed beyond the reinforced line.
Seconds mattered now, he wrapped his fingers around the crystal and considered using it immediately, but paused, first the trap.
If he spent the gain without fixing the process, he would still be reacting one fight at a time.
No not this time, the infrastructure must come first.
Arty moved through the warehouse with steadier purpose, selecting metal lengths, damaged shelving rails, mesh rolls, brackets, and loose panels, dragging each into place through short bursts of control rather than carrying them by hand.
The effort still cost him, every movement tugged at the headache behind his eyes, but controlled bursts were manageable, sustained combat strain was not.
He laid two rails parallel near the narrowed entrance lane, half-hidden beneath debris and shadow.
Then he anchored a bracket line above them, connected to a warped shelving side he could collapse inward with minimal effort.
Not a perfect machine, a guided kill zone.
"Manual configuration," he muttered.
"Fine."
The system gave no help beyond a faint pulse of acknowledgement.
[Shear Point Framework Recognised]
[Trigger Efficiency Dependent on Placement]
That sounded like system language for good luck.
Arty almost smiled.
Outside, one distortion moved closer, pressing near the edge of the boundary before withdrawing again.
Testing, watching him work.
"Good," he said quietly without looking up.
"I want you curious."
He adjusted the lower rail by inches, then tightened the angle between upper and lower lines.
Too wide and they would slip through.
Too narrow and the mechanism would jam before contact, precision mattered more than strength, that lesson had cost him enough already.
The headache flared when he lifted the shelving side into temporary tension, holding it there while locking a bent hinge into place.
He hissed once through his teeth, then released slowly when the weight settled, there the force stored, minimal ongoing control exactly what he needed.
Less mental load during activation, more effect when it counted, he straightened and rolled his shoulders, then looked again at the crystal in his palm.
Now it had context, now it had purpose.
"System," he said quietly.
"Best use for immediate defense."
The response came fast.
[Recommended Allocation Options:]
[Structural Control Capacity +1]
[Metal Manipulation Precision +1]
[Reserve Retention Minor Increase]
Three good choices, which is annoying.
He wanted all of them, capacity meant longer control, precision meant cleaner traps, reserve retention meant more staying power later.
Arty looked toward the entrance again as two distortions shifted positions in subtle coordination.
They weren't going to wait forever.
Precision would help, capacity would help more.
Right now, one clean activation could decide the next exchange.
He 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, then just as quickly as it came it eased.
His awareness of the rails near the entrance became clearer, their edges more defined within the warehouse connection than they had been seconds before.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
[Upgrade Applied: Metal Manipulation Precision I → II]
Arty exhaled slowly, worth it, he turned toward the trap and tested the trigger with a gentle thought.
The upper line tightened by a fraction, the lower rail shifted cleanly into alignment.
Outside, the nearest distortion crossed the boundary.
Not charging, advancing carefully, its movements were tighter now, less reckless than the earlier ones it had learned caution.
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 distortion hovered just beyond the line, unwilling to commit first.
You guys are smart, but not smart enough it's too late for you two.
Arty let the lead creature take two more steps.
Then he thought one word.
"Now."
The upper bracket snapped loose, shelving side dropped inward, lower rail drove up and the lane became scissors.