Approaching

Dom sat beneath a tree at the Campus, beside him were Andrew, Kai and Alice. They had eaten earlier and discussed some of the rankings. Dom had somehow avoided too many questions about the name relation with the leading player and himself for now, but both Andrew and Alice had given him questioning looks at some point.

Currently they were finishing some fruits that Kai had brought with him and relaxing as they watched the busy younger years run to lessons, theirs having already finished now that the exams had ended. 

"I can't believe you made it in to the top 1000!" Kai exclaimed again to Alice, already the 5th time he had mentioned this since they had met her at Lunch. "I am so jealous that you get to join the top player Auction!"

"I don't really have much currency to spend." Alice lamented, "But I did get some good rewards, I'm quite looking forward to seeing some of the other top players, especially those Warrior types that got in to the top 10."

"You'll have to make sure you tell us all about it in a couple of days." Kai replied, before changing the conversation to something non game related. "Have you decided on what you are going to do next?"

"I haven't." Alice replied honestly, "I know I don't have long left to decide, but all 3 options and interviews went well."

"I'll make my decision once Dom has." Andrew said, contributing to the conversation that had shifted away from Alice being the best player out of the group. "Have you decided Dom?"

Dom thought back to the conversation he had had with Lady Anabel Howard, the representative from the Isle of Brittany's 100 Sword Peak, he felt that something was calling for him to go there, especially if he could go to Central as well, but he didn't want to leave behind his friends, who were the only family he had. 

"The Sword Peaks said that I could study at Central as a priority, and join them for secondments." Dom said, "but I haven't decided fully yet."

"Well, the Military University of Central Intelligence did give me a good offer, but Central is the best there is." Andrew said, "so if you are going there, so shall I. The Military University of Central Intelligence doesn't do secondments, it sounds very full on with little chance to relax."

"And I will also go to Central." Kai added, even though that was the only choice he had given himself.

"I may go to the Heroes Sect." Alice stated, "They do mixed semesters at other universities such as Central. As one of the leading Sects for the key military positions, they like their students to push themselves against the best." 

"So you will leave us?" Andrew said with genuine sadness. 

"No, because I'll find you on World Conquest Online, so we'll be together most of the time when we aren't studying anyway!" She replied with a smile. "Plus, if you all go to Central, I will be heading there eventually to beat you all as usual. I agree with Andrew on the Military University of Central Intelligence, it seems to much work. Central is still an option though, I have a couple days to decide. I need to discuss with my family."

They discussed the pro's and con's of their different options for a while, whilst Dom contemplated the future with or without his friends around him. He thought back to some of the things their other roommate Horatio had said, and wondered what else their friend hadn't said.

"I think it's time to head back soon." Andrew said, looking at the time on his watch, "I've got a ship to keep sailing on World Conquest Online, the more south we get, the busier we are."

"Make sure you save me some space on the adventures!" Alice replied with a grin as she got up herself, "Let's catch up tomorrow."

"Yes, let's!" Dom agreed, "These could be the last days we are all together for a long time."

"That's a sad thought." Kai accepted, as he also stood up from beneath the tree. 

....

Dom soon returned to his Dorm room with Kai and Andrew. They all quickly ate some noodles that Andrew prepared and tried to work out a timeframe for when they could meet up. Dom calculated that it could be another couple of weeks before that happened, but Andrew was confident it could be much sooner. They soon finished their noodles, before going their separate ways to log back in to the game. 

Dom lay on his bed and placed the headset on, before quickly waking up again in his large bed in Riverside. He opened his eyes and looked around, noting that he wasn't wearing anything, he quickly climbed out of bed and placed on his Toga. The room had clearly been recently cleaned and Dom was impressed with the management of the Town Centre, that was slowly becoming a mini Palace. 

He grabbed his sword, which he tied to his waist, and then headed towards his Personal Chest where his latest rewards had been placed for completing the Town Centre Upgrade and the rewards for being the first player to have a City.

He pulled open the lid and saw the White Invitation Letter and the Golden Quest Spawning Token which were still where he had left them previously, however beside them were a handful of new items. There were two Green Building Cube's, a Red Elite Villager Cube, a White Resource Cube, a Blue Elite Warrior Cube, three Wooden Upgrade Tokens and another Golden Quest Spawning Token.

Dom was excited to see the rewards that he had acquired from the quests, he was most excited about the Green Building Cubes and the Wooden Upgrade Tokens, as they could help get towards the ridiculous upgrade quests that he had for the Town Centre. He was always happy with Elite Villagers, Elite Warrior's and Resources, as these were all key things that would help with the development of Riverside. 

The Golden Quest Spawning Token was also exciting, and he left it in his personal chest next to the other one. He first had to deal with the happenings over at Tongpai Town and get everything in order before he launched another campaign. The last one had taken a large percentage of their leadership and key warriors, however the rewards had been well worth it. 

He decided he would use these Cubes and Tokens later, as first he wanted to see what he had missed the day prior whilst he had been offline. 

...

Dom arrived in the Great Hall, with the intention of heading towards the offices and finding Lucius, however Lucius was already waiting for him. He was sat at a table eating some fresh bread and olives, with a look of thorough enjoyment on his face.

"Good morning Lord Lazarus." Lucius said politely as he noticed him coming towards him.

"Good morning Lucius!" Dom replied, "How has it been?"

Dom took a seat next to Lucius, even though he had just eaten some noodles with Kai and Andrew, the smell of the fresh bread defeated him and he reached over and grabbed a piece himself. It was still warm and soft and it melted in his mouth as he chewed it.

"It's good isn't it." Lucius smiled at the sight. "I assume you want to go through the Military side of things first?"

"That would be great if possible." Dom replied kindly.

"Subutai, Xun You and Abubakar are to the east and continuing to prepare the troops for the coming campaign. Tomoe has been working with Pullo and some of the others to help train the mixed troops we have in to an organised force, the Hittites and Shang Troops are doing well. Xun Yan has also been helping Tomoe and getting to learn our cities defences." Lucius started, he grabbed a couple of green olives and threw them in his mouth before continuing. "Tomyris is working on the scouting plan to the West with Uriah, some of the scouts have returned, but this will be a long project, they aren't wanting to dive in too deep, depending on their possible involvement in the coming campaign. Gan Ning and Liao Hua are at the Shipyard as the Galatea was launched yesterday, and the crew are doing test runs with it currently, the second Trireme is also coming along nicely, but that is still a while away."

"It seems that everyone is busy then!" Dom replied seriously, wanting to go and inspect the Galatea as soon as possible, he hadn't ever sailed on the sea before and the realism of World Conquest Online made him want to experience it properly for himself.

"Very much so." Lucius replied, "We also had a small sailing boat arrive in Riverside yesterday with a message from Crassus that he is due back today. The wind has been heading to the south so I expect he'll be back by late morning or early lunch."

"That's great news!" Dom stated, hopeful that Crassus had been successful with his trip to the major city a few days to the north of them by boat. "Hopefully he brings back some mercenaries and other goods."

"I agree." Lucius agreed, "On the civil side, Xun Yu has settled in well and has already taken over the daily administration of Riverside, as well as the registration of new residents. It may be worth granting him spawn rights so he can also do them as well as me. Shang Yang, myself and Xun Yu have been in discussions with Meritamen and are trying to tidy up the civil affairs, it will be great when Crassus is back to help."

"It's good that he is getting so involved so fast, I knew he would be a great addition!" Dom replied happily. 

"He is, he has lots of knowledge and some great ideas. Ideally we do need to increase our Civilian Leadership though, we are very military heavy." Lucius commented.

"I know, even most of our Civilian leadership have military backgrounds." Dom agreed. "Where is Meritamen?"

"She is at the Market, discussing some potential long term trade deals." Lucius replied, laughing internally at Dom's relief. "Did you check the rewards for the quests?"

"I did!" Dom exclaimed, "Two new buildings, three upgrade tokens, some resources, Elite Villager and Elite Troops tokens. We also got another Golden Token."

"Amazing news." Lucius replied, contemplating. "We'll need to think what buildings to upgrade, but having two new types will definitely be handy. I'll leave the Elite Troops choice to yourself, but I am not sure we are ready to use another Golden Token just yet."

"I agree completely." Dom replied, "First I think we should,"

Suddenly the doors to the Great Hall flew open, with Gregorios the Hoplite running through it. 

"Mayor Lucius, Boats approaching!" Gregorios stated as he headed inside, before noting Dom's presence. "Welcome back Lord, A rider has come from the outpost to the east, Boats are approaching!"