Lyra meticulously analyzed Leon's mana signature, meticulously breaking down the artifact's energy and preparing to replicate it.
Through reverse engineering, she successfully created a replica of the original artifact. Adam then fused this replicated artifact with himself, immediately sensing its true potential. Lyra then modified the artifact within Adam, enabling it to facilitate merging. She instructed Adam to place his hand on Leon's head, and together, they recoded the artifact within Leon to match their newly modified version.
It worked perfectly. Leon absorbed his multiple duplicates, merging them back into a single form. But something unexpected happened: Leon's level immediately shot up to the maximum, and his stats capped out.
Lyra quickly realized that because each duplicate was designed for separate experiences and statistics, merging them was akin to combining distinct identities, effectively adding their combined experience and stats onto the main body. This was incredibly broken, as Adam soon understood. If there wasn't a level cap, Leon could potentially gain infinite levels in seconds.
Adam experimented with this new ability, gaining a fleeting taste of Lyra's hive-mind experience, seeing multiple points of view simultaneously. When Adam merged himself back, however, his level remained unchanged. His system's glitch prevented him from leveling up beyond Level 1. Lyra noted that despite this, the new skill would still be incredibly useful. Adam agreed. Leon's issue was finally resolved; he was now free to duplicate and merge himself back at will.
Emily's Old World Comfort
Meanwhile, Emily was relishing her stay in her old home. Having lacked a true home in her current world, this old-world house was everything she had ever wanted and imagined. She felt as though she had never left, and her life in the "current world" slowly began to feel like a distant dream.
Emily spent hours in her room, looking through old photos of her and Adam's families. She reread her diaries, finding hints of her deep affection for Adam. Her parents, cherishing their reunion, took a few days off work to spend every moment with her.
They told Emily she could ask for anything, and they would do it instantly. They even suggested a short family vacation. Emily readily agreed, savoring every moment with her parents. She felt a profound sense of belonging, a feeling that made her never want to leave them again.
Adam and Lyra have successfully resolved Leon's duplication issue, inadvertently discovering a powerful new mechanic. Emily, however, is growing increasingly comfortable in her past life, possibly at the expense of her memories of Adam.