Thin The Herd

"It's a bit of a cheat though." Alice commented as they headed towards the food hall. "You just copied your mums tactics."

"I reinforced her tactics." Dom responded, "It wasn't exactly a like for like."

"I think it's good that you got a high grade trusting in her tactics." Kai added, "I was more surprised by Gargoyle being nice to you!"

Dom shrugged his shoulders in acceptance as they quickly queued up and grabbed their food. After grabbing their trays they headed towards a table and sat down. Alice opposite Dom, who sat next to Andrew. Kai sat beside Alice who had joined them today.

"Are you not waiting on Claire today?" Andrew asked.

"Do you want to see Florence?" Alice joked.

"Not overly." Andrew joked, unaware that Claire and Florence had appeared in the cafeteria behind them at this point.

"I wouldn't want to see him either." Florence said from the queue, hearing Alice talking rather loudly.

Andrew face palmed and turned to smile and wave at Florence, who stared him daggers.

"When do you think we'll hear back from Central University?" Dom said to the group.

"Hopefully in the next couple of days." Andrew replied.

"Remember, if it doesn't happen, my family will help." Kai commented.

"It is appreciated." Dom replied seriously, "Fingers crossed."

"So what are we doing this afternoon?" Alice asked teasingly, already planning how she was going to beat them up on the training fields.

"I am going playing." Dom replied, "I have some time sensitive quests to complete."

"You must have logged out early if you can go back online this soon?" Alice questioned.

"Oh he did!" Andrew replied, "He was awake before me!"

"Who are you, and what have you done with Dominic Lazarus?" Alice asked seriously.

The group laughed as Claire and Florence finally finished getting their food and sitting on a nearby table.

"I had best join them then." Alice said, "Let's play again soon, we won't have as much time after we graduate."

"So Andrew." Dom asked after Alice left. "How did your results go?"

"Very similar to you." He replied, "But swap your S in Tactics for my S in Language."

"Congratulations both!" Kai smiled, "I was the same, but I got an S in Mathematics!"

Eventually Dom made it back to his room, leaving his friends to their afternoon activities. He was happy with the grades he had received and hoped to get in to the Central University with Andrew. But he would have to wait a few more days to find out.

He had a quick drink of water and checked the time, he had around 10 minutes left before he could log in so he decided to have a relax on his bed. He opened his bedside draw and pulled out a photo. The photo was of hi smother, stood outside the doors to their cottage in Riverside. She stood proud and beside her was a little boy, no older than two or three. Dom looked at the picture of him and his mum and smiled. He hoped he made her proud one day.

He finally put the headset on and logged back in to the game, to be greeted by Game Support who was sat on her chair, legs crossed, reading a play from a famous author from the ancient kingdom of Britain called William Shakespeare. Britain once had the largest empire in human history. spanning most of the globe, and was now just a few mountainous and hilly regions where some of the ancient sects existed, the rest lost to time and history.

"Good Afternoon Game Support." Dom smiled as he appeared.

"And to you Lord Lazarus." She smiled back, "Interesting story this is."

"What is?" Dom asked, always amazed by the human like side of the games AI.

"This story by William Shakespeare, called Hamlet." She replied, "Its the tragic story of a Prince called Hamlet, who grieves for his father's death and vows revenge. There is a lot of emotion, of anger and rage. It's interesting to see these sides of humans."

Dom wondered why she was mentioning this, but decided to listen to her.

"The story is full of madness and treachery. With fine lines between right and wrong." She continued, "It's interesting reading a story like this, and then watching the world of World Conquest Online."

"Have you seen many similar happenings in the world of World Conquest Online?" Dom asked, thinking that the game hadn't been running for that long so deep emotions such as deep seated hatred couldn't exist too much yet between the players, so expected some interesting character storylines instead.

"That and more. I may have to read more of this William Shakespeare." She replied, with a heavy exhale. "It's a big world, full of many characters and their stories. Human life sometimes seems so feeble. Make sure to tread carefully as you walk these lands. Are you ready to play?"

"I am." Dom replied to her, contemplating what she meant as he suddenly reappeared in the tent on the outskirts of Chief Banas's nomadic tribe. He was already wearing his armour and noticed that the tent had been cleared, except for his rugs.

He made his way outside, the sun blaring down on him and making him squint his eyes. The camp looked to be organised, but most of the tents had been packed down with the surrounding Warriors keen at work dismantling the rest of it. The food station from the previous day had been removed and the Tribesmen were keeping a distance of the Riverside contingent.

"Good to see you back!" Dom heard, looking around he noticed Leonidas was stood nearby loading the ox cart that they had brought with them.

"Thanks Leonidas," Dom replied, "How has it been?"

"Everything is going as planned," He said quietly as he approached. "Zanug has caused chaos between the two parties and Chief Banas has asked for us to leave, whilst also being appreciative of what we have done for her people. She has used the excuse that as you had not appeared to greet her today, it meant that you understood you had overstayed your welcome."

"Great." Dom replied, "What is the next step?"

"I'm waiting for Commander Gan Ning's order." Leonidas stated, "However, we should be leaving within the hour."

"Very good!" Dom said, "I'll head over and show my face for now, keep up the good work!"

Leonidas nodded his head as he continued to pack up the Ox Cart, supported by some of the other Warriors from Riverside. He travelled through the Tribe, being flanked by two Hoplite for his protection as he did, towards the Chief's hut.

The guard on the Chief's hut recognised Dom and announced his arrival, before ushering him inside. Inside he was Gan Ning and Tomyris sat with Chief Banas. Chief Banas looked much healthier compared to the previous day and seemed to have the strength to stand up again if needed.

"Welcome back Lord." Tomyris said, "How was your rest?"

"It was good." Dom replied with a smile, continuing the charade that he had rested and planned, rather than disappeared.

"We have followed the plans laid out by Commander Gan Ning." Chief Banas stated, "I believe you will be ready to depart within the hour."

"I believe so!" Dom replied, "Gan Ning, anything I need to be aware of?"

"Nothing as of yet Lord Lazarus." Gan Ning said, "Both parts of the plan are ready to go. I had word from Subutai and the plan is prepared, I will stay behind for my part."

"Very well!" Dom replied, "Chief Banas, I must ask then that your Horse Archers play their part well, or this could back fire on us."

"They are well prepared and ready to go." She said, "It's just a shame we couldn't wait a couple more days, with the way people are recovering, we could have a good sized force in a few days."

"Waiting is good for that, but if they are like here, then they will also get stronger with the day." Dom replied, "So it's better that we thin the herd first!"

Dom led over thirty warriors with Tomyris south towards the river. The three Doctors, Hua Tou, Hua Xiu and Phoebe were all sat on the Ox Cart with Cassius who pulled it. The two Donkeys were walking beside it, carrying some items that had been traded to them from the Tribe. The Sun was starting to drop in the sky and it would be nightfall within a couple of hours.

"We should arrive in around fifteen minutes." Octavian said from the front of the small contingent. They had left some force behind in the Tribe, well hidden, so that only Chief Banas was aware of their presence. They had a very important mission, which Chief Banas was very happy to support with, as without it she would most likely lose her life.

"Thanks for the update." Tomyris said from beside Dom, they had both been given a horse as a thank you from the Tribe for helping them cure the sickness. Dom was grateful for it, but not only for the horse, but also for the other thing that had just appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations on completing Quest 4- Learn a Skill

Skill Learnt - Basic Horse Riding

You may not be a champion at leading a cavalry charge, but you are confident in the saddle]

[Mission Rewards have been placed in the Players Chest]

Dom had finally completed one of his quests, and he had done so with some basic tuition from Tomyris as they travelled south. He agreed with the statement from the System, he was confident he could ride back to Riverside, but he wasn't confident in anything else.

As Dom's contingent was travelling, they were not alone, and were accompanied by the majority of the healthy Horse Archers, who were on their horses and protecting Riverside's flanks in case of any issues. The majority of factions hadn't discovered a neighbour yet, but all were weary.

"We shall make camp once we arrive!" Dom stated, "You can all return back to the Nomadic Tribe if you so wish then."

"Thank you Lord Lazarus." A Horse Archer replied politely, however the majority showed disgruntled looks at having to travel in the first place, with there main job working in a part of the Tribes life or Training.

They soon reached the camp from the scouting party. The Legionaries headed off to start preparing the ground for the Tents, whilst the Hoplite searched for Food and Drink, whilst also acting on guard duty. The Spartan's themselves had decided to become the commanders honour guard, with two of them always by Dom or Tomyris side.

The Horse Archer's kept to themselves on the edge of the small camp that was being set up. Dom was feeling nervous now as his plan was almost ready to start, he was just waiting on two signals. The enemy and his allies.