World Conquest Online

Dom turned and saw the recognisable face of Edward Medici, the towering twin from the Medici twins. He was dressed similar to Dom, but his outfit had a golden trim that showed he was from a Royal family, it was only a slight distinguishment, but it was necessary to maintain the prestige of the Royalty.

"Hey Edward, I wasn’t sure we were on such friendly terms." Dom teased, having had several accidental run ins with the taller twin over the last few years.

"We aren’t." Edward agreed matter of fact, his chiselled face only inches away from Dom’s, "But my sister has requested your presence."

"Then, I suppose I should visit your sister then." Dom replied as he stood up. Dom wasn’t a huge fan of Edward, but he didn’t have any hatred towards him, they just lived very different lives and had an unnecessary dislike of each other. Elizabeth Medici however was a different situation, the famous shut in, as she was known, was a renowned gamer and someone that Dom enjoyed company with when he had chance. She wasn’t seen much around campus, but she was an important person in the world of the aristocracy that was known for valuing people.

Edward led Dom towards the end of the first table, which was situated near the dance floor. Sat on it was Elizabeth Medici, wearing a light green dress with a golden trim. Her blonde hair was tied tightly, showing off her face that was without doubt, one of the most beautiful ones Dom had ever seen. Dom looked at her green eyes that stared at him, and felt nervous about the conversation that was to come.

"Please take a seat Mr Lazarus." Elizabeth kindly said, pointing to the empty seat in front of her. Dom wondered where the original owners of this seat had gone, most likely politely removed by Edward and his group of followers. Elizabeth then turned to her brother, "Edward, please can you give us a few minutes, I will let you know when you are needed."

Edward grumbled and then headed away from them, stood by the corner of the dance floor watching over them. A few of his friends approached him and stood beside him so that he didn’t look alone.

"May I ask why you wish to speak with me?" Dom asked politely, a thought in his head now clear.

"Last time we spoke, we agreed that we would work together." Elizabeth responded, "I think this is a great chance to speak, don’t you?"

"I’m not sure what you are talking about, your highness." Dom replied, testing his assumptions.

"How are Asoka’s finest Harem members settling in to your town, Lord Lazarus?" She responded with a teasing eye.

"I didn’t buy them to be Harem members!" Dom responded quickly, probably too quickly. Thinking internally that he would have to have a word with Crassus and Xun Yu when he returned.

"I never expected that you would have." Elizabeth smiled back, "You don’t seem to me, to be that kind of person, but then I do suppose a world of endless possibilities can change someone. Especially if that person is the number one Lord."

"I am still the same person there, as I am here." Dom responded, knowing that he definitely couldn’t cover up his identity now after that outburst.

"If I thought you had changed, we would be having a very different conversation right now." She replied seriously, as she looked past Dom towards her brother. "Please may I ask a few of my questions, I do not expect you to answer them all?"

Dom felt powerless in this situation, in the game, he was a Lord of a growing Kingdom and one that was above all other players. Here he was just a normal student, talking with a member of the Royal Family. He thought back to his experiences and knew that he should answer what he could, but should retain some strength in the negotiations. He may be powerless here, but in World Conquest Online, he did have power.

"I am willing to answer what I can." He replied seriously.

"Good." She smiled, the earlier tension that was building gone. "Where are you based?"

"World Conquest Online is a very big place." Dom replied, giving away some information here was ok, as they could potentially become trade or military allies in the future. "We are in the south east of the Northern Continent, but that is all I can say."

"That is good to know." She replied, "As you have been honest, I will let you know that we are on the eastern coast of the Northern Continent. So it is a possibility that we could work together in the future. However the Northern Continent is a vast space, so it may be a long time before either of us is strong enough to do so. My next question, how did you become the Number One Lord?"

Dom knew what she meant by this, how did he become the Number One Lord, when so many players from big families, with better backgrounds, were far behind him.

"I honestly do not know." Dom replied, "I would say it is a combination of hard work and luck."

"I didn’t expect you to have an answer." She laughed, which caught the attention of some nearby who rarely saw the little Princess, let alone hear her laugh. "Hard work and luck is a fair response, you must be aware, a lot of families are investigating who Lord Lazarus is. Edward and I have agreed to keep this a secret, for now, as it may benefit us in the future. I must inform you though, that myself and many other players had an aided start to the game due to our backgrounds, which is why there are a lot of conversations about you in the upper echelons."

"How did you work out that I was Lazarus?" Dom questioned seriously, thinking that his limited exposure to her wouldn’t have given him away. He had suspected that PrettyGreenEyes was Elizabeth when he saw her in game, but he hadn’t been sure until now. He also wondered why people were taking the game so seriously, but then those in power wanted their power to extend everywhere.

"Well, the main giveaway was the fact your character name is your surname. I am very confused as to why you would have chosen that. I have known you for many years, even if we are not close, and recognised your similarities when we met at the Auction. But when I saw Alice’s reaction at the second Auction I was confident." She replied honestly. "Have you spoken with Alice yet? and do your friends know about your in game character?"

"I haven’t spoken with her yet, but I am sure I won’t be able to avoid her for much longer." Dom laughed, "I haven’t told Andrew or Kai yet, but I will surprise them soon enough. I also wasn’t given much choice, the game told me I should be called Lazarus and that was it."

"How peculiar." Elizabeth responded with a raised eyebrow, "I had a similar situation, the game AI told me that I had pretty eyes and my name should be PrettyGreenEyes. I must say, Edward has laughed at me a lot over this."

"I did wonder where the name came from." Dom replied with a laugh, having calmed down since they had started talking. "Did Edward get a name chosen for himself?"

"No, he was able to make his own choice unfortunately. Now, I do not expect you to answer all of these, but it may help us with future collaboration." She continued, "What is the highest grade Hero you have?"

"A, but I will not discuss how many or how I got them." Dom responded, not wanting to let her know that he had S grade Heroes, but also not wanting to under sell Riverside’s capabilities.

"That is fair, we also have an A grade Hero, but only the one for now." She replied honestly. Dom appreciated her response, but wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or not. He decided to believe her for now. "I also have a couple of B grade Warrior Heroes, who have been key in to our positive start."

"The Heroes do make the game a much more interesting place." Dom responded, to which she nodded with a knowing smile.

"How many Villagers and Troops do you have?" She asked. Dom wasn’t entirely sure on how to respond to this.

"Can I ask why?" Dom replied, not wanting to miss an opportunity, but also not wanting to give away his strength.

"I want to compare where my Town is in comparison with the top player." She stated, "Also, if we have an idea of each others Military strength, we can help each other. Right now I have a small naval fleet of merchant vessels, which we could repurpose as Troop Transports if they were needed."

"I have a population of over two thousand, with over eight hundred warriors of varying grade." Dom lied subtly, his numbers where now much higher than this, especially with the acquisition of Tongpai Town. Before adding a little extra to strengthen his position. "I also have a small naval force, including some military ships."

Elizabeth looked at him for a few seconds, before sharing a knowing smile on her face.

"I would assume that you have downplayed your numbers slightly, which means that you really are ahead of the other players." She responded kindly, "I knew the top three would be good, but I think myself and my brother have a lot of work to do to catch up. We are a behind you on both of those things, but we are growing well and are in a safe geographical location. Do you have anything to ask me?"

Dom went silent for a few seconds, thinking about what his advisors would be thinking right now. He wished Crassus or Xun Yu was with him right now. The most important things for Riverside right now was a growth in resources and skilled craftsman. Their military was strong and they also had the Blacksmiths and the Elite Villager Ou Yezi who could increase their weapon and armour capabilities.

"Do you have any resources that are tradeable?" Dom asked her after thinking about it.

"It seems I judged you correctly." She smiled, "You haven’t gained the top spot by mistake and there are some brains behind the fun demeanour you normally portray. We have just gained a mine recently and have started to mine for Iron Ore, however, before you get exited, we do not have the means to do much more with it for now. We also have sheep and have a large amount of wool. I am not sure what the climate is like in the South East, but we do have a need for warm clothes in the evening. How about yourself?"

"We have a couple of mines, and do have a way to process the ore. I would offer to help, but I am unsure on how we could with the distance. I would also offer to buy your ore, but I do believe it’s an important strategic resource that you should maintain." Dom replied, "We are lucky to have warmer evenings in the south, but I am sure both of those resources will be easily tradable at the larger cities, if you are near one?"

"We are a bit remote currently, and have been lucky to acquire the small population of a nearby Village of craftsmen." She continued, "We have discovered a nearby city on the coast and will be conducting trade there soon. Have you discovered anything interesting about World Conquest Online yet?"

"Do you mean with the different types of Humans?" Dom replied, happy that they were having a positive conversation.

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked seriously.

"We have been fighting against creatures that are humanlike but not human." Dom replied with a laugh, "For a Historical world game, the fantasy elements are definitely sneaking in."

"That is interesting." Elizabeth responded, before turning to her eyes towards her brother. "I think we should end our conversation for now, but we must continue it another day. If we do not speak before you leave for Central or the Isles of Britainny. Do not worry, we have family that have attended both. But if we do not get chance, please attend my birthday at the Palace in three weeks. This is a Royal Invitation and you can not decline."

Dom was shocked that both his enrolment was known to her, as was an invitation to a Royal Party. He wanted to reply, but was stopped by Elizabeth.

"If you do not wish to speak with Miss Alice, I would recommend you leave, as she is coming this way." She said with a smile, as Dom turned and saw Alice walk past Edward and towards him. A glaring look in her eyes as she approached. Dom heard Elizabeth giggle as she stood up from her seat.