Unfortunately, most of the arrays turned out to be useless. Specifically, the ones that would improve my attributes. Training in the arrays was a less effective way to do the same thing the titles did. There was only so much your body could be improved that way. It turned out the guides they had on refinement were much more fascinating. If I wanted to improve my body more then I needed to get a body tempering manual. The way the information stone explained it, I would kind of torture myself to get an advantage. For example, if I wanted to get a fire-attuned physique I would have to burn myself while using arrays or special body pastes. If I didn't count myself then the academy was a cheat code. Even without being a cultivator, this place could improve you.

The tutorial instructors were a bit more intense about the mortals. They weren't helpless in the multiverse and in some ways, they were better than cultivators. They were the "Get it from the mud" types. Where cultivators could spend days or even years safely gathering their energy mortals had to go out and fight. They had to put their lives on the line for every drop of energy. Either through fighting or through a fuck ton of stones. Which meant that raising one would cost a lot and those who didn't have a fortune would likely die. Of course, those that didn't die became much more powerful. They were used to fighting for their lives. Furthermore, the problem wouldn't start to show itself until level 50. When we reached the end of the first realm. Up until that point mortals and cultivators were pretty close in speed. Especially on a planet like Earth.

That information renewed my desire to recruit people. I made a plan to go and invite Christopher and his people later. Interestingly enough the academy offered information on all kinds of subjects. There was knowledge of the System, for running a settlement, there was even an entire group of stones based on how to run merit exchanges. There were multiple competing theories though they could be boiled down to a handful of ideas. Young factions should award progress to create the foundations of the organization while older factions would award tangible gains. I could set up my merit system but the entire idea made my eyes glaze over. There were factions did only did that. I could purchase their services like any other business which led me to my current plan.

I stepped out of the elevator and down the opposite hall. I reviewed my poor finances and wanted to cry. The three million I started with made me feel like a wealthy man. Now it felt like I was a beggar. I had around 1.5 million credits. A million of them disappeared when I made my next purchase. The room that formed in the next few minutes was simple. It was unadorned except for the symbol of the System on the front. There was a single door and the whole thing was the same color and design as the rest of Amara. Honestly, if I hadn't just paid for I would have assumed the room had always been there. The building was just called System Shop and it was run by the System. I stepped inside and looked around. Honestly, the whole thing was about as big as a coffee shop. There were no employees, instead, you only had to think about the store and you would get access to its wares.

The reason I bought this one was too fold. The last of my tutorial upgrades was a fifty percent discount for it. The discount would apply only to me so it would still bleed my people dry which sucked. Secondly, it was the only store I could buy. The System had a weird economic model. Where it offered the worst prices to encourage other people to open businesses. It was like competitive capitalism while guaranteeing that the basic things were available to everyone. The System seemed to operate like a flame. It would create situations where people had to fight and then burn up the majority to transform the ones who survived. I reviewed what the shop had for sale and made another purchase. A black box appeared at my feet in the next moment and I left the room. I made my way back to my quarters before I opened it.

The 1st Realm Basic Gathering Array was for lack of a better word basic. It wasn't that great at containing energy nor was it useful to improve your cultivation speed. It was the beater that you drove until you got something better. Fortunately or unfortunately it was better than nothing. The box had a set of ten flags and an information stone. I sent some energy inside and grimaced as my mind was filled with new information. It only took a moment but it felt like I had just binged an entire novel. "I still haven't gotten used to that." I made a mental note to ask about converting Earth's books into stones but that was for later.

The actual process for using the array was pretty straightforward. I placed the flags around my cultivation chamber. Mine was a bit too small for all ten flags though so I didn't need them. I would then send a bit of spiritual energy into the main flag. It would then push the energy toward the middle where my mat waited. It would take a couple of hours before it was helpful but it would make my cultivation better. Once the setup was finished I left the room and made my way back to the main entrance of my building. My biggest issue was the lack of citizens. I needed people here to do actual work. Neither of my purchases could do something without actual people so it was with that in mind that I stepped back into the ruined city. It was time to get some citizens.

The run through the city was almost relaxing. The few monsters close enough to attack me ran off as soon as I released my aura so it was almost relaxing. The journey itself took a bit longer than half a day. I was even able to circulate some of my spiritual energy to recover a small amount while I went. When I arrived I found something unexpected but not surprising. There was a group of ten people standing in front of the mall. All ten wore either robes or armor which told me they were cultivators. Most of them had their aura's going as well which was having a visible effect on the defenders. Surprisingly enough none of Christopher's people ran. I ducked down a side street and activated Apportation.

I stepped out of my portal on the roof of a building directly behind the group. Three of them were elemental mages wielding fire, ice, and lightning, and four of them were warriors with weapons ranging from swords to a bow and arrows. The last three were brawlers. A lanky white man with dirty blonde hair bounced on the balls of his feet like a martial artist. Based on how easily he was moving I placed his agility around sixty or seventy. Though estimating wasn't a science by any means.

"Now listen here all you have to do is pack on up and head out. There is no reason to get your people killed." A warrior holding a large bastard sword stepped forward. He wore a set of chain mail armor and his sword dripped with blood. I looked around and found what I assumed were the guards who were on duty. One had his head crushed while the other was completely cut in two.

"And I already told you that this is our home. We aren't giving it up for you. Now get out of here. We aren't interested in joining up with you either." Christopher raised his bat and pointed at the group. I had to admit that I was a bit impressed by his willingness to fight. These people had little chance of winning but they weren't willing to roll over.

The martial artist had a similar thought. He activated some kind of movement ability and turned into a blur. Before anyone had the chance to react he was in front of Christopher and slamming a fist into his stomach. Christopher crumbled to the ground and gasped for air. The hit looked painful. It wasn't until the man placed his foot on Christopher's head and pressed him into the ground that I had enough. I wasn't sure what the next thing he said was but the moment after that a blast of indigo light consumed him. In the next instant, he had collapsed like a doll with its strings cut. I sighed in annoyance when I received his kill energy though I wasn't sure if it was because the energy was so low or if I was upset that he died.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

All eyes were on me as I leaped from the roof of the building. I placed both hands into my robe and wished I had jeans or a jacket. By the time I landed, the cultivators had recovered from their shock.

"What in the sam hell are you doing boy?" The bastard swordsman asked while raising his blade.

"Are you talking like that on purpose? Never mind don't answer that. I killed that guy for being an ass. Who are you people?"

"We come from the new commonwealth. These people were being offered the wonderful opportunity to rebuild the country and refused."

I stared at him in confusion before shaking my head. "None of you are strong enough for that. I am going to give you one chance to get the hell out of here. You killed two people and I killed one. I would prefer not to add more human deaths to my hands today." I had just finished when both fire and ice shot at me. I raised an eyebrow at the spells before dodging the fireball and deflecting the ice shard. Neither spell felt dangerous enough to demand my full attention but I figured it was better to be safe. I walked by the group until I reached Christopher. None of the other warriors decided to attack which was smart of them.

"You doing alright?" I asked while pulling the man to his feet. He was pale and based on how he was clutching his right side he was in a lot of pain. I shook my head in irritation. I should have purchased a set of healing pills before coming. "Can you get inside?"

"I am not leaving. Not until these bastards are gone." The man practically hissed the words but I had to give it to him. My desire to recruit him went up a bit.

"Don't worry about it. I will take care of things here." I turned around just as the archer unleashed an arrow. The projectile shimmered before splitting into five more arrows. My eyes widened as I forced energy into Psychic Aegis. The barrier formed just in time to protect Christopher. Once the arrows hit my shield they shattered until only the real arrow was left.

I willed my status screen to appear and focused on the "Pinnacle" title. I then concentrated on each of the cultivators until I got the prompt to share the screen. "As you can see I am stronger than you. Get out of here before I kill the rest of you."

They looked at each other for a moment as if not sure what they wanted. The confusion lasted just long enough that I thought they might listen. That was shattered when their leader spoke again. "There is still only one of him. Just imagine the energy we gonna get from killing his sorry ass."

I stared in utter disbelief at him before shaking my head. The nine moved forward but they didn't make it half the distance before a rain of psychic blades fell on their mages. Both the fire and ice mage died immediately while the lightning used some movement spell that let narrowly avoid the attack. I converted Psychic Aegis into its bubble form as the warriors arrived. My danger sense didn't so much as whisper at their attacks so I decided to ignore them. I unleashed Psychic Blast at the archer who attempted to block the attack with another storm of arrows but they made no difference. After all, how could a physical attack stop a mental one? The arrows did hit his allies though. One of the brawlers was forced to one knee as an arrow dug into his Achilles tendon. There was something ironic about taking an arrow from an ally in that spot but I ignored it.

I raised an eyebrow as the bastard sword wielders activated a skill. His blade gained a translucent edge that grew to five feet. A look of triumph flashed across his face and hefted the massive blade. I cocked my head at him as he slammed it against my shield. When my shield effortlessly blocked the attack his triumph turned into genuine fear. The others quickly got the message that they couldn't win and turned to run away. I sighed and ended my shield. In the next moment, I shot forward like a rocket and slammed a fist into the back of the bastard sword warrior. I felt something snap and he crumbled to the ground. I turned to the rest of them and shook my head. This wasn't a fight. This was a slaughter. A voice in the back of my head told me that I had done enough. That I didn't need to keep killing but another more pragmatic part of me said I had to. That they would come back later, that they would hurt someone else if I didn't stop them.

The two voices warred inside me until they disappeared down the street. I sighed and looked at the leader's body. I pushed the guilt that had begun to gnaw at me down and grabbed his sword. I placed it on my back and then did the same for the rest of the weapons. They would make the start of my future armory.

"You killed them," A blonde woman said in disbelief. As if saying the words were the only way she had to rationalize what had just happened.

Her words only caused the storm of emotion inside me to intensify. That had to be self-defense right? Hell did it matter? It wasn't like there was a court or a police for that could stop me. Weirdly I was technically the law of my territory. We weren't in my territory though so I wasn't sure how that worked. "Yeah, I did. Is Christopher alright?"

She either didn't hear me or ignored me and to be honest I didn't care. I wasn't sure if she was looking at the corpses of the people I killed or her people that had been killed. I shrugged and walked into the mall. The reactions from the rest of the people were much more mixed than I expected. The "civilians" were a mix of terrified and thankful for what I did while the guards were almost all thankful. Some of them looked a bit worried about what I would do next. As if they weren't sure I was a guardian or a bigger threat. Either way, they didn't try to stop me. I found Christopher back in his office. His ribs had been bandaged and he had an open bottle of painkillers on the table.

"So did you plan on breaking some kneecaps with your slugger?" I said with a humorless chuckle.

"I think I would need one from Louisville for that joke to work." He paused for a moment before we took our seats. "Thank you for what you did. Are all the people who went to the tutorial that strong?"

I shrugged. "Doubtful. Most people were terrified at first but it didn't take for a divide to form. I imagine that every group went through something similar. There are probably 'civilians' who simply didn't push themselves but those who did are probably stronger than you all. Even the weakest of them would have reached level five at least."

He nodded and reached into his desk. He removed a flask, unscrewed its top, and put it to his lips. I waited for him to finish his drink not sure what I should do next. He decided to break the silence first. "Is it too much to ask you to stay here and protect everyone? I am not sure what we can pay you for it that you can't just take but we will do what we can."

I shook my head. "No I plan on moving about and exploring but I do have an alternative. I reached that building and without going into the details I formed a city there. Or rather start of one."

"I see what are you offering exactly?" Christopher said with a sigh. The man looked exhausted and stressed out.

"I am offering to take you all in. I need people and you all need safety or at least what passes for safety right now."

"Don't take this the wrong way but that sounds awfully like what the other people were offering."

I shrugged. "I know but you don't have a lot of options. I also have resources that they don't. I have a place where you can improve yourselves. Where you can learn more about the rules of the world." I held up a hand to stop his next question. "I won't go into details about it. You only need to know that I received a reward during the tutorial. I am not able to offer you anything for free though. It is up to you and your people to provide something. Whether it's working as guards or crafters or whatever. I plan on paying everyone for the work of course so what do you say?