SSS-Rank Engineer: Only I Can Create Legendary Weapons

Percy's gaze cut through the crowd to finally see the man—the danger—that had loomed over his entire life in this world.

Sion Eurides.

He was an average-heighted man with a pale face that was somber and careless. His clothes looked even more extravagant than the Viscounts seated beside Percy—verdant green robes and a collection of golden jewelry.

His face was rather handsome with full brown hair and dark eyes, but the dark circles under his eyes and sickly pallor made the smile on his face look more sinister than it was happy.

Sion watched his son, who was the spitting image of him, walk up to the stage and touch the rainbow pillar of light. He clapped slowly and calmly, never once even noticing the people looking at him.

His son, Hephaestus, was the last noble child to be called. Afterwards, it would be knights, then commoners. It was a small respect given to him by the Count of Yarol, even though Sion was no longer of the noble class.

Percy glanced at the Count, who was sitting on stage with the rest of the white-robed Spiritmancers. His face was mostly covered by the hood they all wore, but the bottom half of his face seemed unperturbed.

All the nobles in the room exchanged glances as Hephaestus got on stage, but none dared say anything.

Putting aside the fact that Sion wasn't a noble, Percy wondered if the Count had forgotten that he went to war with the man. They both acted like nothing had happened.

Sion had been stripped of his Viscount position by the King of Crona himself—a right usually held by the Counts of the region. In his place, Hecate had been appointed as Viscount—another right the King took from the Count.

To add to that disgrace, the Count of Yarol had failed to rein in Sion years ago and went to war with him, a war that the Count ended up losing.

His reputation had suffered many blows throughout the years, and Hugo had even told Percy that the Count was sick. The man on stage now didn't look unhealthy, but Percy didn't trust appearances.

Many of the Viscounts—only two were physically present—plotted against the Count, because they sense this weakness.

Percy knew that at least the Viscount of Garina wanted to take the position of Count himself and was planning war against the Viscount of Chiton.

Basically, all these people did technically hate themselves, and maybe it wasn't surprising that the Count let Sion's son have his ceremony.

But Percy could think of multiple reasons why the Count of Yarol shouldn't tolerate Sion's presence.

What's happening here? Is this the Count declaring his support of House Eurides?

Percy turned his eyes to Hephaestus, who finally touched the pillar.

There was a small delay before two colors shone from the pillar—sapphire blue and bronze.

Many people began clapping, and rising to their feet on the right row. Some even rose around him, eyes wide with disbelief.

Dual affinities were very rare.

Their reaction was a bit more subdued, but they made sure to express their awe and blow wind up Sion's arse.

"Water and earth, truly a child from Demetria."

"Very good affinity too. He has high potential to reach Rank 4," someone said behind him.

But then a loud shushing sound followed from someone nearby. Percy could bet they were looking at him now and thinking he would be annoyed.

He didn't care what rank Hephaestus got. What was more bizarre to him was the lack of reaction from the Count.

Your biggest enemy just got a lot more dangerous. Dual affinities means he'll be twice as versatile as ninety percent of spiritmancers.

The Count didn't seem worried one bit; maybe he had stronger weapons in his arsenal than his own son, Vanitas, who had just one affinity.

Percy reclined into his chair and tapped his father. Thalos had been staring at Sion this whole time.

"Not now, Dad."

He wished this dumb ceremony would just end already so they could get to the imprinting ceremony. This literally had no other point besides showing off.

He could see many parents smiling and chatting quietly after their children were done with their ceremony. There was a decent number of talented children in Yarol.

Once Hephaestus was done showing off, the children of knights started being called up. Their affinities weren't as impressive as the ones before, but it was nothing to be ashamed of.

Percy could bet half the noble children here had their affinities improved by their parents. Hecate told him that she had undergone a similar ritual as a child.

It was a secret method closely guarded by different families. Hecate had already essentially been banished from her father's house, so she couldn't do it for Percy.

But he had already used the elixir from Gaia's temple, so it raised all his affinities to far better than she ever could.

Percy was feeling kind of sad he hadn't given one of the elixirs to Flynn; he had around ten in there, after all.

Her brother, Hack, was on stage now. The pillar glowed a thick brown color when he got up there. He had a decent affinity for Earth Spiritmancy that caught the attention of a lot of the nobles seated.

Before the next child could be called up, the Count of Yarol rose smoothly and began walking to center stage. The announcer paused, surprise painting his face. Silence rolled through the grand hall.

"My friends, my subjects," the Count said softly, his voice reaching all corners of the room.

"This ceremony will run a bit long if we wait till after the revelation of affinity to discuss imprinting. So I will open the floor for you all to speak, not too loudly, of course, and gift spells to our promising young boys and girls. Thank you."

All the white-robed men behind the Count frowned and whispered among themselves. But no one objected, so the announcer cleared his voice to get their attention.

"My voice is bolstered to reach everyone, but please discuss calmly and do not distract anyone."

Half of the hall rose immediately. The guards did their best to keep people from moving to the front, but chaos spread through the hall while the announcer continued calling out children.

Meanwhile, Percy tried to watch everyone that went to speak to Hephaestus, but he was already swarmed by people.

A man dressed in a dark red overcoat with pale blond hair spoke brilliantly.

"Lord Perseus, your talent truly is a blessing to Valtyros. With your pioneering intellect, I thought to myself only the best spell will do. This spell will allow you to see through stone."

Beside him, someone else was far more composed. The man was bald and round-faced.

"My family has not much to offer you, my lord. But my great-grandfather was a great inventor, and there are many schematics I have in my home if you'd like to visit. I will also give you a fire spell that can shield you."

Another man reached his hand over the crowd. He was dressed more crudely and had a long scar on his cheek.

"My lord, I am from the Prometheus Guild. We are famed explorers of the deadly ruins in the frozen wastes. I can offer you a spell that can attract metals and precious material to you."

Thalos hovered over Percy the whole time with his hand on Marrowbiter. His grey eyes weren't too sharp, but they warned not to get too close to his son.

Percy tapped him frantically while trying to smile for all the people throwing words at him.

This is going to be hard.