"Unblessed..." Rowan said, half-asking and half-stating, his mind wandering between the word and its possible meaning.
Internally, Rowan could sense it. The heroes would mention the feeling of knowledge enthralling their mind and offering quick passage into the many workings of this new world, but he couldn't relate in this sense, having almost no new insights or power granted to his limbs.
He'd hoped that it was a result of his faulty grimoire, holding him back in some contrived attempt to get rid of his legend, the void from its pages sucking in his own knowledge.
But no, he understood it, and so did the crowd. If his inability were something pertinent to him--to his vessel, then there was little means of establishing himself as a hero, his name forever tarnished.
Consequently, whispers ran amongst the crowd, mentions of his failure and overestimations of the heroes peeking through to reach his ears.
A deep, endless pit formed in his stomach, struggling to bite back the acidic aftertaste of what could've only been bile. He felt trapped--not only in this new world, but in his body.
"Silence!"
The king's bellow was brutal, following up with a devastating stomp against the ground, carrying with it enough force to hurtle a web made of cracks.
The aether empowering his leg slowly fell into the air, allowing everybody's attention to once again fall to his words.
"I will not tolerate heresy! The gods have ordained these five as the heroes of this land, and so they will be just that. Retaliation against my words is defiance of the gods, worthy only of death!"
His voice boomed so loud that he hadn't the need for the voice amplification device used for the projection, cracking against the air and even sending small, striating lines akin to heat waves.
"Now, we will continue our proceedings as scheduled, so I prompt you to stay in line and maintain your distance from their established route."
The guard that woke Rowan up stepped to his side from the back of the platform, tapping him on the shoulder before lining up with other, similarly stationed guards who left their hero's side.
There was a violent clanging that originated from the people standing below and past the staircase, their hands and bodies banging against the small walkway separating both sides of the town square and their respective crowds.
But as their hands clashed against the air, they instantly bounced off, the only evidence of their thrashing being small ripples in the air that splashed equally in all directions.
It was an invisible barrier, protecting the people inside from those out.
Regardless, the guards slowly escorted the heroes down the staircase, a powerful aura enveloping their stride that caused those nearby to step back with the little space they had.
It was clear that even without the barrier protecting them, the heroes were safe.
As they touched upon the earth, the group traveled down as far as the walkway could take them, snaking into a small alleyway entrapped in tall stores, houses, and apartments.
The king followed them closely, waiting a until once they'd passed the bulk of the crowd to venture in front of them.
"Once again, I apologize deeply for withholding any mention of this commencement from you until last night, but you must know that I wished for it to be a surprise, especially since you're our guests," Viral said, turning his head back to meet their gaze.
"That's fine, I'm sure nobody here really holds it against you. My only question is... where are you taking us now?"
Lucien's question was a valid one, the same thought appearing in the others' minds.
The king turned back ahead of him, hiding the smile that encroached upon his face.
"Why, to get you your weapons, of course!"
Several of the heroes yelled and screeched from the excitement, rivaled only by the great news of their new powers.
"Weapons? Yes, I get to fully live out the isekai life," one quipped.
"Yeah, this is sweet! I can only imagine what toys this world has to offer," another mused, switching between light jabs and double handed swipes at the air as if they were grappling a blade's hilt.
The king responded with a light hum, happy with their amusement.
The only one who wasn't excited was Rowan, his eyes tracing the ground without so much as a tinge of happiness in his expression.
He could only imagine how debilitating life could be without arcana, the imaginings of a life well spent protecting the peoples and fighting bravely against the demon queen being cleaved cleanly in two.
"Hey, don't worry Rowan, we'll protect you," Lucien said, his face blank but his words brightening.
"Yeah, you won't have to worry about a thing! I won't even mind sharing some of my accolades with you," Kaia added, pumping her fist in the air.
"You know, there's already four of us, and our abilities cover each other's bases well. I think that you could totally be the tactical support type, if you know what I mean," Elias mentioned upliftingly, smiling at him.
"And if you're ever hurt, just know I'll be right in your corner to offer you healing arcana."
The final one to speak was Liora, her words hesitant yet encouraging nonetheless.
His eyes narrowed, feeling a great shame burst from within him.
They meant well, but that was the problem.
Rowan felt an impulse to respond to her, but he halted with the expectation that they could talk later, more important matters ahead of them.
Literally.
They were standing before a towering beast of a building encapsulated in old drywood and and creaking windmill, equipped with a single sign atop its door reading 'closed'.
The king knocked on the door, allowing the guards to step into close proximity of him.
"Hey, Alfred, it's me, Viral!"
Its hinges creaked at the person's elicitation, revealing a dimmed room full of compartments holding small boxes.
The person standing in front of it followed in the place's theme, his body unnaturally tall with his two upper canine teeth sticking out to rest on his lower lip.
With pale skin and long hair that was far too thin to be undamaged, he drew back his left arm, gesturing the group to enter his premises.
As the others slowly entered, he eyed Rowan, the skin on his brow crumbling.
"What? Seen a ghost? Come on in," he said, opening the door a few inches further.
Hesitantly, Rowan stepped inside, his attention trailing between Alfred's odd complexion and the contents inside.
Absurd, he thought--not because it looked magical, but because it didn't.