"Now to access the Game World, you need a Headset. A lot of you will have them as you have played, but I can see some across you who have excitement in your eyes at the opportunity but do not have the means to play it. The Medici Family has funded a Headset for every student and member of staff on the Campus that does not already have one, as well as for all of their direct and indirect employees. I believe many families will be doing the same so that everyone can have the opportunity to play, be it an elderly person wanting to explore a new world, to a youth who can develop themselves much faster than any of us have been able to do. If you do not have one yet, then it should be in your room or delivered to your room by the end of tomorrow at the latest." Camilla continued as Dom watched a note be passed by the member of staff to a student at the end of his row, before whispering something to him and pointing at Dom. The student seemed to understand and passed the note to the student next to him, whispering something as he also then turned to Dom and nodded, before repeating the process. "When you do join the game, your location is randomly set, but there are ways to negotiate with the system on this. This has been tested so some families have been able to arrive together with the sacrifice of some rewards, resources or possibly a less desirable starting point. One thing I would recommend, is finding other Players, or meeting up with friends, and working together. You will notice as the game develops, as it is in real life, that working together will prove more fruitful in the long run."
His Aunt paused as Dom received the note, but his Aunt began talking again before he had chance to read it. Kai had noticed what was in his hand, but both knew it would be rude to read it at that moment.
"Reality is the second thing I wanted to talk about, there are some positives of course, but I need to give you some warnings as well. As your Chancellor has stated, the World has entered a period of peace, however that is only for the majority of people. There will always be subterfuge taking place across World between the competing Empires and Kingdoms. There is a new type of Subterfuge happening now though that is a direct response to World Conquest Online." His Aunt began, as silence hit the room as they all looked at her with either worry or confusion. "Imagine this, you have some excellent Soldiers who you can send to the game who can train and learn new tactics. One day of training is equivalent to four. What if meetings that would normally take place here, that could be spied on, now happen in a World and Location that is so vast that they can't access the current information networks. Whilst Reality is the where we live, some of the aspects of our day to day can be and are being moved to World Conquest Online."
She paused again, this time Dom quickly opened the note as she allowed people in the room to speak to each other for a second, as if she was waiting for them to come to their own conclusions before continuing.
[Dominic, meet me in Room Eleven in this building after the meeting. Assuming your friends that you live with are Black Hawk and Hungry Dragon, bring them with you.]
Dom almost laughed at how nothing could be hidden from his Aunt as he passed the note to Kai beside him. His Aunt looked up in his direction, a coy smile on her face as she continued.
"To explain the level of this Subterfuge, the current Nineteenth Ranked Player, YoungAbe was not at any of the recent Battle Maps, the reason is, he was assassinated." She continued, as shock passed across the crowd, assassinations were things that happened in the previous generation, but not in the current times. Soldiers guarded the borders between states, but it was rarely anything more than guard duty. "How do we know his death was linked to the game? Because he was the son of a powerful person in the Combined States and was creating a training centre in the game for their Soldiers from reality to train in. It could be a coincidence, but it seems unlikely from our news from across the ocean and in game meetings. I would like to say that this shouldn't affect you, the students, however if any of you are high in the rankings, be aware that you could attract some unwanted or unneeded attention. To reassure you though that this was in the Combined States, a place where land is often fought over between brothers and sisters, with internal borders changing by the decade. However, there is always the risk that something similar could and probably will happen in our Western Kingdoms. "
Kai, Andrew and Steven all looked at Dom as she said this, as his Aunt turned away and looked elsewhere in the crowd. It was a warning, that some people were taking the game much more seriously than they were. How could he play and expand, if his real world life could be at risk.
"I'm sure she has a solution." Kai whispered to him as his Aunt continued talking, but Dom suddenly felt his shoulder ache again and a slight bit more vulnerable than he probably should do.
"Those are at this Campus and any other within the Western Kingdoms however should feel safe, all staff and foreign students are vetted before arrival. All Campus's are guarded and protected. We have invested highly in our Farming and Military Industries, both which work hand in hand in providing the food on your plates and the protection that lets us all sleep easy at night. I hope that some of you can become future leaders in these Industries." She continued as Dom calmed himself down, he realised that so much had changed in his life recently that he was probably over reacting slightly. "Now, back to the goods things. They call this a sandwich I believe in some circles, a positive, a negative in the middle, with a positive to finish! To be at this University, it means that you are the best amongst your generation. You will be surrounded by the best teachers, the best training and the best of our technologies. You are in one of the most beautiful parts of the Western Kingdoms, next to the most affluent of cities. You are amongst peers who can help you grow and succeed. Amongst you are some Heirs to great fortunes, there is Royalty amongst you, future Leaders of our World. And to me, most importantly, my own Nephew is here. Not that he will tell you that, and that is his secret to hold unless he tells you himself."
People had been applauding her as she spoke, but when she mentioned she had a Nephew amongst those, there was shock, followed by cheers in response. For the famed Camilla Mordred to have her own family here meant a lot for those that wanted connections to the vast network that she had. If they could befriend him, or even further than that, they could potentially unlock a future that a lot of them wouldn't have been able to access before, unless they were Royalty. What surprised the Audience the most however, was that even Chancellor Phillip seemed surprised by that news as he looked around the audience.
Dom however sat there in surprise, wondering why his Aunt would have announced their connection, however Kai interrupted his thoughts again, whilst Andrew looked around to see if anyone was looking their way.
"Look forwards and ignore it. She's testing you. This is why my mother was afraid to dig deeper, everything she is doing is a test, to see how you react." Kai whispered to him, his friend almost mirror their former roommate Hector from the Academy who seemed to know things that no one else did. "I am sure we will find out more afterwards."
"Why a test, I didn't even realise she was my Aunt until a couple of weeks ago." Dom whispered back, surprised that those around him continued to applaud and not notice their conversation as his Aunt said some other positive words about the University and their possible futures if and when they succeeded.
"Do you succeed on your own or with the connections you can form by borrowing her name." Kai replied to him after applauding himself to cover their conversation.
"Which is the correct answer?" Dom asked him, now also applauding and following Kai's actions. It seemed his friend had matured more than he expected and part of him felt that it was due to his own situation changing.
"Personally, somewhere in the middle. If you don't use her name, then she won't feel you respect it. But if you only use her name then she will lose respect for you." Kai explained, as Andrew leant in to hear the conversation.
"It doesn't matter, she gave you a list and three weeks to make a choice." Andrew whispered, as the two of them looked at him in surprise and a slight bit of confusion. "Who ever you choose will know who you are at that point, so fundamentally it's only a secret for two weeks and it is more of a test on how you use those two weeks."
"Who are you and what have you done with Andrew?" Kai whispered to Andrew as Dom tried to hold in a laugh, ignoring the situation itself and feeling more at ease as his friends began their usual back and forth.
"I spent some excellent time learning in Riverside and Plataea." He replied proudly, which received a nod in agreement from Dom. Kai and Andrew hadn't been there long, but being surrounded by some of those Heroes, even if they were from a game, did give you a very different perspective. At some point during their whispering, his Aunt had stepped back and left the stage, whilst Chancellor Phillip stood forwards again.
"That is all from today, today you will be given your flexible timetables based on the courses that you either selected or were selected for you as part of your admission. You can spend the day learning more about your subjects and teachers, before tomorrow you start your official classes. We will also release the full job list, for applications to be made tomorrow when we draw a close to the educational day." Chancellor Phillip explained, "Once again, from all of us at Central University. Welcome!"
After Chancellor Phillip, Dom's Aunt and the Dean's left the room, the Auditorium began to empty. Due to their location they decided to hold back a bit before finding Room Eleven. Both of his friends were slightly nervous and also didn't know how to tell Steven who was still sat with them to go and catch up with them later. Dom could also see that other people were holding back, including Alice in the front rows. He expected others had different reasons to hold back, but Alice clearly had intentions to wait for them.
"Let's go." Kai said as he began to stand up, before turning to Steven who had been talking with Andrew. "Steven, the three of us have a meeting, its to do with the Academy we came from and some accommodation issues. We'll catch up with you later."
Steven stealthily looked towards Dom, who nodded to say that he should go along with it.
"That's fine, I heard there is a nice restaurant by the Lake if you want to have something to eat later?" Steven asked, his way of saying that they should find a reason to talk again so they could drop in to conversation of Steven moving in with them.
"That's a great idea!" Andrew replied in some excitement, both thinking about food but also building a friendship with Dom's Hidden Guard.