World Conquest Online

The water was much colder than Dom was expecting, it usually having a slight warmth to it. The shock almost took the air out of him and he had to give himself a couple of seconds to breathe before he started to tread through the water.

Himilco was slightly ahead of him, and Dom could see that he had almost swam the hundred metres or so towards the capsized boat. He turned and saw that Dom had also jumped in and wanted to shout something to him but was struggling himself in the cold and didn’t want to waste the needed energy and oxygen.

Himilco reached the capsized boat and made his way around it, grabbing on the side to catch his breath, it wobbled in the water and his wet hand almost slipped of the smooth base. He finally got a good grasp of it and now that he had chance to breathe, he looked out across the water to see if he could see any sign of Ophelia.

"Dive down!" Himilco shouted to Dom as he dived under the water when he noticed there was no sign of her on the surface.

Dom heard Himilco and did what he was told after taking a deep breath. Underneath the water was clearer than he expected and he could see that Himilco was ahead of him looking around underneath. They made eye contact and Dom then did the same looking around.

Dom didn’t see anything at first, and panicked a little that she had been washed further down the river, but then he as he look across from him he could see something moving aggressively in the reeds at the bottom of the River slightly downstream from where the boat was capsized. Dom pointed to the area to Himilco, who turned and noticed it himself.

They both quickly reached the surface again to get another deep breath of air, they were around twenty metres away from each other, and both had a similar length to swim to reach the motion in the reeds. After taking a breath they both dived in again and quickly swam towards the figure. Thankfully the current wasn’t as strong as it had been and they were able to get there quickly.

Inside the reeds they saw the sight of Ophelia, her leg was tangled around some of the reeds and she seemed to have stopped breathing at this point. The earlier thrashing that they had noticed now stopped. Dom quickly unsheathed his jewelled dagger and cut through the reeds, whilst Himilco grabbed her from under her arms and swam back to the surface of the River.

They both reached the surface quickly and took in a deep breath. Ophelia wasn’t breathing and Himilco slapped her on the back heavily to try and push the water out of her lungs. She didn’t react and he looked at Dom with a serious look.

"We need to get her to the shore now!" He exclaimed seriously.

"Pull us in!" Dom ordered as loud as he could, and felt the long rope that was tied to his waist pull at him.

They both swam with the ropes pulling at them, both holding Ophelia and trying to keep her head above the water as the rain hammered down on them. They soon reached the shore by the side of the dock and were helped up by Dom’s guards and a couple of fishermen. Helena and the others soon appeared and she had a panicked look on her face.

"Has someone got one of the Doctors?" Dom shouted as they dragged Ophelia to the shore. Her beautiful face that was usually tanned, now having a greyish tinge to it and her arms hung limply.

"A Runner has gone to the clinic!" Helena said as she came to the side of her daughter.

"Everyone move back!" Himilco shouted aggressively, "I need space. Lord Lazarus, I am going to push on her chest to push the water out, you need to breath in to her mouth when I tell you to, to give her air!"

"Guards, move everyone back! Himilco I know CPR." Dom replied, "Just tell me when."

"I have no idea what CPR is." Himilco said, as he started to compress on her chest heavily. "Now!"

Dom listened to instruction and tilted Ophelia’s head back and pinched her nose, before taking a deep breath and exhaling in Ophelia’s mouth. He moved his head to listen to if she was breathing, when he realised she wasn’t he took a deep breath and repeated. As soon as he stopped, Himilco began compressing on her chest again.

"Oh Ophelia." Helena mumbled, tears in her eyes.

"Again!" Himilco said to Dom, who leant down and breathed again. Just as Dom was about to repeat, Ophelia coughed, with water coming out of her. Himilco quickly grabbed her and turned her to her side, rubbing and patting her back, whilst Dom helped keep her mouth open so she could cough out more and not re-swallow it.

Helena ran forwards and helped Himilco pat her down as Ophelia coughed more and more, her eyes opening dazedly as she noticed that Dom was helping her. She tried to speak but coughed loudly again. Phoebe and Hua Tou the Doctors suddenly appeared and ran down the bank towards them. The rain now starting to reduce as they appeared and some light starting to break through.

"She is breathing again." Himilco said to the Doctors as they arrived, "But she’ll need warmth and care." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"She will be in the best care." Hua Tou said as he bent down to check on Ophelia who was now sat up with her mum hugging her tightly.

"Thank you." Ophelia coughed to Himilco, her throat raw and her eyes dazed.

"No, you should thank Lord Lazarus." Himilco replied. "He’s the one that found you."

"We both did." Dom replied when Ophelia looked at him. "It’s good that you are safe."

"Of course." She coughed, "Who else is going to ship you across the river all of the time."

"Don’t do it again please." He stated, "Even if there is to be a bridge, I still want the option to use your fishing boat."

Hua Tou and Phoebe helped Ophelia on to a simply made stretcher, which was held by two of the town guards. Helena grasped her hand tightly and walked off with them towards the Clinic.

"You are a hero today Lord." Himilco said.

"No Himilco, You are the real hero." Dom replied.

Himilco shrugged his shoulders, "I’ve seen too many people drown over the years, a man overboard, someone pulled under when the water seems calm but isn’t. Stranded men taken by Sharks and the like. There are many things that can take a person, and not enough of them survive."

Himilco’s smile had left his face at this point as he waved goodbye and headed back towards the shipyard to continue looking through the plans for the Trireme’s and making plans with Aase.

Dom stood at the River’s edge, cold and damp. The realism of the game had hit him hard as his muscles ached and he started to shiver. Tayanna came over and put a cloak around his shoulder.

"Come Lord." She said, as she directed him back towards the Town Centre. Impressed and shocked that the Lord of their kingdom had dived in to rescue one of his citizens, who wasn’t even a key member in their eyes, being rescued by Riverside was the best thing that had happened to her.

Dom soon returned to the Town Centre, cold and tired. As he entered, he caught the eyes of Lucius and Aristarchus who were sat talking at a table.

"What happened?" Lucius asked seriously.

"I decided to go for a swim." Dom replied, "Not the best time of day to go for one though I must say."

"I would concur, you look a mess lad." Aristarchus commented, "Go upstairs and get yourself dried up."

Dom was about to reply, but Lucius beat him to it. "You heard the old man, go dry yourself off."

"Fine, I’ll so what you both said." Dom grumbled, "I may not return for a day or so."

"What is that lad?" Aristarchus asked, his head back in to his calculations.

"I may not return for a day or so." Dom replied.

"Ah ok." Aristarchus said before going back to it.

"He’s a deep thinker." Lucius stated with a laugh, patting Dom on the shoulder. "See you when you get back."

Dom headed upstairs to his room, undressing himself and drying himself on some of the fur’s that were on his bed. He then lay down and closed his eyes, logging out of the game.

He awoke on his bed in his dorm room, still cold from the game. He felt his hair and it still felt wet, but Dom couldn’t tell if it was water of sweat. He climbed out and headed straight for his shower, turning the water on hot before he stepped inside it.

He stood there for a few minutes, basking in the warmth and cleaning himself. Thinking through the last few days since he started to play World Conquest Online. In that time had had created a small Town with a wide array of different people and ancient cultures. He had fought in several battles and fights, including against the Bear, Gluttonous Chief’s Village and the battle against Tongpai Town at the Nomadic Camp.

He felt he was suddenly a much better fighter himself and that if he was called to duty in real life he would be able to defend the borders of the Western Kingdom well. Who ever had created World Conquest Online had made the realism intense so that real skills were being gained from playing in your sleep.

He had also made some real relationships with NPC’s, which felt strange, but he genuinely thought he would miss some of their personalities if he stopped playing for any reason. His guards such as Gregorios and Trojan, the Spartan Leonidas and even the Town Guard Paul had all had some impact on his, allowing him to meet and talk with people who were different from his fellow students at the campus.

Heroes such as Gan Ning, Tomyris, Subutai, Lucius and Shang Yang had also opened his eyes to some real expertise and he felt he could learn a lot of tactics and administrative skills from them all, hopefully helping him with his own career after he finished University, if he got in to the one he wanted that is.

Even the Citizens of Riverside had affected him, with Helena, Wang Shu, Hua Tou and Lars especially. He wished his own father had been like Lars or Wang Shu who spent so much of their time with their children, training them and having them in the family business. Dom’s family business was the Military, but he would have loved to have had that connection with his father before his disappearance.

The situation with Ophelia almost drowning hit him hard today though, the feeling of fighting a battle, with life and death at stake, was hard, but Warriors knew what they were doing. They had also been lucky to not lose anyone from Riverside yet, but he didn’t think it would be that case for ever. Almost losing a Citizen who he had made a connection with however was difficult.

Dom got out of his shower and got changed in to his uniform, before leaving his room and taking a seat in the living room, ready to log in to the blog and see another days worth of comments from Golden Sun VI.