World Conquest Online

After explaining a bit more about how the three commenced throughout the map Alice and Camilla both listened on in a mix of surprise and a slight tinge of being impressed. Andrew explained how one of Dom’s Heroes had led most of the Battle, whilst he himself had been busy recruiting and setting up some of the pre-arranged traps they had to capture Pausanias. Kai explained how using some of their connections they already had, they were able to do better at both Plataea and Mycale, however for him, connections to the Halicarnassus forces had allowed them to get reinforcements and explore the wider map outside of the direct battle. Dom had explained how with his own Heroes they had led the strategy and battle at both the Sea and Land parts of Mycale and had claimed a similar victory.

"So you worked as individuals for a collective goal, and because both Kai and Andrew performed well, Dom’s score was increased?" Camilla asked, a slight smile on her face.

"We believe because all of the units were Dom’s and all of the resources used were Dom’s that he scored highest because of it. Otherwise he wouldn’t have scored so high at Plataea, but he deserved to be first at Mycale regardless." Kai agreed as Camilla nodded her head in response, whilst Alice looked at her three friends with a tinge of jealousy that she hadn’t been able to fight alongside them yet.

"I am impressed that you thought outside of the Battle Map and decided to explore the surroundings to find further rewards or influence other battles. I wonder if you had continued westwards if you had hit the other local battle. It’s quite possible other players may have done that, but I doubt it was to the level of you three." She praised them, before turning to Dom again. "You are a Commander with over Eleven Thousand Warriors and a growing Fleet. With that many recourses you would be equivalent to a General with a full Corps under your command here, not quite at the level of your mother but you would be gaining on her. There is a difference of course, but for real life experience you should put this to use if that is your future career direction."

"I am learning from some great people." Dom explained, understanding that she was pointing out to him an opportunity to learn.

"And who are these Heroes? I am aware of Crassus as everyone else now is, a person even I would have liked to have met." His Aunt asked him, whilst Dom felt that as Kai and Andrew already knew and that Alice was on her way, he may as well be honest about it.

"There are a lot. Some have been with me from the beginning such as Subutai, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, Tomyris of the Massagetae and Gan Ning." Dom began, but his Aunt put her hand up to stop him as the names just flowed from him.

"How many Heroes do you have?" She asked him seriously as she heard the names he was listing and at the pace.

"I am not sure, there are a lot more Military than there are Civilian, which is an issue at the moment." Dom replied, whilst he looked to Kai for an answer.

"At least fifty, with around two thirds being Military I think." Kai replied as he looked to Andrew for confirmation.

"They are of different levels though." Andrew added, happy with his contribution to the conversation whilst Dom and Kai looked at him like he was being very unhelpful. Alice on the other hand was sat in shock, Eleven Thousand Warriors, a small Navy and over Fifty Heroes was a lot in her mind.

"For so many Towns and cities, that is a very inadequate number." His Aunt commented seriously. "Eleven Thousand Warriors, plus your Navy that is split between the Sea and the In land Rivers. That is almost having a leader of a small squadron of ships and a Hero for every five hundred Warriors. You haven’t got enough Civilian Heroes to manage each of your Towns, let alone a Central Government. Whilst the number you have is vast and very impressive, it’s still not adequate."

"We have grown very fast." Dom replied with a shrug, knowing the issue himself. "I have a lot of Elite Villagers that are taking up Mayor Positions, as well as Generals that are working across multiple roles. We are looking to bring in a Governor position to stream line some of it. We also have a large number of Officers within the Military Ranks, such as Centurions and Captains."

"We being the Heroes again?" She asked, looking at his friends with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, that is the case." Dom agreed as his Aunt went quiet in thought. Her guards behind seemingly also in shock as they tried to maintain a serious expression.

"Who are the Heroes again, list me all of your main Generals and Civilians." She asked him, whilst clicking her finger as one of the guards left his post and went to a draw, taking some paper and a pen and giving it to his Aunt.

"Subutai, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, Tomyris of the Massagetae and Gan Ning were my first Heroes." He began again, as his Aunt put her hand up to stop him.

"I am aware of who Tomyris is as she is a mighty woman, I have also heard of Lucius the Farmer as he is often used as an example for a good ruler. Subutai however, is a name I am very familiar with if it is the one I am thinking of." She asked him, "Are we talking about the Mongol General?"

"He’s my Grand General, but yes we are." Dom replied as his Aunt looked at him seriously again, Alice unaware of what was being discussed, but both Kai and Andrew also looked at his Aunt.

"Dom, what Grade is your Capital?" She asked him, her tone telling him not to lie. "Honesty please."

"S Grade." Dom replied, as silence passed the room. Kai and Andrew’s faces showed understanding as it was obvious when they looked at what Dom had compared to everyone else. Alice looked at Dom as if he was almost a stranger, she was used to beating him at things and this was different. His Aunt however looked threatening, she turned to her guards again.

"Have word passed to Captain Mortimer, I don’t care if the Medici’s are involved in the first instance, we need to increase pace and I want protection covering my Nephew." She ordered, as a guard nodded in response and left the door, a new guard arriving who looked awkward at the atmosphere in the room. He looked to the other guard who gave him the look of if you make a noise we are both dead. "Dom, you need to understand that no one else I am aware of is S Grade. I asked you this, because when you said Subutai, that made sense that he would be one of the highest of grades. If you had said you had gained him through another method I would expect it was luck, but through being an S grade that you started with, I expected different. Who else do you have?"

"They are from different Era’s. My Generals are mainly from the Late Han Period of Ancient China, with my junior Generals being from the end of the Song Dynasty in Ancient China. My other Generals are mainly recent recruits from Plataea and Mycale." Dom explained, whilst his Aunt put her hand up again.

"Tell me all of your Generals that are grade B and above." She asked as she furiously wrote notes, expecting a small list.

"Tomyris, Tomoe Gozen, Gan Ning, Liao Hua, Sun Ce, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, Cheng Pu, Ling Tong were my originals. From Plataea we got Masistius, Nicomedes, Xanthippus and Pausanias." Dom explained, whilst his Aunt wrote down the names and then looked at him again her mouth struggle to keep steady.

"What about Subutai?" She asked him, as he hadn’t named him amongst his Generals. She looked down at the list again and shook her head slightly, before looking at him for a response.

"He is part of the Command Structure, so I class him separately." Dom explained as his Aunt looked at him, her head tilted to the side as if telling him to continue. "He is there, with Zhou Yu and Xun You. All Three are S Grade."

"Three S Grades?" She said in response, holding in that if she was drinking Dom would have been covered with it if she had spat it out. "Civilians next please."

"So we have Lucius, Xun Yu, Shang Yang, Crassus, Queen Hatshepsut, Artemisia of Halicarnassus, Marcus Tullius Cicero and Soga No Umako." Dom replied with a nod as he thought to himself if there was anyone else. "Oh and we just got Ptolemy Soter the brother of Alexander the Great and an engineer called Li Bing. Shang Yang, Xun Yu, Ptolemy and Li Bing are all S Grade, however they have all been important."

"What about Meritamen?" Andrew asked Dom, as Kai paled at the situation. His Aunt almost missed it as she recovered from the number of Heroes and S Grade Heroes that her Nephew had, but she looked up at the new name.

"She is also a B Grade, I was trying to do B grade and above but I forgot she had been promoted recently." Dom replied, as his Aunt looked at him, she recognised a lot of the names but not all of them.

"What about Sun Shangxiang?" Andrew asked again, whilst Kai covered his face, wondering why Andrew’s Parents had clearly dropped him on his head.

"She’s a C Grade." Dom replied, his eyes telling Andrew to shut up, however his Aunt noticed every detail, with even the guards behind squeezing their eyes knowing the question that was coming Dom’s way.

"What is the situation with these two Heroes?" His Aunt asked him, her voice almost motherly whilst Alice seemed to also click as to what was happening.

"Meritamen is an Egyptian Princess, Daughter of Rameses II. She brought Egyptian and Hittite Warriors with her." Dom explained, before continuing. "Sun Shangxiang is the sister of Sun Ce and brought a large number of Late Han, Wu affiliated Warriors and a lot of Generals with her. She also brought a City and a large number of Civilians."

"Which is great, but doesn’t answer my question. What is your relationship with them?" She asked, whilst Dom looked to Kai and then Andrew for help. "Marriage Alliances are important, that is why I am pushing for you to have one."

Her words cemented a lot of the earlier conversation in to Alice’s head as she now understood why Chancellor Phillip was being the way he was with Dom and the realisation that Dom was living a very different life in the game.

"Dom has two." Andrew replied, before Kai face palmed and Dom’s face paled. Andrew began laughing, and behind them Dom heard a held in laugh from one of the Guards. Even Dom’s Aunt struggled to keep a straight face for a moment.

"Well my Nephew better behave himself and try to keep that number at Two. Unless an ideal marriage alliance appears in the game." His Aunt smiled to Andrew, whilst Dom just shook his head.

"My Hero Shang Yang is often saying similar things." Dom replied to her, as she nodded in understanding.

"Shang Yang, the founder of Legalism in Ancient China." His Aunt asked, with Dom nodding in agreement. "A lot has been lost to history, but those in the Southern Empires seem to be able to always find it again somewhere, if you have him and a General like Subutai, you are doing a lot better than many of the others. I dare say they would even rival me and a younger Chancellor Phillip when he was leading the armies. With this number of Warriors and this quality of Heroes I am feeling relieved, you just need to make sure that they are all protected. You also need to invest in your Civil side or you will crumble from inside."

"I know, Shang Yang also tells me that." Dom agreed, as his Aunt nodded, seemingly relieved at the advice that Dom was getting.

"I had a list of advice I wanted to give you. Locations were you could place yourself, allies you could make. I had already sent you the pre-reading with the histories of different nations, but now what you need is good advisors around you." His Aunt explained, as Dom thought back to all of the reading material he had been supplied by his Aunt and his Mentor Lady Annabel Howard. "I need your list back in three days so I can make sure to find you the right Advisors. I will reach out to my Network who have Lords in their families or are in Major Cities on the Map and see if their are any recruitment opportunities I can find for you. Alice where are you currently?"

Alice was caught off guard for a moment as Dom’s Aunt mentioned her name, having just been a very lost passenger throughout the conversation with more questions than answers.

"I am near the City of Lothal, it is an Ancient Indian City on the Eastern Coast. I am not sure how South Dom is, but that is the direction I have been heading as he has a port City on the East Coast." Alice replied to Camilla as the three lads looked at the two talking.

"Very well, stay in the vicinity on your next log in, I will speak today and pass some instructions to you tomorrow." Camilla explained, as Alice accepted the Command as a Soldier would their Commander.