Meritamen smiled at the tired Sun Shangxiang who was resting her head on Meritamen's legs, whilst Meritamen shook her head knowingly towards Dom, who laughed at the situation. He was just grateful that Tomoe was snoring soundly from a nearby room, was not also involved in this conversation. He looked outside, through a window at the rear of the room, the sun now well and truly set.
"Is it time?" Meritamen asked him, whilst Sun Shangxiang suddenly started snoring from beneath her.
"It is." He replied, before heading over and kissing her gently on the lips, before kissing the sleeping Sun Shangxiang on the forehead. "I'll see you in two days."
"I will be in Serenity, I will make sure to see you in Jia before you depart for the Cove." She replied as Dom turned and headed towards his steps. "I hope everything is fine where ever it is you go."
Dom stopped walking, the comment from Meritamen showing some self awareness from the games mechanics. The characters knew that he disappeared, but the awareness that he went elsewhere and did other things was another step. He looked at her, deciding on how to respond, whilst she smiled at him with a gentle, knowing smile, as if she had many things she wanted to say and ask, but couldn't or wouldn't.
"I am hoping to see my friends again soon." He replied to her honestly, before opening up, his words coming from his mouth with little thought. "It can be lonely at times, much quieter than it is here. I was recently reunited with my Aunt. I thought I had no family left, but it seems that I do. There are a lot of expectations on me, but I don't know yet what I expect of myself."
Meritamen gently moved, placing Sun Shangxiang's sleeping head on the seat they shared, before standing and quietly walking towards Dom. She engulfed him with her arms, her body tight to his, before pushing her fingers through the hair on the back of his head. She felt warm and Dom could feel her breathing.
"Just remember, that how ever hard life may be, I am on the other side waiting for you." She said, before giving him a kiss on the lips. She then released him and pushed him back slightly with a grin appearing on her face, "Now go, before you come back naked in the middle of the room, you will give the maids a shock!"
Dom laughed at her joke, leaving the room to log out. The conversation felt strange, but everything about this game did. He heard Meritamen persuading Sun Shangxiang to wake up and head to her bed, smiling whilst he lay down on his own to bed log out.
.....
Dom awoke in his room at the Manor at Central University, an unusual sound of rain pattering down on the ceiling above him. He had heard that this part of the Western Kingdom's was known for it's exceptional summers, so was surprised when he heard the rain. His plans to sunbathe in the garden after a walk were now gone and he decided to have a quick shower before heading downstairs to read Golden Sun's blog.
Dom sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, deciding if he would brave the rain and head out for so me food or eat some of the food that he had recently purchased for when Andrew and Kai arrived. After checking through the cupboards and the refrigerator, he decided that he didn't want to make something himself. He pulled up a menu that he had been given and decided to order some food in instead, not having the effort to concoct something up for himself.
After ordering himself a small feast of sausages, omelette, bacon rashers and crunchy potato hash browns, he decided to read Golden Sun's Blog whilst he waited for it to arrive. He took a seat on the comfortable sofa in the centre of the living space and opened the blog.
[Golden Sun VI here, with my daily World Conquest Online blog.
Today's blog is mainly going to cover non combat related players and classes, with a collection of stories and information provided by many of our avid readers recently. We have updates from Chef, Farmer, Sailor and Hunter classes.
I am covering this variety as it seems a much larger number of players are now either playing as a non combat class, perusing a side role in a non combat role or are mixed classes. I for one, as a blacksmith player, can see the advantages of being multi skilled. Some of these mixed class players are part of local militia's whilst following their day to day character class, such as a Lumberjack who also works as a Militia to defend the gates against barbarian attacks.
We also have Sailors and Hunters who are exploring more and more of the map than anyone else is, due to the opportunities given to them in their roles. I know there are also a lot of explorer type classes, with many of these being placed in groups with a combination of other class types. This is great as it shows that whilst Combat is a huge and exciting part of the game, there is so much more to it.
It does seem however, that the location in which you originally spawned has a huge impact on the type of gameplay experience that you have. Not that I would recommend resetting yourself, as our readers stories about those situations sound painful and mentally scarring. Thankfully, I haven't heard stories of players wishing to be expert fishermen spawning in the desert, but if you are an expert fisherman in a desert, please do get in touch!
Firstly, I'll be starting with the story of a player who is currently a Chef, cooking with new and unheard of ingredients..]
There was a loud bang at the front door, surprising Dom to the stage that he almost through his device in shock. He stood up and went towards the door, not expecting that his food would have arrived as of yet. The curtains were still closed so that he couldn't clearly see outside the large glass windows on the front of the Manor.
As he went to open the door, it was swung open and he had to quickly jump back to not be caught by it. As he was about to yell at the person who opened it to tell them to be more careful next time, he saw a recognisably tall male.
"It's raining, get out of the way Dom!" Andrew exclaimed as he and the porter Mr Khan pulled in Andrew's luggage. Unlike Dom's that had been sent in advance, Andrew had also visited his grandmother during the break and had brought items from her house. Mr Khan bid farewell to them both, before shuffling back in to the rain, whilst Andrew closed the door behind him. "I thought Central was supposed to be hot all year round!"
"If they didn't have some rain, it would be a desert region!" Dom replied, punching his friend in the arm, "You almost scared me to death when you slammed on the door."
"I assumed it would have been unlocked!" Andrew countered, punching Dom in his arm. He then grabbed Dom and gave him a hug. "The hugs from my grandmother, she said I had to give it to you."
"You could have just told me and not gave me the actual hug. At least it wasn't a kiss!" Dom replied as he pushed his friend back, who had a stupid wide grin on his face.
"This Manor is a bit bigger than our old Dorm room." Andrew exclaimed as he looked around at the large open downstairs space, his eyes taking in everything he could see.
"It's bigger than most people's houses!" Dom replied with a laugh, "Come, I'll show you around and then you can tell me about your summer break."
"It will most likely be more exciting than yours, when did you arrive?" Andrew asked as he took off his wet coat and through it over the chair. His eyes scanning the room as Dom took him towards the back garden first to show him their private pool.
"Only a few days ago, I had a bit of an adventure of my own." Dom stated, causing Andrew to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Did you get lost in transit?" Andrew joked, before looking at the pool. "We got our own swimming pool? Why has Kai been living with us again?"
"Because he's an idiot." Dom replied seriously, agreeing that Kai who was wealthy had no reason to live in their small Dormitory for the last couple years.
"He is, but he's our idiot." Andrew agreed, who then turned towards the kitchen area and started checking the cupboards.
"I have bought some snacks in, chocolate is in the top cupboard on the far right." Dom explained as he took a seat on the breakfast bar, realising that Andrew was thinking with his belly before he did anything else.
"It's nice that it's you looking after me for once." Andrew joked as he grabbed a snack and unfolded the wrapper. "So who is going first?"
"You can." Dom replied as there was a knock at the door. Dom headed towards it, and saw that it was his food order. He took the package from the delivery man who was wearing a thick rain coat and headed back to the breakfast bar. He opened the box and saw that he had ordered way to much food.
"So Grandmother had me gardening for a lot of it, before she then introduced me to her neighbours daughter. I think she's trying to tie me down with someone local so I don't move away in the future." Andrew began, as he noticed Dom's box of food. He headed over and looked down, before grabbing one of the sausages and then dropping it quickly. "Wow they are hot!"
"Maybe if you had asked first, I would have warned you." Dom replied as he watched his food reluctantly, waiting for it to cool down.
"Fair enough." Andrew agreed, before continuing. "She was a pretty girl, but she doesn't compare to some of the ones I have met in the past. Do you remember the one from the leaving ceremony?"
"I do." Dom replied as he cut in to the omelette and blowed on to it to cool it down.
"What are the girls like here? Have you met any nice ones yet?" Andrew asked as he ate his chocolate and watched Dom's box with eager eyes. Dom thought back to Jessica Moon that he had met during his journey, and even Rosie Cole his new guard. "I'm taking the silence as a yes but you aren't sharing."
"I haven't had much chance to explore." Dom replied defensively. "The Campus is huge and just the area we are based in alone is huge. It's like a City of it's own, but with nature all around it."
"My drive in was rather wet, the coach was full of other students and when I checked in, they seemed surprised about my accommodation and started to treat me better. I think I understand why now!" Andrew laughed as he looked around again, before trying to steal one of Dom's sausages again. "So what happened with you?"
"Didn't you have more to share?" Dom asked, thinking Andrew's story was quite short.
"Not overly, it was a standard visit home. Grandmother's health is well and her neighbours are keeping an eye on her." Andrew explained, his tone less excited. "I spent most of my time with her, the neighbours Daughter or on World Conquest Online. We are still travelling south on our small fleet, based on my estimates, we should be with you by the end of the in game week. Hopefully before the Battle Map begins!"
"Are you planning to join it then?" Dom asked in expectation.
"Of course, I said to Kai we could create a merchant's guild with our Mercenaries as it's guard. I was planning to see if we could merge that with your small forces before the battle." Andrew explained, his thoughts similar to Dom's, however he didn't know Dom's forces sizes.
"I will get one my ships to meet you at the Trading City you will need to pass through on the way." Dom smiled, "My ship will have a flag with a Sabre Tooth Tiger on it, I'll have it's crew dock somewhere prominent."
"Why do you have a Sabre Tooth Tiger on it?" Andrew asked in shock, "wait, do you have a Sabre Tooth Tiger in game? I want a pet Tiger, how many do you have?"