Go With The Flow

Dom arrived back in Riverside as the sun was setting on the horizon, his Red Hare Horse trotting calmly across the Bridge that had been placed on the River. Gan Ning and Tomoe followed closely behind him, further followed by Gregorios and Trojan who were escorting them as usual.

Dom could see torches had been lit, as Villagers were heading back to their homes to sleep for the night, the usual hustle and bustle returning as the risk of enemy attack shrank slightly. The first buildings they passed were the Docks and the Shipyard, where people were still busy either pulling in the fishing boats from the day or still hammering away at the Galatea so she would be ready for her launch in the next couple of days.

They then passed the Market and accompanying Warehouse, seeing that the stalls were being packed away for the evening. The baskets of goods being covered up and carried in to the Warehouse for storage, or placed underneath the stalls for easy access in the morning. Dom had been really impressed with the Market and was looking forward to seeing how it would grow in the future as Riverside grew.

Soon they passed the School as they headed towards the Town Centre, and Dom could see that the two teacher siblings Kento and Minato were locking up for the evening. They noticed Dom and his entourage and waved towards them as they passed, Dom waved back and was soon at the front of the Town Centre.

They pulled up their horses on the tiled mosaic, their horses neighing excitedly as they realised that they were nearly home. Dom quickly jumped of his horse, passing his reins to Trojan who was still on his horse. The rest stayed mounted as Dom grabbed his pack from the back of the horse and arranged his sword belt so that it was comfortable.

"I'm going to head to the bank and drop of the loot we brought back." Gan Ning stated as he stroked the side of his horses neck, letting it know it had done well, "I'll see you in the morning."

"I'll take the horses back with Trojan." Tomoe said, "I'm then heading to bed, it's been a tiresome few days and I need the rest."

"I am going to..." Gregorios started.

"You are going to shut up." Trojan laughed, "I don't think anyone particularly cares what you are going to do."

"They might." Gregorios laughed back.

"I'll just see you all in the morning." Dom laughed back, before turning and heading inside the Town Centre.

He walked through the Great Hall, which was much smaller than that of the Ancient Underground City, and looked across at his own benches, imagining his own people sat there eating and then being attacked. He squeezed his fists tightly and took a deep breath, reminding himself that it was a game, and they weren't people. It may be a game, but he had been working hard and he would make sure that nothing would happen to Riverside like what happened to the Ancient Underground City.

He was glad to see that there was a plate of food ready for him by his seat, his belly rumbling as he walked towards it and sat down. He had some bread, some cold soup and some salad, it wasn't the most enjoyable meal he had yet, but he ate it regardless. The Town Centre was quiet except for a couple of Villagers that worked within it who were heading around either tidying or preparing for the following day. He soon finished his food and got up, bidding everyone he could see good night.

He headed up stairs and saw that Meritamen was sat by the fire with Shang Yang and Lucius, they were all gathered around a table and reading notes that they had been taking through out the day, seemingly deep in conversation as Dom appeared. She raised her head as she heard him approach and waved him over to them.

"How did your expedition go?" She tiredly asked, suddenly yawning and covering her mouth.

"Successful." Dom replied, "We have finished what we needed to from there and should have a good amount of rewards from it, I was just heading up to check."

"Anything of note happen whilst you were there?" Lucius asked, his eyes still dark from the long days.

"A few little surprises for you I hope!" Dom replied with a grin, "We have finished exploring the Ancient Underground City, have completed the conquer a town quest and have hopefully gained some new building types. How about yourselves?"

"That's amazing!" Meritamen said as she clapped her hands, a tired smile on her face.

"Congratulations, I look forward to seeing your rewards. We have just been discussing the allocation of resources and our plans for the next few days." Shang Yang replied, the eldest in the room, but also the one who seemed to have the most energy. "Everyone has got involved and we are ahead of schedule on many tasks, but we definitely need to do some things to reward the Villagers and give them some downtime soon before they are all burnt out."

"We are planning to hold a festival when Crassus has returned." Meritamen continued, "To celebrate the completion of the wall once it has been done and as a send off for the Warriors before they depart to Tongpai Town."

"It will also be a good opportunity to show of Riverside to the Mercenaries that he will hopefully bring back." Lucius added, "They can spread positive word about Riverside, and hopefully it will attract some high level immigrants."

"It sounds like you have all been busy!" Dom exclaimed, impressed by how they had been dealing with the Towns development.

"We have." Lucius agreed, "I have also placed the Mine and it spawned some materials, I suspect these are what are within the area of the Mine. Some Marble, Stone, Iron and Gold."

"That is a lot of materials from one Mine!" Dom exclaimed, "How many miners do we have?"

"Not enough." Lucius replied, "So I don't expect we will get a lot of resource any time soon for this. This can be a priority for our recruitment processes however, I will discuss this with Crassus when he returns."

"Thanks Lucius." Dom said, "And of course Shang Yang and Meritamen!"

"The thanks is appreciated, at least you understand that there are people doing your job when you are gone." Meritamen grumbled, "But we are all tired, so can you go and check your rewards now so we can take them in to consideration with our planning."

Dom accepted Meritamen's order, not able to disagree with her comment and headed upstairs to his room, leaving the three of them downstairs around the fireplace. He soon reached his personal chest and opened it, looking past the rewards he hadn't used yet such as the White Invitation Letter and Golden Token, and looked at the new goodies that he had.

As usual, he checked the stats of each item as he pulled them out and asked the system to define where each item was from.

Green Cube - Mausoleum - Relocation

Green Cube - Blacksmiths - Relocation

Green Cube - Palace Guards Warriors Hall - Relocation

Green Cube - Beast Hall - Relocation

Green Cube - Warehouse - Relocation

Wooden Token x 3 - Absorption

Silver Token - Town Centre Upgrade Token - Absorption

Green Cube - Random Building Spawner - Conquer a Town Reward

Blue Cube - Elite Military Spawner - Conquer a Town Reward

Dom was over the moon with the rewards, he had six new buildings. Three of which where new to Riverside, a dedicated Warehouse, rather than one attached to another building, a Mausoleum and a Beast Hall. He was excited to see what he would get from the Beast Hall and he was interested to see what the Mausoleum would contribute to the growing Town. He was also grateful to have another Blacksmiths, which he could place near the current one, with the mine having now been placed, he hoped they would have a steady influx of materials coming in soon.

The Palace Guards Warriors Hall he was excited to place, and wondered what the unit was like, he had previously re-rolled the Warriors Hall from the Gluttonous Chief's Village, and had relocated the one from Banas's Tribe. He wondered if he would spawn the unknown human unit or if something else would happen with it. He also had received a Random Building Spawner and had to decide where to place this next building, grateful for the additional growth.

He was also excited to see the three Wooden Tokens, which would take him much closer to upgrading Riverside to the next Town Centre level, however the arrival of the new Silver Token made him question if those requirements would change.

"System, what is the Silver Token?" Dom asked.

[A Silver Token is given when absorbing a high grade Town Centre, of at least a B+ grade. It can be used to upgrade a Towns Grade if it is of a lower level than the original, or it can be used to upgrade a Town's Level if it is of a higher level.]

Just as Dom was about to ask his next question on if that meant Riverside would get an upgrade to it's Town Centre level, he was interrupted by the System.

[In the case of Riverside, this would be used to Upgrade the Town Centre's Level]

Dom decided to discuss with Lucius if they should use this now, or finish their current upgrade quests first, as they had almost finished with their level 2 buildings and only needed a couple more Wooden Tokens or the correct Schematics.

His final reward was another Blue Cube, which he was extremely excited about, his last one giving him his century of Praetorian Guards, and he wondered if he used it again would he get another century.

He headed back downstairs and saw that Tomoe had also joined them now, having returned the horses and wearing a loose fitting night gown that she had made for her by the Weavers. His mouth almost dropped open at seeing her, but he quickly closed it as he saw the daggers Meritamen was sending his way.

"What did you get?" Meritamen asked him quickly.

Dom explained what he had received and the group were all impressed.

"I think we should do them all in the morning." Lucius stated, standing up from his seat, "for now we all need to sleep, I am sure the Warriors will be happy that we have another Warriors Hall and a Blue Cube."

"They will be." Tomoe agreed, as she spread out on one of the comfortable chairs.

"I am going to bed." Shang Yang said as he also got up, walking towards Dom and putting his hand on his shoulder, "Have a good night."

"Thank you Shang Yang, you to." Dom replied, seeing a small grin on Shang Yang's face.

Shang Yang and Lucius soon departed, leaving just Meritamen and Tomoe left in the room with him. Tomoe yawned and closed her eyes on the sofa she was laying on, deciding to sleep where she was.

"I'm going to get her a blanket." Meritamen yawned, "I'd join you, but I am tired and you let me down last time, so now I am letting you down."

Dom didn't no how to react to this, tired himself from the day he had. Confused at Meritamen's comment he headed upstairs and took his armour off, followed by his toga. He got in bed and lay down, soon closing his eyes and falling in to a deep sleep. Time passed, and in his sleep, he felt some movement in the bed. Too tired to open his eyes, he just rolled over and tried to get back to sleep, however soon some softness press against back, followed by an arm wrapping around his chest.

He started to feel excited, and didn't no how to react, should he say something or just go with the flow? Suddenly he heard a loud snore from behind him, and decided he would just go with the flow, closing his own eyes and falling asleep.