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

“Ladies and gentlemen, I'm telling you, we are witnessing the making of a Legend, with a capital 'L'!”

“This is absurd! So what, the premium service he unlocked is basically the same as Beatific Restoration? Come on … that's a thousand gold!”

“Hahaha! He placed soul markers on them! SOUL MARKERS! There's no running from it! They are donzo! XD”

“Yep, they'll have to serve their time, alright. And with outstanding warrants they can say bye-bye to the tutorial. (^.^)”

“Man I'm happy! I hate PKers!”

“Nah, they'll immediately join the forces of darkness and rebind their revival to some pagan altar.”

“Forget that, why isn't the battle uploaded yet?! I wanna see it!”

“Chill, it's got to be in a new thread somewhere.”

“Found it! Here's the link …”

“…”

“O.O”

“:O”

“Holy Smokes!”

“Woot!”

“These … are not your average players, are they?”

“Look at their gear …”

“Ubers, every last one of them …”

“Is this guy truly immortal?!”

“That roar again!”

“Brrr!”

…

Flourishing Vivacity paced the sands of the arena with a massive headache. What a colossal disaster! What would she tell her grandfather now? She was so painfully ashamed, all she wanted was to curl up and die …

Suddenly, her rerouted real-life communicator rang, jolting and frightening her.

It was her anonymous Jade Lotus contact …

“You set us up!”

“…”

“Nothing to say?! How about a compensation! Speak up!”

“…”

“You think we're dumb? We know it's you, Xielong! Do you seriously want to sour the relations between us? Or do you take us for pushovers, huh?!”

“Enough!” Flourishing Vivacity flared up, releasing her frustration and anger. “I hired you to do a job, which you failed, and you dare bark at me?! Keep going, and we will crush your petty shack into dust!”

“…”

“Now you listen to me. You've just captured a cultist town, and don't even try to deny it. You'll have those ten amateurs reset their accounts and switch to the dark side. Lionheart is going to be a Bounty Hunter soon, and they'll use their soul markers to lure him out.”

“Oh no, we want no more business with you!”

“Is that so?” the young woman challenged. “The way I see it, I've paid you a thousand gold, and you didn't deliver. Either pay me back, or finish what you started,” she said coldly. “You can also choose a third option, which is to ignore me. Go on, try me,” she threatened.

“You bloody … ! Fine! We'll send you the refund! You keep antagonizing that monster yourself!” the mysterious caller decided with gritted teeth. “Meanwhile, we will tell him exactly who you are …” they thought vengefully.

“You leave our affairs to us. And we're afraid of no monsters. We have throngs of our own.”

“Haha, do you? Not like the one we befriended. You have no idea about monsters, fools …”

…

Carl was multitasking like a champ, doing synchronized push-ups and squats, chewing food, chatting telepathically with Amaranthine Bushido and analyzing.

“… To this end I'll need the best food and beverages available, and extra mana potions to master Champion's Conviction and push my stamina to the limits.”

“Wow, Brother Lionheart … it's never boring with you, is it?”

“I wouldn't want it any other way. Oh, and what was among the loot?”

“Nothing of note. Scrolls of Isolation, which are in high demand among outlaws, plus a bunch of good quality potions, a few special arrows, as well as a couple wands and grenades. All in all around 70 gold, hardly enough for another fine quality health capsule. Hmm, now that we're on the topic – do you fancy them, Brother Lionheart?”

“Their price is appropriate.” Carl got straight to the point. To him, it was 60 gold well spent. The supply, however, was too vast, and the NPCs would produce new batches before they ever run out.

“Oh, shame. Good news, though – I've managed to borrow 200 gold from Highlanders at 10% daily under a bare guarantee, and I've covertly sent for a second necklace.”

“Awesome!”

“And who were those guys, anyway? Blood Brothers' goons?”

“No, it's China. I have a hypothesis, but I'm not sure yet.” Carl remembered the woman from the auction, who changed from her luxurious lifestyle getup into a splendorous suit of armor and wielded some mighty weapon, most likely of supreme quality, and possibly with ranged magical enchantments, as well as a magnificent shield of comparable caliber. He didn't peg her for a melee type at all.

“Oof, it's going to get wild …”

“Heh, isn't it already? Besides, I don't think the plan was to kill me. We'll see. The dungeon just got conquered, I'll go talk to the chief.”

…

Shenhua Chuanshuo mega-guild residence, Shanghai, Immortal Frontier.

A stately and imposing mage geared with top-of-the-line equipment sat down in his quiet office to once more review the latest report. He had many reasons to celebrate. The ancient dig site, which he grinded for the past few hours, was a potential treasure trove, and he wasn't far from devising a workable strategy for his subordinates. The price hike of the various cursed scrolls crafted from spectral dust continued, improving their gold-farming margins, which reflected on their stock market shares. Many brave representatives of experienced, well-coordinated parties stepped up to the task and switched to full realism, either by employing flawless kiting or by having their teammates shield them from harm. And finally, they had their first Ghost Buster.

But it was precisely this last point that had him bothered. Apparently, the title alone wasn't enough to talk to the high priest …

“What else are you hiding?”

The man frowned and closed his eyes, reminiscing his long career in virtual gaming and adjusting his focus on the big, blurry picture, then initiated a phone call through his internal communicator.

“Little Zhong?”

“Yes, Sir Hou?”

“Xielong just blundered in Geneva. It's inconsequential to us, but it reminded me of their ever-deceitful approach, and of the old saying that lies have short legs. They're looking down on reputation, always trying to buy it instead of earning it – with great success, mind you. Now they're repeating this scheme in Immortal Frontier, a product designed by westerners and based on their philosophy. That's a mistake. Fundamentally, their values might be similar to ours, and yet our cultures are so … divergent …”

“Y-yes?”

“Instruct all our title holders. I want them to be paragons of honor, with no connection to our dark experiments whatsoever. They shall tell no lies, and do everything in their power to raise their reputation, starting with dungeon conquests for the NPCs. I'm hereby authorizing the necessary expenditures.”

The grand mage reclined in his armchair comfortably and pondered. This was a gutsy move. After all, Xielong was making a fortune through crime and atrocities, plundering small towns, killing and robbing evolved NPCs, kidnapping for ransom, extorting, torturing for information, and supporting dark cults. This was but a game, there was no need to have scruples, and Hou Ru was tempted to go down the same road.

However …

… why play to your rival's strengths?!

No, only amateurs and provocateurs did that. He was neither, and if his intuition was correct, the lawful path would be no less profitable, as shown by a certain individual …

…

“Lord Lionheart in the flesh!” Maxwell welcomed with a wide grin.

“Hello, Chief Ironhide.” Carl nodded reservedly. “I may be here to retrieve my reward, but I've actually wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh? I'm all ears, my friend.”

“I have stumbled upon a huge business opportunity, which I aim to leverage. I require a large capital, but I'm unwilling to let the investment bankers take advantage of me.”

“Straight to the point, that's how I like it! You really know me, Charles Lionheart! Haha!” The man rested his hands on his hips and shook with hearty laughter.

“I have come to you, Chief Ironhide, because of your connections,” Carl continued calmly. “I'm looking for honest associates, with whom I wouldn't mind sharing the profits. Are you perhaps acquainted with any righteous nobles who possess investment accounts and contribute their wealth towards admirable causes?”

“Acquainted with nobles?! Hahaha! Good one! Oh, my apologies, Lord Lionheart, but your humor is disarming. I am a swashbuckler and a simple man. How could I, and why would I interact with nobles?”

“Mhh, I didn't consider this,” Carl conceded, disappointed. “How about public funds, then? The city doesn't just let them sit idly, does it?” He tried helplessly.

“Well, how much do you need?” Maxwell inquired with confidence. “I have some savings of my own, and I wouldn't complain if they multiplied.”

“A hundred thousand.”

The robust, one-eyed veteran stared at Carl for a few seconds, unmoving, like a salt pillar.

“… Sterlings?”

“Gold Crowns.”

Another weighty pause ensued.

“And what kind of return do you expect?”

“Hard to predict, but certainly attractive. I'm conservatively willing to venture saying 50-150% within a week or two.”

A loud, intense whistle acknowledged the preposterous claim.

“You're not pulling my leg, are you, Lord Lionheart? With your wit I wouldn't–”

“I'm wholly serious,” Carl accentuated coolly.

The hardy man reeled back and scrutinized him from head to toe, squinting his eyes.

“Just how many nobles did you intend to approach?”

“Huh?” Carl faltered. “You mean they wouldn't have this much?”

“Ha! Hahaha! There he goes again!” Maxwell burst out laughing jovially. “Oh, I'm both pleased and dispirited that you hold us in such high regard, Lord Lionheart,” he admitted after composing hiself. “Sadly, only royalty and magnates have this kind of money at their disposal. I'm sorry, but this is beyond me. Although …” He mulled something over, caressing his chin, then walked up to his desk and operated some thick disc of black obsidian with circular silver protrusions, putting it in the middle of the workspace.

To Carl's sheer surprise, a translucent, animated image soon appeared above it, accompanied by an audible greeting, and it belonged to none other … than Anselm Veritus!

“Chief Ironhide.”

“Chief Veritus. I have someone here who you should recognize.”

“Oh? If it isn't the gallant Lord Lionheart yet again. I'm glad to see you in good health.”

“Hello, Chief Veritus. Are you … referring to my fight minutes ago?”

“Naturally. We need to be appraised of all matters pertaining to the safety of our beautiful city, and foreign immortal forces committing such blatant transgressions on our soil is not something we can ignore. Anyway, how may I help you?”

“I–”

“Do you have a spare hundred thousand Crowns you would like to double in no time?” Maxwell interrupted blithely, shocking Carl to the core.

“Hmm?” The magistrate's aide raised his brows with doubt.

“My friend here has found a gold mine, figuratively speaking of course, and he requires capital to dig it up,” the vigorous swashbuckler explained with a beaming countenance, comradely putting his arm around the stunned Carl.

“The city's treasury has a diverse, stable portfolio for a good reason,” Anselm replied swiftly. “All taxes are public money, and the responsibility of preventing sudden shortages and securing smooth operations weighs heavily on our shoulders. We can look into your recommendation, Lord Lionheart, but you should know that in light of our duties we can only be risk-averse.” He poured out a bucket of cold water on Carl's head. “So what's this gold mine about?”

“Well …” the hero began sheepishly, “those are unique circumstances, and there's a severely undervalued product on the market. Have you perchance heard of Scrolls of Threat and Danger?”

“Ah, so it's this,” Anselm uttered with a wistful sigh. “A shame you haven't informed me of your plans during our morning meeting, Lord Lionheart. You've kicked up quite the storm on this particular market, and we were late to the party. Although our revenue is nothing to scoff at, we could have indeed magnified Geneva's fortune with your forewarning.”

Carl smiled brightly, reassured. “So the NPCs are buying the scrolls as well. No wonder their prices shot up so much!”

“No-no, you misunderstand. I have only brought it up to illustrate my point, because there's another limited item which my kin will soon be fiercely competing for, one whose might I have advertised for all to see mere moments ago.”

“Oh?” Anselm's ears perked up, listening with undivided attention. “Please, tell me more.”

Carl smirked.

“So you've heard about me annihilating ten expert assassins against all odds …”