Immortal Frontier official forum, Hall of Fame section.

This was a place for players to discuss other players, particularly those that made a lasting impression. There were many old-timers of the gaming scene mentioned here, like retired blood sports pros and leaders of large organizations, but also self-proclaimed warlords, real-life magnates, or newfound talents.

Unlike intelligence departments of the various factions, this was a common ground for social discourse and generating hype. There would be a lot of baseless speculation here, as well as deliberate misinformation and blatant advertisement. To sum it up – it was a moderator's hell.

Here, a new thread was gaining traction. The header only said – 'Charles Lionheart' …

“What a beast!”

“The memeage is strong with this one!”

“Ohohoh, Geneva is getting really interesting! I might just have to pack up and move there!”

The most recent recording of Carl's exploits had been uploaded within minutes. The deed was done – Blood Brothers were smeared so badly, that only a river of blood could wash the dirt away. They were now the epitome of what they feared the most – a laughingstock.

One player! It took just one player to strike them down from their pedestal!

“But man, this dude really doesn't care. He just threw a brick at a hornet's nest and stands by with a flamethrower. Do you guys think he has enough fuel in the tank?”

“Come on, seriously? It's a corporate guild we're talking about. Not only is their capitalization five times that of Skyborne Lions, they're also on their home turf.”

“Yea, and I very much doubt he's speaking for them. He previously stated that he's not looking to join anyone, so they only must be doing some business together.

“But he really has nothing to lose. With his skill, he'll find work anywhere he wants. He can just go for broke with BB, and then let the hyenas finish them off.”

“Pfft, and how would he do that? They have nearly 50k veteran members, almost all of them in Geneva, as they staked their fate on monopolizing it. Although it would be amazing to watch, you're daydreaming.”

“Yea, and Skyborne Lions will surely make a public statement soon, distancing themselves from him. He'll be on his own. What do you think will happen to him once he steps out into the open world?”

“You're forgetting that he doesn't need to. He can just stick to farming the dungeons, and they won't be able to do a thing to him. He can make a fortune just from that.”

“And you're forgetting there will be no instanced dungeons in the full version.”

“They can also afford to sacrifice a few members to murder him in the city. Though the stigma will remain with them in the full version, they can just continue as outlaws or even join the forces of darkness.”

“Nah, that would sully their reputation with the NPCs. They'll probably hire outsiders to do it for them.”

“I don't care. I still want him to bring them down another notch or two. This is simply … ambrosia! I can't get enough of that!”

“Oh, I'm with you on that, bro. Can only keep my fingers crossed for him.”

…

“You wanted to see me, Vice Guild Leader Bulwark?”

“Uncle Time, is it? You can just call me Bulwark, since you're my senior from the scene.”

“Very well. I assume you want to talk about our mutual friend?”

“Mhh. I've seen the recording, but you were there personally, and you seem to know him better than me anyway. The management is pressuring me for information so they can declare their stance as soon as possible. What do you think he's planning?”

“Heh, to be frank with you, brother Bulwark, I honestly think he doesn't care. He's not even afraid of the whole world coming after him.”

“Yes, but …”

“I know what you mean. And you have nothing to worry about. I'm positive he doesn't want to drag you into his conflicts. You're free to announce whatever you feel your guild needs.”

The stalwart axeman sighed deeply, drooping his head. That didn't make things any easier!

Personally, he would like nothing more but to join Carl in this uphill battle, but he was constricted by responsibility, which he guaranteed with his word. If the Skyborne Lions didn't want this fight, then he couldn't act against their wishes. The only way out was to leave, but that was out of the question – he was Carl's financial lifeline, after all. Without him, the deal might just get dissolved.

Just as he was pondering what to write to him, a message from the daredevil came.

“Tell this to everyone – if you're unsure, then stand aside and watch.”

…

Carl had heard of Blood Brothers before. They were a very competent and very arrogant bunch. Many admired them for it, and many hated them for their callous conduct, especially if they were at the receiving end of it. But that was the new social standard in the 22nd century. The entire VR industry was ruled by the law of the jungle, where the strong were revered and the weak preyed upon.

Here, the norms were pushed to the limits, allowing brutal treatment that would be considered a heavy crime in the real world. It was fortified by stringent terms of service, forcing the players to fully acknowledge and accept the risks involved. It wasn't at all easy to win a court case for harassment, unless it was blatant.

In these conditions, by conveying his intent, Carl had given his new enemies a free reign to kill him over and over until he quit. And yet …

… he wasn't scared at all!

“This should be fun! But now I have to double down on my efforts. Sorry, Mr Burri … I'm not going to school tomorrow, either!”

Without any influence or merit, ordinary assassination would be met with the most severe jail time – one whole month, basically necessitating account reset, but even after that the perpetrators would be recognized as outlaws due to persistent stigma. Unfortunately, crime in VR was a very viable career option, and could be conducted with absolutely no legal repercussions. More than that – many top criminals in VR were famous celebrities in real life. After all, it was still just games.

Carl knew he would have to watch out for that from then on. He also cautioned all his wards against going on expeditions with other immortals, since they could be deliberately sabotaged there and killed off by mobs. The ever-vigilant system would bestow stigmas for such deeds as well, but only if it managed to detect them, and they were less severe to boot. Luckily for him, he was preaching to the choir. As this was a tutorial, NPCs were dying by the millions all over the world, and they had their means of instantaneous long-range communications. It was common knowledge among them that immortals were bad news.

Since it would now be a race against time, he had to up the ante. This meant full commitment to the game.

“If only I could master Champion's Conviction and Last Hurrah, assassins wouldn't be so scary any more. But the underlying avatar exhaustion … it's too much. I need more honors, and fast! I doubt the Skyborne Lions can uncover anything useful, though. Maybe the magistrate? But how … ?”

In any case, he needed to focus on improving his skills, both avatar- and player-related.

Ripping Claw gained such a massive boost to proficiency from the trip to the haunted battlefield that it would be stuck on advanced level for quite some time, while the amount of dire wolves was vastly insufficient to allow Vicious Hook and Jarring Fist to bridge the gap. But that didn't matter, because that's not how the skill system worked – Carl had already figured out, that each breakthrough corresponded to opening a new realm of potential, with a ceiling set at the following bottleneck. He still had to master each and every step to reliably handle this newfound potential, where his high intelligence empowered by full-realism sensations was subtly hinting at shortcomings in his execution – something he was completely oblivious to at first, but was now very closely observing, as this was how experience seemed to be gained.

In other words – there was no passive experience gain in Immortal Frontier!

This was a shocking revelation to Carl, and he was yet to confirm it, but it appeared to be totally logical, as it would reflect Cybercore's philosophy regarding realism. This would also imply that players with a knack for fighting could use their insights and instincts to enhance their combat skill proficiency gains, similar to how Carl applied his smarts when he learned from manuals. He could thus outdo other players in expanding his arsenal, but on the other hand, he would be disadvantaged in mastering it, the nerd he was. Although …

… he had 20 intelligence going for him …

… and he had full realism going for him …

… and he had ludicrous mana regeneration!

Save for a narrow circle of elites, mostly mages anyway, nobody could achieve his level of mana potion efficiency!

But that didn't change the fact that he would have to fight a lot to make the most of it – and instead he was running almost all the time. Well, at least his Arrest Bleeding was zooming, as he kept cutting himself before traveling to keep his mana regeneration engaged, and he squeezed Hyperacusis in between. Soon, there would also be a lot more competition for these two support skills, once Carl picked up the various vision aids.

“Hmm, I think I need to test Bulwark and his men in the arena …”

Carl grinned with glee. This would have to wait for tomorrow, unfortunately, as he didn't want to break his word – he timed the gray wolves' den runs to end together with his mental buff, after all. For now, there was another aspect he had to focus on – skill combination!

The good mana potions turned out to be the perfect tool for training chain attacks and transitioning, since they dictated an insane tempo, and Carl was more than happy about that fact. He now had 3 powerful combos he was polishing – Jarring Fist + Ripping Claw, Vicious Hook + Ripping Claw, and chained Ripping Claw. That last one was particularly terrifying, as it could be used to rip apart even the sturdiest of enemies, proven by the fateful horrid wolf encounter.

Set on his course, he quickly adjusted, found his rhythm, employed Last Hurrah, bringing it up to advanced level to match Champion's Conviction, reached it with Arrest Bleeding and Hyperacusis as well, successfully did 10 runs in the time frame he imposed on himself without suffering any grievous injuries, while managing a couple 5 minute breaks for snacks and stretching, and thoroughly exhausted his avatar. Rest was unavoidable now, and the hour was late anyway, quarter to three.

Meanwhile, a lot had happened. Skyborne Lions declared no intention to go to war with Blood Brothers, effectively hanging Carl out to dry, but they also stated no desire to back off from their deal with him, creating tension between the two guilds, as this was still an indirect alliance. On the surface, they were merely butting heads, but covertly, they waged an information war. Or rather, Blood Brothers attacked, leaking Carl's secrets and spreading lies, while Skyborne Lions defended, exposing the deception.

A lot of juicy details got publicized as a result – Carl was the rumored Beast Slayer, a title he had gained for single-handedly killing a horrid wolf, and was now using to reap reputation in bulk, swaying NPCs with utter ease; assassins were so overpowered that they could solo entire dungeons, and had to be nerfed, no matter if Cybercore denied these claims; Scrolls of Threat could be used in conjunction with expert NPC trackers to increase the chances of boss spawn; and most importantly, Carl was after the two mysterious portals, which everyone was crazily investigating.

But he didn't mind, as it was all superficial. Quite a laughable effort, actually.

He had a lackey reserve him a shower so that he could visit the City Hall in the morning, requested Radiant Bulwark to organize a sparring session for him, learned Eagle Eye and Combat Insight, bound his bank account signet, left his avatar at the sanctuary, and went to sleep himself.

Once he woke … it was going to be a big day!