Frank woke with a gentle yawn, expecting to hear his alarm go off any moment, ready for another busy day. No, James woke with a gentle yawn, ready to go milk Brownie, the family cow. In the in-between state of sleep and consciousness, James—no, Frank—no, James-Frank was confused. Each distinct personality sought control as an internal war waged within his mind, both identities struggling to reconcile why they were here and who they were now.

Still lying with his eyes closed, Frank thought about his family—he thought about Claire and Lily. He thought about the last moments of his life, those final agonizing seconds as he lay on the cold floor, feeling his life slip away. Meanwhile, James, an undercurrent of thought, remembered his own predicament—how he had faced the salamanders, bleeding out on the rough, rocky ground, his small body wracked by pain after being toyed with by the monstrous lizard.

The overlap of these two streams of memories was overwhelming. Two different lifetimes, full of disparate joys and sorrows, clashed in his mind like two rivers converging in a violent, swirling whirlpool. There was something incredibly disorienting about feeling both the fear of a grown man who had seen the world and the terror of a small boy fighting for his life against monsters that should have only existed in stories.

"I think we both died, and yet we're both here," James-Frank thought. Thoughts twisted together like a thread of two different colors, trying to untangle the knot. A set of words popped into existence before their mind's eye, and James could feel Frank's recognition of it while he leaned on James's schooling to decipher it.

{Congratulations on reaching 10 years old adventurer}

Error: User is not age 10

Seeking resolution...

RESOLUTION FOUND

Mana Deity created

USER TELEPORTED TO MANA-DENSE ROOM IN SUSPENSION AWAITING CONFIRMATION

"Well, this is a hot mess," an androgynous voice rang out in James-Frank's ears. "There's precedent for this, but it's not exact, so we'll have to go through a bit of a process." James-Frank opened his—no, their—eyes to find themselves in a completely white room, barren and stretching about fourteen feet in every direction. Before them stood a humanoid figure, barely distinguishable from the surrounding whiteness.

The transition from darkness to this all-encompassing white was jarring. James-Frank squinted, trying to make out details that refused to take form in the emptiness. The lack of definition seemed almost intentional, like this space was waiting for something, a blank canvas that could be altered at a whim.

"Here, let's liven the place up a bit to make you both more comfortable," the voice said. James-Frank watched in awe as the room transformed around them—furniture appeared, the flickering glow of a hearth with a roaring fire filled the room with warmth, and a small table stood before it with two cups of steaming hot cocoa.

The smell of chocolate wafted through the air, warm and rich, blending with the comforting crackle of the fire. The shift was so sudden that it almost felt like stepping into a memory, something James remembered from his childhood or something Frank recalled from a winter's evening with his daughter. The scene brought a strange mix of comfort and sadness, an echo of two different lives neither fully understood yet.

"Sit, we'll begin in a moment. It's been ages since I've interacted with a mana-sparse region like your world, so it's a bit uncomfortable for me, and I'm still adjusting."

Still bewildered, James was terrified while Frank was merely confused. From the pain of death in a store, to darkness, to the excruciating sensation of being pulled into a child's body, it was more of a rollercoaster than Frank had ever signed up for, and he wanted off.

The being in front of them seemed to sense the turmoil roiling within them. "I don't blame you, Frank. It's disorienting, to say the least, and for that, I'm sorry."

"You can read my thoughts?" James-Frank asked, standing up on shaky legs and slowly moving toward the chair by the hearth. Frank tried to make sense of it while James simply clung to something he knew—warmth and a comforting drink. If nothing else, cocoa might help.

The figure smiled, its face still indistinct, but somehow familiar. "I can, and I have. You are an enigma, something that shouldn't exist—something that the SYSTEM has difficulty processing. I'm here as a result of that anomaly, an attempt to manage this. You have the potential to fundamentally alter the entire shape of the multiverse as we know it, and I can't let that happen. The SYSTEM has rules in place, especially when too many resources are being drawn upon, and you were on the path to collapse your region of space due to how much essence you were absorbing."

Frank, with James's body and the young boy's fear and innocence, sat down numbly. "What's your name?" he asked after a moment, trying to regain some sense of familiarity.

The figure smirked, and there was a familiarity that Frank found both comforting and unsettling. "My name, hmm? Not many ask that when I'm formed. I don't really have one, but you can call me Manny. Technically, I'm Mana Deity Z3425, but Manny works for now."

Frank felt a pang of nostalgia, his first friend as a child had been named Manny. The entity nodded knowingly. "Yes, something like that," Manny winked.

The room seemed to grow warmer, the fire’s light flickering across the floor. Manny gestured toward the cocoa, urging James-Frank to take a sip.

"So, what is happening? Can I go back to my family?" Both Frank and James thought the question, though they each had a different family in mind. Manny's smile faltered, replaced by a somber expression.

"Unfortunately, Frank, it's been millennia since Claire and Lily were alive. They have since been reincarnated with no recollection of their past lives. But rest assured, they lived happy lives after your passing. Claire remarried and had more children, building a new chapter filled with love. Lily grew into a brilliant woman, one of strength and passion. She became a celebrated chef—a Michelin star cook who opened a restaurant in your name. The restaurant, 'Frank's Hearth,' became a beacon of warmth and hospitality. It was a place where people felt at home, and Lily ensured your memory lived on in every dish, every story shared by the fire. It remained wildly successful, staying in the family for generations, a testament to the love you fostered. You should be proud, Frank. The lives you touched, the legacy you left, endured beyond anything you could have imagined. They found joy, and they found peace. They carried a part of you with them, always."

The words hit like a punch to the gut. Frank's heart shattered at Manny's words. Tears welled up as grief settled over him like a heavy blanket. He could never embrace his wife again, never see his daughter walk down the aisle, never hold his grandchildren. It was too much. He hurled the cup of cocoa against the hearth, shattering it on impact, his sobs wracking his body.

The sound echoed in the now-still room. The warmth of the fire seemed distant, and James felt Frank's sorrow like a knife twisting inside. With a wave of his hand, Manny replaced the shattered cup with a fresh one, the pieces vanishing without a trace.

"I'm truly sorry, Frank. Like I said, this wasn't supposed to happen, but sometimes things break." Manny’s voice held a note of genuine regret, and his form seemed to shimmer, as if reflecting Frank's sorrow.

"How could this happen?" Frank-James asked, voice cracking under the weight of his emotions.

"I can't tell you everything," Manny replied gently. "That's something you have to discover on your journey. But know that it has to do with the circumstances of your birth. James knows a bit, but it's still far from complete."

The entity leaned back, allowing a moment of silence, the only sound being the soft crackling of the fire. Manny gestured for James-Frank to drink more cocoa, a small, comforting gesture in an ocean of chaos.

"You being here, Frank, bypassed certain restrictions that would normally prevent a young child from accessing certain privileges of the SYSTEM including the ability to even enter a Rift before the age of ten. James, with his determination, faced down the salamanders despite his limited training and equipment. He fought bravely and, against all odds, managed to defeat a creature that outmatched him. The SYSTEM recognized that success, something the SYSTEM interpreted as an achievement far beyond what a ten-year-old should have been able to accomplish. It saw this as an action worthy of a fully grown adventurer, which meant a reward needed to be given."

James-Frank took another sip, the warmth settling into his bones. The marshmallows slowly melted, adding a comforting sweetness that, for just a moment, eased the chaos in their mind.

"Can I have tiny marshmallows in the next one?" Frank-James asked, and Manny obliged with a smile, conjuring tiny marshmallows that floated on the surface, melting slowly.

"So, what now? We both died, didn’t we?" his voice trembled slightly, the fear of the unknown cutting through the combined courage of two lifetimes.

Manny answered "Technically, you were both on the edge of death when the essence flooded in, and the SYSTEM is an absolutist. By its rules, you survived."

James-Frank leaned forward, his gaze sharp, trying to catch every word. "Are you the SYSTEM?" he asked, confused.

Manny shook his head, his outline shimmering slightly, becoming a bit more defined. "No, not at all. I am simply a representative of a subroutine. The SYSTEM isn’t sentient; it simply exists. It is a mechanism in place to govern and control growth, to ensure the continuation of essence flows. I am an expression of that directive to prevent disruptions."

James-Frank nodded slowly. "I think I understand... sort of."

Manny leaned back, resting comfortably in his chair. "Think of essence as the atoms you remember Frank, it makes up all things in this universe and need to stay in a continuous state of movement to keep everything flowing smoothly." Manny looked a bit more tenderly, as much as that was possible, "let's get back to you though. You have three options, First, James, you return alone, continuing your life as it is, battling through the Rift without any change. Second, Frank, you can subsume James, taking over his body and effectively becoming James. Third, you both merge, sharing everything, and becoming one."

Frank hesitated. He didn’t want to live without Claire and Lily, and taking over the life of a young boy felt wrong—like stealing someone else's future but Frank also didn't want to die. Meanwhile, James feared dying, but he couldn’t bring himself to harm Frank. The merging felt like the only way forward that didn’t leave one of them broken or erased.

"To exist is infinitely better than to not exist," Frank thought, the mantra echoing through him, reminiscent of when he used it to get through years of depression. He saw Andy and Bell's love for James, Joey's friendship, the promise of a new life. He could live it—different from before, but a life all the same. James agreed. Despite the confusion, merging felt right.

The thought of merging brought a strange sense of calm. The internal struggle began to fade as both Frank and James recognized that they were two sides of the same coin, somehow destined to be joined. They could see the threads of their past, intertwining, forming a tapestry that was richer and more complex than either could have achieved alone.

"We’ll merge," they said in unison, a quiet resolve settling over them. "Guess my name is James now."

Manny clapped, smiling warmly. "Good choice. Let’s begin." With a final clap of his hands, James and Frank felt their consciousnesses intertwine. They experienced each other’s lives, every joy and sorrow, every laugh and tear, merging fully into one cohesive being. Frank's memories of Claire's smile, of Lily's laughter, intertwined with James's recollections of his parents' love and Joey's loyalty. It was not a loss of self, but an expansion—becoming something more, something new.

There was a rush of memories, emotions, sensations. For a moment, James felt the cold of the store's tiles beneath him as he lay dying. Then, he felt the warmth of the sun as a child on a bright summer day, running through the fields. The life of Frank blended seamlessly with the life of James, the edges of their pasts blurring until they were indistinguishable.

"Whoa," James breathed, his head spinning from the rush of memories and emotions. He took another sip of his cocoa to steady himself, feeling the warmth spread through his new, combined soul. "Now what?"

Manny smiled, leaning forward. "Now, we go to what I think you’ll enjoy—the fun part. Let’s look at your status, or rather, the System Tactical Analysis and Tracking for User Support." He flourished his hands. "You’ve gained many achievements and titles, but they need to be recalibrated to align with the SYSTEM. Let me show you what’s coming—though I can't reveal everything in your Status. Some things are for you to discover."

Manny waved his hand, and a translucent screen appeared before James. It was filled with text, rows of data, lines of information that James-Frank instinctively knew related to their abilities and experiences.

{Recalibrating Titles and Achievements}

{Merging Souls: New Classification Detected}

Title: Convergent Soul (Crimson)

- Your soul is composed of two distinct entities that have successfully merged.

- gives you a unique affinity for adaptation and learning, allowing you to absorb experiences and abilities at a rate greater than most.

Achievement: First Kill

- You have slain a creature far beyond your strength, defying your limits. Gain 6 free attributes per level.

{Acquired title - Dungeon Marauder (Crimson)}

- Enter a dungeon with a level ∞ lower than the Rift level

- Gain a 100% chance for dissipating essence to coalesce into an item (Item randomized based on collective species understanding of valuable rewards).

- Gain a 30% chance for Item to receive a upgrade or doubling.

Title Unlocked: Mana Harmonization (Cobalt)

- Due to the nature of your merged souls, you have the ability to harmonize essence from different sources, making your mana manipulation far more effective compared to others. This also provides passive resistance to essence toxicity.

Manny looked on as James studied the information, nodding thoughtfully. "You see, with your unique state, there are many possibilities open to you. Some of these abilities will take time to develop. You will have to explore them, grow into them. But for now, just know that you are stronger than before, and with great potential."

James felt the weight of Manny's words. The warmth from the cocoa settled deeper, and he found a sense of peace he hadn’t known in either of his two lifetimes. He looked up at Manny, his eyes filled with determination. "I'm ready. Whatever comes next, I'm ready."

Manny gave a nod, his form beginning to fade slightly. "Good. Hold onto that resolve, James. There is much ahead of you, both beautiful and terrible. Trust in who you are now, in the journey you’ve begun."

The fire crackled, and for a moment, James thought he heard the laughter of Claire and Lily in the distance, the warmth of their love echoing across time. He smiled, closing his eyes, ready to embrace whatever this new life held for him.

"Let’s go," James whispered, more to himself than to Manny, as the room