‘One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease.’

~The Dragon Bruce Lee

POV - Tad

[Prospect] led me to a clump of refuse which had fallen in such a way as to provide a barrier that formed three sides of a square almost my height and a half again. It was probably more of an open triangle now that I stopped to consider it, with a narrow opening which then flared out slightly. Two sides were then also almost completely buried in a mound of disintegrated trash leaving only a narrow slot along the last side. It would be very difficult for something to jump down on me and the entrance was only visible from a single direction. This would make a good hideyhole. [Prospect] had come through again. I scurried inside. Like a mouse. Small and scared. This image was not doing wonders for my sense of self perception.

I settled down; [Advanced Meditation] for the focus, [Gallifreudian Slip] to abuse the time compression, and at long last, I was ready to trigger [Basic Cultivation].

The Skill solidified my previous understanding. My Soul was all about me. My dreams, hopes and aspirations. My goals. It was my perception and my intuition. My insights. It was my impact on everybody and everything else. My Soul was where I needed to start. That tiny spark. It was the nucleus I needed to build my Core around.

I needed to [Basic Cultivate] my soul. To tend and nurture it. To feed it. And I had the Essence I needed to start the process. My Essence was not free, unaspected Essence. No, it was fully Me flavoured stuff. But it wasn’t really doing anything. I could feel it. Diffuse and unfocused. It permeated my being but it didn’t really interact with it. This is what I needed to concentrate on. I needed to begin to cycle it. To initialise it.

It was time to boot up TAD and make my acronym real. I would not be a mouse.

Rather than being slippery and elusive my Essence was eager and responded to my will with alacrity. I was feeling frisky. That was a good Soul feeling to have. I totally recommend it. Friskiness is good for the Soul. Kind of like coffee. Yes, I was all get up an' go. It was cultivatin’ time.

My Essence was getting a move on. I focused on what I wanted. What I needed. I needed a Core. I remembered the sage advice that had resonated with me back in the Library. The Dragon. Yes; it wasn’t about accumulating, it was about eliminating. Getting rid of the obstacles and impurities and distractions that were preventing my Essence, my essential being, from thriving.

I cleared my throat. I focused. [Basic Cultivation]. Clarity upon clarity. A cycle of growth. I needed to get that cycle moving. I compressed myself. My intent. Focus upon focus. My Essence was following my focus. Rushing to catch it. I willed it sharper. Denser. Faster. I was building up some significant momentum. I compressed my intention with the sole intensity of focus on my Soul spark, eliminating all else.

And then I spun.

And not in just a simple circle. No, I spun my Soul and as I spun I rotated so that I was an ever changing, always spinning nucleus and I packed my Essence in, tighter and tighter. I was the centre of my universe. And my universe revolved about the fulcrum of my Spark.

And my Soul grew. The Essence was sucked in. It was absorbed and what was already me flavoured was now steeped in me. Imbued and imprinted. And the spin of my Spark. Of my Core. Yes, this was my Core. I savoured the accomplishment. The spin was self perpetuating. It drew in my Essence and enriched it and it grew some and then threw some out again to repeat the cycle.

Even as my heart pumped my blood my Core pumped my Essence. I frowned; my Core was also like my lungs, enriching my Essence and providing it with the means to energise the rest of me. Huumpff. I needed to work on my analogies a bit. But the concept was there. My Soul could impact my Mind and Body. The essential energy of my being was activated and available. And it resonated with my Concept. I felt limitless. My Core and my Concept had synergized. The rightness of it all reverberated within me.

[Dingalingaling!]

Waahoo! Dings with a bit of urgency.

Yeehaah!

Double Wahhooo!

Oh - Hoho. This was big. Sap for Rep. I wondered how else we could earn Sap. It sounded like it would be quite helpful in dealing with other sapients. As new kids on the block we would need to be on good relations with the previous species that had been uplifted already.

Oh.

Oh. That wasn’t so good.

And I didn't even get the option to accept or decline this Honour that had so offended Arkash.

That was probably the previous Title holder. He, or she, or it, was pissed. I had usurped their place. This Title was different to my previous awards. It was a System Honour. A System wide accolade. And from the looks of it there could only be one holder of this particular Title at a time. And it was a big deal. It impacted entire Human race. I had just boosted our collective development as a System Species by over a full Tier.

That was fantastic.

And I had acquired a personal high level enemy who was amping for my blood. Super fantastic.

Ahhh. I sighed. That just means I need to grow faster. I would be more ready this time. Not so easy to flick into eternity. I would…

A further System notification [Dinged].

Pestiferous Award:>

<“We’ll never survive!”

"Nonsense. You’re only saying that because no one ever has..”>

> >

Well, the System was just insulting me. I had done nothing to annoy TSB and RDF. They were just bullies. And I was not going to feel bad just because some random old fart got its knickers in a twist cause I was awesome. I was Totally Awesome Dude! No apologies here sucker.

Actually I was Totally Awesome [Exemplar] Dude. I wondered how my new [Title] would work. But first I would decide on whether I wanted this Pest Award. I expanded the description.

Okay. I like. I accepted the Award. More durability was well worth being called a pest.

I returned to watching my Core.

It was hypnotising. And calming. I felt whole. Nice.

I reactivated my perk and dived in, activating [Basic Cultivation] again. Time for some serious personal Tad time.

Shuush you. I was cultivating.

My Essence was steadily cycling through my Core. It was mine and it was me. I [Inspected] my Essence.

> Object:

Essence

> Grade:

8% imbued

> Status:

TAD Flavoured

> Description:

The essential building block of TAD.

> Reserved:

29/362.3

Hmmm… Only 8% imbued. Still That was pretty fast seeing as I had just started. What was [Reserved] meaning? It sounded like that my Essence would be unavailable? That didn’t sound right.

I queried [Reserved].

Say what?

Respawning? Multiple lives?

Nige you fibber!