Sects are groups of people that have existed for centuries before Bedlam. They focus mainly on cultivating strength and helping sect disciples advance in their path, or at least they say they do.
Sects typically follow a fairly fluid hierarchy, going from top to bottom, with the sect master, core elders, core disciples, inner court elders, inner disciples, outer court elders, and outer disciples. While there are often other roles, these vary from sect to sect.
Sects were the only real establishment to survive after Bedlam. While some of them did collapse, the majority remained unharmed. The reason for this is how they function.
Sects have agreements with nearby countries essentially asking for any recruits in exchange for protecting the country's interests. Because of this, it's the sects that usually hold power over countries and that's exactly what led to the downfall of most countries. When Bedlam hit, most sects saw the danger and simply ignored any calls for help, locking down and eradicating any dissent. In addition, it was easier for them to do so as, on average, they'd be stronger due to the fact they focus on cultivating strength.
Of course, there was a certain amount of luck involved. If the sect master and core elders mutated, there wasn't much the rest of the sect could do but run away, or wait to die.
In order to determine who was truly a talent, sects had tests. These, too, varied from sect to sect but they generally involved the testing of three things, one's physical ability, one's spiritual ability, and one's Path.
This was the situation Sho found himself in as he sat in a dark room, after waking up. His hands and legs had been tied, and he was unable to get the leverage needed to break these bonds. He noticed, though, that the arrow in his leg had been removed and he'd been bandaged up wherever injured. He waited, the only sign of human life anywhere near, being the girl that had come to check on and notify him that he would take the sect test soon.
He couldn't really be bothered to care about that. Nor was he necessarily frustrated that he'd been tied up. His legs were pulsing in agony now that he'd managed to get some rest, and his chest felt incredibly tight. Needless to say, he wouldn't be getting up and going anywhere.
What he was really worried about was his bag. He knew there had to be some clues for how he got here but who knows what this 'sect' would do to the contents of his bag?
An hour passed like this as Sho waited, deep in thought. Soon, however, a girl came to bring him out. She had dark red hair and small light eyes that never left Sho, warily focusing in on him. He thought he recognized her a bit.
She untied him. "Get up and follow me." She, then, walked a few steps before realizing Sho wasn't following her.
"I can't use my legs."
She stared at him as if he was an idiot before seeming to remember something. She reached into the small pouch she held, rummaging around before pulling out a small bottle full of some liquid, and a syringe.
The liquid was reddish-brown, flecked with bits of green.
"Hold still", the girl said before filling the syringe with the unknown fluid from the bottle. Sho hesitated before deciding to let the girl do whatever she wanted. It was unlikely this was meant to pose a danger. Even if it was, resisting would probably cause him to die anyways.
So he let the girl inject him with what, in his mind, he still couldn't disassociate from bloody diarrhea.
At first, the syringe simply didn't enter. It bounced off Sho's skin as if it was metal. However, after Sho relaxed, and the girl stabbed with a little more force, it managed to pass through.
The first sensation Sho felt was the pain 'transitioning', in a sense. He could feel it ebbing away, being replaced with a sort of 'good pain.' It was as if he was stretching his leg to full range of motion but he remained still and as relaxed as he could.
Once the girl was done, she stood up from her knelt position and examined Sho for a few seconds, a look of interest in her eyes.
Sho, himself, examined his legs, watching as his quad muscles began to ripple under his skin. While he was wearing some shorts, he wasn't wearing a shirt for whatever reason. It wasn't like there was much to see anyways. He was fairly developed but overall, underweight by at least a couple pounds.
He was snapped out of this self-examination by the girl's casual voice. "My name is Lia. By the way, you should be able to get up now."
Sho moved his legs and sure enough, he was able to get back onto his feet. In fact, his legs felt incredibly stable and powerful as if he could kick a hole through the walls of the room with ease.
"I'm Sho", he said, looking back at Lia.
Lia nodded before walking out of the room, gesturing Sho should follow her. After walking through some hallways and out of other rooms, he was immediately hit by the brightness. It was roughly late summer so while it wasn't anything too bright and hot, it still blinded Sho who'd spent an hour in darkness.
Once he had adjusted to the light, he took the place in.
He found himself looking at an array of large buildings. It could be called a city, of sorts. While many of the buildings were damaged in one way or another, Sho was still a bit surprised by the feeling of superiority the sect gave off.
He'd been to see other cities ravaged by Bedlam and they were in ruins. However, here, it almost seemed as if nothing had happened. He turned back to see the building, he had walked out of, seemed to be nothing more than a sort of warehouse refashioned as a prison, on the outskirts of the sect city.
Lia looked back at him to make sure he was following her, before continuing to walk. They only really had to walk a short distance before they arrived at their destination. It was a relatively wide building with no windows. Inside, lights shone from all around, illuminating each corner.
The two walked to the reception, where Lia flashed a card. "I'm here to take a potential recruit in to get tested."
To this, the receptionist gave them an annoyed look, nothing new to Sho, of course. He'd already been forced to walk through a myriad of various gazes.
However, Lia frowned. "What's wrong?"
"There's already a group of tests going on. You'll have to wait." The receptionist said, as if bothered to have to explain this.
Sho frowned but ultimately didn't care. He didn't even necessarily want to be here. He did, however, recognize the importance of getting a direction which is part of why he didn't just try to book it.
Lia, however, simply ignored it. It was likely that some elders were in, testing talents they'd found, as well. After all, the sect had been aggressively expanding the last couple of months. It was only with permission from an outer elder that she was even able to bring Sho to get tested by herself.
Anyways, in a couple of minutes, a fat middle aged man walked out a room behind the receptionist, several kids trailing behind him. A bright smile was on his face as he walked out while the various kids, all a couple of years younger than Sho, simply seemed tired.
"Greeting inner elder Bachi." Lia bowed to the middle aged man.
He nodded before scratching his stubbled chin. "Greetings. What are you-oh, are you here to test that boy behind you?"
Lia merely nodded.
"There's no one to facilitate besides me right now but I do have some time to spare. I'll hold the test for you." Elder Bachi said, a grin on his face.
"Thank you, inner elder."
After telling the kids to sit down in the reception area, he took the two teenagers down the stairs into the one open test room. It wasn't very large but it did have some space to it. Inside were a variety of objects.
"Well, then. Let's begin the test." The elder said.
Sho went through a variety of physical tests. With each one, elder Bachi's eyes widened in surprise and happiness. This is because Sho was superhuman!
Almost everything from his reflexes to his strength to his fortitude was at least A-grade. Lia's eyes lit up as well, seeing these results.
After this, spiritual tests took place.
It's more difficult to test how powerful one's consciousness and soul are. However, by siphoning his spiritual energy, one can get an estimate of, at least, how much energy one's soul has. That's exactly how they tested Sho.
His spiritual energy filled even an S grade canister with ease, and while the elder wanted to keep going, just to see his limits, he restrained himself. Bachi handed Sho a Spiritual Energy Refreshment pill before moving onto the next test. He missed the glint of recognition in Sho's eyes, not that he would've cared, though. After all, concoctions like these, that can refresh the recipient, were very common.
The last test was a test of one's Path. By putting one's hand onto an orb, it would show, at least, what type of Path they had.
Under the two's watchful eyes, Sho put his hand on the gray orb and waited...for nothing.
The orb did briefly swirl but it returned to its clear grayness.
Elder Bachi frowned. "Can it be he doesn't have a Path?"