Eisen leaned back as he continued watching all of these children play with their new toys. He was still holding onto that single wooden figure that he had kept to himself for now, as long as they had enough left.
If they ran out of the toys otherwise and there was a kid that still wanted one, then he would obviously give it to them, but for now, he was just enjoying the sensation of one of his old memories.
"Eisen?" Rouge walked up to the old man, who raised his brow and turned toward his apprentice, "Yeah?"
"Ah, just, we copied down the pattern that we used for those golem cores, and cleaned up the rest of the work surfaces for now. Is there anything else that we should do?" he asked curiously, and Eisen just smiled and shook his head.
"You two can take a break. I'll clean the rest up on my own later, don't worry. Just take a seat, and take a look at the results of your work," the old man turned back forward, as Parc and Rouge pulled up their own chairs to take a seat next to their teacher.
They were clearly feeling a bit anxious, but soon, they were able to just take it slow and enjoy the sight of the kids playing with the toys that they helped in creating.
The broad grins on both of their faces was something that Eisen never wanted to forget ever, trying to burn the sight into his mind, "Are you two happy that you joined me as my students?"
Without a moment's hesitation, they turned to Eisen and replied, "Of course!" Parc practically yelled, before Rouge finished the thought, "There is no way we would ever regret this... Not to mention that you're teaching us things that we might never be able to learn elsewhere... the places you take us, and the things that we get to experience when we're with you, are just... incomparable."
"If it weren't for you, I might be making nails right now. Or carving the legs of a table," Parc pointed out, "Which of course, I don't mind doing either, it's fun, but... here, we get to do things like this every once in a while."
Eisen crossed his legs and looked into the distance, "I'm very glad to hear that, boys. Really, you have no idea."
---
The sound of wooden hooves and legs trampling the trodden road beneath them sounded out from practically all directions. Exactly as Eisen expected, but the kids were obviously using their new toys to make their journey a little bit more enjoyable, though they didn't just keep it to themselves.
They let their parents or some of the elders right on them, and plenty of the upsized wooden figurines were carrying some of the load that a lot of the other nomads were supposed to be hauling around. Overall, they were just making the journey a lot easier.
"Eisen!" Sky quickly came running up to the old man, "I think I read about this, but... you made that statue, right?"
"That? I..." Eisen turned his head, looking at the statue with a slight frown, "I don't fully remember, but... no, I don't think I did."
Taken aback, Sky turned his head, "Wait, but... no, you definitely... I read it in multiple books, talking about you creating the 'God of the Mountain'..."
"That's what I heard as well, but... no, it wasn't me," the old man smiled. It was actually a more than pleasant surprise to him. This feeling of jealousy that he hadn't experienced in a long time filled his chest.
Of course, not because he thought that he could have made something better instead, but that he didn't get the opportunity to work on something so truly monumental, something that would be viewed as a miracle of mankind's ingenuity until the end of all civilization. And of course, this craftsman's jealousy was accompanied by another feeling.
That he wanted to know the face of the person, or the people, who did create this masterpiece.
"Maybe I'll remember something about this tonight," Eisen smiled, letting out a slight, excited whistle. He did have some issues with his memories, but as long as he got to take control of it by grasping for the memory himself in that white 'space' that filled his mind when he slept, then things felt like they came to him more naturally.
And even if it was dangerous, since this could make more of his memories flood into him involuntarily, it was something that he had to do in order to proceed with his life anyway.
Sky sighed, somewhat disappointed, "Ahhh, man... and here I hoped you would be able to answer the 'great mystery' of that statue..."
Eisen raised his brow curiously. That was something he hadn't heard of yet, "What mystery?"
"Well..." Sky muttered, grabbing one of the items from his backpack. It was a spyglass, one that Eisen had made for him as he was trying to figure out things he could make for the scouts. It was good enough to see the design on someone's clothes the next town over, if the weather was good enough, of course.
Sky was aiming the spyglass at the statue's face, "...everyone just kind of wants to know why the statue looks so... scared."
A shiver ran over Eisen's back, as he grabbed the spyglass from Sky's hand to take a closer look himself. He soon saw the detailed expression of that statue. And it was exactly as Sky said. Though by now, there were many cracks and numerous plants rooted into its surface, that statue showed a sort of fear that made Eisen's blood run cold.