The next morning arrived a little bit earlier for my parents as they woke up before anyone.
As my dad went out to go grocery shopping for the things we needed later, meanwhile my mother prepared breakfast for everyone.
Elly came into the kitchen with low energy. She hunted longer than anyone. Sleeping only the little amount her body needed to function on energy saving mode, she smelled the food being prepared and got up.
As Elly entered the kitchen, mom stood next to the counter and slowly looked up.
"Elly if you are awake enough, could you please go to wake your brother?"
"Sure thing mom~~~~ ."
Still half asleep, Elly made her way towards my room.
Stretching for a little while, she prepared her charge.
Not knocking. She opened the door, charged in, and jumped.
Elly would often wake me in different unladylike manners.
Punching me awake, nearly waterboarding me in the mornings, or in this case jump on me.
She always would come up with some other dumb thing.
But today was different.
I completely acted on instinct. Sleeping like an animal, always on lookout for unnatural noises so that I could escape from predators.
As Elly jumped onto me and got ahold, I tried jumping away.
Not knowing what was happening for a moment I dashed out of my room, Elly being on my back did not know either what was going on, but she was fully awake now.
I knew somewhere safe. The kitchen. Dashing towards it and entering the room I laid eyes upon my mother. I saw her waist.
"Aauuu?" (What the hell)
Suddenly stopping, Elly fell forwards and rolled against the counter.
Not knowing what was happening my mother began shouting.
"ELLY WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? A WOLF, IT'S A WOLF!"
I made a mistake, a huge one.
How did I end up in my wolf form? Why is that even working?
I remember coming out of my capsule as a human. Then I rushed into my room and curled up in a ball.
In. A. BALL!?!?!?
Change at will worked also in this world?
IT'S A SOULS SKILL!!! Why shouldn't it work. As it used no mana to activate, even in this not very mana rich world it would work properly.
Without caring for what my mother was shouting, I walked a little bit forward and put my paw in Ellys hand.
Then I changed back into my human form.
By that point my mother stopped shouting.
Her brain tried comprehending what she just saw.
Alex, her son charged in as a wolf with her daughter Elly holding onto his back.
Then he stopped, Elly fell and he got up again in the form of her son.
"Alex, explain!!!"
My mother said after a short while. She had a strict and demanding tone in her voice.
"I- I don't know. I can tell you about what I know after I eat something.
With something I mean I could ravish this entire kitchen on my own. I am hungry."
I picked up the also stunned Elly and put her onto her chair.
She was too excited to speak, but her eyes glowed.
As the first one that wanted to pet my wolf form, she was looking at me with her small eyes full of expectation.
"Elly, I can let you pet me a little bit. Not much. In moderation. Understood?"
Elly nodded hard. My mother on the other hand put on a smile again.
Her fear that I changed became nonexistent.
She hadn't raised a ferocious wolf. She raised a sweet little boy that somehow got into some weird wolf stuff.
With that her face changed again and she slammed both hands on the table.
"ALEX!?"
"Y- Yes, what is it mom?"
"You have your wolf form. Is the same true for the winged one?"
If Elly was frantic about the wolf form, my mother was even more livid about my wings.
Elly really comes after out mother. Even though we are twins, she took more after her than dad.
"That is a good question. It seems as if I don't have to explain the situation much as you have already guessed the right answer."
I focused on Change at will again and transformed into the seraphim form. Not much changed to my original body. Only additional wings came out of my back, and I could move them around.
"WOW. C- Can I touch them?"
My mother was excited and hesitant at the same time.
"First Elly and now you mom. What is the next thing. Dad wants to fly with me?"
No one looked at the entrance. As everyone focused on the winged Alex.
Meanwhile my father came back and looked baffled.
"Can someone explain to me why our son has goddamn wings?"
My father, still carrying the bags from his shopping spree had as many if not more questions than both mother and sister.
"I will come to that. First, sit. This will be heavy especially on you."
As everyone sat around the table and started eating the breakfast my mother cooked, I began recounting my experience.
"Souls are real. That is the reason why I can do the things I can do. Changing my forms is a kind of soul magic."
"I speculate that many of the innate abilities of our characters will also be present in this world."
"Elly can you remember all of your abilities that are shown in your status?"
She nodded.
"I have two. One is called elemental incarnation and the other one is called brave heart."
"I understand elemental incarnation, but can you explain what brave heart is?"
Elly began talking really fast. It all had come to the questionnaire every player took.
Many of her questions revolved around fire and conflict.
In the end she screamed at the system that she would make even the flames fear her.
The goddess of creation may have found that cute and gave her the corresponding trait that flames would fear Elly and easily submit.
"And you think our abilities we get in the game work in our world?"
My father was smiling from the bottom of his heart.
The smile changed to a smirk as if he was laughing at us wholeheartedly.
"Well dear, what did you get. First you were unhappy with your race but all of the sudden you are elated. Did you get something really good?"
The smirk grew even wider.
"In game my ability is partially beneficial. In the real world however, it becomes utterly stupid."
The ability of my fathers was a void storage. He wanted to be able to carry a mountain.
So the goddess chose the closest thing that he would be happy with.
As long as it was leveled high enough he would really be able to carry anything.
He did not wait long to test it and suddenly held a magical staff in his hands.
"Holy moly its real. Alex how did you find out you could use transformation? "
He was playing with the crystal atop his staff as he was speaking to me.
"By accident. In the inn I curled up into a ball when I went to sleep. I just instinctively did the same thing yesterday evening without thinking. Elly woke me up and my fight or flight instinct kicked in."
"I can just see who will be not pretty happy with the current development of the players. If this information gets widespread, chaos will reign."
I looked into the sky. Waiting for answers.
"My Goddess. How many players know so far that they can use their Abilities. I now know what you want of me. It is not to control chaos in your world, but my own."
"Hey Alex, since when are you religious?" Elly asked confused.
Our family was never religious. We were pragmatic and gods did not fit into our picture.
"Remember me telling you that my second form just had wings? Yeah, so I only told half of the truth.
My wings are the only thing that this form actually has, but it is the form of an angel.
So mom, I finally became the angel you always wanted me to be."
"Souls exist. Do you believe in gods now because of that Alex?"
"Nonono mom. I wouldn't believe in gods just because one thing that religious people have spouted for thousands of years is true all of a sudden."
I stood up and walked towards the fridge.
While picking out something more to eat I continued.
"I know of it firsthand. The short story is that while taking my questionnaire I used kind of a bug and the angel that was observing had to come and get me personally.
After that I talked with her and chose my own race.
At first it was just to test some things. It got out of hand after I tested the highland wolf…"
I took a good bite out of the apple I took and smiled a little bit.
"I got overconfident and wanted to test the angel race. As a soul you can shape your body anyway you like. That is also the gist behind my transformation ability. If you just so happen to shape your soul the exact way that a different race looks like, you can copy that particularly race.
To not become the female angel I just took on the characteristics of that angel.
So wings. That should have been all."
"Should have?" My family said in unison.
"Yes, should have. The goddess of creation had different ideas for me. She planted a spark of divinity into my soul. That made me a proper angel.
The angel that guided me until that point was livid, I tell you.
Rightfully so as I suppose.
From her point of view, I got gifted something that only official angels get and that after long years of training."
I finished my apple after that and stood there in silence.
Remembering my conversation with Haniel made me remember something the goddess said to me.
[You are a soul, remember that. Those two are not your limit.]
I completely focused on my wolf form and the skills that come with it.
Not even considering that I could be so much more.
For example the moose would have been a fine addition to my forms.
To just run with high speed and ramming things away sounded fun.
I took on only the wing characteristics of Haniel.
Couldn't I do the same thing in any form?
I completely forgot that I was with my family and started trying my theory out in the kitchen.
Changing back into my wolf form I concentrated on the seraphim characteristics of the wings.
Already having some experience in changing forms this was easier than I was expecting.
I adjusted the wings a little bit to fit this new form well by making them smaller and fluffier to match my fur.
After going in a circle and looking at myself through the fridge reflection two voiced could be heard.
"CUTE!!!"
Both my mother and sister got up from their seats and rushed towards me.
Trying to escape those two was impossible I knew that. So, I chose the best possibility I could think of. Surrendering.
I let myself fall to the side to lay on my back.
Looking as cute as wolfly possible with my little wings tucked closely to my stomach.
By the look on their faces I achieved a critical hit.
Even my father in the back looked like he wanted to jump into action.
The only thing on his mind being 'He is my son. I have to hold back and not succumb to his godly fluffiness'.
My sister and mother fawned over me for close to an hour.
I did not mind it because getting caressed felt pretty good and I had time to sort my thoughts.
Mother let go of me a good while ago but Elly kept hugging me and playing with my ears.
At some point I had enough. Not wanting to hurt Elly I activated my Ethereal form and slipped through. Mid-flight, I returned to my human form and sat on my chair again.
Father was not participating in my fluffiness but nonetheless he was being productive.
He played around with his void storage and tested various thing with mana.
From the looks on his face he was not successful.