SSS-Rank Engineer: Only I Can Create Legendary Weapons

The trip to the Tower of Hermetics was nice until things went to shit. Which is a common theme with this illness we call life.

Dema was a bustling city, with traders, carriages, and people lining every street. The smells of a medieval city weren't all too nice, but the smell of herbs and smoked meat from the traders on the street cut through.

With all the people around, Percy decided to cover his hair with a gray shawl. He also informed the guards that he was going to a bakery that was close to the Tower of Hermetics.

They would follow and inform his parents on where to find him. He would still need to be careful though, as Hecate finding him in a shop for the occult was a nice way to get banned from anything magic until he was sixteen.

Terra, his key to the tower, was right behind him, clinging to his shirt as they navigated the crowd.

Everyone smelled so bad here.

Not like unwashed for three years kind of bad, just that lingering odor that made Percy want to start throwing soap at people.

That was probably his next invention after figuring out a magical water pump system: a brand of soap and building Roman bathhouses. It would definitely help with diseases and the life expectancy of children.

Percy was watching a group of random people he thought was following him, when he suddenly had an idea.

"Water purification."

He grabbed Terra's hand and pulled her to the side of the crowd, taking shelter under the veranda of a shop.

"You said infused circles attract spirits to them, right?"

Terra nodded, a bit unsure where this was going, and uncomfortable with the sudden stop. She was conscious of the people looking at them, but Percy didn't seem to ever notice anything around him.

He continued in an excited tone.

"How long can these circles last without maintenance? Can they be put on objects to enhance their functions? Can they perform multiple actions at once?"

The rapid-fire of questions took Terra a while to come to terms with. She just nodded repeatedly until Percy stopped.

"Depending on the material used, most circles can work for days or even months. There are magical items carved with circles and infused with intent and Spirit energy, but the materials used to make these items may clash with the circle."

Terra's head turned from side to side.

"And your last question was… oh, yes, multiple circles on one object. They are very hard to pull off without clashes between the symbols and lines of each circle."

Percy nodded, very appreciative of her answers. What he wanted to do was use the excess force generated by the water gates over the river to drive water through a pipe, then purify the water with earth or water magic.

But there was one more thing he had on his mind. He began pulling Terra along with him as they drew closer to the tower rising over all the houses. He decided to ask before they got there.

"The Spirit energy in the infused circle, how long does it last? Do they need to be infused with spirit energy again constantly to keep working?"

He stood beside Terra, walking a bit slower than before, so he caught the wide smile that blossomed on the girl's face.

"That's the best part about Hermetics. We can't draw much spirit energy so infusing a circle daily or even monthly while working on different projects is impossible. That's where the circle part of circle magic comes from. Circles can draw spirit energy from the earth beneath our feet."

Percy raised an eyebrow. That was fascinating. His running mind had quickly begun worrying about what power source circles relied on.

If he had to constantly give the circle spirit energy then it would be tedious and a waste.

But now he was even more confused about something else.

"Why don't Spiritmancers use circle magic then? It's low cost compared to the limited Spirit energy they can draw."

"Well, do you know why kids aren't allowed to be Spiritmancers until they're ten?"

Percy furrowed his brow; he wasn't used to being asked questions he couldn't answer.

"Let's make this quick. It has something to do with the drawbacks of Hermetics."

Terra nodded.

"Drawing spirit energy when your own spirit isn't fully formed is dangerous. It can alter your personality and even lead to physical mutations. It's the same thing for circles but even worse because a circle has no spirit."

Percy nodded, understanding dawning on him.

"So the circle will get deformed over time and its function may change. Like a fire circle shooting water?"

Terra shook her head, eyes growing frightened.

"Even worse than that. The circle will form its own spirit."

There was a pause between them as Percy considered the implications of such a thing.

Terra continued, staring intensely at him.

"We call it an Evil spirit. It comes into the world with the powers of the circle and seeks human lives to drain their spirit energy."

"That's a catastrophic malfunction of hardware," Percy said. That was downplaying it a bit. It was your sink coming to life and trying to kill you because it's clogged.

"Evil spirits, and just the general atrocities that were committed by Hermetics for power, were the reasons it was outlawed."

Circle magic seemed very adaptable, relying on materials and patterns instead of set incantations. If he could figure out how to manipulate the patterns of the circle and come up with new materials to test with, then he could create new interactions.

He looked up as they finally got to the Tower. It was like a stone ballpoint pen rising from the ground.

Why would they build it like that? It was so uneven on certain floors, and the stone looked like it was older than the dead empires that built this place.

The stone was white and ashy. Windows were cut into the stone randomly. Some were too high, some far too close to others. It had random protrusions shooting from the walls too. The building was just a mess.

But Percy was starting to believe that the strange designs of the building and the city itself were all part of a massive circle that the old empire built.

They walked up the steps of the tower, only to be blocked by two guards standing on either side of the door.

"Show identification to enter."

Terra pulled out a pendant and raised it at the guard, who cautiously tapped it once with his index finger. The guard nodded then turned to Percy.

"My identification is Perseus Amphene. I believe you'll want me in your tower."

A couple of minutes, and a very horrified rant from Terra later, they were inside the tower. Percy was sure none of Hecate's guards had seen him enter, so all he had to do was get the relevant information and run out before people started looking for him.

They were walking up a flight of stairs now to one of the Tower's beginner libraries. Terra couldn't stop muttering under her breath.

"I've dragged the future Viscount into depravity. My dark destiny… what have I done?"

Percy sent an exasperated look at her.

"Relax, dark mistress. We aren't sacrificing humans and cursing old ladies here, right, Diana?"

The head of the Tower of Hermetics was a beautiful woman named Diana Corusa. She walked in front of them, wearing a dark gossamer gown that couldn't do much to hide her alluring body.

Her black hair fell down her back like a veil of moonlight. She turned back to smile at them; she wore a black lipstick that made the smile look more threatening.

Her voice was warm and pleasant.

"No, Sir Perseus. We haven't done such practices in eight hundred years since King Leonidas slayed the Lord of the Dead. Now we work with the Spiritmancy Guild to maintain safe work environments."

For a lady that looked that evil, Diana spoke really nicely. Some people just had the strangest taste in clothing. But it didn't really matter what Diana wore, anyone with a working brain would still find her attractive.

Most people didn't even have working brains. They compensated by thinking with their… weapon of bad decisions? Or cocks if you didn't like a mouthful… of words.

He considered sharing the joke with Diana and Terra, but it might be offensive to Diana, and saying such a thing with a kid was dumb.

Thankfully, they got to the beginner library without much trouble. Terra, and everyone else in the library, seemed a bit surprised when Diana followed them to their seats and helped Percy select books to read.

"This is on the history of Hermetics, Sir Perseus. It's a dark and gloomy thing we use to educate new Hermetics on what should never be done. You can just skip it."

Percy shook his head.

"I'm a firm believer in backdesign, but if the process to which something was made is available, I'll just read that. I also want a book on analyzing existing circles to understand their purpose and how they might have been operated."