The Emergence of Soul: I Am Me

Within All-Existence, at the point where life met the conceptual ideal, something truly special occurred. Potential.
It was the potential for creatures to have a soul. For, if the conditions were right, life to be impacted in such a profound way by their reality that they generate something that only they may have. But what is a soul?
A soul is noted by not only the ingredients that help to create it but also by its own unique growth. In other words, it is the conceptual ideal meeting the flesh of reality and producing potential. This potential is then recognized by the sentient being with a single impossible term.
"I am me."
Here it is not the words that are important but the power behind them. The idea that you exist, that things can happen and have happened to you, and that you are wholly separate from all else and yet, connected to it profoundly.
Once this occurs, it cannot be taken back. At that point, the creature has generated a spark that they will hold until death. A mote of the universe recognizing itself.
This singular aspect is the driver of allowing the greater All-Existence to experience, the processes and importance for such described in the Ideal Reality: The Many Realms of the Hereafter, however, what can be noted is that the soul does not stop at creation. It will continue to grow with every new choice made and experience thrust upon it. This growth then spurns further growth, a process that only ceases upon the mortal being's inevitable demise.
Until then, the soul is capable of many great feats. Not only from helping the individual who cultivates it in physical ability, such as fighting prowess, but also in all the other aspects of self that there are. It is bravery, the ability to go into danger to save others. It is charisma, the potential to influence entire worlds with your words. It is perseverance, the ability to continue when things become tough. And so much more.
It is the consideration of self that allows the mortal sentient to appreciate the conceptual ideals that divinities are made of, the ability to recognize how reality changes and in what ways, and it is the ability to make choices that no one else can make as opposed to simply being driven by base behaviors and reactions like beasts and monsters, and even, one could argue, the gods themselves.

Manifestation

While there is no hard and fast appearance for a soul, it not being something that is readily measurable, when it has been observed through special means such as being in the correct environment, it is recognized that each soul appears different from all other souls.
This makes sense. If each soul, despite coming from the same baseline of potential has different choices and experiences encompassing it, then these aspects would inevitably flavor the soul uniquely.

Type

Metaphysical, Divine