SSS-Rank Engineer: Only I Can Create Legendary Weapons

Percy only had a second to himself before Thalos flew up into the attic in a single leap. His katana was drawn, glowing with crimson light that chilled the air.

His grey eyes surveyed the room for a second before turning to Percy.

"Where did it go?"

Percy's throat felt raw and it felt like he was swallowing his own blood.

"I… I sent it running. But it's still here. It's everywhere. This entire plot of land is the spirit's body."

Thalos relaxed a little, just enough to check his son's throat injuries and grimace. The crimson fire surging over his blade flared and constricted the air.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm okay. The spirit had me fighting myself. And it wasn't even in a cool way. Just me kicking my ass with no chance for me to fight back."

A smile forced itself over Thalos' face.

"At least you didn't lose your love for wordplay."

"More to come. After we get the hell out of here."

They both jumped down from the attic. The entire Ramlos family was there staring at them with wide eyes. Flynn squeezed through the wall of siblings and wrapped her arms around him.

It wasn't even the type of hug you could return, because she was hugging his arms to his waist.

"I appreciate the hug. Thanks for coming back with help, you really—argh, okay you're hugging me a bit too hard."

He managed to free himself from her and sighed. All of them were watching him with worry. It must have been the fingerprints the spirit left on his neck, or his red eyes, or he could just have something on his face.

George looked mortified back there. He must have realized that Percy told him they were going to die if they stayed here.

"I'm okay guys. Where was everyone? There was so much noise up there."

"The spirit was affecting the house," Thalos explained behind him. "Elongating the stairs, exits that led back into the rooms you came out of, anything to stall us."

The creature was too smart, and its power over everything on this land was too dangerous. He couldn't put his finger on what it was though.

"Is this an evil spirit? Is that why it can do all this weird stuff and use different powers?" Flynn asked.

George furrowed his brow. Not sure what was happening right now.

"It's not an evil spirit. I would have felt its aura if it was. They can't hide their existence that way. I think it's a Rank 3 spirit. I don't know why it's so aggressive, but at this level of power…"

Spirits were ranked from one to seven just like humans. Rank 1 were natural spirits used for casting. Rank 2 were spirits that could handle more powerful spells. Rank 3 spirits would have already gained intelligence and could complete complex spells.

Spells that stretched the limit of what was natural. But none of these spirits, despite how intelligent they got, should be aggressive at this rank.

"Are you going to kill it?" Ura asked. There was an excited glint in her eyes that Percy didn't like. "I'll take the kids away so you can find it."

He was about to suggest that they all just run and leave this problem for some other poor bastard, but Thalos wouldn't like that.

He shook his head, hissing in frustration.

"It won't show itself. This thing is cautious. The only reason it killed Jones was because it waited till he let his guard down."

Thalos nodded.

"It'll just hide till we leave. But we can't just go to sleep and wake up ready to fight. We don't know what it will throw at us."

"We can draw it out. I'll be the bait. After what I just did to it, revenge will be the first thing on its agenda."

"No. It almost killed you. I'm not—"

"There's not enough time to argue. We run now or give it more time to prepare a trap for us."

Thalos opened his mouth a few times, turned around, and came back.

"Fine, what are we doing?"

"George, take your kids and wife off the property and onto the road. I'll go out into the backyard and walk to the edge of the property and call it out. My dad is the only one that won't be sensed so he's the only one that can follow."

George nodded and started herding his kids downstairs. Flynn looked back and forth between her family and Percy.

"You can't do this alone. Let me help. I can provide some extra firepower in case the spirit—"

Percy pressed a hand against her face.

"It's not that I don't believe you can help us, I do. But rather we only need one vulnerable target, not two. Thalos is tough but he can't protect us both."

"I am rather tough." Thalos said smiling.

They both stared at him blank-faced for a moment. Percy rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, stay safe kid. One day when you're as tough as me and Thalos then you can join us."

"It's actually Thalos and I," Flynn corrected, he pushed her away. "Stay safe okay? You still owe me lessons. I won't let you rest in peace till I get them."

He watched her run off for a moment, then glanced at his father and back up at the attic. Clearing his throat awkwardly, he said,

"We have to go back up."

"You almost died up there," Thalos said, eyebrows raised in concern. "Aren't you a bit scared?"

"The only thing I'm scared of is being punctual and taxes. We need to find out what weird ritual they did here to summon that thing. If I can understand how the circle works then we can just destroy it."

They both jumped up into the attic with simple leaps. That was fun every time, but he had work to do.

He sat down at a stack of books covered in dust. The [Veil of Secrecy] circle must have stopped his [Tailwind] spell from reaching. He really liked this circle, he would most definitely replicate it someday.

For now he tore through the books as far as he could, his purple and grey eyes changing colors with each page he flipped through.

Theurgy was a highly coveted art. It consisted of summoning powerful spirits to do your bidding. Diana told him that most of the time, even in the Tower of Hermetics, they only summoned Rank 3 spirits that they were friendly with.

Most Rank 4 spirits needed special conditions to be summoned. Full moons, celestial events, specific days of the year. And you'd also pay a steep price to have their services.

So the Baskers couldn't have summoned a Rank 4 spirit, right?

What he found gave him a headache.