[Materials are needed for repairs.]
Materials for repairs.
Cheonjeoseok was essential, but the materials required for this massive sword were not limited to Cheonjeoseok alone.
“Mining Team, do you copy?”
– Yes, Master.
“Head to the warehouse immediately and bring three hundred iron ores… no, make it a comfortable five hundred.”
– Understood.
“Ah, and bring all the magic stones you can find. Also…”
The sword’s enormous size demanded an incredible amount of materials.
Cheonjeoseok was the most crucial ore for repairing this sword, but in reality, it was the least used among all required ores.
The problem was that Cheonjeoseok was even rarer and higher-grade than Adamantium.
“Clang!”
Clatter.
“Master, here is the Cheonjeoseok.”
“Good. Leave it here in front every time you mine it.”
“Understood.”
The Mining Team was diligently extracting Cheonjeoseok.
So, I decided to leave the Cheonjeoseok to the miners and start the repairs myself immediately.
A short while later.
The other Mining Team stopped by the warehouse, gathered all the ores I requested, and brought them here.
Luckily, the statues at the entrance had cleared out the monsters, making the trip easy.
“Master, we have collected all the ores you requested.”
“Good. Mining Team, return to your original tasks. Production Team, let’s begin!”
“Yes.”
The entire Production Team—Production 1, 2, 3 and Decomposition 1, 2, 3—all swarmed onto the Sword .
Their roles were simple.
To assist my repairs.
Decomposition 1, 2, and 3 dismantled the sword according to their specialties.
Of course, they weren’t dismantling it haphazardly.
They carefully removed the parts too damaged to be restored.
Doing so made the repair process significantly easier.
The Production Trio then began repairing using iron ores and other materials.
But the most important role was still mine.
‘Cheonjeoseok.’
The Cheonjeoseok slowly absorbed into the sword under repair.
Immediately, bright turquoise points appeared.
“Clang!”
As expected, it was solid.
Though the Production Team had improved greatly, the last time they experimented, even handling high-grade materials like Adamantium was challenging.
Let alone Cheonjeoseok, which was considered even more advanced than Adamantium.
It was nearly impossible for the Production Team to work with it.
Therefore, only the Cheonjeoseok had to be embedded directly by me.
“Clang!”
Comparable to Adamantium.
No, even tougher than Adamantium.
My strength and skill with the hammer had improved, but the points still refused to break easily.
However-
[Progress: 2%…]
‘It’s working.’
The fact that it was possible was what mattered.
Unlike when I tried engraving the Rune of Time, now I clearly felt it was doable.
If it was possible, there was no reason to give up.
“Clang!”
Swinging a hammer against a sword several times larger than my body.
Each strike made the turquoise points gleam.
Lost in the world, focused solely on hammering,
[You have entered a Transcendent State and realize the essence of smithing.]
[‘Hephaestus’s Descendant (SSS)’ effect temporarily raises all stats.]
I quickly slipped into the Transcendent State.
“Hmmph.”
***
“How does it feel?”
Two statues guarding the Tower.
Named ‘Sword Statue’ and ‘Spear Statue,’ they opened their mouths.
When they had been arguing over whose weapon to repair first, they had seemed ready to clash.
But now, they appeared to have completely forgotten about that and were quietly observing the challenger’s hammering.
“What do you mean, how does it feel?”
“Do you think he will succeed?”
“Of course he must.”
“To be honest, I think I got a little excited. Looking back, entrusting weapon repair to a challenger was a mistake.”
“Isn’t this a weapon made by a god himself? It’s absurd for a mere human to fix such a weapon.”
Spear Statue nodded as if trying to convince himself, continuing, “It’s regrettable. I may still have my spear, but your weapon will remain an incomplete failure after this.”
As Spear Statue proudly looked at his spear, Sword Statue, who had kept silent until then, finally spoke.
“How disgraceful, Spear.”
“W-What?”
“Disgraceful enough to tell you to stop, Spear. A warrior must accept defeat.”
“Who’s the one admitting defeat here!”
“You are, Spear.”
“Grah!” Spear Statue suddenly started raging.
All that calmness before was just an act.
But regardless of Spear Statue’s tantrum, Sword Statue’s gaze remained fixed on the challenger.
“Isn’t it amazing?”
“Are you mocking again!”
“That challenger… it’s as if he’s severed from the world, forgetting even his own existence.”
“Hm?”
Spear Statue looked down at the challenger.
Then his expression hardened as he said, “Transcendent State.”
“That’s right. Transcendent State. And he looks quite familiar with it. He must have entered it many times before.”
“Impressive. He looks young, yet he’s already skilled enough to enter the Transcendent State.”
The Transcendent State.
A state of mind where one is so focused on a single task that they forget themselves.
A state requiring extreme concentration.
Those devoted to a single martial path may have experienced it once, but very few can enter it at will so easily.
What’s the advantage of such a state?
It allows one to draw out and utilize their deepest hidden potential.
In that sense, the challenger watched by the two statues …reminded them of someone.
“That someone?”
“It’s obvious. The one who made our weapons.”
Someone appeared in their minds.
The Master of Volcano.
The Eternal Flame’s Owner and God of All Smiths.
The architect of the Tower who played the decisive role when gathering the power of all gods to build the Tower.
The one who entrusted them as Gatekeepers for the Tower’s final moment, forging the sword and spear for them.
Why was that?
Why did the image of that being overlap with this mere human?
“At first, I thought it was excessive decision to make the right to enter the Tower depend on repairing weapons for us, but now I think the opposite.”
“That’s true. Asking us to repair weapons made by a god—no challenge compares to facing us, old and rusted as we are.”
“Perhaps this challenger might be the last challenger.”
“Haha, I hope so.”
Rumble—
As Spear Statue moved his body, dust and stone flakes drifted off.
Though promised eternity as statues, even their stone bodies could not endure endless time.
As time passed, their bodies had started to crumble bit by bit.
Though they looked intact on the surface, compared to when they first became statues, they had grown worn and shabby.
At this rate, they too would break down like that weapon.
If possible, they hoped the Tower would be conquered before then, so they could fulfill their duty.
“By the way, shouldn’t you pray?”
“What do you mean?”
“When all the Cheonjeoseok runs out, you’ll be standing proudly with a sharp sword, while I’ll be stuck holding a broken spear next to you.”
“Hey, come on!”
Leaving behind the two statues making a ruckus again after their serious conversation, the challenger kept swinging the hammer.
“Clang!”
“Clang!”
[Progress: 21%…]
***
Time crawled slowly.
How long had I been hammering lost in the Transcendent State?
I had reached a level beyond even the Transcendent State.
‘Hoo…!’
The Transcendent State usually means losing even self-awareness to deeply immerse in an act.
It allows one to push their potential to the limit.
Having become accustomed to it, ‘This is slow.’
I was able to regain rationality while maintaining the potential drawn out in the Transcendent State.
How this was possible, I did not know.
To put it roughly, I was leaving my body in the Transcendent State while only my mind had slipped out.
‘Even when engraving the Rune of Space, it wasn’t this intense.’
This was the hardest hammering I had done so far.
No, if I mention that, the Rune of Time also comes to mind, but among successful hammerings, engraving the Rune of Space was the most difficult.
But now, this was even harder.
At first, when the progress went up, I thought it would be fine.
Honestly, now I didn’t know if the weapon repair would finish first or if I would collapse first.
Then, suddenly, something popped into my head.
‘Wait, rune engraving?’
Runes.
The option I hadn’t even dared to consider due to the high difficulty of repairs.
But, what if I changed my perspective?
I wasn’t trying to enhance this weapon.
I just wanted to return it to its original form.
Just repair it.
In that case—
“Blaze, you said there’s also a Rune of Restoration, right?”
“Yeah!”
How about engraving the Rune of Restoration for repairs?
Sure, the difficulty would be higher at first, but if the rune was successfully inscribed, it might get easier.
‘Wouldn’t the difficulty drop significantly?’
I wasn’t certain, but I thought so.
If restoration succeeded, the weapon might gain self-regeneration proportional to the Rune of Restoration.
Enough thinking.
At times like this, action comes first.
“Blaze, infuse the Rune of Restoration.”
“Okay!”
Blaze emitted blue flames.
Following that, the Rune of Restoration was engraved onto the sword’s surface.
“Clang!”
Putting the repairs on hold, I focused on engraving the Rune of Restoration.
The Rune of Restoration itself wasn’t as difficult as the Rune of Space, so progress rose faster than expected.
Still, since the weapon’s grade was high and size enormous, it took some time.
“Buzz.”
=Ah=
‘Yes.’
Before long, the Rune of Restoration was successfully inscribed.
“Now, how about this?”
“Clang!”
I swung the hammer at the sword etched with the Rune of Restoration.
A clear, ringing sound filled the air.
The recoil felt in my palm.
Turquoise sparks bursting from the points.
Through all of this, I realized—
“That’s it!”
Hammering became noticeably easier.
The Rune of Restoration helped the repair alongside me.
It smoothly fused the points, making my hammering much easier.
“Clang!”
I instinctively put more strength into the hammer, exhilarated.
Once more, the Transcendent State.
[You enter the true Transcendent State of the smith.]
[‘Hephaestus’s Descendant (SSS)’ effect temporarily raises all stats.]
Entranced, I swung the hammer.
[Progress: 43%…]
[Progress: 55%…]
The sluggish progress suddenly accelerated.
The Rune of Restoration influenced not only me but also the Production Team’s repairs.
Inspired by me, the Production Team hammered faster.
One day.
Two days.
How much time passed?
Even though I had surpassed the Transcendent State and regained reason, it was hard to feel time passing.
Besides, this place had no clocks or windows.
How time flowed was unknown, and I became absorbed in the increasing progress and the sword’s gradual restoration.
Continuously hammering, I finally completed the first stage of repairs.
[‘Gatekeeper’s Blue-Green Sword’ repair complete.]
very interesting