SSS-Rank Engineer: Only I Can Create Legendary Weapons

They found the Ashfangs rather easily. Percy couldn't help but doubt his decision to hunt two when he saw them.

In a clearing, bathed in moonlight, two adult Ashfangs wrestled in what seemed like some sort of mating ritual. Their grayish-brown bodies undulating in a confusing dance, black claws raking across each other.

The lizards were about as long as a fully grown man, but they were thin, wiry, and fast, with long tails that snapped against the earth violently.

Percy glanced at Thalos, the two of them watching from behind a bush. Thalos looked comfortable where Percy was sweaty and itchy. His black hair was neatly tied into a ponytail, and his grey eyes always held a level of intensity that bordered on murderous intent.

Percy turned back to the lizards, hoping to imitate even half of such intensity. His eyes shifted from purple to grey in a hypnotic dance, but they didn't have that barely contained lethality his father's did.

He took the Spellbolt from his back and didn't aim yet, worried he would trigger the monsters' sense of danger. Ashfangs were one of the deadliest beasts they would meet on the road.

Capable of not only spitting bone-melting flames, but also releasing a cloud of smoke to disorient their prey.

If he took aim now and they sensed him, they would cover the area in smoke. He needed to draw and shoot before they even knew he was there.

Thalos tapped his shoulder, drawing him from his thoughts to signal their strategy. He raised one finger and pointed at himself. This meant that he would draw one of the creatures away while Percy killed the other.

But this was only if he didn't manage to kill one with his first shot. Percy steeled himself, preparing to shoot.

The lizards were still fighting, limbs flailing through the dust. It would be hard to take a precise shot and hit a vital organ with all that movement.

He decided to watch them first and try to understand the rhythm of their violent mating ritual. After a short minute of intense focus, he had an idea of what to do.

He would draw and aim right as the two lizards rose into the air on their tails. That was when they would be most vulnerable, and he would also have a high chance of hitting them both at once with one shot.

He stilled his breath and reached for his Fighting Spirit once again. Thalos watched his process quietly, lips parting as if to offer a hint, but he decided to leave his son to try.

The spirit was as stubborn as usual. The little bastard slipped from his grasp over and over again like he was trying to steal something rather than use a part of himself.

Come on, you lazy bastard. It's time to get to work. Daddy wants to roast some lizard for— eugh, that actually sounds like a terrible dinner.

He didn't try to suppress his playful nature—it was just a way to relax. Instead, he reached harder into his desire for the rewards of Tartarus' quest and his own burning emotions.

His spirit ignited with a warm feeling in his stomach. He instantly channelled it to his already aching eyes and raised his crossbow in a single movement.

The Ashfangs rose into the air on their tails, their brown bodies no longer blurred in his enhanced vision. Percy aimed in a second and fired.

CRACK!

A blue streak of mana raced across the earth. The lizards barely had a second to react before the bolt reached them.

But they still managed to move. One pushed harder off the ground with its tail, pivoting sideways, while the other made the mistake of moving back.

The shot missed the first one but drilled through the belly of the second beast, sending a steaming rain of blood across the ground.

They were faster than expected. The uninjured Ashfang shot at them the moment its feet touched the ground, so fast Percy thought his vision wasn't even enhanced.

It knew exactly where they were from that single shot and opened its mouth, pointing two white fangs at them. A blinding flash of light erupted from the fangs, streaking toward them.

Thalos stormed right out of the bush at the two streaks of flames. He dodged under them easily and ran sideways as the Ashfang sent three more jets of flame at him.

Percy went left, circling the clearing, while the lizard attacked Thalos and chased after the injured Ashfang. He already knew that if he didn't kill the Ashfang instantly, it would run while the other one distracted them.

He tore through the forest, sprinting over uneven ground and weaving past the tall, dark trees. There was barely any visibility, the leafy branches loomed over them, holding back the moonlight.

But he still had his ears. He switched the enhancement from his eyes to his ears. He wasn't used to enhancing two different things at once—his spirit wasn't strong enough yet to be spread between them.

His beating heart pounded in his ears as the vibrating rhythm of insects in the undergrowth tickled his senses.

He could hear the Ashfang running, albeit slower than usual with the terrible injury in its belly. He could also track its blood as he ran—it was steaming hot and sizzled against the forest floor.

He followed it at an angle, just in case, always eyeing trees he could hide behind if it attacked him. That proved to be a smart choice.

Once he got close enough, Percy raised his Spellbolt to shoot again, but the lizard, still barely visible between the bushes and darkness, turned on him.

Percy spun and crouched down behind a tree as light erupted from its fangs. Two jets of fire brushed against the tree and singed his hair.

As the flames died, the forest grew silent. The two hunters sized each other up, and all the insects fled at the sudden flare of heat and light.

His breathing felt far too noisy in the silence that was left behind, mind drifting to Thalos as he felt the weight of his father's katana on his hip. His breathing grew still and steady, and he unclipped the scabbard from his belt.

He could hear the Ashfang approaching with a slow gait on his left. Its padded feet were dead quiet, but the hissing of its hot blood against the ground was unignorable.

In that moment his brain fired with multiple tactics. He had to decide which part of his body to enhance and in what direction to pop out in. His mind also turned to the customizable material in his storage.

No, not now. I don't need an extra weapon.

Percy gritted his teeth and moved, enhancing his first step, and firing two shots as he relocated to another tree. The Ashfang spat flames at him, but they weren't very accurate since it needed to dodge his shots too.

Still, the flames licked the back of his neck as he rolled behind a tree, then carefully placed the katana against it. He didn't stop there, enhancing his ears to track the lizard as both of them repositioned again.

He treaded as lightly as possible, crouching perfectly in the dark. What Thalos had been teaching him about sense of urgency and Fighting Spirit finally made sense.

His desire to know where the enemy was and remain unseen mixed perfectly with his spirit-enhanced ears. He zeroed in on the Ashfang lizard crawling toward the tree he left his katana behind.

His ears also picked up a small ruffle of movement behind him, but he knew that was most likely a fleeing rat or small lizard. He kept his eyes on the Ashfang as it neared the tree.

He was waiting for his katana to fall. He had placed it just a bit lopsided in hopes that it wouldn't fall till he was far away. Now, cloaked by darkness and bushes, he could get a single shot out at the Ashfang when it attacked his falling sword.

Right on cue the sword fell, the Ashfang opened its mouth and shot two jets of flame from its white fangs. Percy took aim and pulled the trigger.

CRACK!

The blue bolt of mana screamed through the air and drilled into the Ashfang's throat in a second. Percy felt his heart pounding as he watched the creature slip to the ground.

But he didn't have a single second to celebrate. He heard the hurried scraping of feet across the forest floor. In a single movement, he jumped to his feet and rolled behind a tree as the second Ashfang arrived.

He couldn't hear Thalos' footsteps following it, but he had a feeling the deadly swordsman was just fine. He was the one in danger right now.

Two streaks of flames lit up the darkness, burning the bushes and curling around the tree to scorch his back. Thankfully his magic cloak held and only smoked a little.

There was only a second between the Ashfang's flames subsiding and the sudden shuffle of its feet.

What the hell? Why is it running at me?

His mind cycled through thoughts in a moment and he concluded that it must have run out of flames and was hoping claws would finish the job.

Percy jumped out from behind the tree, catching a glimpse of the lizard's slim, dull-brown body before he aimed and fired.

But nothing came out of the Spellbolt. Instead, it flashed and flickered with blue light. Percy's heart dropped.

"A jam, are you kidding me? Right fucking now?!"