RWBY: The Spirit System Manual

Darkness. That was the first thing Grayson noticed, a deep, consuming void where time had no meaning. He hadn't expected this, even after his death. His death didn't seem fair, in his opinion, but right now he could feel a sensation that was warm and comforting. A strange sense of security wrapped around him like a cocoon.

"Where...am I?" Grayson thought as he tried to move.

Then, it hit him. The last thing he remembered was the Entity, the swirling void, and the voice that told him he had been chosen. And then… nothing.

"Wait..." Grayson thought as he concentrated. His surroundings were tight, enclosed. Then he heard a steady sound echoed all around him.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

A heartbeat. No...three heartbeats. One was strong and steady; one was his and the other was nearby.

"No way… No way, no way, no way!" Grayson thought in horror.

Realization hit him like a truck. 

He wasn't just trapped. He wasn't simply stuck in the dark. 

He was inside something. 

No. Someone. 

The warmth, the wetness, the cramped space… It was as if his tiny body felt weightless yet restricted at the same time. 

Grayson wasn't dead. 

He was reincarnated. He was an unborn baby inside a mother's womb. 

"Oh, hell." Grayson thought.

Panic surged through Grayson's mind like a wildfire. He had read enough light novels and watched enough anime and read manga to understand what had happened, but experiencing it firsthand was something else entirely.

He was in a womb. A damn womb.

"Okay, okay. Breathe—wait, can I even breathe? Oh my God, I'm an actual fetus. This is insane!" Grayson's mind was all over the place at this moment.

Then, another realization struck him. There are two heartbeats. And one of them isn't mine.

If he still had lungs that could properly work, he might have gasped. Instead, his small, underdeveloped body twitched slightly.

"Wait… If I can hear another heartbeat, does that mean..." Grayson realized what that meant at this moment.

He felt a sudden nudge.

Grayson felt a light pressure against his side, something small pressing against him before shifting away. He froze.

Then, it happened again. A little bump, soft but deliberate.

"I have a twin. Holy crap, I have a sibling in this new life!" Grayson yelled in his mind as he was excited he wasn't alone.

His thoughts spiraled as he processed the situation. He had died somehow in his sleep. Then, an Entity had appeared and given him something called the Spirit System Manual. And now, he was here.

Grayson still didn't know where he was, what kind of world this was, or even who his new family would be. But one thing was certain, his life was no longer his own.

And that terrified him...Did he steal an unborn baby's soul or something?

~One Month later~

I can conclude that I arrived where my new mother is now five months along! I still can't see, but I can move my tiny hands a little. I can feel my twin; they have a soft, chubby face. I also notice something soft on top of their head that feels like touching a dog's ear....I wonder who you are or what world I am in that has these kinds of features.

~Three months later~

I have no idea how long it's been, but there's literally nothing to do except sleep or just do nothing at all. Is this how babies feel? If so, poor them! Honestly, this is torture! Is this how Stewie Griffin felt when he went back into Lois's womb in that episode of Family Guy where they messed up the time machine?

~One month later~

[Ding! Spirit System Manuel now activating]

A small, bell-like notification woke Grayson up. Although he couldn't see it, he could hear a voice. Since his twin didn't react, it confirmed that they could neither see nor hear the system, it was clear that only Grayson could see and hear it.

"Finally! I was going insane just sitting here with nothing to do, either sleeping or lying awake with my eyes closed! This is so much better than being bored out of my mind! Hell, I would even prefer to watch Volume 3 of RWBY with my sister all over again!" Grayson cheered at the thought of finally doing something, but then he felt a wave of sadness wash over him as he remembered that he had died, leaving Emily all alone back on his original Earth.

[System Activation completed!]

System- Soul Fusion 100% Completed

Status:

Name:??

Title: None

Race: Faunus

Age: 0 (Still in Womb)

Aura: None

--------------

Grayson's mind screeched to a halt when he saw his race.

Faunus.

That word. That race.

He recognized it immediately.

"...No way." Grayson thought as he was in shock

His mind raced to connect the dots: the furred ears on his twin, the term Faunus, and then the term Aura.

He was in Remnant.

"Of all the worlds I could've reincarnated into... why this one?!" Grayson thought in horror as he knew he was in trouble.

His mind reeled as memories of RWBY flooded back to him. This was not a peaceful world; it was not a cozy fantasy setting where he could live a carefree life like in this slice-of-life anime or manga. 

Of all the possible worlds, it had to be this one. The one plagued by the Grimm, corrupt kingdoms, racism, and centuries of conflict. This wasn't some easygoing fantasy world where he could live out a peaceful life as a farmer or an adventurer with overpowered skills. No, this was a war-torn world, one where his very existence as a Faunus would make him a target for discrimination.

And then there was the other detail.

His twin.

The soft, furry ears he'd felt before now made perfect sense. And if his suspicions were correct, that meant...

"There's no way. Am I actually Blake's twin?" Grayson thought.

It made sense. She was the only Faunus character in RWBY who had been given significant screentime with a known family. The timing seemed to match up, and Menagerie, where the Belladonnas lived, was a Faunus-dominated area that was an Island.

His thoughts spiraled, trying to process the implications.

"I… I'm going to be the sibling of a main character." Grayson thought as he didn't know if he was either happy or not.

For any normal isekai protagonist, this would be a dream come true. But Grayson wasn't thrilled. If anything, the weight of that knowledge pressed down on him like a boulder.

Blake's life wasn't easy. She was a runaway, once part of a violent terrorist group, constantly wrestling with guilt over her past. And if he was truly her twin, that meant he would be thrown into the chaos of the White Fang, the Black trailer, and everything else that would come crashing down in the future.

Grayson exhaled...well, metaphorically. He didn't even have functional lungs yet.

"Alright. Panicking isn't going to help me. I need a plan."

He still had time. He was literally unborn right now. He could prepare. He could use the system, gather as much information as possible, and ensure he didn't end up as Grimm food before Volume 3.

[Quest functions and events are unavailable until the host reaches age 5. Inventory and Status can be accessed. The Store can be unlocked when the Player creates one spirit]

"Yeah, that's… kind of depressing." Grayson thought.

No abilities. No skills. No aura. And most of the system's functions were locked behind an age restriction. It was like getting a game-breaking cheat code but not being allowed to use it until he passed the tutorial.

But there was one thing that stood out.

"The Store unlocks once I create my first Spirit." Grayson thought, recalling what the system had said.

That was his first real lead. If he wanted access to whatever this system had to offer, he needed to figure out how to make a spirit. But how? He had no idea where to even begin.

"I guess I have to wait until I am born."

Grayson thought as he went back to sleep with his twin.

~Three months later~

The months dragged on in this hell hole, and Grayson found himself trapped in a never-ending cycle of floating, bumping into his twin, and waiting. He had never thought about how boring being a fetus would be, but no, not boring, it's hell, even with being stuck with no real control over his tiny body.

The system had activated, sure, but it was mostly useless until he was at least five years old. No quests, no fancy abilities, no sudden overpowered perks to make his life easier. Just a vague mention of needing to create a spirit to unlock the store.

"Whatever that means..." Grayson muttered internally.

His biggest revelation during his time in here had been his race. Faunus. A part-animal humanoid species in the world of RWBY that faced severe discrimination. That alone was concerning. But the real kicker? He was almost certain he was Blake Belladonna's twin brother.

Which meant he was going to be born into a family that would eventually get tangled up with the White Fang, a radical Faunus organization. His childhood wouldn't be normal. Not by a long shot.

Still, he had time. Time to prepare, to think, to make sure he wasn't just a background character in someone else's story. He needed a plan...But he was also going to protect Blake from Adam.

Before he could finish that thought, a sensation unlike anything he had felt before washed over him.

Warmth. A pressure surrounding him shifted. The steady rhythm of his mother's heartbeat sped up slightly. Then came movement.

A force stronger than anything he had ever felt before squeezed around him, and for the first time since waking up in this tiny body, Grayson knew.

It was happening.

They were being born.

"Yes! Sister, we are finally leaving this hell hole called the womb. I hope I never remember it again in the future! See you on the other side of freedom!" Grayson shouted internally in his mind.

~Hours Later~

Grayson felt an unbearable pressure pushing down on him, his tiny body instinctively curling as he was squeezed through what could only be described as the world's worst waterslide. It had been hours and the warmth that had cocooned him for so long was now suffocating.

For the first time in this second life, he wanted to scream.

Then cold.

A rush of sensation unlike anything he'd ever felt crashed over him. His tiny body was no longer weightless, no longer floating in the hell hole. He was being held, but he was also covered in blood.

Then came the worst part.

A sudden, violent slap on his back sent a jolt through his body. Instinct took over, and before he could even process it.

"Wahhhhhh!" was the only sound that escaped Grayson's lips as he tried to look around, blinking; his eyes were too sensitive to the hospital lights.

Then another cry happened after a couple of minutes.

"Oh my, we have Twins! You heard that Amelia!" A masculine voice cried out in joy.

"Wait… Amelia? Isn't Blake's mother named Kali?" Grayson thought, feeling uneasy now.

"I heard Zack. Let the doctors clean them up first. Then we can hold them together." A tired female voice replied as she sighed when the doctors took the babies from her arms.

"Alright. They are just so cute." The male voice said in a happy tone.

"This is bad. If only I could open my eyes! I can hear their voices, but right now, their names escape me. If they're not Blake's parents, then I'm not Blake's sibling. I might have been born as a background character. This is going to suck—being a baby. But at least I'm out of the hell hole called a womb." Grayson thought.

After some time spent on tests and cleaning, Grayson could finally see in his second life. He and his new twin sister were sitting beside each other as the doctors brought them to their parents. Now that Grayson could see his new parents' faces, he could finally try to figure out who they were. However, when he saw his mother's and father's face, Grayson's expression turned pale.

"Oh no... This isn't Kali or Ghira. I don't know these characters from the show. I'm just a background character now but I'm also a Wolf Faunus." Grayson thought as his worst fears came true.

"They're beautiful. Just like their mother." Zack said as he saw his children, noticing that his daughter resembled his wife.

"Our son looks so much like you, Zack, and he's still awake," Amelia said, gazing into her son's beautiful blue eyes.

"Fortunately, I'm still a guy. Even if the system told me when I was in the womb I'm male, you can never be 100% sure until you're born. Still, I wonder which side of the world I'm on." Grayson thought as he looked into his mother's violet eyes.

"What should we name them?" Amelia asked, holding her newly born daughter close while Zack held their son.

"I was thinking if we had a Daughter we should name them Emilia but since we also have a son I thought of naming him Grayson." Zack said as he held his son close.

"I love those names. Grayson and Emilia Silver. Welcome to the world." Amelia said as she smiled looking at both of the twins.

"Well, at least I got to keep my name in this world. However, my new family's last name is Silver. I've never heard of it in the show, but I'll make do with this...Damn I'm already tired...This is going to be difficult to get used to this baby body." Grayson thought as he accepted his fate and closed his eyes.

~Two Weeks Later~

This is the hell he was walking into...Why? Because Grayson was beginning to understand what it truly meant to be a baby. 

It sucked.

Sure, the warmth of his mother's embrace was comforting. The gentle cooing of his father as he held him was nice. Even Emilia, his twin sister, who seemed to enjoy pressing against him whenever they were placed together, was a welcome. But beyond that?

Everything was a struggle. His body was weak, uncoordinated. Every movement required immense effort. His vision, still blurry, barely allowed him to make out shapes and colors. Worst of all, he was entirely dependent on others.

For someone who had lived about 17 years before, the amount of not being able to do anything is maddening.

But now he knew where he was in the world of Remnant, he was in Menagerie, though he didn't get to see much because his baby body was always sleepy. When he finally woke up again, he found himself in front of a giant wooden house that looked cool. And apparently, Zack and Amelia are members of the White Fang, along with Ghira Belladonna, while his mother was friends with Kali. 

This meant that Ghira Belladonna was still the high leader of the White Fang. Additionally, Blake was born shortly after he and Emilia were born, which means he would have the chance to meet Blake during his childhood unless fate had other plans.

At that moment, there wasn't much he could do other than watch TV while Amelia breastfed me and Emilia. At first, this bothered him since it was embarrassing for him, but as a baby, he had no choice.

Hopefully, he wouldn't remember this when he grew older. Speaking of Emilia...She was generally a calm baby, but she tended to get fussy if she wasn't near me for long periods. She would cry until she spent two or three hours with me, after which she would calm down.

"Emilia...Can you please stop looking at me, you have been doing that for the past twenty minutes." Grayson had to stop himself from losing his mind, which he thought he had already lost.

Their mother had placed both Grayson and Emilia in the living room so they could watch TV. However, the shows were strange and didn't make any sense to Grayson at all. Despite this, they kept Emilia somewhat entertained, which made him happy. 

"God, I wish I could stop being a baby and be five years old already..." Grayson thought as he kept an eye on the TV and on Emilia.