They want me to repair the Tower.
More than wondering whether I can do it.
‘Is that even possible?’
That was the first thought that came to mind.
If the Tower could be repaired in the first place, wouldn’t the statue have told me already?
Even Riohr, who was supposed to be the Tower’s caretaker, ultimately failed and ended up like that.
Could a mere Awakened One like me repair the Tower?
It was a concern, but now wasn’t the time for worries.
The cracks that Riohr showed me on the screen looked severe, even to my eyes.
As Riohr said, the cracks were so large that it wouldn’t be surprising if the Tower collapsed at any moment.
“I don’t know if I can do it, but let’s go check it out first.”
“I’ll move us to the lower floors! Please hold my hand!”
“Okay.”
“No, not there—that’s my tail…….”
The moment I grabbed Riohr, I felt the same sensation as when I first entered the Tower, and my vision wavered.
I had no idea how it happened, but in an instant, our location changed.
So this was what teleportation was like.
Since we were moving to the lower floors, I wondered if we would return to one of the floors I’d already visited, but the place I arrived at was completely unfamiliar.
“Where is this?”
“This is the pillar that supports the 1st to 10th floors of the Tower.”
The structure of the Tower.
I’d never thought about it before.
Even if the floors shared the same theme, each one looked different, and some were so wide, with a blue sky overhead, that it was hard to believe there was a ceiling.
I’d only thought of it as something mysterious.
Where Riohr brought me—
“Whoa…!”
A truly enormous pillar rose before me.
Around it, ten other pillars supported the area.
Most striking of all, the surface of the pillar was densely inscribed with familiar characters.
Rune Script.
I couldn’t interpret Rune Script unless I had used it myself, but those were definitely the same Rune Script that Blaze used to emit.
“I’ll explain. The Tower is composed of this central pillar, known as the main pillar, and the ten pillars that surround it. In fact, the very manifestation of the trials is due to the Rune Script engraved on these pillars……”
I listened carefully to Riohr’s explanation.
Honestly, it was hard for me to understand, but since I had some experience handling Rune Script directly, I could grasp the gist of it.
However, the issue wasn’t about the explanation of these pillars or how the Tower functioned.
“So, you’re asking me to repair this?”
“Yes. Actually, even if you do repair it, it will only slow down the Tower’s collapse by a little. But even that much would benefit you as a climber.”
“That’s true.”
I nodded automatically.
If the Tower collapsed right now, I’d be in trouble.
I needed to climb as high as possible while the Tower was still intact.
It would be great if I could clear it all, but even if not, I had to weaken the Tower as much as possible.
Otherwise, the Monster Wave I saw in the White Feather Immortal’s Prophecy would arrive on Earth.
“Is this how you tried to repair it?”
“Yes, I tried everything I could, but it was no use.”
Looking at the pillar, I really could see traces of attempts to repair it.
The crack Riohr showed me earlier was from this first floor, and his idea of ‘repair’ was quite something.
It looked like he’d slapped cement on haphazardly, but even that didn’t stick well. A light touch was enough for it to fall right off.
Riohr, looking embarrassed, tried to explain, “I tried anything I could think of, but I don’t have any skills, so it just didn’t work……”
Well, how could an ordinary person repair something like this?
I wasn’t even sure I could do it.
Though, with Riohr’s appearance and title, it was a bit hard to call him an ordinary person.
“Do you have repair materials?”
“It’s a bit odd to call them materials, but I gathered all the fragments from the cracks. Just in case.”
“What about the Rune Script?”
“I still have the original photos.”
“Can you show me all of them?”
At my request, Riohr showed me what he’d prepared.
The remains of the pillar, and photos of the pillar back when it was intact.
The Rune Script was clearly visible in the photos, so I showed them to Blaze.
“Blaze, do you think you can carve these back in as they were?”
“O…….”
Blaze examined the photos.
He muttered under his breath as if reading the Rune Script, and after a moment, answered energetically.
“Yep! I can do it!”
“Great.”
“Th-then you can really do it? For real?”
“We have the repair materials and we can restore the Rune Script, so let’s give it a try. But I can’t guarantee it’ll work 100%. This is my first time, too.”
“Uuugh, please! This is important for you as well, Climber!”
I nodded at Riohr’s words.
Just as he said, this was extremely important for me, too.
I placed the prepared materials at my feet and used a skill.
“Repair!”
Honestly, this was the most critical moment.
If the Repair Skill didn’t work, I couldn’t even attempt the repair.
It’s not like I’m an actual architect who can fix pillars with a real hammer.
Fortunately.
[Using Repair Skill.]
The skill activated properly.
I pointed to the crack in the pillar and chose the fragments as repair material, and soon enough, a familiar-shaped point appeared over the pillar.
“Please step aside.”
“Yes! If you need anything, just let me know!”
As soon as Riohr moved out of the way—
“KANG!”
My hammering began.
Repairing a Tower pillar out of the blue.
It was bewildering, but honestly, as a Blacksmith, fixing the pillar of the Tower suited me much more than fighting Monsters in the Tower.
As I swung my hammer, I couldn’t help but grimace.
‘It’s too hard.’
The point was just too hard.
Even more than when I made the Durandal but I couldn’t give up.
If the Tower collapsed, the Monster Wave I saw in the White Feather Immortal’s Prophecy would be upon us.
After thinking for a moment, I stared at the largest point I’d ever seen and said, “Can you call my assistants?”
“Ah, you mean your Living Armor, Climber?”
“Yes. I’d like the Production Team to help.”
“I’ll bring them right away!”
Riohr brought my Production Team in an instant.
He must have been in quite a hurry, since it took less than a minute to gather them.
Once the Production Team arrived—
“You see this point?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Let’s break it together.”
“Yes.”
I suggested a partnership.
Actually, this was the first time I’d done this.
I’d shown the Production Team equipment I’d made and instructed them to mass-produce it many times before, but I’d never hammered the same point alongside them.
I was a bit worried it might not work.
But—
“KANG!”
“Nice.”
The Production Team’s hammer struck the massive point.
This proved that we could cooperate on this.
The result might be a bit less perfect, but right now, time was more important.
From what I could see, the pillar was in such dire straits that it wouldn’t be odd if it collapsed at any moment.
“KANG, KANG, KANG!”
Combining our strength, the Production Team and I started repairing the pillar.
These fragments.
I couldn’t check their item information, but given how hard it was to repair, they must be of a very high grade.
I wondered if they might be SSS-grade material themselves as I continued to hammer away.
“KANG!”
With the Production Team helping, we finally made some progress.
One point completely broke, and the fragment attached to the pillar, repairing the crack a bit.
And now—
“Blaze.”
“FWOOSH!”
Blaze carved Rune Script over the repaired crack.
I swung my hammer over it to fully engrave the Rune Script into the pillar, and with each blow, Blaze’s blue flames infused the script.
And watching all this—
“Oooh……!” The Tower’s caretaker.
Riohr was watching with sparkling eyes.
***
When he first discovered the crack in the Tower.
When he found that deep, wide fissure that looked like it would topple the pillar at any moment—
Riohr felt an overwhelming sense of despair.
“Just a little longer, and the Tower might actually be cleared!”
He’d just started to have hope.
How long had it been since he found hope, and now this despair struck him.
This couldn’t be happening.
He’d been bound here as the Tower’s caretaker for countless ages.
He’d only just rekindled the hope that someday, he might escape this Tower and roam free.
And right as that hope returned, this happened.
It just couldn’t be.
With such thoughts, Riohr tried his hand at repairing the Tower for the first time.
And the result—
“CRASH—”
“Ugh……”
It was hopeless.
No matter how many times he tried, repairing the pillar was impossible.
In the midst of all that—
“CRACK.”
“Eek!”
A small fissure appeared at the end of the massive crack.
He panicked, thinking he might have made it worse.
Should he give up now?
With the Tower so close to being cleared, would it all end like this?
Just as he was about to surrender to despair—
The Climber’s profession popped into Riohr’s mind.
“Blacksmith!”
That’s right, the Climber’s profession was Blacksmith.
Even so, repairing a divine structure—no, something beyond that, like the Tower, should be impossible for any Blacksmith.
But this was the only straw left to grasp.
So, he made the request.
“Oooh……!”
That Blacksmith.
The Climber.
Was actually repairing the Tower.
Using the fragments Riohr had gathered, the Climber was restoring the pillar.
The enormous crack was slowly being filled, and even the Rune Script, thought to be beyond restoration, was being repaired.
This was an unbelievable situation.
He’d thought the pillar could never be repaired unless a divine being intervened.
Yet it was being fixed by an ordinary Climber.
Having already come to trust the Climber, Jeong Seo Jun, Riohr now went beyond mere faith and started to worship him.
“Long live the Climber!!” Riohr’s shout echoed through the heart of the Tower.
‘What’s with him……’
***
As I focused on repairing the pillar—
I heard Riohr’s shout from behind.
The two statues had said the manager was just an observer, someone who wouldn’t pay much attention to a Climber.
But now, hearing something like, ‘Long live the Climber!!’
I couldn’t help but be bewildered.
Still, I concentrated on the pillar.
Luckily, there were plenty of pillar fragments to use as repair materials.
It looked like Riohr had gathered not just the remains from the first floor, but from all floors.
It might not be enough to fill every crack, but it should take care of the immediate danger.
“KANG, KANG, KANG!”
With the entire Production Team joining in, we made good progress.
That let me and Blaze focus on restoring the Rune Script, while the Production Team repaired the cracks.
Then, after some time—
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been focused, but by the time my hunger started to kick in, the job was done.
[Repair of the ‘First Main Pillar’ has been completed.]
At last, the repair of the pillar was finished.