It took us the better part of three hours to hammer out the details. The receptionist, Jennie proved herself to be very talented at organizing people. We decided to hollow out a building near the wall for the teleportation zone which Saanite was able to take care of. Of the eleven people seven stayed in the town to take care of the transition while four went back to Amara to be trained properly. After three months they rotate so that everyone would have a chance to learn the System. After that the conversation turned to the mundane, Anthony hadn't done the greatest job of managing the town but he had dealt with the monsters. They were all between levels 5 and 7 which meant that non-cultivators had to come together in groups to stand a chance. There was a bigger problem, according to the reports the monsters were growing rapidly. At this rate, they should approach level ten by the end of the month.

Assuming that was true every town not run by or protected by cultivators was going to turn into a graveyard. It would also mean that people would start catching up to me if I didn't join the fight. Regardless it was a problem for tomorrow. Once everything in Brownwood was settled I left the town. I still needed to check out the commonwealth and my presence in the town was probably more detrimental than beneficial. I ran through the ruins of the city while circulating my cultivation method. The journey took me a bit more than eight hours without Apportation. I arrived in the city a bit after midnight. I stood on the rooftop of a building and tried to process what I was seeing. Someone had managed to take an entire football stadium! I couldn't tell which team it was since the field was covered in large military tents but this was some shit. I wasn't sure if a giant skyscraper was better or worse than a football stadium but I was confident the optics were much better. It was painfully clear that these people were military or at least ex-military. They even had humvees and guards stationed everywhere.

Thankfully they didn't have any heavy weapons or rather none that I could see. Still, I wasn't sure I wanted to just break in. They had to have some cultivators with a setup like this which meant that entering the normal way was best. Still showing up in the middle of the night was a shitty idea. I looked around and picked out a building about two blocks away. It was a convenient store that had been picked clean of anything even remotely useful. I made my way into its back and pushed a drink case in front of the door. The makeshift barricade probably wasn't going to do enough to keep anyone dangerous out but it made me feel better. I made myself comfortable and began to cultivate.

I awoke the next day a bit after sunrise and made my way to the city. The stadium looked much less impressive in the day but the military gear more than made up for it. Despite the U, S military' weapons though aesthetic of the place reminded me of a Civil War reenactment. They had a large flag hanging across the entrance that looked like a cross between the Confederate and the original. I pushed it to the back of my mind and joined the line entering the city. Despite what I expected the people in line looked like they had been granted a reprieve. Most of them were tattered rags though a few did wear cultivator gear. None of them gave an aura let alone proper killing intent.

It took me nearly ten minutes to reach the front of the line. I was led to the metal gate that was only high enough to reach my hips. It was also made out of regular metal so I didn't think it would be able to survive an attack, which only made my situation weirder. My gut told me that I couldn't just force my way through. It wasn't enough to consider a danger just a weird premonition. When it was my time the guard stepped up and placed the butt of his rifle in front of me. I raised an eyebrow in silent question.

"Cultivators need to report to the right atrium." The man barked before gesturing to the right door.

"Right. Sure." I was about to take a step when he stopped me again. This time he brought a walkie-talkie to his ear.

"Lower the array."

I squinted in search of an array or array flags but couldn't find anything. Just as I was about to ask about it the air shimmered and an invisible barrier appeared. It was like something out of a Sci-fi movie, the barrier was in hexagons and slowly parted. I stared at the whole for several seconds before I felt the man's gun nudge me forward. I ducked through the hole and made my way into the right doorway. As soon as I opened the door a man in combat boots, jeans, and a tank top gestured for me to follow him. He led me through a series of hallways and up a set of stairs before we stopped in what I assumed was a press conference room. There were five other people here three women and two men. All of which were dressed similarly to me. They held no weapons but the two men looked like martial artists.

"Please take a seat. A representative will be here shortly to discuss the situation with you." The man who brought me here said and then left us alone.

I looked the quintet up and down for a moment before taking a seat at the front of the room. They all gave off a bit of killing intent that made the room feel oppressive. Kind of like the ceiling was going to drop on me. I decided not to release my own mostly because it was funny to watch them size me up.

"What level are you?" One of the women asked.

I looked at her and saw that her time in the tutorial hadn't been fun at all. She was Asian and looked to be in her early thirties. She had a nasty scar across her right eye and her left arm had severe burns. Despite the injuries, she didn't feel dangerous. I considered how to answer that question. I went back and forth on lying but quickly decided against it. There wasn't much to gain from hiding my actual power. "Level 24."

"Bullshit." The taller of two men pipped up. He was darker skinned with a nasty scar on his cheek. His hair was uneven and his scalp was burned in several places. "We fought together for nearly the entire tutorial and couldn't get past level 12. Even if you fought nonstop since then you shouldn't be able to get enough energy to reach higher than level 15."

I nodded and figured that he was probably right. Of course, the mushroom monsters were pretty strong but even if I accepted level 15 as the best humanity had things were going to be dull. Thankfully a pinstripe suit entered and spared me a response. She pushed her glasses further up her face and tapped on the tablet in her hands. "Hello, we are here to offer you a formal space within the Commonwealth. The commonwealth is in search of people who will help usher in a new age for humanity. One that will wash away the mistakes of the past."

I squinted at her as she said that last part but otherwise kept quiet. She handed the tablet to the man closest to her. "If you wouldn't mind entering your information including your level into our records. We are prepared to offer you access to a cordoned-off area for leveling. The monsters are a bit weaker than the average while providing a competitive amount of spiritual energy."

Stolen novel; please report.

She continued explaining as the tablet was passed to me. I filled it out and passed it to the women at my left once each of us finished the speaker continued. "Now that is finished please allow me to introduce myself. My name Is Cynthia, Cynthia Santiago. I am the leader of cultivator recruitment for the Commonwealth. I am sure that you have heard some of the rumors surrounding our organization and it is time that I dispel them. We are a government run by cultivators designed for cultivators. As you all no doubt remember the tutorial was a proving ground for us that revealed the way forward. No longer would humanity be led by the weak. No more would people be able to take advantage of unjust rules designed to entrench the unworthy."

My eyes widened as I listened to her speech. I had no idea who was in charge here but whoever it was had bought into the whole "Chosen" thing. Despite that, I couldn't completely argue with the message.

"We are formally offering you all a seat at the table. Upon acceptance of the offer, we will require that you reveal your status screens to us to ensure that the information you have provided is correct. After that, we will arrange your living quarters suited to your strength. The upper levels of the stadium are reserved for people at level 10 or higher. Once we reclaim the rest of the city and increase levels, this standard will change. The stadium will become reserved for the top twenty percent of the faction while the outer areas will be for everyone else."

I raised an eyebrow at that and slowly nodded. The benefits were pretty nice but there was no way I was going to join. One I was the leader of a two-city kingdom and two there was no way the leader was going to let me stay here. Despite what they said the person in charge had to consider themselves powerful and there was no way they would let me just sit under them and there was no way I was going to be under someone else.

"Before you decide, I have been authorized to take you on a tour of our cultivation chambers and workout arrays. If you would please follow me." Cynthia gave us all a nod before moving to the door. She gestured for us to follow and then stepped out into the hall. I watched her and the others leave. I considered it for a moment before I shrugged and followed after the others.

Cynthia guided us through the building and I had to admit their setup was pretty good. Their cultivation chambers had a gathering array as well as an array that suppressed noise. Which soundproofed them and had the hum same as the tutorial. I had to admit I was jealous and I made a mental note to check the academy for more information on that. She then took us into what was the workout room for the football players only it had been completely renovated. The room still had the weights you would expect, but several walls had been removed. There was a podium in the middle of the room with a nob that intensified gravity.

Cynthia showed it at three times Earth's gravity which might as well not have been a change. I stepped up and increased it ten times before I started to feel it and the array was pushed to its maximum. The other five and Cynthia was forced face down on the ground. Which was funny but after that the tour was much less interesting. We all reconvened outside an hour later.

"With that, the tour had concluded if there are any questions feel free to ask them. If you wish to join I can review your status screen now. After that, we can set you up with a room and board."

I was about to excuse myself when the scarred man from before placed a hand on my shoulder. I felt him press against me but it felt like he was a child. His irritation at not being able to stop me only made my grin wider. "You wouldn't happen to be leaving before we can get a good look at your level are you?"

"I hadn't intended to show it off but if you insist." I mentally revealed the level portion of my status screen with the quintet and Cynthia. The look of genuine surprise and then fear made me laugh. I took a breath and unleashed a small portion of my aura. Just enough to put the fear of god into them. It was like a bomb went off the lower level people around us dropped like puppets who had their strings cut while everyone outside of the quintet was forced to one knee. The man holding me pissed himself. My excitement drained when I realized that at least some of the people on the ground were likely dead. If not all of them. I activated my movement spell and stepped through before anyone could stop me.

I completed two more jumps and then stopped on top of a building. I looked out of over the city and waited. I waited for the guilt. The anger, the emotions that should have come from killing who knew how many innocent people but there was nothing. The lack of guilt and disappointment at the minuscule amount of spiritual energy was more frightening than what I did. I sat on that rooftop until the sun came up before I decided to leave. I leaped down from the building and sprinted back toward Brownwood. The journey took me a few hours during which I slaughtered a group of large rat monsters that could phase through solid material. They weren't worth the time it took to kill but they did make me feel better. I didn't pay the town a second glance as I stepped through the teleporter. In the next moment, I was back in Amara. I sat at my boardroom table and shook my head. I once again fully sealed my aura and took stock of the situation. I still needed to recruit people so that was the biggest priority but I didn't want to just murder everyone.

Despite that, I knew that there was no way I could just refuse to kill. That wasn't a realistic option for serious battles but I could limit myself. I sighed and put my head in my hands. I was going to kill a lot more people. There was no way that the Commonwealth would let that go. Even if they were afraid. They would have no proof that my level was 24 so that would likely be ignored. The question was what should I do about it? I couldn't just go back and fight everyone until they gave up. That would be like playing whack-a-mole unless I slaughtered everyone and even then they would no doubt have family or someone who would care. I sighed and shook my head. There was nothing I could do about it. If the Commonwealth wanted to fight I would fight. If there was something I could do to deal with the problem I would. I got up and made my way down to the academy. Christopher stood with two of his guards and Desbera. They stopped their conversation when I arrived.

"We might have a bit of a problem," Christopher said while shaking his head. "A representative from the United World Government. Stopped by yesterday wanting to speak with you. We sealed up the building just in case it was a trap."

I raised an eyebrow. "Did they say why?"

"Yes and No their representative said they wanted to have us join them but they wouldn't explain further than that. Not until we either went out to meet with them or let them in."

"How many people did they have?"

"There were three that I could see but there were probably more than that. Most of them weren't cultivators or rather they dressed like normal people. They had body armor and one of them used a riot shield."

That was interesting. I nodded and shrugged. "Alright well if they come back today then I will take care of it. Other than that how has the training gone?"

"Ahh unfortunately most people aren't interested in fighting anymore. We have a guard force of about thirty people who are between levels 3 and 5. They all use a variety of melee weapons though we could use some proper items if you can find them."

"Oh right." I pulled the weapons out of my bag and placed them on the ground. "Don't have a lot of these but I figure you should be able to find some people who can use them. I can't vouch for their quality but they should be quest rewards."

Christopher gave a half-hearted chuckle and Desbera smiled ruefully. "Well, I can look over them at answer those questions. They look like 2nd realm equipment but of middling quality. They should suffice for you and your people for now." Desbera picked up Anthony's bow and nodded. "This one is a bit better than the others."

"Alright, I will leave the appraisal up to you two. I trust that you can decide who should get first pickings. Ah, one more thing. I ended up killing several people in the Commonwealth so if they come seal up the tower and notify me immediately."

They both looked at me as if they wanted to ask more questions but shook their heads instead. Christopher was the first to get over his surprise and speak. "We will take care of it."

I gave them all a nod and went over a few smaller details before I decided to make my exit. There were still a few things I wanted to take care of.