SSS-Rank Engineer: Only I Can Create Legendary Weapons

The moon guided their path as they searched for the Silksong Moth's lair. Percy absorbed every bit of information about tracking that Thalos threw his way, even though his mind was in disarray.

Thalos helped him up a particularly high incline and they both grabbed a tree for support, watching over a deep depression in the ground.

"The moths like sloping ground like this. They've likely hidden sticky silk traps in the dirt to catch anything that tries entering the lair."

The opening in the canopy of trees around them allowed him to see the moon high in the dark sky. He let out a shaky breath and watched the visible mist of his breath disappear.

"Inside the lair will be filled with its poison," Percy said in a matter-of-fact tone. His eyes had turned steely grey. "We can use fire to push out the air."

Thalos shook his head.

"You'll burn the silk."

"I won't, I'll be careful."

"No. We don't use fire for this hunt. If we wake up the larva, they'll break through their cocoons to defend themselves. Which will also damage the silk"

Percy had forgotten they could do that. It wasn't like the other caterpillars from his world. These Moths were similar in shape and behaviour, but they had followed different evolutionary paths.

"So what do we do? We need the silk and we can't do that without waking up the bugs."

Thalos unsheathed his sword, turning to his son.

"You're in a bit of a hurry, what's wrong?"

Percy's eyes widened, his worries about the optional quest from Tartarus affected his mood. He turned back to the lair shrugging.

"I'm just a bit excited to hunt the Ashfangs. Terra and I have plans for them that I would like to get some testing done for."

Thalos looked unsure he was telling the truth. There was something else flickering in his son's eyes, a strange urgency that hadn't been there when he told Percy they would be hunting the Ashfangs.

"Okay. Well, as for how we're going to kill the larva without allowing them to damage their cocoons, I'll open up the cocoons for them to escape. One clean slash that will let the silk cocoons unravel easily. Then you kill them with your Spellbolt."

He nodded; Thalos' plan was one that was well thought out and made for working alone. His father was probably fast enough to kill the larva and open the cocoons at once, but he wanted Percy to get a chance to practise fighting.

They both slid down the slope, carefully walking over the fallen leaves. Thalos stopped every once in a while to show him one of the traps left by the Silksong Moth.

It was definitely an ingenious creature. All the traps it left were placed strategically where something coming down the slope would be forced to step in. Thalos cut through the traps with a silent stroke of his katana and continued forward.

The moment he was left with his thoughts his mind drifted to the quests he got from the mysterious Tartarus. His system screen popped up in response.

━━━━━━━━━ ✦ Optional Quests ✦ ━━━━━━━━━

– Complete the Second Version of the Spellcore (Given by Aether): Your inventions continue to impress the god of possibilities. He humbly requests that your next version of the Spellcore improves on its conductivity to avoid burning the Aetherite conductor. Rewards: One Rank 4 customizable reward, twenty additional stat points.

– Find the Forgotten Temple (Given by Nyx): Find the forgotten Temple of Demetria, and claim her inheritance. Not much to say here, but I'll speak directly. This will determine whether you return to Dema in ruin or not. Rewards: One Rank 5 customizable reward, fifty additional stat points.

– Hunt down two Ashfang Lizards (Given by Tartarus): The god of depravity and perversion delights in your work. Gather four Ashfangs. Rewards: One Rank 1 customisable reward, five additional stat points, the knowledge of how to make the Crimsonfire curse mark.

✧──────────────────────────────────────────────✧

He already knew this world had a strange affiliation with Greek names, and he had a feeling that the language they spoke was probably a translated Greek. So the gods of this world being Greek gods wasn't surprising.

But what happened to the traditional twelve Greek gods? Why weren't they worshipped here? Why were the primal elements the only deities he kept meeting?

Nyx was the personification of night, Aether was the personification of space and the stars, and Tartarus was a realm of darkness where monsters were born.

He had heard no mention of Zeus or Apollo, the classic gods of Greek theology, even in the legends of the great heroes. Hecate was even named after the goddess of magic.

His first guess on what happened to the gods was that they just didn't exist here. This place mixed and matched mythologies in a strange way, the stories just slightly changed from what he knew.

But what mattered right now was Tartarus. How did this guy even find him? Or did Nyx tell Tartarus about him?

He looked up at the moon once again. He didn't like the idea that so many things could be watching him right now. But he was grateful for the quest.

The only problem he had was the fact he didn't know what a curse mark even was. It could be something that was dangerous to know, or was a taboo to use.

Still, he had the creeping desire to know what it did. He turned to Thalos as they walked forward slowly.

Thalos looked him in the eye and took a deep breath, Percy did the same, and they approached the cave entrance.

Percy took out his bow and pointed it into the dark cave. Inside, the ground, ceiling, and floor were covered in shimmering silk. If Thalos went in there his feet would be stuck the moment he stopped moving.

Glancing sideways, Percy checked once again that his father was wearing the Silksong cloak that they both took from camp. With that he should be somewhat able to resist the poisonous mist of the cave.

Thalos turned to him and held up five fingers silently. Percy nodded and the fingers began to come down.

Four.

Percy aimed his Spellbolt at the nearest cocoon and stilled his breath. The intricate line running over the white wood began glowing blue.

Three.

He put everything else aside, Nyx and her dysfunctional family, and tried to feel his Fighting Spirit. It quivered like a quiet flame, too small to cover his body, but enough to enhance his eyes.

Two.

Thalos lowered his hand to the red hilt of his katana, lowering his stance too. Percy dug into his spirit, trying to move it with his intent. It stubbornly disobeyed, he couldn't ignite the spirit despite his sense of urgency.

The count of one was silent, but they were both ready. Thalos' body flashed with a crimson light, drawing his katana with a low hiss. The blade wasn't covered in that red energy like before.

The blade silently sawed through the cocoons, his feet lightly tapping against the earth in brief jumps that looked like teleportation to Percy. His body flashed ten times before it stopped at the other end of the cave.

The cocoons fell apart and their inhabitants were immediately aware of their invaders, tracing their positions with body heat.

Five larvae jumped from their cocoons in an instant. Their bodies were black and slimy. Their red eyes gleamed in the darkness as they approached, mandibles clicking in irritation.

Percy was slow to react compared to their speed. His intent struggled to harness his Fighting Spirit until now. The fear in his heart ignited the flames of his spirit, and it rushed into his eyes.

In that single moment, he took in all that was happening and moved. One sharp step left while shooting from an angle.

The blue flash of his lethal shot drilled through two heads and burst against the lair roof with a rattling bang.

His hand flicked with two separate shots. The first one killed another larva while the other pierced the larva right beside it but wasn't a killing blow.

The last caterpillar streaked across the ground faster than he could run. So he kicked off the wall behind him and backflipped over the caterpillar, shooting twice while he was mid-air.

The first shot blasted through the body while the second managed to barely hit the head. Percy landed with a roll and spun around to check on the last one.

He spun just in time to see it coming down on him, slimy mandibles wide open.