System vs Rebirth

"One of you already has them, but the other hasn't formed them."

"Huh?!" Both Annas were dumbfounded by that hint. On the one hand, they thought they were the ones who had it. On the other hand, two of them had been developing in a different kind of situation. So, they didn't know which one had formed them.

Still, the original Anna didn't think she had created something, since the only thing she did was learn how to control her lightning according to the Thunder Berserker Spirit.

So, the one who might have formed them was Anna. 

The moment she came to the realization, the original Anna looked at her with envy. That expression was the only thing that Anna needed to finally understand the spirit's words. 

"Don't tell me… Spirit Practitioner all the way to Spirit Grandmasters? I mean, the power that's given to each stage?" Anna gasped.

The original Anna's body trembled. Because Anna took over the body, the original Anna had never raised her strength above the Spirit Apprentice Level. In other words, the only thing she had was the awakening of her spirit. 

In other words, if she took over the body, she would be able to receive the benefit of Spirit Practitioner, allowing her to manifest her own Spiritual Energy. Then, her body would break through once again to Spirit Wielder and increase the efficiency of her Spiritual Energy.

Still, the most terrifying thing was the Spirit Master and Spirit Grandmaster. As a Spirit Master, she would start assimilating with the spirit and create the Spirit Heart. 

After that, she would form the Spirit Mind as a Spirit Grandmaster.

If the original Anna gained all of them, Anna's body would have two Spirit Hearts and two Spirit Minds. And the same applied when she reached Spirit Transcendence if not Spirit King.

The Spirit Heart allowed her to pump out the Spiritual Energy, so having two would allow her to pump out twice the amount. With that amount, Anna would have a lot of ways to utilize it or even create an even stronger technique. A technique that had never existed in the current timeline.

And with two Spirit Minds, things like her control, recovery, and other benefits from the Spirit Minds would be two times more powerful. 

In other words, Anna might not be able to reach Noel's level in the future due to the amount of Spiritual Energy Reserve in his body. But the power that she produced might rival his.

This was probably the thing that the Moon Goddess was talking about. The only way she wouldn't lose against Noel.

But when that thought appeared, Anna couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

On the one hand, it would be beneficial for Anna to allow the original Anna to take over the body and create all that stuff. On the other hand, there was no guarantee that she would allow Anna to return to the main body.

In fact, she didn't know how the takeover process would go. Even if she were more powerful, there was a chance that the original Anna would take this chance to do something irreversible. 

Both Annas were staring at each other. They each had their own conflicting thoughts.

The original said, "It seems that I have no choice but to do it. This is also beneficial for the body, so give your body to me, and I'll make you even stronger."

"Do you think I will believe you?" Anna gritted her teeth. "You clearly wanted to destroy my soul earlier. If I cease to exist, it means that your soul can go to the surface and control the body."

"That's my body, not yours." The original Anna glared at her. She deserved the body because it was originally hers. However, without the current Anna, there was no way she would achieve all this.

In fact, history might repeat itself. 

It was at this time a question appeared in her mind. 'Why would Noel send me into the past instead of himself?'

'If Noel knew about this benefit, he would practically become someone no one could rival. He would get two souls and two spirits.'

'Wait a minute. Is such a thing allowed? I mean, the spirits are contracted to the body. The souls are creating Spirit Hearts and Minds for the body. If he has all that, what will happen to his body? Will it be able to withstand all that pressure?'

'Did Noel send me to the past… I mean, this timeline, not because he wanted it, but because he couldn't use it on himself?'

Something was amiss. If Noel was this selfish, there was no need for Noel to train her in all those dangerous situations. 

She found another clue, but she was still missing a few pieces of information to know the reason for her rebirth.

Anna took a deep breath before asking the Thunder Spirit. "What is the requirement for taking over the body? Is it to eliminate the other soul? If that's the case, why would I take over when I haven't eliminated her soul in the past?"

The original Anna furrowed her eyebrows as if she didn't like that question. 

The spirit replied, "Taking over is as simple as allowing the other to take over. Since you are currently in charge, you just have to give permission to the others. When she is in charge, she will have to do the same.

"Of course, there are two other ways. The first one would be to eliminate the other soul. But if this is the case, everything you've built so far will disappear. If she takes over right now, she might be able to experience the power of a Spirit Grandmaster and immediately complete the assimilation as well as form the Spirit Mind and Heart.

"But if she eliminates you here, she will have to start again from the very bottom."

"What?!" The original Anna shouted. It seemed she didn't know that she would be crippled if she eliminated the other soul. Wouldn't this mean Anna could just kill her without any consequences? 

What the original Anna didn't know was the importance of herself to Anna. The only way to keep up with Noel was to allow two souls to exist in one's body.

It could be said that she would have two personalities in everyone's eyes. But the risk she would have to take the moment she did this was insurmountable. 

"It seems that you haven't told us all of them."

The spirit smiled. "The last way is to form a contract… a soul contract." 

"Soul Contract?!" Both Annas recognized it as this was what the Sword Saint performed to stop her from prying Noel's secret. 

But the Sword Saint had passed away. There was no way she could ask him for a soul contract, meaning that there was no way to go with this path. 

"No, wait. There is one more person." Anna gasped. She remembered that there was actually one person who could perform the soul contract.

The Sword Saint's swordsmanship was unique because of the spirit he had. And the one who could inherit his swordsmanship would be the one who had the same spirit. In other words, the person Anna was looking for was the Sword Saint's successor, Old Ru's grandson. 

If she just allowed the original Anna to take over the body, it would be too reckless. So, the only safe way to do it was through the soul contract. This might be the only way to reap the benefits of having two souls. 

But that also meant she had to share her consciousness with the original Anna. 

Even though the original Anna wasn't Noel's enemy anymore after learning about the truth, it felt like she would betray Noel by allowing her to go out. After all, this was the Anna he hated.

However, Anna could actually see that the original Anna had been affected by her experience and feelings for Noel. The original Anna might have fallen for Noel, but because she still retained her original memory, she would have a harder time accepting that fact. 

Anna faced one dilemma. This problem was intriguing yet complicated. 

If she allowed the original Anna to come out and bond with Noel, would that be considered cheating? But it was with herself. Anna had never wanted to share Noel with anyone else, but it was herself, so they were basically the same person.

Their feelings and the things they experienced influenced each other. 

This was a complicated matter for Anna. On the one hand, she wanted to solve everything by herself. On the other hand, the solution was actually 'herself.' 

If they worked together, they could reach a height that no one had ever seen before. 

Anna looked at the original and asked, "Hey, you said earlier that you're going to steal my man. But you are me, and I am you, right? If that's the case, does it count as stealing?" 

"That does—" The original Anna wanted to rebuke her as it really didn't matter. But as Anna thought, the original Anna had been affected by Anna's experience and feelings. It had reached the point where the original Anna thought Noel was already hers. "…matter?"

Because of Anna's transformation as well as Noel's training, both Annas turned into thinkers. They stopped for a moment just to wonder about the philosophical question.

"I have always thought that Noel is mine," The original Anna muttered. "If you are in my position, you will understand how I feel. All those experiences and memories we have created together are real to the point where I believe they are mine instead of yours."

"So, it's like that? If we are the same person, does that mean it's not? But we have different personalities. Wait! If we have two different personalities, why do both of us think like this?"

"That's…" the original Anna couldn't answer that question. She had integrated the habit from Anna's experience. So, when she took over, Anna would also get affected by her own personality habits. 

"This doesn't make sense." Anna rubbed her cheeks embarrassedly, not being able to think of the answer. 

"But it is really important. I'm confused. Even though you are from a different timeline, you are still me. The only thing that separates us is the experience you have in that timeline, but I have also absorbed that memory, so we both have the same memory and experience."

"This is hard."

"It is hard indeed." 

The Thunder Berserker Spirit was watching them from afar. He had a smile on his face as he found this amusing. Anna's change had truly made this matter even more interesting. And the original Anna also responded in the same way Anna would respond. They looked exactly the same, just with a little different personality. 

He couldn't help but wonder about the conclusion of their thoughts.