POV - TAD

Snatching some time to myself, I left the [Twins] to continue thrashing out the base [MoU] with the [Matriarch]. Monster politics were surprisingly convoluted, intricate and opaque. Much like [Human] politics now that I stopped to think about it.

Despite the ominous deadline my inadvertent prophecy had imposed, I was not rushing into this alliance without making as certain as could be that it was as well balanced as possible. I now had even more to offer. And once I had done my part, well then I would need to be careful that they held up their part.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust the [Matriarch]. I did. I trusted her to do what was right for her and hers. And if that didn’t align with the agreement, then I could see it would be renegotiated and probably severely realigned given the disparity in our respective [Clan] sizes. I had to remember that this was a shrewd and experienced [Leader]. One who knew how to lead. How to make hard calls. To exile even just potential threats. And before they even realised they were a threat.

And so there would need to be some binding consequences. On both of us. I was fine with that. I knew I could and would do what I promised to do. It was the other side I was less certain of. And they were still Monsters. The System would have no part in enforcing an agreement. If I did not have the power to ensure they kept to their side of the agreement, well, that was on me. It was a risk alright. And it was a risk I was willing to take.

But not foolishly take.

No, definitely not. I could feel my Mother’s genes and influence at work. And she would have extracted every last advantage. They would probably end up as [Serfs], and thankful [Serfs] at that, if she was sitting at the table. I was glad, as much as I loved her, that she was not here driving the bargaining.

And despite my innate hesitations when it came to the [Matriarch], I had none at all when it came to the [Twins]. No, I trusted them implicitly. And even Ssrah, with whom I had so little interaction, had garnered more trust than the [Matriarch]. Hmmm. I didn’t even know her [Name]. Just her [Title]. That was not ideal. A lot can be gathered from a person’s name. Especially in the Otto culture where names are earnt and bestowed with much deliberation.

I smiled to myself even as I remembered the somewhat laid back way I had named Dozer and Scrabble. And how their names had borne out. Was it some sort of self fulfilling prophecy maybe?

And there was that word again.

Prophecy.

What was I doing uttering prophecies? I had no foreknowledge. Did I? How did I even [Intuit] this? And when did the forty days start? Was it an approximate timeframe, or was there a hard target? Did I expect Ssrah to be back before the forty day deadline was up? Or was her return the signal that the rest of her Species would then be fully integrated into the System as participants? That sort of half heartedly thrummed in agreement. Bother. I needed her back. There was so much to do. After my very much unfocused journey so far I now was under the pump.

And forty days was not that long really. Not long to reach out to all the Ottos. And there were a lot more of them than I had previously envisaged. They had eked out a reasonably stable existence. One still fraught with danger, yes. And one that was severely restricted, with not much in the way of comfort. But it was stable. They had really hit the hard cap for the Level.

They were about at a [Stone Age] level of development, if I wanted to bring it back to Earth’s history. They used simple stone tools and were basically hunter gatherers, except more hunter than gatherer seeing they were completely carnivorous.

But I had ideas here too. Ideas to keep up my sleeve for the time being. The unlocking of hidden Stats was most definitely a trump card. And one I should not play too soon.

I settled in and made myself comfortable in our little holt. I didn’t have the need for a [Campfire]. The [Matriarch] had already set up a perimeter. The 300 warriors were actually only a third of her forces. Another third was on outer watch while the final third was out hunting in six packs of fifty odd.

Then there was about the same number again in lower levelled females, Levels 3 and 4, possibly a few more. Alongside them was approximately 3000 odd males who were all topping out at Level 3. So approximately three males to every two females except they seemed to be divided up amongst the Level 5 warriors only, so a rough ratio of three to one.

Next there were the low leveled kits and pups. There were only a few Level 1s, maybe only 500 or so at most from what my inexpert eye could tell. A few more level 2s but still low numbers. It seemed that this was the dangerous age for the Ottos. Where they had taken the first step up the ladder and were now more exposed to the various dangers in trying to take the next.

Finally there were the Level 0 babies. And there were lots of these. Yes, getting that first step was hard and took a long time. And so there were babies clinging to just about all the Level 3 and 4 females, most with at least three little faces peering over their shoulders, some with even five or six packed in. These weren’t the mothers. No, these were the Aunties, junior members of the [Matriarchy] who were responsible for the childrearing. Heh, they were my peers.

Except my charges were now big enough to carry me instead of the other way round.

And so I estimated there were about 3500 to 4000 babies. That was a lot of mouths to feed. A lot of bodies to Level up. I remembered my promise. I would need to run some budgets. This was a significantly larger task that I had anticipated, having visuallised them in a romp of say fifty to sixty, not pushing ten thousand or so. My offer had been more generous than I had known. And this was one of the smaller Otto [Clans] in the city. And then there were the four other cities as well. My self imposed task was daunting to say the least.

But these were future [Citizens]. Future [Subjects]. Helping them was actually helping me. Yes, this was certainly a self interested philanthropic outreach. And I wanted to make sure it was a [Win] [Win] outcome. That [Fealty] was freely given. And [Fealty] truly earned. Yes, I could then live with that.

But I was feeling the pinch. Not a pinch in Stats. Not even a pinch in EXP points, though I was sure that would come as I started spending them. No, it was a pinch in Skills. I needed to Level up a Tier and unlock more Skill slots. I already had a Skill handicap, courtesy of my [Atelophobia Award]. Skills took twice as much effort to unlock and levelled up half as fast. This was a big restriction. I couldn’t afford to exacerbate this by having restricted numbers of Skill slots as well.

But Levelling up was problematic. I needed a [Safe Place]. I had hoped that the [Secluded Campfire] was enough. It wasn’t. It was just relatively more safe. A monster could still just wander in. The [Campfire] obscured and concealed. But it did not [Ward]. And I needed a [Ward] or a secure safe place.

And so there was another of my [Rewards] I was exploring. One which hinted at operating above my Tier. And this, I felt, had possibilities for my Skills. Yes, that resonated.

I pulled up the description again.

Exemplar:

You have forged your way into System history as the youngest living being to form their Core and merge their Concept.

You are the ideal model that all others will strive to emulate and eclipse.

You have met the requirements to be one of the most effective of leaders in the System’s history. Where you lead others will follow.

Accolade Effects:

Accolade Effect 1: Your base Essence is doubled.

Accolade Effect 2: Your growth is unlocked. Your potential Core density is able to be increased beyond your limits. You may now compress your Core one Tier higher than your current position.

Accolade Effect 3: Your personal Reputation is enhanced across all Species by a factor of two and all members of your Species by a further factor of three.

Accolade Effect 4: You are the top of the pyramid. You may pass your Technique onto followers who are at least your own level. All Disciples receive a 10% bonus derived from your base Essence. You receive a 1% bonus based on their total Essence.

Yes. It was that second Accolade effect that I had remembered. I could now compress my Core one Tier higher. So presumably at Clay Tier I could compress it to the Bronze Tier limit. This was promising.

And when I had tried to put additional potions in my [Inventory], I had received that [Error Message] telling me to Tier up or improve my [Core] for more capacity. And Tiering up opened up more Skill slots. It followed that improving my [Core] would also open up further Skill slots. My [Intuition] confirmed I was onto something.

Now I just had to work up how to compress my [Core]. I had spent all my free time cycling my [Essence]. Flavouring it and imbuing it. But I was short of having full Essence. And I hadn’t found any free unbound [Essence] floating around. The System had it all bound up in the Plane. It was tightly controlled. Allocated and locked in. And killing the Sheep and Clams hadn’t freed up any [Essence Motes] either. It was still bound up and dished out as XP and Stats.

Perhaps I needed to go exploring and find the Dump here and jump back into the System Trash Compaction Zone. Hmmm. I didn’t fancy that. There was a strong association of death, despair and dissolution that turned me away. I still couldn’t believe I had survived my first tour. I was not ready for another yet. Probably ever.

But never say never.

It was an option. If nothing else worked out, well, the first time is always the hardest. And I had done it once already. I could do it again.

And I remembered the [Pearl] the [Level 32 Clam Patroller] had dropped. I had stored it in my bag and not looked at it again. I dug it out. It was massive.

A [Pearl] the size of a basketball. How long had this been growing in there? And it was beautiful. I wonder how big it would have gotten had we not killed and pillaged its maker. I had heard of pearls the size of city gates. Now that was impressive. I would need to get me some of those for when we fixed up the city walls. I chuckled to myself. It was good to have [Aspirations].

I [Inspected] the [Pearl].

Object:

Essence Pearl

Grade:

Uncommon

Level:

32

Description:

[Expand?]

Aha. It was an [Essence Pearl]. I knew it. I expanded the Description

This pearl contains 50% of the accumulated Essence of a Level 32 Yellow Lipped Clam.

While a valuable cultivation aid there are also multiple applications for use in Alchemy, Crafting and Enchanting.

Oho. This was good. It sounded valuable. And more importantly it sounded helpful for my current dilemma. I had invested a total 100 Imbued Essence into my Stats and a further 10 Essence modifying my Spade Sling. Since then I had deliberately refrained from further growing my Stats.

This was for two reasons. Firstly I wanted to build up a safety buffer. To have sufficient [Reserved Essence] to survive things going pear shaped.

I pulled up the description again to refresh myself.

Reserved Essence:

Reserved Essence is fully imbued Essence that is completely attuned to your Specific Personal Information.

Reserved Essence that exceeds your Stat Total factored by your Tier can be utilised to [Revive] your Spirit and is vital in [Respawning] in the event of death prior to your complete System Entity dissolution.

Hmmm. I considered my Stats. I had a total of 81 Base Stats with all Stats maxed at the Level 1 Cap. I then had 61 Bonus Stats and a further 26 unassigned Stats. So this was a total of 168 Stats. This did not include my Stats derived from the different [Accolades] as these would though. Hmmm. Perhaps it should just to be sure. That increased my total Stats to 280.Factoring that by my Tier which was variously described as Clay Tier, G Tier or Tier 1 currently had no effect but would impact things later on.

I parsed the description again. From what I could ascertain I needed to have [Reserve Essence] that exceeded my total Stats of 280, and probably of the same amount, to be able to [Respawn]. I was intensely interested in this. My life was exceedingly precious to me. It was the only one I had and I would like to keep it.

And I had over 560 Essence. In fact I currently had 1537.14/1647.14 of which 1460 was imbued and [Reserved]. Hmmm I was just short of having two extra lives even once I had fully replenished my Essence and [Imbued] it.

I ran some calculations. Yes It was worth allocating one of my free Soul points. I had been saving them. For I knew when I did eventually level up my individual Stat cap would increase. If I kept these in reserve I could use them to push me back up to the cap in the categories I was weakest in. I was thinking of Charisma in particular, but really it was just a hunch that they may be more helpful later rather than right now.

I allocated a Soul point to SPI and my Essence capacity jumped to 1700.28. And the downside was that I was now short of an extra 50 odd Essence. 1537.14/1700.28. Bother. But on the positive side I now could respawn at least two times. Yes, 560 times three is 1680. Score. And if it only cost the 280 Essence to respawn then it was more like five lives. Ho! I breathed out a massive sigh. This was great. Except I still did not feel like testing any of this. In fact I would prefer never to find out actually.

This was only the first reason. The second reason was that I wanted to grow my [Core]. And to grow it I instinctively knew I needed to own it. It needed to be fully me. I needed to completely [Imbue] all my [Essence].

And I still needed to replenish my [Essence] first. I returned my attention to the [Pearl]. It was a cultivation aid. I triggered my [Basic Cultivation] while concentrating on the [Pearl]. As I spun my own [Core] I felt the [Pearl] starting to quiver. To respond. In sympathy. Ahhh. Creating a sympathetic link, I started to syphon out some Essence. It was slow going. And [Clam] flavoured. After half an hour of Gallifreudian time I had syphoned out 30 Essence. I [Inspected] the pearl again.

Object:

Essence Pearl

Level:

32

Essence:

2530/2560

Description:

[Expand?]

Ahhh. The report had changed. I now could see how much Essence it contained. Hmmm. If this was half of the [Clam]’s accrued Essence then I could possibly work backwards with its total HP to see if there was some kind of relationship. I estimated the Clam had about 20,000HP thereabouts. If this was half then it must have had a total of 5120 Essence. This was approximately a quarter of its Health points. In fact if it was a quarter then the Health points would have been 20,480HP. Ha. That felt right. There was a relationship between the [Bound Essence] and the [Monster]’s health. This was good knowledge. I was quite proud of my deductions.

Congratulations!

You have been endowed with 4 INT Bonus Stat points.

As your Wisdom is unlocked you may allocate to your Mind Stats as you desire.

Fantastic! The System agreed. I was on a roll.

I triggered my [Time Lord Perk] again and ground out the remaining Essence over the next two and a bit hours.

And I was pooped. That was hard work. I took a three hour power nap. The [Twins] were still debating and negotiating. I was happy for them to continue setting the groundwork.

I continued with my [Basic Cultivation]. Four hours later and I had imbued all of my Essence.

[Ding]

Congratulations!

You have completely acclimatised your Essence to your [Core].

You may now permanently [Sacrifice] 50% to condense your Core one Level.

Would you like to contract and concentrate the density of your [Core] at this time?

Note this action is irreversible.

YES NO

Oh. That was a lot of work that was going to disappear. But the only way was forward.

I selected yes.

And my [Core] sped up and swelled and spun. I entered Gallifreudian Time to try and follow what was happening. My Soul grew tight. Arrgghhh! I was having a constipated heart attack in my belly button. A conniption of the Soul. This was somewhat awkward. I couldn’t even call for help. My whole [Body] was locked up. My [Soul] was getting tighter and tighter. My [Mind] was floating free, a disconnect which fortunately was keeping me from completely panicking.

All of a sudden it was done. With a popping sensation my [Core] sucked in on itself and resettled. It was now significantly smaller. Denser and more resilient. That had not been pleasant.

[Ding]

Congratulations!

You have levelled up your [Core].

1/9 times complete

Complete eight more times to Advance your [Core] to the next [Tier]

Oh my word.

This was going to be a slog.

I would need a heap more Essence.

Luckily I knew how to bait those giant Clams.

And this was but the first step.

I could advance my Core not only into the next [Tier] but also to the limit of that Tier as well. And the bigger my [Essence Reserves] grew the more effort it would take. Everything was a juggle.

Man.

This was going to be a [Marathon].

I was off to a good start.

Now to continue.

I set to cycling in some more [Clam] chowdered [Essence] and replenishing my [Reserves].