An Unexpected Visitor.

"At first, I merely thought that Railius Aurellion was merely an exiled lordling with some exceptional subordinates, but as I looked into it more, I found out that the son of the Spider of Chavaria achieved things far beyond his age."

"The scheme in Detarnor could be blamed on that merchant Ralston and Baron Malwin, but what he did in Chavaria…. That's a different ball game entirely".

"None of the loyalists with him could have pulled that off, so only one person was left. One anomaly that everyone had previously discounted."

"Railius Aurellion, at 10 years old, had crafted such a perfect scheme with Duke Ancel, and I have only seen one other such scheme since then."

"The one that happened only a few months after and led to a duchy falling into chaos and some small amount of corruption being annihilated."

"And each event had one thing in common."

"At both, Railius was present."

"And only with the young lord's consent could such a scheme be planned with that overprotective regent of his."

Kodjis Kendari, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Nathia.

….

This patch sent waves through the DO player base, and many began to take to the forums, making their complaints as they liked buying real-world items with in-game currency and did not see the point in all the changes the game company made.

No other game forums were like this, with opinions changing so quickly; one minute, they praised the game, and the next, they cursed it as it became more systemised.

They did not know that this was all because the company knew that the current way the player market worked was not only confusing, but it was also unsustainable to boot! In the end, game servers did not pay for themselves. Upkeeping a game like Dynasties Online was not cheap, especially as the millions of poor players would continue to exchange in-game currency even if those without talent only exchanged in the tens of gold, if not less.

Under these new rules, players would first be forced to trade their in-game currency either through the system or with each other for real-life currency, then use that to pay for things. The only good thing about this new system was that as long as they spent that money buying real-world items through the game, they would only pay a tax when exchanging currencies. If they did it with a player, they would pay no tax as now the tax would always be paid by the person paying with real-life money.

It was apparent to everyone that this was designed to exploit the businesses more than the player base and give players more motivation to trade amongst each other rather than with the system and the game company as a whole, lessening the tremendous financial burden on the company behind DO.

This would happen because Dynasties Online was set in the medieval era, so while there would be nobles who could exchange thousands of gold, there would also be farmers, loggers and other professions that were far less profitable.

The average NPC peasant family made 2-5 gold a year. Even if this is only two months in real life, the amount of money left over would only be a few silvers at most!

This means that an average player would only be able to make a few tens of pounds by doing these sorts of jobs for two months, which was fine by the NPCs, who did not want to exchange currencies between the virtual world and the real world!

This shows the clear class divide and wealth disparity between the social classes within Dynasties Online, with a few very successful players getting most of the money and the others looking for scraps.

The only thing going for these players is that each of them could read the common language of Dynasties Online, which would give them far more possibilities than their NPC counterparts who would need to find a teacher for whether it was becoming an administrator, bureaucrat or minister to a noble or a merchant, there were many more opportunities available to these players as people who could read were valued highly, and so were paid more.

This would provide a way for those players who would rather not fight as soldiers or generals in war a tangible way to make money, as it was just as easy to gain a landed noble title for doing exceptionally well in politics as it was to gain one through the crucible of war though no less dangerous.

Just like how one wrong move in a fight could be your last one, a wrong move in the political arena could lead to death if you supported the wrong side. The best outcome would be you getting sidelined and given an unimportant job in some backwater part of the country, and the worst outcome could be the death of your character and the destruction of your entire dynasty.

House Aurellion is a perfect example. Once, one of the most powerful noble families in the empire, in one single stroke, lost everything. Their noble title, territory, power, wealth, and even their last descendant and heir only managed to escape after much sacrifice.

Even though they wanted to stay neutral and loyal to the emperor in the whirlwind of Chavarian politics, they were pulled in by Prince Flavius Crestier, and this move to stay neutral led to their demise. One could say that House Aurellion's neutrality was the political mistake of the once prestigious newly created noble house, leading to everything crumbling down around them.

Either way, there were many ways to get rich and to the top of DO. As long as you put enough effort into it, there is always a need for masters in the various skills of the game, especially master craftsmen, as whether it is blacksmithing, engineering or woodworking, masters in these fields can find that they will be paid handsomely by those with power and influence for their unique skillset.

The more skilled a blacksmith, the better the weapon, the better the materials, and the more complex alloys can be used in construction. For this reason, each noble and kingdom jealously guarded these crucial talents when they appeared, as they were the well-known essential ingredient to upgrading someone's military.

Either way, the large number of different careers and ways of making money would become a unique feature of Dynasties Online, offering something for everyone to enjoy.

After reviewing these comments and making a bit more friendly small talk with Carter, he went for another walk around the lake on the UEA campus.

Silvery moonlight cascaded down as he walked the calm waters, creating a sense of serenity that helped to clear the mind of the young university student, helping to relax him before he went to bed, ready to jump back into the game.

He very much liked these walks that he took at night. He found the sparkling stars in the clear, cloudless night sky comforting as he zipped up his jacket to escape the chill of early spring and the raging cold winds, which lowered the already freezing temperature by a few degrees. The British winter and early spring is not something to be underestimated, though thanks to climate change, it was a degree or so warmer than 100 years ago.

Reginald had to wear three layers to stay warm; he wore a grey t-shirt overlaid by a grey fleece-like jumper and a black jacket with a layer of warm fleece on the inside.

Upon returning to his room, he fell asleep and prepared to play the game the next day, where he would finally get to Narthonia, the capital of the kingdom and residence of the king.

….

Railius was sitting at a table just outside of one of the royal capital's best cafés sitting in front of him on a small plate was an untouched freshly made cup of hot chocolate, which steamed in the hot sun as the young player had never been much of a coffee person, relying on sugar to wake him up more than caffeine. In fact, he consumed so much sugar that people wondered how this sugar addict had managed to avoid diabetes all these years.

His three friends joined him, looking with concern at their young lord, who just sat there enjoying the sunny day in deep contemplation. Having made it to the capital with no trouble, the three expected the young lord of Aurellion to find nobles to sell too quickly, but instead, he came here continually sighing and looking listlessly at the blue sky as his hand tapped rhythmically against the table.

"I should have brought a person to negotiate on my behalf."

Railius said his habit of talking to himself taking over as he now found himself in a self-made dilemma. He had always wanted to remain a hidden power behind this business but knew that he needed to have his presence there, at least initially, to establish his power and authority over the company, as there was one problem with keeping his connection secret.

In the event that his steward of the company takes control of it once they no longer need his support, he would have little legal ability to take it back unless he acts himself or uses men loyal to his house, at which point the company allegiance and connection to it would be revealed to all.

He also had merchandise that needed to be sold to the nobility to get the best price. The problem was if he met them, they would know his identity and the actual person behind the company, and a hood would not do when carousing with such high-status nobles who would take it as a sign of disrespect.

Railius, after all, did not want to stay hidden forever, so this was the last thing he wanted to get out to his enemies, as it was not abnormal for some nobles to participate in such merchant adventures. It was even a path for the ambitious second and third sons of the lower nobility to gain money and a livelihood, as their fathers had no lands or titles for them to inherit.

The problem is that his enemies would make things hard for this company to do business, not to mention that they would do all they could to keep any secrets from Railius' company, which the young player wanted to use as a way to gain information and even have it used by his enemies.

The noble circles are also intricately intertwined with each other, and it was amazing that neither the crown prince of Nathia nor Count Nidor had done anything to reveal their existence within the kingdom, which baffled Railius; instead, they just sat back and seemed to take no notice of House Aurellions slowly expanding influence and power base.

As Railius was lost in his thoughts, Jordis' expression froze, seeming to sense that something was wrong; slipping his hand onto his sword hilt in preparation for an attack, it ended up relaxing useless as a dagger appeared at his throat in an instant. A serious, deep voice rumbled in his ears, and with how this man had managed to sneak up on him, there was no way Jordis could defeat him, so he could only angrily stand down as if they could ambush him, then they could easily slit Railius' throat.

"You've got good senses to be able to detect my traces at your level, so try to relax. It would be a shame for such a talented person to die prematurely due to a misunderstanding."

The man said darkly, seeming to mirror Jordis' own personality, serious but still utterly cold and ruthless, willing to cut off a thousand heads at the command of their lord or king.

Railius' other two young friends, caught more off guard, started to look for their weapons; however, a motion of Railius' hand stopped them. If these people wished the young lord of Aurellion harm, they would have killed him with that fast dagger-wielding man instead of only holding Jordis hostage so that he would not make trouble.

A man dressed similarly to Railius brought over a chair and sat at the table as a servant respectfully placed a cup of tea before him. His purplely gold eyes gazed at Railius, who felt as if all his secrets were seen through the keen insight his eyes provided into someone. It was something that he had not felt before, not even from the Free Brothers leader Boreas, who was a master of judging someone made Railius feel so helpless or exposed.

Another man also came over. He yawned as he sat at a nearby table, looking tired and annoyed that he had to be out of bed despite it being just past midday.

Railius had no idea who this rich young master was, who was obviously out on a casual outing by how he was dressed, trying his best as Railius was to keep a low profile.

"Such attentive guards, but this is to be expected. Not everyone has an entire empire after his head. Don't worry, I mean no harm."

"I have wanted to meet you for a while…."

The multiethnic man said, like many others in Nathia, he was a mix of the many races that make up the multicultural Nathia, though it appeared that he was more human and elf-like than anything else as his ears were pointed and elegant. His hair was chestnut brown, and he could be said to be a pretty boy as many ladies looked at him with flirtatious gazes; however, he ignored them, only interested in the young man sitting calmly before him.

His skin was smooth yet slightly furred, his body a mix of olive human-like skin and savanna-coloured fur with streaks of red around the neck as instead of nails, long sharp black claws protruding from his fingers that, apart from that, look like regular human hands.

"Railius Aurellion, the young lord who escaped from Chavaria at the age of 10 and made Duke Ridorfin finally clear his territory of bandits."

This mysterious man smiled, seeming to know all the secrets that Railius had meticulously buried as Railius' eyes widened.

"Ah, I see you're wondering how I know who you are?"

The man said casually, seemingly able to read the young lord of Aurellion's mind and introduced himself while holding out his claw-like hand.

"Kodjis Kendari. It's nice to meet you, Lord Aurellion."