Chapter 75 - Double-Edged

Sal held his breath as the structure came to life. It came with a huge sense of accomplishment, and he could barely believe how it all had all come together. Looking around, he saw the expectant looks mirrored on everyone’s faces.

What had started as a plan to create a separate tower onto the tent had transformed into a fortified keep of sorts. Internal and external wooden frames glowed with the rock enclosure to create something entirely different.

Sal’s visor flickered a few times, drawing his attention to the base of the wooden planks. His eyes widened when he saw roots burrowing into the ground, undoing all his refining work as the materials reverted into their original form. The tower grew larger, with the sloped tent swelling upward to accommodate the new frame. A series of crackling noises signaled that the internal wood was bending into shape, and it wasn’t dissimilar to the noises they heard when Ioseph’s wards caused half their surroundings to explode.

“Is it always like this?” Brophy stepped closer to the wooden planks that were writhing into their new form.

Sal didn’t answer as he watched everything unfold. The glowing lasted quite some time, almost pulling in the atmospheric essence around them before revealing its final form. Their wait finally came to an end when the entire structure flashed, causing all of them to shield their eyes to block the sudden light.

When they opened their eyes, practically all of them gaped at their new lodgings. Sal wasted no time in inspecting it with the Appraisal ability, curious to know what sort of properties it held.

Name	Black Oak Tower
Origin	Crafted (Reforged)
Age	New
Grade	Rare (Low)
Dimensions	Calculating…
Materials	Infused Oak | Infused Rock | Polyester | Aluminum | Refined Warders Essence | Refined Mythcrafter Essence | Refined Soul Forge Essence | Refined Transference Essence | Plastic | Clay
Attributes	Harden: Greatly increases defensive capabilities by hardening skin or external surface material. Amplify: Greatly increases the potency of essence-related abilities. Rooted: Natural growth occurs, utilizing atmospheric and subterranean essence. Rate of growth is determined by essence supply. Refined: Increases Crafting Grade based on essence quality.
Abilities	Harden | Amplify | Rooted | Refined
Power Source	External Essence
Evolution	Yes - 1%
Quality	Perfect
Condition	100%
Value	Est. $45,000.00 – $87,500.00

Sal had to do a double take when he saw the listed properties of their new fortification. He had assumed that the essence he borrowed from Brophy and Rochelle would be converted to Mythcrafter essence, but it had transferred their unique essence types straight into the materials.

The result had been a change in abilities, with Transference creating the Rooted ability, and Soul Forge creating the Amplify ability. Harden had been carried over from the original rock enclosure, and Sal assumed that Refined was a result of their various essences being used in the construction. He marveled at the result, as it was far beyond his expectations. There wasn’t even an evolutionary rune in the design, but Rooted had brought that capability naturally. He wondered whether it was because he had used natural ingredients from the forest, but didn’t know for certain.

“This is insane…” Brophy breathed.

Black wood was intertwined in the shape of walls, almost like the trees had grown together to create a natural barrier. All the spaces between their branches were slate stone, like their previous tent. The branches coiled upward to create what looked like a natural perch. Sal’s meticulously placed tower had turned into a sort of crow’s nest, with branches weaving around it to create a natural defensive point.

“It almost looks like black glass,” Rochelle whispered as she touched the reflective wood.

Ioseph and Erika moved forward to where their tent flap had been. It was Ioseph who figured out that it was now a door, but only after grasping at a few different areas in the hopes of opening it up. When he swung it open, his eyes widened.

“It feels…weird,” he remarked as he looked over his shoulder.

Erika moved past him to enter the construct, clearly curious about what he was talking about. Sal guessed that they were experiencing the Amplify ability, but he couldn’t be sure until he went in himself. Brophy and Rochelle followed her, but watched for her reaction warily.

She stood in the center of the construct and a wide smile crossed her face. “It’s some kind of potency enhancer. Not like the atmospheric essence that Prestige did for us, but rather like I’m sitting in a skill-pod?” She looked at Sal with a questioning look, as though asking him to validate her claim or to explain himself.

Sal shrugged as he gestured at the structure. “It’s because of the essence variants we used in building it. It’s taken some of Brophy and Rochelle’s ability, as well as my own. So, according to the appraisal, it looks like our tower has formed roots and will grow over time. It has Amplification and Hardening abilities too, so it’s probably channeling essence from everywhere into the interior.”

Erika’s eyebrows raised as she looked around. “You managed to make something like this with just wood and essence? No matter what way I look at it, your ability is ridiculously overpowered,” she muttered to herself as she marveled at the internal space.

The rest of the team made the same expressions of wonder, leaving only Sal outside. His visor was trying to calculate its dimensions, and he willed his visor to stop processing it. He could tell from the outside that it was much bigger than what they had before, with a second floor for their tower and an internal staircase that led up to it.

When he finally entered, Sal looked at the lattice of black wood holding up the ceiling. Whatever material remained of the tent had been overtaken by the wood, leaving only a few glimpses of the fabric between the gnarled branches.

The amount of floor space had increased with the removal of the sloped ceiling, giving them a much more spacious environment to camp. On the leftmost side was a tiered staircase that wound upward toward the tower. It dominated a lot of their available space, but it was the only way the design could be completed. Sal questioned whether he could have designed it as a spiral staircase, but dismissed the thought as soon as it came to him.

“And just what do we have here?” Prestige’s voice sounded out from outside their new fortification.

The tapping of her cane signaled her approach as the students moved to make space for her. When she finally entered and came into view, her eyes widened in shock at what Sal assumed was the Amplification ability taking effect.

“How in the world did you manage to create this?” Her voice was almost breathless as she paced around the area, tapping at the walls with her cane.

Sal realized that she wasn’t actually asking him how he had made it but was surprised at the quality of the end result.

Prestige moved up the steps to where the tower was erected, and Sal saw her suddenly freeze as she reached the top. She paced backward down the steps and gave him a stricken look.

“How the fuck did you manage to make this? It’s amplifying essence from the ground all the way to the top of the tower. A student shouldn’t be able to manufacture something like this, even with the right materials.”

Sal gestured to where Brophy stood with his arms folded. “I utilized the essence of Brophy and Rochelle, which ended up being classified as a material in the construction. You already know that I’ve got a Skill Master ability, so my crafting used their skills as components. This building has Rooted and Amplify abilities, as well as Harden from the enclosure.”

Prestige shook her head as she placed her hands on her hips. “I heard about your ability from Chatfield, but this is a whole new level than what I was expecting. You used essence and wood, nothing else?” She looked all around in wonder.

Sal’s silence confirmed that she was correct, and it seemed to confuse her even more.

“As a defensive construct, it’s unparalleled. Is it suitable for an ambush encounter, though? You might find that you’ve crafted a double-edged sword. There’s barely enough room in that tower for one person, so who are you going to send up there? Will it be Erika to try to control all ten of the ambushers, or will you place your trust in Sal’s ability to pick off targets? What will the rest of you do when the attack commences?”

Prestige looked at each of them as she moved around their internal space, paying special attention to step around the sleeping bags strewn on the ground.

Sal frowned as he listened to her advice.

Prestige smiled as she made her way outside. “I guess we’ll have to find out.”

“No, they’re on the right side! My right!” Sal shouted down from the tower.

The entire evening had turned into a chaotic mess since the ambush started. Erika had tried to man the tower at the start but couldn’t get a clear line of sight without Sal’s tracker. Without him identifying them from the outset, the ambushers closed the distance and surrounded the tower in seconds.

Each of their barriers were under attack from every angle, and the branches of the roof were impeding Sal’s ability to fire at them directly. It was a massive design flaw as the very things created to protect him were stopping him from retaliating. Erika couldn’t use her powers without seeing the attackers, and the absence of windows in the downstairs structure had proved to be a major oversight. The ambushers paid special attention to avoid the transparent barriers between the rock fingers on one side, which had made Erika’s ability redundant.

“We don’t know what way you’re facing!” Ioseph called back as he frantically tried to erect barriers from the interior. “Are they on the camp side or the other?”

Sal grimaced as he looked down at the gaps at his feet. He could barely see his team from the vantage point and tried to hold his composure together. “They’re on the camp side! If they were on the other side, you’d see them!”

“Just let me out!” Brophy’s voice was strained as he attempted once again to make Erika see reason. He wanted to be out at the campsite, fighting them in person.

Erika’s voice cut through all of them.

“No! Sal, just shoot them. Brophy, stay inside. We’re defending right now and the moment the door opens, we’ll be taken down. Ioseph, focus on the barriers!” She sounded absolutely pissed; the whole thing had turned to shit around her.

No windows, reduced visibility of their surroundings, and being trapped in a cube with their assailants outside had ended up as a disaster. The best outcome they could hope for would be a stalemate unless Sal managed to take out all ten of them by himself.

“They’re too close. I’ll hit the roof if I try to hit them!” Sal insisted again, but Erika’s voice snapped back in frustration almost a half second later.

“Just shut up and keep trying! You made this mess, so we need to hold out for as long as possible!”

Sal saw red as he snapped his attention to where her voice sounded out. “I made this mess? If you hadn’t insisted on manning the tower, we could have seen them approach and reduced their numbers! They’re clumped on us now because you needed to be in control!”

Erika shouted something back at him, but Sal didn’t hear it as an ethereal mist formed in front of him. He tried to lift his revolver, but it was too late. A hand burst out from the mist and grasped his wrist tightly. The strength of her hold was insane, and Sal could barely budge as the rest of her body materialized into the tight space around him.

Sal couldn’t even get out a word of warning as her arm snaked around his neck and forced him over the edge of the railing. His visor was forcibly removed and the revolver followed shortly afterward. Sal twisted his body, trying to get a look at her, but all he could see was a small device clipped to her belt.

Name	Essence Disruption Grenade
Origin	Crafted
Age	1 year
Grade	Uncommon (Low)
Dimensions	4 inches Length | 2 inches Width
Materials	Nullification Essence | Void Metal Dust | Soul Shard Fragment | Magma Shard
Attributes	Nullify: Drains target essence and restricts activation of abilities. Stun: Temporarily paralyzes target.
Abilities	Nullify | Stun
Power Source	Internal Core
Evolution	No
Quality	Excellent
Condition	91%
Value	Est. $4,000.00 – $6,500.00

Sal suddenly understood Prestige’s earlier warning. If that grenade went off inside their building, the effect would be greatly amplified. He strained as much as he could and managed to surprise her slightly.

In that small window, Sal screamed down at his team. “Get out of the tower!”

His reward was darkness as his ambusher cut off his air supply and knocked him unconscious.