“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Charles Lionheart!”

Carl cringed.

Not because he didn't like the name – quite the contrary, it sounded noble and powerful, exactly what he wanted.

A fusion of some of the most symbolic kings and leaders of men in history – Charles the Great of Franks and Richard the Lionheart of England!

While Charlemagne was a vastly influential model of chivalry and the father of paladins, who inspired the myth of the Knights of the Round Table, Richard the Lionheart was a fearless warrior and a magnificent commander, who spent most of his life fighting with the spirit of his namesake.

Carl was fully satisfied with his new name, hoping he could one day fill the big shoes that he had just put on.

But he was also getting really fed up with the seductive timbre of the AI …

Is it perhaps targeted at Uncle Richie?

Wow … how low!

If only he had some power to strike down such shamelessness!

“How would you like me to call you? Is it Charles?”

“Carl is fine.”

“Very well, Carl. Let me help you customize your new looks!”

Here we go …

Carl heard all about the character creation of Immortal Frontier. Cybercore was showing it off for years now, and they had ample time to perfect it.

Their goal was simple – fulfill your dreams!

Look exactly like the fairy-tale figures from your favorite fantasy movies and animations!

Beautiful without blemish, strong as an ox, ripped like a bodybuilder, cool like that rebellious kid, perhaps with a hint of a dark side and mystery, or maybe completely aloof and elusive, scary even, or – if that's your taste – an aged, bearded wizard, or a stubby and tough dwarf, a lithe and astute elf from a wide variety of their races, a clumsy and mighty giant, a tiny and agile halfling, or untold new and original folk. The possibilities were endless, and many options were unavailable, showing others as prerequisites for unlocking them through gameplay, with some lore to hint at their strengths, weaknesses and temperament.

After choosing the starting lineage, every single aspect of the body was adjustable. One could go for absolute harmony of proportions, aided by the AI, and even extrapolate their avatar from their own looks, or one could intentionally exaggerate some features, whether for the purpose of deep role-play or for a comic quality.

While most players were bound to act out on their inferiority complexes, groomed by the manipulative media, quite a number of players would certainly not be afraid to experiment and go for something authentic.

“I want to be a human,” Carl resolutely stated.

“Aww, are you sure? You didn't even see all the fantastic creations in our selection. They all have their pros and cons, which you may find suit you more. Please, reconsider!”

“I have no time for this right now, just make me human,” Carl waved his hand impatiently.

“Please note, that you cannot change your choice without resetting your account. Are you absolutely sure?” the AI implored in a disgustingly phony affection.

“I am. Quit with it.”

“Can you at least tell me the reason for your stubborn decision?” the voice insisted passionately.

Carl sighed with vexation.

“Stubborn, huh? Someone really messed up your interface. You should not be talking this way if you don't want to put your customers off. So you're gathering user metadata for analytics? Fine, I'll tell you why. A certain part of the gamedev industry has long been triggered by the fact that the vast majority of players choose the human race, without appreciating the effort they put into creating other, fantastical ones, even to the point of invoking idiotic interpretations, like racial supremacy. Well, guess what? It's not a lack of appreciation, it's a sign of confidence in who they are! Deal with it!

And I'll tell you more. These accusers are exactly those, who are ashamed of themselves. If they hate being human, it's their folly, but they have no right to project their stupidity on others!

I – am human, and I will be as human as I can be, both in game and in real life!

Comprende?”

The truth might have lied somewhat closer to the middle, but Carl had enough of one-sided bashing from hypocrites.

“I understand. Thank you for your input. Please, calm down. You shall be a human. Now, let's determine your body's appearance and physiology.”

Carl cooled off and looked at the saved inputs. That startled him, and he goggled with incredulity.

…

Charles Lionheart, human, male.

…

I … can't believe this! They really did it! Long live Cybercore!

Carl rejoiced, a cumbersome weight off his shoulders.

Wow, I really, really hope they stick to it! And …

“… Stick it to The Man!” he shouted out loud, intending for the AI to register his reaction.

There was no choice of gender! The hardware was detecting the user's biology automatically, and locking it in place!

No more G.I.R.L.s and delusional perverts!

Oh boy, things will get wild! Haha, imagine the feral rage! All hell will break loose!

“I don't understand your meaning, Carl. Who and what are you referring to?” The AI prompted.

“I mean to voice my vote of confidence in Cybercore for not acknowledging invented genders, and imposing on all players their real identity. That's a 100% yes from me, you can take a note of that.”

“Thank you, Carl, I will. This course of action was taken to accommodate the majority of which you speak.”

Pfft, just a business decision, huh? Well, it's a small victory nonetheless. I'll take that.

An identical copy of Carl suddenly appeared on the staging platform, facing him like in a mirror. The quality of textures wasn't nearly as good as in the cabin back at the lab, but it was still leagues above the best graphics Carl had ever seen before, and very much life-like.

Wow … am I … really that miserable?

Carl rotated his doppelganger, scowling with displeasure.

“Would you like your virtual appearance to be based on your model?”

“No. Wait … okay, let's try it. Give me an above average physique.”

“Please note, that adjusting your constitution will cost you your allotted points. While an average constitution represents the basis for calculating this cost, weakening it will yield additional points, while improving – deplete your pool. This effect is multiplicative,” the AI informed Carl as his puppet began increasing in volume, until it resembled his old athletic shape from before the onset of his disorder.

“Stop!”

Carl paused the process, being content with the low amount of points this change required. He then spent a considerable amount of time honing the muscle definition, correcting the proportions, asking for other model examples and putting end touches on the body itself. Now he only needed to revise the face, so that he couldn't be recognized.

Again, he had the AI help him with the modifications and suggestions. He was going to role-play a gallant knight, so he needed noble and powerful looks to go along with it. He wanted to catch the elegant balance between opposites like strong and gentle, threatening and approachable, youthful and wise. This was a very tall order even for genius artists from golden eras of cultural prime, what more for a schoolboy.

The assistance of a supercomputer AI with access to mankind's entire repository of knowledge, however, made all the difference.

Oh, wow, it's been two hours already?

Although all progress from the tutorial, which was going to run for a month, would be wiped at the end, and everyone would get a chance to redo their characters, that would be wasting the oh-so-precious time of the official release, when the whole world – possibly over a billion players – rushes to gain an advantage on the competition.

Instead, it was prudent to do it properly now, when there's no hurry, and then copy the template into the open game, as resetting the account was a desperate measure that Carl wanted to avoid.

This … looks outstanding!

Rotating the moving puppet, Carl was very happy with his work.

Manly, but not crude features, even delicate from some angles. Profound blue eyes, smiling, yet sad, so similar to his own. Cool, but practical and simplistic hairstyle, short on the sides and bit longer on top, the black hair undulating slightly in the wind. A real hunk.

“Hmm, can I have special effects, like fires dancing in my eyes?”

“Such modifications are not available at the start of the game.”

Oh, so it'll be possible to acquire? Interesting …

Approving the changes, Carl moved on to distributing his aptitudes.

There were six main attributes in Immortal Frontier aggregated into two groups – three for the body, and three for the mind.

Physical constitution:

Strength – static force, based on muscles and leverages. Generates momentum and pressure. Improves carrying capacity.

Vitality – the endurance and resilience to fatigue, damage, and trauma. Improves health and stamina.

Agility – the fluidity and dexterity of movements, as well as quickness. Improves player's grasp on their avatar's motor coordination.

Mental constitution:

Intelligence – the capacity for learning, understanding complex concepts, finding patterns, innovating. Improves mana capacity.

Willpower – the ability to endure non-physical burdens, to push one's limits, to defy mental oppression. Improves mana regeneration.

Perception – the clarity and alertness of mind, that allows to focus and notice tiny, indistinct details. Improves spellcasting and detection.

These groups were intricately linked within their domains, as in each of the attributes would influence the other two to some degree.

For example, raising strength through bulking up the body to ludicrous levels would decrease agility, but increase vitality, and vice versa when reducing it by excess slimming. Magical buffs to strength, however, would increase agility, while not affecting vitality. Generally, permanently increasing one attribute from a given constitution sphere would slightly improve the other two as well, but not always.

It was a more realistic system, which prohibited the creation of characters with extreme disparities in attributes. Although this was still feasible, it just wasn't worth it. In the end, such a disparity might manifest between a character's physical and mental capacities, if the player focused on one and neglected the other.

After all, there was no fixed professions in the game. Instead, a player would be perceived by the skills and training they acquired, both during character creation and through gameplay. This facilitated countless paths of specialization, aimed to produce vibrant diversity.

Of course, Carl already knew everything about the attribute distribution, as this information was publicized bit by bit, and he couldn't wait to play Immortal Frontier, so he devoured it all.

An average starting attribute for humans was 10, while minimum was half, and maximum was double. The allotted points represented a multiplier of 4 – while the product of all six attributes at their nominal values was 1 000 000, they could be adjusted to produce 4 000 000.

For example: one could set four attributes to 10 and two to 20; or two to 10, one to 5, and three to 20; or two to 5 and four to 20; or all six to ~12.6; or any combination that resulted in 4M.

Other races would have different nominal starting values – halflings would have an abysmal strength of 4, vitality of 8, but monstrous agility of 25 and perception of 12.5. Giants would be the opposite – massive strength and vitality of 20, but abysmal agility of 5, intelligence of 8, willpower of 10 and perception of 6.25. Dwarves would be a toned down version of that, while the various elves would have excellent agility and perception, but poor strength and vitality.

Then, there was folk with feline, canine, bovine, saurian, simian, aquatic, and other features, all of them with their own adaptations. Some were even rumored to have wings capable of sustained flight, but those were likely hidden among the advanced races.

On top of that, each race had a number of affinities and secondary attributes, which could not be modified during character creation. Of the most prominent, elves had their magic, light step and artistry, halflings had a knack for stealth and subterfuge, giants and dwarves had a battle instinct, humans had their artisanship and adaptability, and there was a myriad other edges one could possess.

Relying on the meta that he established for himself, Carl decisively maxed out intelligence and willpower at a steep price, and that's in spite of his plans to fight in melee. He then proceeded to max his perception at the cost of strength, vitality, and most notably – agility, the system automatically slenderizing his avatar.

Oh well, I'll have to bulk up again through training.

Charles Lionheart, human, male:

Health: 100 (0/s)

Mana: 200 (2/s)

Strength: 10

Vitality: 10

Agility: 5

Intelligence: 20

Willpower: 20

Perception: 20

He fully understood, that smarts and magic were key to developing a powerful character in the long term, and while he could compensate for lacking physical prowess with strategy and tactics, he could not speed up his character's learning process if he opted for deficient mental competence.

While a battle-ready character would give players a head-start and they could improve their mental attributes along the way, they would never catch up under normal circumstances. It would be a different story if they were an elite, provided with ample resources to spearhead an organized group like a guild or an adventuring team, but Carl was alone.

And he already had a plan.

A glorious plan!