Bruce's mind was a mess. The past 14 hours or so had been a roller coaster of emotions and it was truly mentally exhausting. His girlfriend broke up with him, he was kicked off of Earth and planted in a new world, he was one of the summoned heroes, everyone was ignoring him, he learned he was going to have a super power, and then it turned out that this super power was basically to be ignored. "It's like God thought it would be funny to make it so I'm basically on the job 24/7..." One of the benefits and drawbacks of working as a locksmith - like other maintenance-style professions - was that people would see right through you. Anywhere you went, carrying your tools, people would at most glance at you or nod as they walked past before turning their attention to other things. Now it seemed like even that level of unasked for attention was a blessing.
He simply picked up his tools, and followed after the others. After the power-reading, someone mentioned going to see the King. Bruce didn't have an opinion either way, too focused on his own issues, and everyone else seemed amenable, so towards the castle they went. The heroes were talking quietly among themselves and the welcoming committee had gone to the front to lead the way.
After ten minutes, Bruce walked up to Blake - the one blessed with the power of Berserk, far better than Overlooked - and tugged on his sleeve gently. He didn't react, so he pulled hard enough to force him to turn halfway to look. "What?" He seemed irritated, but Bruce really didn't care at this point if one of the other heroes was irritated by him.
"Why are we all going to see the king? There wasn't even a discussion, suddenly we're all just walking out and heading that way. Is seeing the ruler of a country that simple?" He hadn't visited a king before, but he was pretty sure that if someone wanted to meet the King of Spain it took a bit of effort.
"Weren't you paying attention? Jonathan said we should go see the King, so of course we're going to go. We're the heroes, and he summoned us didn't he? So we should meet the guy who brought us here." After that, Blake turned back to what he'd been doing before - staring intently at Katelyn as she walked alongside Jonathan in front of them.
"Just because he said so..?" He muttered in response. Bruce felt that was a bit ridiculous but then he thought back to the superpowers that everyone else had. 'Oh, no way. If it really works like that, that's absolutely terrifying.' His mind whirled as he thought through the superpowers again and quickly connected a few dots. His gaze had followed Blake's - he admired what he could see of Katelyn's shapely body - until a few more dots had connected and he forcefully snapped his head to the side to break his own line of sight. 'Overwhelming Charm, holy crap. This is insane. Yes, she's attractive but it was hard to even turn away. Overwhelming indeed. Even knowing that it is because of a supernatural ability I still desperately want to...' He shuddered, and focused on Jonathan instead.
'Humanity's Hero, huh? It seems like we are indeed readily following him. That is also a truly terrifying ability. I wonder if he asked us to kill the King if we would try to do it... We might even make up our own reasons for doing it. I have to figure out some way to deal with those two powers, or I will not even be in control of my own life here.' He didn't know anything about real magic - after all, his experiences playing games back on Earth were magic systems invented by people that lived in a world without it.
'How does someone get magic resistance? Do I need to be exposed to magic a lot to develop tolerance, like alcohol? Well, that seems like an enjoyable task...' He grinned as he returned to staring at Katelyn with Blake. The only difference between the two was that Blake was fully obsessed in his own world, but Bruce turned away from her every minute to look at the scenery or the ground or anything else.
---
After a total of 25 minutes, they arrived before the castle. There were guardsmen equipped with far nicer gear here than they'd seen anywhere along the route until now, and plenty of them too. Their escorts approached one of the guards about seeing the king, and he sent a messenger into the castle to pass on the message. The group waited outside another 20 minutes before the messenger returned along with another man.
"Your request for an audience with His Majesty has been approved for tomorrow morning. His Majesty is occupied and that is the soonest that he will be able to see you. He has graciously offered to provide accommodation for the esteemed heroes this evening, and you will have a meal delivered to your rooms as well." The man bowed, and gestured for everyone to follow him.
The heroes grumbled quietly among themselves but followed Jonathan's lead and did not complain directly. Bruce thought it was obvious why, but the group had more or less settled on Jonathan having the role of party leader. As an experienced gamer, he thought about the various roles an adventuring party would need - and so as they were led towards their suite, he considered who would take each non-combatant role.
'Obviously Jonathan is the leader, since anything he tells people to do they naturally want to do. If he issues orders, they will probably be obeyed without question. His actual skill in leading is more or less irrelevant. As far as the party's face, Katelyn would be the obvious choice. Judging from her appearance and career as a model, her charm was already high enough for the role - her supernatural ability simply makes her the perfect diplomancer. As for the party corpse - err, scout - I am the obvious choice with my ability. Emily would be the healer, as she has high compatibility with Nature magic which supposedly can stimulate growth and repair injuries. Blake is really the only one without an out-of-combat role. Poor guy. At least he has the obvious damage-dealing role in combat, he will be a super good tank too with leather armor-tier skin. Two layers of armor, and one is just his skin!'
He smiled to himself, not yet fully aware of how powerful - and wretched - his own supernatural ability was. When deciding roles, the party would inevitably forget about him which meant Blake would end up taking the role of scout, and he would be the odd one out.
---
They were settled into a large 5-room suite, and moments after their arrival some servants had brought several platters of food to them. Compared to the fare the Earthlings were used to, it wasn't particularly special - but for Emily and Blake, it was a kingly feast. They took advantage of the time they had to themselves while eating to talk about who they were and where they came from. Shocking nobody, Jonathan started the conversation and described himself.
"As you already know, my name is Jonathan Gold and I'm from Earth - I am a professional football player, specifically a QB. Among the players, I was basically in charge of decisions - second only to the coach in that regard. While some of you may be distressed to be here, for me this is a blessing. it might seem weird, since I'm coming from fame and fortune to some backwards place I'm going to need to fight, but... I've basically always been successful, and nothing truly challenged me.
"The biggest challenges have been tough football games, but even if we lost it wasn't that big a deal, we just had to win the next game. That, and it didn't mean anything except entertainment and money... It didn't change anything except rankings on a score sheet. So, being able to appear here and make a real difference - saving humanity in this world - it means a lot to me. I know it's going to be challenging, and I know it will take hard work but this holds meaning. I'm truly grateful for the opportunity to be here."
He talked a little bit more about his life, but aside from making Bruce, Emily, and Blake more and more jealous of him it didn't mean much.
"You may be interested in the hard work and saving humanity and all that, but I know I for one am not interested in dying for these people," Katelyn clearly wasn't having any of it. "What can five people do, anyway? Wars are fought between armies - and having 5 more people with guns doesn't change anything. I'd rather be back home, even if dodging the paparazzi is annoying."
'Right, I forgot that not only did these two have overpowered abilities, but they also are rich and popular where they came from. Lucky bastards... Though it's clear Katelyn won't be fighting on the front lines. Maybe an archer? I guess she doesn't realize just how little technology these guys have, there probably aren't any guns here,' Bruce thought to himself. 'Hopefully Emily and Blake are from somewhat less stunning backgrounds...'
When Katelyn finished describing her work, Blake shamelessly praised her. "I am sure you were the best of the models. A beautiful woman such as yourself with such glamorous bearing is unmatched in this world, and likely beyond!" He smiled as he tried to cozy up to her, but she simply nodded coolly at him, and rolled her eyes slightly. Emily glared at him, and even Jonathan looked at him intently for a moment before turning away and smiling slightly.
The other two introduced themselves and their worlds - making it clear that they came from a much less technologically advanced home than modern (or future) Earth. Emily was an apothecary working in a small city, and spent most of her time concocting remedies for simple ailments. Her master that taught her everything had always said strange things like: "If I had a sterling for every case of..." but in spite of some weird repeated phrases, she was a good teacher.
Blake on the other hand was a guardsman in one of the largest cities in his nation, but the nation had grown complacent. Bribery and corruption were rampant, and peace had eroded the fighting capacity and readiness of the guards. Their military training consisted of poking a straw dummy with a pole for twenty minutes once a month, and their fitness requirements were simply that they could walk or stand for four hours at a time.
Jonathan chuckled at that, "I had thought you might have a huge advantage over us when it came to combat readiness, but I guess it was peaceful there, too? We might all be starting from scratch. At least you look pretty strong, you and I should be able to protect the pretty ladies," he grinned and he glanced at Katelyn. "We'll have to figure out what kind of weapons we'll be using, and whether we'll be working mainly with the four of us, or if we'll have supporters to help us along."
"God dammit, there's five of us you ass!" Bruce roared at him, startling the whole group. "Did you seriously forget about me again? I AM RIGHT HERE!"
Jonathan turned to look at him, "I apologize, mister. You have so little presence that I simply overlooked you when we were discussing. You haven't really said anything, so I was focused on the other three. You'll have to forgive me, it was an honest mistake."
Bruce calmed down a bit, mollified by Jonathan's words... and then he realized he hadn't started to calm down with the apology. 'I only started to calm down when he said I have to forgive him. My god, I knew that his ability was powerful but this is insidious! Downright diabolical! If it works on the king, he could literally drive humanity to ruin with a few sentences. But, it seems that either my practice with Katelyn's Charm, or the fact that I realized it was his magic, has cut down its effect on me. Excellent! Now I feel confident if he orders me to do something suicidal that I will not obey! Haha!'
"As you didn't do it on purpose, I will forgive you this time - but I can't promise I'll let you go this easily if it happens again in the future. Anyways, I don't really have anything very exciting to say about my life, but I think if we are stuck here I can say this - I know a lot about adventuring parties. I was something of a nerd back home." Bruce then used his index finger to push up his non-existent glasses. Super cool.