Immortal Frontier official forum, Hall of Fame section, Charles Lionheart thread.

“Holy Smokes and bloody hell! O.O”

“Just who is this freak?! :O”

“There is no way this is real … this guy must have a background!”

“No kidding …”

“And what a background it must be!”

“But to offend both China and India … what is he thinking?!”

“Oh I'm not so sure they're offended. I wouldn't be. They'll probably fight even harder for him now!”

“Yeah, they have multiple mega- and super-guilds competing with each other on home ground. It's not like he humiliated the countries or anyone in particular. The two chicks actually shamed themselves!”

“I wouldn't be surprised if they did something big now to impress him and restore their face …”

“Bye-bye Blood Brothers (^.^)”

“These fools just woke up a slumbering dragon :D”

“Haha, if I were them, I'd pack up and leave Geneva while I still could!”

“Oh boy, it's gonna get so hot there …”

“To hell with it! I'm moving there! I wanna witness it first hand!”

“If only I could afford the teleportation fee … ”

…

Immortal Frontier, Geneva, temple plaza.

“Is the new buyout set yet?”

“Dammit, this is so unfair! We've gone to great lengths to secure three Scrolls of Danger from our branches in Italy and Spain, just how long will we have to sit on them now?”

“Bloody Asians …”

“Well, that's what we get for belittling Lionheart, I guess. He really knows what he's doing.”

“Is Amaranthine Bushido setting the prices? We've had dealings with Skyborne Lions before, can't we talk to him?”

“Hi there, Bushido! Long time no see, my man!”

“Vice Guild Leader Armani, how may I help you?”

“Come on, just Armani is fine. Tell me, brother, what are you considering for the new buyouts? Hmm? Please – be reasonable. This stunt those two have pulled is only–”

“You misunderstand. Sir Lionheart is setting the prices.”

“… Oh.”

“So what will it be now?”

“The offer stands. It's 20 gold.”

“…”

“I'll take 3!”

“I'll take the last one!”

“Hey, I want 2 as well! Take one at a time!”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down, guys! It's first come, first serve! Form a queue!”

…

The injection of capital couldn't have come at a better time, as Carl was already on borrowed money, repaying it in installments with the horrid wolf pelts.

There was the first Scroll of Danger, which couldn't be taken from the initial hopefuls due to being bound in an escrow account until the conquest was done, plus soon there would be repairs, potions, rations, beverages, and most crucially – Beatific Restoration. His avatar was getting tired, as the battles were seriously hectic now, requiring nearly constant usage of Last Hurrah, which left little mana for attack skills with the measly 67.5/s of regeneration.

Honestly, Carl would be much more comfortable with 127.5/s. The black prowlers may have been slightly weaker than common dire wolves, but they were certainly much more aggressive, and they'd even encourage an alpha to join in from time to time – it was that buffing effect that Fleeting Time previously mentioned, and it seemed they empowered each other as well, all one hundred of them …

Mental exhaustion was also an issue. Carl had already exceeded 100k points of mana consumption since he logged back in, and he could feel his mind being gradually occluded by the software. He was no longer as sharp in applying the various skills and gaining experience.

And since he was going to use Beatific Restoration – it would be a sin not to get a few great mana potions and strive to bring Last Hurrah to expert level before the sanctifying mental constitution boost run out in two hours!

After all, the difference would be colossal. While the strength gain varied depending on the mastery of a given realm of potential, the mana expenditure was always constant. At advanced level, Carl was usually electing to pay an upkeep of 60 mana per second to gain a maximum of 20*0.25 = 5 strength, but at expert level, the x in the x*(1+x/base_strength)/s formula would drop to 10, and the new upkeep cost would be reduced to 20 mana per second, only the execution would be inferior due to low mastery. But Carl could then still spend 60 mana per second for a maximum gain of 10 strength! Just how much acceleration would he command at that time?

Carl could hardly believe this was merely a grade 0 skill, together with Champion's Conviction. If those two were so amazing, then what about the peak grade 1 buffs that could be acquired during character creation for the steep price of 40 allocation points? What kind of power would they impart? And there surely were some players who chose them, like guild elites …

Either way, this was good enough. Once Carl mastered Last Hurrah, he could even burst forth with a mind-boggling 50 strength for one second! That, however, would require several trips to the temple.

“Only … how do I do it without letting the spies know … ?”

That was a big problem. If it came out that he was regularly bathing in the sacramental font …

“Brother Lionheart! Awesome news!” Amaranthine Bushido messaged. “No need to grind the spectral centurions for now, you've got scrolls to last the whole day!”

“Haha, that's reassuring. Listen, once I conquer this dungeon, get the 260 gold and send someone to buy great mana potions in bulk. I don't like the regeneration I currently have, it's cutting it too close. Also, I will soon be using a premium service at the temple to recover from exhaustion, and I need to do it covertly, can you organize something?”

“There is something like this?! Wow!”

“It's not cheap, though. That's why I want to cram in as much training as possible before I go there, and I only have 2 hours of mental buff left to do it. By the way, I'm curious – do you know what kinds of peak grade 1 physical buffs were available during character creation?”

“Yes, there was only one for each attribute. They're simply evolved versions of those from grade 0, including the two you've learned. They really are something, as they completely eliminate their exhaustion effects once mastered! And they don't even cost that much more mana, the formula is x(2+x/base_attribute)/s. Sure, for low x this will almost double, but the higher it gets, the more negligible the difference becomes.”

“You're … kidding?” Carl wanted to snort with laughter, but the sheer disappointment stopped him. Well, that turned out to be a non-factor. How good it was to be both rich and honorable!

“I know, right? It's so OP. Actually, most of the common evolved skills focus on removing the negative effects of the mortal ones. Of course, there are also such that exhaust massively, akin to berserk or last resort, for an appropriately insane boost. Those need to be acquired by special means, and nobody succeeded yet, as far as I know. In the whole world, that is. But it's only been four days, so it's no wonder.”

Berserk skills? Oh boy. Since Carl now had access to Beatific Restoration …

… that was an absolute must!

…

“Sister Chang-Chang, this is bad! what are we going to do now?”

“Haha, you worry too much, little girl. This is perfect! Not only did that floozy get completely cut off by Lionheart, she also wasted nearly 200 gold. And on top of that – we saw him restock with good mana, common stamina, and common perception potions. This is a huge deal! Grandpa will be so happy to hear that!”

…

“Bhanumati? I didn't expect to hear from you so soon.”

“Boss Rudra, we've successfully obstructed Xielong from making contact with Lionheart. He is wise to them already, and they shouldn't be able to get anything out of him. I'm also sending you a zoomed-in recording of him resupplying, you really need to see it for yourself to believe.”

“Splendid! Well done, my child! Hmm? Is there something else?”

“Yes, he seems to be at odds with a local power. They shouldn't be a threat to him, but who knows. Westerners are such amateurs, they might just do something stupid.”

“Mhm, good observation, very good. Stay there for now and have your eyes peeled. Wait for the optimal moment to provide assistance. Also, the Chinese may yet linger. Xielong isn't our only worry, after all.”

…

“Senior Li, you requested my presence?”

“Little Guang, I'm sorry to be dragging you away from your duties, but what do you think of this?”

“It's no trouble at all, Senior Li, I'm here to serve our great people! Huh? This … it has to be posturing, right?”

“So you realize this as well? Do you reckon he's actually using potions of a single rank higher? Great mana and good stamina, for a total of 25 gold?”

“I mean, there's just no way he will have enough mana with a good quality potion, even if he has Mana Conduit and rests at the sanctuary. The prowlers leave me no room to breathe, I … I …”

“Calm down, little Guang, please, I didn't call you here to berate you! You are our brightest and most courageous young warrior! I only wanted to consult your expertise.”

“Right, my apologies, Senior Li. I'm … still stuck with fine mana and great stamina potions … the amount of buffs I need to run in order to rout the prowlers before they overwhelm me or I fall from exhaustion is just that much. But I'm quickly getting better! I can clearly see it's becoming easier to scare them away!”

“Mhm, I've watched your recordings, and I'm full of awe. Keep at it! You will exceed him in no time! While he has a wealth of real-life combat experience, you have your youthful spirit and our full support. Your future is limitless!”

“Yes, Senior Li!

…

Tibet, provincial capital city of Lhasa, Immortal Frontier.

In the center of a tutorial dungeon, a young blood-soaked warrior in ornate medium armor sat on a defeated beast. His Chinese Dao war saber was still half-buried in its nape, the black as night fur now stained with glistening scarlet red. Nearby, his Chinese Qiang sword spear was sticking out like a pole from another fallen monstrosity. Next to it, it's agonizing brother with a cleaved throat and a chopped off leg. All around, piles of giant gray and smaller black bodies.

His visage solemn and focused, he seemed like an ageless statue, victorious and dignified.

“Hey! Are you done browsing the forum? Jade Lotus isn't paying you for dawdling!” one of the party members who were fighting off throngs of feral enemies amid a hustle bustle shouted heatedly. They were all supremely geared and very capable, but the onslaught was proving a bit too much.

Hearing the grievance, the distinguished warrior stood up, ripped his Dao out from its prison, and approached.

“Finally! Go get rid of the– hey! Whoa, whoa! Stop!” the frightened man retreated hastily, tripping up and almost falling prey to the savage attackers. Luckily for him, his assailants backed off seeing the incoming incarnation of terror.

“Say it again to my face,” the imposing man demanded calmly, yet the tone ended up raising hair on the hapless accuser.

“Boss … ! Boss Immutable Mountain, I apologize! I'm sorry!”

“I offered to conquer this dungeon for you, which I did. I owe you nothing more.”

“Y-yes! Yes, boss!”

“Tell Spring Qin that our deal will not be extended after the remaining 19 runs.”

“B-boss! I apologized! I sincerely, sincerely apologized!”

“I have urgent matters to attend to, I need to leave for a while. I'll let you know if I'm still interested after I return.”

“M-may I know, where you're going, boss?”

“Geneva.”