World Conquest Online

Dom read the letter for a second time, it was short but it covered all of the necessary points. He would be heading to the Isles of Brittany 100 Peaks Sword Sect in the morning, to join the true Sect behind the front. He wouldn’t be taking any of his belongings as they would be shipped to Central University where he would head to at some point, most likely before term started.

He decided that he would pack up his small collection of belongings first. At the bottom of his Wardrobe was a large case that he could place everything in to, he removed it and placed it on the bed, before heading back to the wardrobe to start pulling out the clothes that he had. He majority of his clothes were his uniform, most of which he would leave behind so that it could be repurposed for other students in the future. His main cloth belongings were his dress suits, his comfortable clothes for the weekend and some sentimental pieces that he kept hold off.

He then went in to the draw beside his bed, removing some jewellery and medals that belonged to both of his parents. The most impressive piece was a large white gold signet ring, with a red Ruby encrusted in to it. In the ring is had his grandfather’s initials which were the same as his own, DL, for Damien Lazarus. It was one of the only things he had from his father’s family and he would wear it one day when he did something worthwhile.

He soon packed up some other things, such as some books and family photo’s. He only had a handful of photo’s and they were mostly of his mother or himself growing up, there were a couple from the Academy with his friends and classmates as well. There was one exception though, an aged photo of his parents and himself, stood outside the Ivy covered Family Cottage, on the outskirts of the real world Riverside. He looked at this photo for a short while, wondering why his father had hidden his face behind the Cherry Blossom branch. If it wasn’t for people mentioning his similarity in looks to his father, he would probably have forgotten what he looked like.

He left out some clothes for his journey tomorrow, he had heard that the Isles of Brittany were cold and damp, with high tides that often crashed against the peaks that remained of the once large island nation. Much of the old country had fallen beneath the raising sea’s, with old cities still visible beneath the waves during the calmer, warmer summers.

Dom checked the bathroom, taking everything from there that wasn’t needed to brush his teeth or shower and packed them as well, leaving just his gaming headset left. He was reluctant to pack it, as it meant that he would be away from the game for an unknown amount of time, especially when Riverside was in a key growth stage. However, he doubted he would be allowed to game when he would have an already busy schedule.

He grabbed the now almost full case and lifted it, the weight now much more than when it was empty. With a grunt he placed it on the floor and sat on his bed, grabbing his headset and preparing to log back in to World Conquest Online.

....

He appeared inside the white room that Game Support often dragged him in to when he logged in, she was sat at her chair as usual, a large white toothed grin on her face as she saw Dom appear.

"So you have started a Main Quest?" She asked him teasingly, "How very exciting."

"Thanks?" Dom replied, unsure how to respond to her. She turned her head down and began flicking through the pages of a thick book that lay on her knee.

"Make sure to take advantage of every opportunity." She replied, her smile now going and a serious look on her face appearing. "Don’t take the easy options."

Dom nodded in agreement, the rewards were based on the difficulty, and Dom wouldn’t make it easy for himself. Game Support telling him this direct just prompted him to go full in with this Quest, the advice hadn’t let him down so far.

"Well, have fun!" She grinned again, "See you again soon Lord Lazarus."

...

Dom suddenly awoke, his body feeling like he was falling, he felt like he landed with a heavy bump. Looking around he realised he was on his bed in Riverside. The light was peaking through the window in the distance showed that morning had arrived. He wondered if he had been spawned slightly above the bed on purpose by Game Support or if it was just a natural reaction.

He climbed out of bed, and quickly dressed himself in a clean toga that had been put aside for him. He strapped on his belt and placed his sword the Harpe on it. He didn’t feel he would need it, but it added a level of strength to him as he walked around Riverside in front of the now thousands of residents.

He made his way downstairs, past the living quarters where Tomoe and Meritamen lived, and then in to the Great Hall where breakfast was normally waiting for him. As usual it was, as was a group of guests that were sat around.

"Welcome back Lord Lazarus." Lucius greeted, he was sat eating a plate of fruit with some slices of meat that had been dried and salted. He seemed to be enjoying it and his attitude was lively, which surprised Dom.

"You seem happy Lucius?" Dom replied as he headed towards the table.

"That’s because he has ideas of not being the Mayor anymore." Xun Yu said from beside him, he was eating some bread that had been baked with certain fruits inside it.

"I haven’t said that." Lucius argued back with a laugh, "I was just saying that it may be time to upgrade."

"You just want to concentrate on farming." Crassus countered, beside him was Shang Yang, Subutai and Xun You.

"It is an important thing!" Lucius countered.

"You do need full bellies to function." Hatshepsut commented from the other side, a small plate of grapes was all that she ate.

"I assume we are having a meeting before celebrations?" Dom asked with a smile, breaking the conversation.

"We are." Meritamen said from behind him, having walked out of the kitchen herself with a small plate with an assortment of Dom’s favourites on it. She handed him the plate and sat beside Hatshepsut.

Dom was surprised to see that all of the Grade A and Grade S Heroes of Riverside were currently gathered in the Great Hall. A realisation hit him that even though he had a lot of Heroes in the Military arm of Riverside, only Subutai and Xun You were of the Grade A or above, where as in the Civilian area, he had a wide range of Elite Villagers to support the Heroes, but his smaller number of Civilian Heroes were majority higher ranked.

The advantage was that of his Civilian Heroes, nearly all of them had originally been in a Military Role in their past lives before moving on to a Civilian role, so they could speak at those conversations with a strong knowledge.

"Let me have a bite to eat first and then we can begin. Can someone fill me in on how everything is progressing with the Tongpai residents and the preparations for the Celebrations?" Dom asked as he sat in his seat with the plate Meritamen had provided him. She herself was a B Grade Civilian Hero, her role being that of the face of Riverside, but she hadn’t had much opportunities to do that until the last few days.

"The masses are calmed and the majority of the Tongpai Residents are excited by the difference between here and Tongpai Town." Crassus began, having been one of the main people involved in the relocation. "The quality of our buildings, our military and our people are of a much higher level."

"Locating them near the Military District was a great idea." Lucius added, "This has meant that they have seen the regular troops of Riverside on a daily basis, it has calmed them so they don’t rebel, but it has also showed that they are protected. Banas and her Horse Archers have been excellent at this." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"They went through a similar process themselves." Shang Yang agreed, "She has been a huge asset, as has most of the former Tribe Members. The Shang Century has also been very helpful as the surrendered Shang Warriors have been working with their old colleagues to integrate the populations."

"Da Qiao, Thucydides and another Elite Villager we have discovered in the group called Zenodotus, have been great at integrating the Civilians as well. I think the old friendship between Da Qiao and Gan Ning has been positive in this as well." Crassus continued.

"Zenodotus?" Dom asked, having not seen this Elite Villager himself.

"A cynical man, with a penchant for knowledge." Hatshepsut replied, "He is a Librarian, but the people seem to like him."

"He tells people what he thinks, with little thought." Meritamen interjected, "Thankfully he has mainly been full of praise of Riverside, where as in the past he had been very negative to Tongpai Town’s leadership. I am still trying to understand how he survived."

"It will be interesting to get to know him then." Dom replied kindly, as he took a bite from some of the food.

"He is in the Library by the River, which has become a bit of a gathering place of the Elite Villagers." Hatshepsut continued, "Aristarchus, Herpatya, Thucydides, Zenodotus and even Gu Kaizhi when he is not doing other things."

"Not Sostratus?" Dom questioned, thinking of the other Elite Villagers in Riverside that may like the the Library.

"He is to busy, but he has had moments." Hatshepsut replied seriously. Dom worried at how much work Sostratus had been given, but was sure that the Architect would be ok, he hoped.

"Housing is being built, however we have not expanded more than necessary as we know you have the Town Token from Tongpai Town and Subutai mentioned maybe another one." Crassus said, taking the conversation back on track.

"I do actually have two." Dom replied, "but we can decide on them locations after this conversation. We need to make sure that we are maximising our opportunities."

"We do need to have a full meeting, but the next agenda item was the celebrations." Meritamen stated, "These are going well and they will start this afternoon, there will be some races on a track that has been outlined by Wang Shu, followed by some wrestling organised by Centurions Alexander and Phillip. In the evening we will have dances by Chanda and food provided at the Market. Finally we will have a minor awards where those that have provided a specific service will receive a medal constructed by Ou Yezi."

"That all sounds amazing, have we decided the winners of these awards?" Dom asked, thinking this was a great way to recognise the hard work from the Military and Civilians.

"We have, I will share a list with you before hand." Meritamen asked, "Unless there is anyone you think is deserving?"

"As long as those that helped Gu Kaizhi and Hua Rong in the centre are rewarded, I am happy to trust you on the rest." Dom replied, as he put his now empty plate down. "Ok, so let’s get on to the important stuff."