I was led by the sharply dressed man through sector B and into… Sector S? What in the worlds was sector S? We walked through the uniform slate gray hallways of metal in sector S for a few minutes, the only sound was that of our footfalls on the metal ground.
He took me into a small room adorned with a medium-sized couch, a table, and a small kitchen attached to it. He beckoned me to sit at the table and I took a seat. He went to the kitchen and quickly prepared some tea which he then served to me as he sat down across from me.
"Well miss Astra, I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve brought you here to sector S." He said plainly.
I nodded my head, and he nodded as if he was expecting that answer.
"I’m a member of a group known here on Setria 9 as The Collective." He stated. The look on my face must have betrayed my confusion because he continued his explanation without pause.
"We are a group of individuals who have risen through certain barriers of cultivation. We extend an offer of invitation to join our cause to each person in Setria 9 who shows promise. You, as someone who defeated a man at the peak of the foundation establishment realm, are one such of these individuals." he told me.
"So, what does the collective do exactly?" I asked.
"Right to the point I see, I don’t hate that type of straightforwardness." he told me.
"The collective seeks to maintain the status quo in Setria 9. If you travel to other worlds or colonies, you may find them to be lawless lands rife with conflict and power struggles. The strong prey on the weak and the weak suffer under the yoke of oppression. The collective seeks to maintain order in this little colony of ours. We protect the weak from the oppression of the strong and generally protect the safety of all residents of Setria 9."
That all sounded nice, but it was probably a bit too good to be true.
"How does the collective guarantee safety when someone can just become strong enough to oppress others?"
He nodded again and clasped his hands in front of himself.
"That is an astute question." He said.
"We have quite a few powerful individuals nearing the peak of the golden core realm in our ranks. Their power, heavily regulated by the rules of the collective, helps avert the possibility of strong individuals showing up in Setria 9 and wreaking havoc. We delegate the protection of the populace to the appropriate subordinate groups, like the guards for example."
So, the collective is behind the guards being so corrupt. I can’t imagine they have no clue what’s going on right under their noses. I frowned at him but didn’t voice my concerns.
"What happens if someone doesn’t agree to join the collective and just wants to continue gaining power?" I asked.
He got a decidedly uncomfortable look on his face before answering.
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"Well in that case the collective would recommend those people reconsider the offer to join the collective, but if they continue to refuse, we, the collective I mean, would encourage them to leave Setria 9 for another, more unregulated, world."
Ah I see. It is join us or we’ll force you out.
"So, I suppose I’ve become too strong to be allowed to roam free in Setria 9 then?" I asked him while quirking an eyebrow at him. He looked uncomfortable under my gaze but answered nonetheless.
"I’m afraid so. We must ask that you either join the collective or leave Setria 9 within the next few days." he told me.
"What would I have to do if I joined?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
He seemed to perk up at my question, he probably thought I was considering joining the collective.
"To join the collective, you only need to swear an oath to the rules of the collective on your soul. This is what prevents those in the collective from simply growing powerful enough to ignore the rules. It’s a simple oath and will allow you to grow as powerful as you wish and give you the authority to govern in Setria 9." He smiled at me in a way I found to be creepy. A soul oath is no joke. They’re basically asking me to sign over myself for the rest of my life to this collective.
"How many days do I have exactly to leave Setria 9?" I asked.
The man looked crestfallen at my question but told me I had three days to leave Setria 9 before more drastic measures would be taken. I graciously took my leave and made my way back through the sectors to Sector E. I stopped by the port on my way back to my apartment and got the list of planet-bound ships from their travel manifests. A few looked interesting at first glance but I needed to look them over with Text’s help later.
I made it back to my apartment and got in touch with my landlord. He wasn’t happy I’d be leaving but understood my predicament. When I finally laid down on my bed after half a day of packing, I was exhausted. To be fair, I didn’t pack all that much. The number of worldly possessions I owned wasn’t a lot and It would be fairly easy for me to carry them all with me when I left the colony.
I took a look at the options for new worlds to strike out on my own.
Calabria was a modern, technologically focused empire on the planet Zestrion. They focused on advances in technology to advance their understanding of the world. Their capital city, Kennon, was the main hub of their technological empire and boasted an incredible level of austerity for the upper class living there. From what I could understand, the empire suffered from many of the same issues most empires did. The upper class controlled almost everything happening to the lower and middle classes and oppression ran rampant. In some ways it made the offer from the collective even slightly more attractive from a glance.
Dou Can was described as a traditional cultivation world. The residents of the various continents on the planet focus on traditional body and spirit cultivation. The world is filled with strong sources of qi and rife with hidden realms and treasures left behind by immortals of the past. The world’s power was kept in balance by the power of the various sects of the world. The sects are groups of powerful cultivators that seek to grow their power and influence by raising up powerful young cultivators from a young age. The main issue with living on a traditional cultivation world is that it is very traditional. The strong lord over the weak and power is the only language globally understood. If you weren’t strong enough, you would suffer.
Finally, Baryon 8 was a nearby asteroid mining colony similar to Setria 9 in many ways. The main difference between Baryon 8 and Setria 9 was the age of the colony. Baryon was much older and more well-established. The power structures at play would be more stable and life for the average citizen would be much better on Baryon as opposed to on Setria. The risk was Baryon might already have an organization like the collective firmly established and there’s no guarantee that I would be able to find sanctuary there and be allowed to continue cultivating in peace.
I thought about what I needed at the moment, what were my goals? I wanted to continue growing stronger. I wanted to continue cultivating my body and spirit without interruption. I wanted to learn more about my cultivation method and learn new techniques. Considering all of these goals, the choice was obvious. I’d be leaving Setria 9 on the next ship leaving for Dou Can.