Anselm peered at Carl solemnly.

“You drive a hard bargain, Lord Lionheart.”

This, however, unexpectedly provoked a result opposite to the intended one – a genial chuckle, devoid of all false pretense, and a gracious tone.

“Chief Veritus, you must be truly delighted to banter with me as fortune falls into your lap. I'm glad I could lift your mood to this extent.”

It took several heavy seconds, but the dignitary relented in the end, smiling in defeat.

“Well played, Lord Lionheart, I take my hat off. Since it is you, Geneva's friend and benefactor, so be it. We will immediately start liquidating assets and issuing bonds. Meanwhile, I'll employ our emissaries all over Celestia to send out couriers.”

Carl couldn't believe his luck. It worked?

It really worked??

That was inconceivable!!!

…

In a rank 5 black boars' nest, two stalwart human warriors ran around with a moon elf anatomist and a wood elf ranger in tow, executing dazed and wounded hogs as fast as they could, bloodied and exhausted, the vast battlefield behind them jam-packed with quarry. Initially the girls supported them from up a tree, but it soon became apparent they had to come down and help chase the subdued animals, which retreated to a safe distance after Lissome Shot decimated them with fragmentation arrows.

Confuse turned out to be the perfect spell for this kind of enemy – that is one inclined to move in a phalanx – disturbing their formations to the point of collapse and preventing all-out charges. It certainly wouldn't be of much use against the brisk, individually attacking wolves, but here it shined like the sun in midday.

“How much longer?!” Reckless Javelin demanded. He had already thrown his shield away, dedicated to crushing skulls with his war hammer. “I'm exhausted!”

“Stop complaining and keep at it!” Radiant Bulwark chided. “You think I'm not tired?!”

“30 seconds!” Merciful Breeze informed. She was in her element, laser-focused, chaining confusion on a pack of trapped boars, rapidly switching between them to keep them tied down. The panicked hogs stood up and sprung up, then stumbled and tumbled, unable to escape. And since the great mana potion had a 2.5 minute duration, the party of four was drained by the end.

“Finally!” The steel goliath exhaled with relief. He was on the second setting of realism, same as his old colleague, so they both experienced fatigue to a high degree. “We really should have taken more stamina potions.”

“Now we know,” the axeman concluded, then shook his head in amazement. “Incredible job, ladies. Spectacular. Who would have thought it would be this easy?”

“Ha! You've seen nothing yet!” Lissome Shot boasted merrily. “You just give me the arrows, and I'll conquer all the dungeons for you!”

“Even the spider cave?” Radiant Bulwark laughed.

“Ugh …” the girl responded with disgust.

“What about the giant lizards?” the man continued teasing.

“I don't see us beating those any time soon,” Reckless Javelin interjected. “They're innumerable, relentless, fast, and they can climb wherever they want.”

“Brother Lionheart wants us to deliver, so we will burst the bosses and die if need be.”

“Well, that's one solution.”

“Um, what about bears?” Merciful Breeze suggested. “The fewer mobs, the more effective Confuse will be …”

“Absolutely, they're our next target,” Radiant Bulwark concurred with glee. “I wasn't considering them before at all, but with you it'll be a breeze.” He then realized his unwitting pun and chuckled. “So to speak. Alright, let's wrap this up and go retrieve our rewards! Hmm? Wait a minute, I have a call.”

“Hey Bo– … Brother Bulwark …”

“Don't be shy, Bushido, what's up?”

“I didn't want to distract you on your challenge, so I delayed this report. There's been … a development.”

“Let me guess – Lionheart is at it again?”

“You have no idea …”

“Is it bad or good news?”

“Heh … I'd say it's mind-boggling news.”

…

“Yes! 10 willpower at last!” Looming Oak exclaimed victoriously. It had been a long and torturous two hours, which felt like a day. “What? Why did I not get Pain Enthusiast?!” he complained, perplexed. “Why are you grinning, Dad?”

“Hahaha! Use your brain, kid,” Ingolf jeered, overly contented with himself.

“Said the expert gamer!” his son raged, frustrated and at his wit's end.

“Oh, calm down now, what's gotten into you? Is that how a pain enthusiast should behave?” the dwarf nudged.

“Huh? You mean … ?” Seeing his father nodding bluntly, the youngster understood. “So I just need to … show enthusiasm?”

“Catch a breath, hype yourself up, and be honest. It really isn't difficult.”

“Okay … here we go … hit me! Yeah! Again! Argh! Haha! Again!”

…

Reluctant to experiment after this much accustomization, Carl picked up a spanking new Black Fang and cut the break short, rejoining Theodore who had already returned.

He was overflowing with energy!

Smiling at Amaranthine Bushido, he sent him a crude and cryptic message – “Forget bankers, I have engaged official channels,” leaving the man hanging, not willing to get anyone's hopes up in case the results were underwhelming. After all, there was no telling just how many necklaces were out there, how many of those could Anselm secure, and how much value would they gain. He wasn't worried about failing at all, which would ruin his reputation in the City Hall, but the range of uncertainty was massive, spanning across a hundred-fold difference in outcomes.

“Toothy, would you mind withdrawing back to the portal upon locating the wolf swarm from now on?” he asked while running. “Only on the expeditions with immortals that is. I'll merely be skinning the horrid wolf and then catching up to you. It'll save me a few minutes each time, which I need to squeeze a couple more tiny breaks in between. I'll compensate it, naturally.”

“Master Lionheart, you're joking, right? Thanks to you I'm rich! And you've just granted me another visit to Chief Ironhide!”

“Good.”

Readjusting his schedule to facilitate more frequent restoration, Carl resolved to master Champion's Conviction and push his vitality towards 20 before he went to sleep, supplemented by potent herbal and fruit cocktails, luxurious rations, and – most prominently – drugs, that is a wide variety of toxic medications, which he completely forgot about, and whose fatal side effects he could now cure after they accumulated.

Subsequently, he contemplated Maxwell's human-like AI, which gave him a fright. One could really forget they were dealing with programs …

All the more reason to be as authentic towards NPCs as he was towards people. It had already paid off monumentally, far exceeding any remuneration they could have given him for his kindness. Who knew what else was on the horizon?

The possibilities were endless …

…

Shiva's Hand mega-guild headquarters, Mumbai.

“You summoned, Boss Rudra?”

“Ranbir, my good friend. I apologize for taking your precious time. How's the progress on a black wolves' den strategy?”

“It's going along smoothly, Boss. Thirty to forty Jagannathas show promise of mastering it within a day or two. The rest shouldn't be far behind.”

“Excellent. Now tell me please – what do you think of this lifesaving tool?”

“Very useful. I wouldn't have conquered Camp Redmont without it, back on Monday. Today it wouldn't be necessary any more.”

“Of course, your prowess leaves no room for doubt, valiant Ranbir. And what about personal protection?”

“I'm not so sure, Boss. Feels like a waste of money. Assassins usually come prepared for such contingencies. Of the known instances where various bigshots wearing the necklace got ambushed, all but a couple died in the end, and those two survived only because they were attacked by a single hitman.”

“Not all of them. Haven't you seen Xielong's mess in Geneva?”

“I have, but that Lionheart is a beast, Boss. Two armor-piercing arrows sent by grade 1 skills went straight through the aegis, before he consumed it to the point where a fragmentation and a stun arrow made it as well. And he took all the magic to the face, quite literally. Yet none of it slowed him down. Thing is, instead of escaping, he chose to slaughter Jade Lotus, treating the aegis as a mana source. In his hands, this isn't a protective tool any more, but a damage amplifier.”

“Mhm. Can't it be utilized as such?”

“This … is true, Boss. It would be a powerful aid when assassinating targets escorted by bodyguards.”

“Well then, it seems we have to set aside some funds. It should be a good investment.”

…

“Hey Fate, feeling any better?”

“Haha, Brother Lionheart … yes and no …”

“The new vice guild leader giving you grief?”

“Ugh … not just her. The whole guild is running like headless chickens, now that you've revealed your full might to the world, and all the venom they kept hidden thus far is coming out. The fake facades I mentioned earlier … they're falling apart … spitting like snakes …”

“That bad? Hmm … just out of curiosity – how much would it take to buy out your contract?”

“Huh? Don't even joke, Brother Lionheart … it hurts …”

“Ten thousand gold?”

An exhausted sigh came from the other end, followed by long silence.

“Fate?”

“… Ehh, I don't know. Several thousand. Maybe ten, considering the imminent inflation.”

“Okay.”

“What do you mean 'okay'?!”

“It's nothing, don't mind it.”

“Please, stop! Whatever you're planning!”

“Chill, Fate, I only want to be up to date. Either way, I owe you a slice of the pie that you've directed me to.”

“What … are you talking about?!”

“You've led me to the Necklace of Preservation. You're much better informed than me – what do you think about its value, its bang for the buck?”

“You … wait … you want to use them to conquer high-rank dungeons? In this case, 200 gold … is cheap! Oh no! You've just shown everyone that they shouldn't be applied defensively, but rather offensively! You must buy them now, before they go up like the scrolls!”

“Relax, I'm already on it. Tell me, though, aren't there magical aegis equivalents?”

“There are, but forget them, they're much more expensive and magical protection is less practical in the tutorial – listen, Brother Lionheart! You have to rush to all the banks that run hedge funds and see where your reputation can take you! Here, I'll send you–”

“Pfft, for 10% of the profits? To hell with them. And they don't have much reach, anyway. How many necklaces could they obtain?”

“Brother Lionheart, don't be unreasonable, 10% without any capital input from you is a lot! You need to hurry before they all disappear!”

“I agree.”

“There's hundreds of them all over the world, and even if the bank gets their hands on 50, that's 10 thousand gold, and their price will surely double or triple, giving you one or two thousand gold of net profit! Meanwhile, you should discreetly approach other guilds and negotiate similar deals with them, without exposing the secret until they agree!”

“Double or triple, huh? That's what I'm anticipating, too, but isn't it overly optimistic? They can't be easily manufactured by the NPCs, can they?”

“N-no … the supply won't keep up with the kind of demand you'll spark with this monstrous performance, and once they're gone panic buying will ensue. I don't understand … why are you so laid back, Brother Lionheart?”

“Well, since you're my equity partner …”

“What equity partner?!”

“… It's only fair I brief you on the details. I don't know if they'll succeed, or rather to what degree they'll succeed, but I have employed the City of Geneva to secure all the necklaces on Celestia through their emissaries, agents and associates.”

Suddenly, the conversation paused for several weighty seconds.

“You're kidding … right?”

“Nope.”

“…”

“Fate?”

“… Wooow … I … I won't ask how, but … they surely didn't give you 10%?”

“They did not.”

“Even 5% would be amazing …”

“It's not 5%.”

“3? 2? Come on, tell me already!”

“Hehe, you better sit down. It's 50%.”