The hard wood below roughened his tailbone with its constant rattling, forcing Rowan to bring his arm back to prop himself more upright.
It'd been a long day as the carriage he was within trailed behind the long caravan of soldiers, his breath bit back with remembrance of his cloak and its functionalities.
He hadn't even had the time to properly clean or practice hygiene, their voyage starting hours before daybreak to allow or their ensuing battle to occur during noon.
Rowan looked forward, imagining the question 'are we close' but deciding it best to stay still, a man unrecognizable sitting just a few feet to his left.
The king had told him that there wouldn't be any carriages that he could inhabit alone--no, it would've made their ploy far too obvious. Instead, he occupied the king's carriage himself, the only ones present being Viral, a man donning a while cloak and long staff, and the king himself.
"Hm, this is quite the training exercise that you've built," the man said, directing his gaze to Viral who sat to the front.
"Don't credit me, credit the men who reigned in the rabid beasts occupying these lands. It was a struggle, that, to properly evacuate its citizens and restrict the beasts' roam to just the town, although it's been getting more and more difficult to amass such a large group of soldiers to uphold their Seido."
"Barriers, huh? Either way, I'm sure the gods would be happy to know your involvement in the heroes' development. You will gain entry into the ethereal realm with your current trajectory, as long as your allegiance is pledged to the church."
"Why, of course, Pope. Before you, the State is but a settlement for your control. We have only made it as far as we have because of the gods' involvement."
Good, good, your intentions are in the right place."
The Pope turned his shoulders to learn more to his left, where the front of the carriage was, where animals donning horse legs but the upper torso of bipedal creatures pulled.
They wore the same garments as knights, weapons at their side and emblems on their chest suggesting that was precisely what they were.
Rowan gripped his fist tight, shaking with tension as he tried best to quiet his breath.
There wasn't anything on his face besides strain, looking up and down while clenching his stomach.
I need to use the restroom, he thought to himself, the skin above his nose squelching from his violent contortions.
"It looks like we're almost here," the king cut in, pointing forward to draw the attention of the two others in his carriage.
Rowan looked on with shock, staring at the town that came into view.
It wasn't necessarily its size or aesthetic that surprised him, but instead, the lack thereof.
Houses were torn, their material bursting aflame from the assail of beasts hulking over thrice over them.
They had eight legs, straight and narrow like black shadowy tendrils. Their mouths were jagged, their teeth clawing into each other like the sharp remains of a broken glass bottle.
What most stood out however, was their complete lack of features, the skin--or whatever covered their insides--smooth and obsidian without so much as a single bump or rough to blotch its exterior.
Dark, opaque liquid trailed from their mouths in large droplets that sizzled in the air. It was surreal, the way they moved their limbs to fold in almost cartoonish defiance of physics.
"Well, they certainly suffice as training for the heroes," the pope added, readjusting his posture and brushing off whatever dust had settled on his white.
Eventually, the carriage Rowan resided in made its stop along with the rest of the long line, stopping just short of a large, translucent barrier separating the town from the outside.
Large groups of men stepped outside to meet it, turning to the king and the heroes whom approached from behind him.
"How the hell are we supposed to fight these things," Elias asked, standing next to the king while pointing his hand up to where the beasts crawled.
"What, are you scared," Kaia asked, pumping her fist in the air with clenched teeth, "I don't know about you, but my flames run too hot for anything like those things to stop me!"
Elias flinched from her provocations, his eye twitching a bit before he stepped back to turn away from the town ahead.
"I just mean that we haven't really had a breakdown of the best ways to fight."
Elias turned to his right, responding to Lucien who walked up to tap his shoulder.
"Don't you agree, Lucien?"
"Not necessarily, you can feel it, right?"
"Feel what?"
"The grimoire speaking to you, explaining everything you need to know. Have you even talked to it, urged it for answers?"
Elias was quiet for a moment, brushing his hand along the cover of his grimoire.
It thrummed, happily gleaming from his touch.
"No, I suppose I haven't..." he muttered, stepping back without so much as another peep.
Lucien stepped in front of the other heroes, Rowan included who stayed concealed in his cloak.
"How about we share with each other everything we know?"
He was genuinely raising his arms forward with expectation of response, receiving small nods from the three of them.
"Alright, great, then I suppose I'll start."
The words between the heroes became muffled as Rowan twisted his face towards the direction of the town, making sure he didn't step over any twigs or leaves as he tiptoed along its barrier.
He aimed for a small deposit of dirt found in the middle of nowhere, the perfect place to relieve himself.
"A--"
Standing at its edge, he positioned himself just right so that he could lull his body's natural urges.
He almost sighed in relief, only holding himself back once he turned back and saw that there were three men, all hulking with their respective casts of armor as they walked where he stood.
"Hey, what is that sound," one asked, stopping in his tracks while holding his crotch.
"I don't know, but if it's a beast, it'll have to wait until after I piss," another said, tugging on his pants.
"Yeah, my bladder won't hold on another second," the other yelled, jumping over to where the ditch was.
Quietly, Rowan sidestepped the three, pacing back to where the heroes stood.
Vrrrmmm.
The barrier's translucence began to disappear, a man at its front holding his hand just a few feet from it.
"Alright, heroes, your trial begins now," Viral said, stepping through the barrier's open hole.