EgoPlex

"Gordon! Why are you late? The awakening ceremony is right now!"
Jessica said urgently when she saw Gordon come through the doors of the awakening center.
Shrugging Gordon didn't say anything. The last thing in the world that he wanted to do was tell this beautiful girl that he had been tripped and beaten on the way to school today. 
It was times like this that he wished that he bruised more easily. Then maybe he could get some attention. But this thought was fleeting in his mind. Gordon actually preferred to deal with his problems in his own way. 
And awakening to become a beast tamer and maybe even have his own talent would be the first step. Once he had a powerful beast the bullies wouldn't dare pick on him. 
"Come on, let's get in line."
Jessica whispered to Gordon when she realized that he wasn't going to tell her what had happened.
Together they went to the back of the arena type auditorium to wait for their turn to awaken.
They had been friends since childhood and had been there for each other through thick and thin. Jessica had been the only friend that stuck with him despite all of his quirks.
Slowly the line inched forward. Occasionally some people in their class would cheer if in addition to becoming a beast master a student also awakened a talent.

Lichen Tree Beast Tamer

Shaking off his fears of how these [Virtual Mind]s could still jockey for benefits Gordon refocused his mind on what he really needed to do right now. Specifically he had to find a way to survive this apocalypse system dungeon.

Taking a deep breath he focused his mind using [Calm Mind] once more. By doing this he was able to clear his thoughts. And in doing so he opened his mind to any and all possibilities. Now that the voucher merchant was upgraded he had. A lot more opportunities. It would be important to take advantage where he could.

He had been thinking about his three lichens for some time now. Even before finally acquiring these lichens from Akio he had been thinking about how to nurture them.

Lichen Team Dynamics