Chapter 678 Sirdigan Cuisine
Eisen placed brick onto brick, stacked log onto log, and connected all of them intricately with different techniques. In some parts, they were just connected by placing the different parts onto each other in a way that it was impossible for them to fall, in others it was done by really hammering certain pieces together with thick nails.
Luckily, Argalan had given Eisen a blueprint of what this building was supposed to look like, so he was able to use his Crafter"s Soul skill to create a visualization of the building for himself that he could use as a guideline that not only he himself could follow, but so could his Mane Doubles as well as his Elemental Spirit.
Since his Mana Doubles could think for themselves just so slightly until now, as long as Eisen gave them specific commands that were supported by the whole visualized structure, he didn"t have to worry about what they were doing for the most part.
And he obviously didn"t need to worry about his Elemental Spirit at all, the old man already knew that it was more than skilled enough to properly help him out. Given enough time, it should be able to create this whole structure on its own, even.
Of course, since Eisen, his spirit, and his mana doubles could all change their size at will depending on what was necessary, they were the perfect troupe to create this, and Argalan chose to let the old man work on his own for a little while.
Since, with his relatively high stats and physical enhancement through his Draconic Demon King transformation, carrying even these quite large and thick logs was something he could do with ease, and if not he could do so with the help of one of his doubles, he was able to create the base structure within less than an hour. And since the materials had already been properly prepared, all that Eisen had to do was to place them into the right parts.
Eisen followed the instructions on the blueprints as closely as he could, trying to stack everything on top of each other, attaching them to different parts, and even interweaving some of them. He was becoming even more familiar with this style of architecture than he could have become if he had just kept watching others, which already made this more than just worth it to him in his mind.
The old man looked forward, and for the next few hours just continued to work, work, and work. At some point, he became so absorbed in the building of this structure that it was like he forgot where he was. He didn"t expect that he could experience this phenomenon while working with Masonry, it was usually something he only had when smithing or sewing.
It was something that he weirdly "unlocked" when he reached a certain point in a craft, even in the other world. As if it became as easy as breathing to do all these things. Most likely, the experiences of the former Eisen were causing this in him this time around, since the current Eisen certainly didn"t have any vivid memories of doing this sort of thing enough to even get anywhere close to this point. The last time he remembered, Eisen was actually being slightly clunky with his Masonry work, simply because his experience there couldn"t be compared to his usual experience.
Although, Eisen couldn"t say that this was really a bad feeling either. Improvement, as unnatural as it was in this situation, was always satisfying to experience. He wished that he had been able to naturally improve, but in Eisen"s current situation, there wasn"t all that much that was natural around him in the first place.
And so, the old man continued his work with Masonry. And just a few hours later, mainly due to the fact that he had been able to make use of his truly enormous maximum height of roughly two dozen meters at this point, as well as his number-support from his different abilities, he managed to finish this project completely within just a day.
The old man took a step back with a satisfied expression as all of the different Mana Doubles disappeared and his Elemental Spirit dove back into his chest. He looked the structure up and down, and had to say that he was truly happy with what he managed to create this time around.
The last time that Eisen felt anything like this about any sort of structure he built, whether it was life-sized or just model-sized, was when he built the house that his children ended up growing up in, in the other world. Of course, that time felt much more rewarding still. It was a unique experience and emotion that Eisen wasn"t sure if he would ever be able to feel again, but this was the closest thing to that feeling, although the old man really didn"t know why.
Argalan stepped up next to him, seeing his expression, seemingly realizing what the old man thought to some extent.
"Ya know, you"re the one that created this style of Architecture. The souls in this realm made it their own, but you were the one that combined the experiences that had built up over millenia into this unique sort of structure." Argalan explained with a smile on his face as he turned his head toward Eisen, who looked back a little bit surprised.
"Hm... Really?" Eisen muttered. Then maybe he knew what this feeling was. Maybe it was some sort of nostalgia that was created through the sense of unlocking a memory to remember next time he slept. That seemed to be the most logical at least.
Truthfully, Eisen probably already forgot the true emotions he felt back when he finished his house in the otehr world. It most likely wasn"t as glorious as he thought, but a good mixture of nostalgia, glee, and melancholy caused him to overestimate what it felt like when thinking back on it.
With a deep sigh, Eisen looked at Argalan, "So, is there any reason why you made me build this one in particular?"
"Not really. It was something that I had intended to work on myself, but you ended up being so impressive that I didn"t want to intervene with your work at all." The lesser G.o.d pointed out. Eisen smiled back a little as he turned his head back toward the structure that he just built.
"Then I think I should thank you for this." The old man pointed out, "I think I"ll remember something about Masonry after sleeping tonight."
"Glad to know I could help." Argalan replied.
After this, the two of them started walking through the house a little, taking a look at the layout of the rooms so that Eisen could get another better feel for what the interior of structures of this style looked like.
Eisen asked Argalan a few more questions about this style to further his understanding, just in case the memory he would remember next night won"t actually help him with that.
The two of them kept talking for a while, simply speaking to each other a little, and then the old man figured that it was time to head off to the last place, to Ramsay"s Workshop.
"Right, have a good meal before heading off, will ya?" Argalan smirked, and Eisen immediately nodded his head, "Of course, there"s no way I wouldn"t." He laughed as he left this smaller, unique town to head into the larger, "normal" town again.
Eisen spread out his wings and looked around, trying to find the last structure he wanted to head to before finally going to meet Silmos to leave this Divine Realm, and with that the heavens, behind for now. And once he spotted the roof of the workshop in question, Eisen rushed over there, quickly landing in front of it.
Immediately, Eisen was enveloped in the wonderful scent of numerous spices and dishes mixing together as he was walking. He even stopped by some of the stall-like structures that people were cooking at, and when he did so, all he could smell was the food right in front of him. That was most likely the case so that the strong scent of a dish of a neighboring stall would intervene with the food that was prepared here.
"Hm? Someone living?" The Chef that stood in the stall Eisen just approached pointed out. Another chef that worked together with him stepped up as well and took a look at Eisen, "Ah! I think I heard about "im! Christopher in the front near the Lord overheard some of the angels talkin" to each other... He"s been travelin" around the different workshops and working with the G.o.ds themselves!"
"W-With the G.o.ds..?" The first chef asked surprised, and Eisen smiled back, "Mhm, that"s me." He replied.
"But nevermind that, really. I"m a craftsman by heart, and I have a special spot in there for cooking. What kind of cuisine do you specialize on?"
Surprised, and rather quickly convinced, the first chef looked at Eisen with a broad smile, "Ah! We"re chefs of Sirdigan Cuisine! I heard the country"s not a thing anymore though, but it used to be right next to the country of the Giants, if ye"re familiar! The plant- and animal-population was still oversized there, so we got used to makin" whole courses of foods for lotsa people that"s usually focused around a single main ingredient. Takes a lotta preparation though, the meat"s often pretty tough. Ya wanna give it a try?" The Chef asked, and Eisen raised his brows curiously.
"Of course, I would love to." The old man exclaimed, and he watched as the chef prepared a plate of food by cutting off a slice of meat off of a giant hind leg. And when Eisen thought "Giant", that was really the case. It was surely heavier than the old man himself, as large as it was.
Juices practically flowed out of the cut, as if the meat was still bleeding. But of course, it wasn"t blood that was flowing out, but it was more like some sort of sauce. Somewhat, it was like it had been sealed inside of the meat, which was currently being tied up with thin rope.
And while Eisen was cutting into the meat, he thought about what these two chefs were saying, "Let me guess, a big part of Sirdigan Cuisine is the long-term preservation of food?"
Surprised, the two chefs looked at Eisen, "Ya heard of it after all?"
With a laugh, the old man shook his head, "I didn"t, no. Just a good guess. It looks like you"re preparing the meat to be packed away, maybe smoked or dried in some way or another... And of course, if you have so much food available, especially when it comes to meat from animals and monsters, it makes sense that you would have learned to preserve it properly."