Catori wanted to scream. Everything was pain. It felt like her body was being ripped apart, a few pieces added, then put back together only to repeat the process. Moments turned into minutes as pain dominated her every cell. But she could not make a sound.
She did not know if it was hours or only seconds when Fio pulled her into their soul. A scream left her imaginary lungs and Fio’s form popped away. Her other self only reformed when her voice turned into sniffling cries and put a wing around her human shape.
“I suppose we now know why the system knocks you out for evolution…”, Fio said.
Catori made a weird noise between a laugh and a cry. She wiped her eyes and nose with a tissue that appeared from her thoughts.
“Right. Fuck, that was horrible.”
Her breath was shaky with emotion, mostly fear if she was honest.
“So, what happened exactly? Why did you stay conscious?”
Their eyes went to the TV mounted on the wall which was showing Catori’s viewpoint. A colourless wall was the only thing visible to them. It was slightly transparent but the details beyond it were impossible to make out.
“I didn’t even see that…”, Catori remarked.
She turned to her other self.
“The system was trying to adjust some ‘parameters’ to make it more likely for me to evolve but they reached a dangerous level. So it decided to go for ‘active involvement’ and asked me what I wanted to evolve to. It was… a bit strange. Like talking to a mediocre chatbot. I did manage to find something and then it said: This will be painful. Stay strong! Fuck, that was an understatement…”
“I see… What did you decide on?”
“I told it to adjust a unique species to give me a new one. It’s called Seraphim.”
“An angel?”
“Sort of. Exploration and friendship. With protecting friends as a focus.”
“That sounds great! So, what now? Do we just wait it out?”
Catori sighed.
“Yeah. That’s probably for the best.”
They settled down on the couch, Fio still holding her wings around Catori like a cloak. The image on the TV got a bit wobbly a few times but other than that, nothing really happened.
“You’re awfully cuddly today”, Catori said eventually.
Fio shifted her head a little.
“I felt that pain all the way into our soul…”
“Oh. Well, I don’t mind.”
“It’s an exception!”, the owl insisted.
Catori laughed.
“Alright. Then I’ll enjoy it.”
They lounged for a few hours waiting for something to change in the vision of Catori’s body. Other than the occasional movement behind the barrier, nothing happened. When it got dark, even those disappeared.
It was maybe half an hour after that when Catori felt an itching. It was a little like a few blades of grass or maybe spider legs crawling over her tummy. The feeling got more and more intense from soft pricks to a burning sensation.
“I think it’s time”, she said.
Fio shifted a wing.
“Then go? I’ll pull you back out if it’s bad.”
Catori nodded.
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
She hugged herself and pushed her face into Fio’s feathers one more time before taking a deep breath. As soon as she even considered going back to her body the pain returned.
She screamed.
She was able to scream.
And if she was honest with herself, this pain was barely worth a mention compared to what she had felt earlier. Once that thought hit her, she was able to calm down and simply endure. It also helped that the pain was already dissipating.
A few minutes later she was left with a dull throbbing all along her body. She rubbed the tears from her eyes and cuddled into her wings. Wait, wings?
Catori looked around. She was surrounded by a cocoon of white feathers. With a flex of will, they twitched. She reached out a hand… She had hands! And carefully touched the white wall in front of her. Her wing twitched slightly at the contact. She smiled. She had hands and wings!
~ding~ You have chosen to form a Core. Active Involvement successful. You have formed a Progenitor Core to align your body and identity. Are you satisfied with your new Self? Y/N?
Catori read the message and her mind stopped. A Progenitor Core? Her children would be seraphim as well? Why did the system do that?
~ding~ Progenitor Core is the default setting.
She snorted. Of course. It had to be a simple explanation.
Catori moved on to further examine her body. The grey shell around her was now almost fully transparent. This was what had happened for Fio way back as well. Her evolution was nearly done. When she saw Nymph looking at her from the other side with her scythes crossed in worry, Catori waved with a smile. The mantis relaxed a little.
Then newly formed seraphim looked down. As soon as she saw herself, her wings immediately shut her in another cocoon. She was naked! Completely and utterly in the nude! Catori felt the blood rush to her face and had to take a few minutes to calm herself down. The only one that had seen her was Nymph, her best friend. It was not a problem.
Eventually, she managed to flex her new muscles and limbs without dying from embarrassment. Her body was very much like that of a human, safe for the wings. Legs, arms, torso, and head. All the equipment was there as well. She ran her hands over her hairless skin in wonder. The soft and yet firm muscles underneath it were nothing like she remembered. All the weakness from her previous life was but a distant memory. She was strong and healthy, not a wreck battered and broken from a long fight with cancer.
And then there were her wings. They were huge. Maybe not the proper size to fully lift a human but at least three metres each when fully extended. Adding her body they maybe even reached seven metres wing-span. And they were beautiful. Stark white feathers just like any depiction of angels she remembered. Her skin was still the same as in the life before, the slight reddish brown of a mixed Caucasian and Native American heritage. The contrast between the two looked amazing, at least in her eyes.
Catori was very happy with the end result. Though now that she thought about it, the wings would probably get in the way of day-to-day activities. Now she just had to check her Status.
Species: Seraphim
Age: 2
Name: Catori
Gender: female
Status: sapient, healthy, Progenitor Core (unique), twin soul (Fio)
Level: 25
Class: -
Strength: 10+39
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Constitution: 9+36
Dexterity: 20+44
Perception: 12+45
Intelligence: 8+114
Wisdom: 8+114
AP: 0
Skills: [Eye for Danger lvl 6], [Shifting Wings lvl 4], [Binding Light lvl 4], [Healing Light lvl 1], [Light of Protection lvl 1], [Seraphim’s Song lvl 7], [Aerial Manoeuvring lvl 4], [Hidden Identify lvl 7]
This looked… normal. Her Attributes had not changed from before. She should really pick a Class, though…
The Skills were definitely interesting. Maybe now she could [Identify] them?
[Eye for Danger]: Your eyes are built for seeing not only long distances but also threats to those you hold dear. Improved eyesight based on Perception and innate understanding of potential threats based on Wisdom.
1st Breakthrough: Threats may not always be physical. Improves understanding of individuals that wish you harm before they take action.
It did work. That Skill seemed useful, though her Wisdom would be very weak whenever Fio was using her Attributes. The Breakthrough at least was very useful but it probably improved with Wisdom as well…
[Shifting Wings]: The Seraphim’s Wings are the pinnacle of flight. Change their shape to your will and never lose manoeuvrability. Only if you make them fully disappear will you be unable to take off.
Ooohh! Shapeshifting wings! That solved that problem… With a flex of will her stark white feathers turned a deep black. Then they shifted into bat wings. Then butterfly wings. She felt her vis power every change, some perditio flowing from their soul into her body. She would have to be careful not to use it too much. For now, she decided to settle for a red and brown pattern that matched her skin tone even better. Next Skill!
[Binding Light]: Use the light of your Will to bind what needs to stay. Creates connective material made of physical light to do as you wish. Stand upside down on the ceiling or hold your friends close forever! Stability of bindings increases with Intelligence and Strength.
Another very useful Skill. She could already see some great uses for it.
[Healing Light]: Use the light of your Will to heal what is injured. More effective on your friends and allies. Improved effect based on Wisdom and understanding of the injury.
That seemed very basic but incredibly useful, Catori thought. But did she really have to invest into Wisdom and Intelligence? She was much more interested in the physical Attributes, now that she had a body to move around with properly.
[Light of Protection]: Use the light of your Will to protect those who require it. Creates defensive measures to aid your friends and allies even in your absence. Stability of protection increases with Intelligence and Strength.
More Intelligence requirements. At least this one she could use when Fio was sleeping. Using her Attributes to make incredibly powerful shields seemed very useful.
[Seraphim’s Song]: The Seraphim is one of the greatest singers on this world. Their voice can captivate any audience with the ears to hear it.
1st Breakthrough: Modulate your voice to sing like any living being you know.
That was just a fun Skill. Catori loved singing and this would make it so much easier for her. She was never aiming for a professional career so cheating like this did not bother her.
~ding~ Are you satisfied with your new Self? Y/N?
Catori did not have to think about it. She was very happy with her body but there was one thing she wanted to change.
~ding~ Skills will improve with closest relative Attributes. Considerations have been made and implemented. Are you satisfied with your new Self? Y/N?
Well, that sucked… A bit. The fact that two of her very magical Skills improved with Strength was probably what the System was talking about with its ‘considerations’. She considered it for a little longer before relenting. This was fine. A good Class could let her focus on other things as well. And with her Starling body already having a good investment in Dexterity, she had the freedom to go for a more spread-out Attribute distribution.
She took one final deep breath before focusing on the System message.
‘Yes!’, she thought.
~ding~ Thank you for your cooperation! Active Involvement logged as successful. Further observation will be made to confirm long-term success. Please stand by…
~ding~ Evolution successful. Your race has changed from ‘Starling’ to ‘Seraphim’. Your body was strengthened against flux. Progenitor Core created. New species logged. Please spread your genetic information! Unique race created, life span limit removed. Loss of unique status will not change this.
So this was it… Catori shuddered a bit as the protective bubble disappeared and the cold night’s air met her bare skin. She cuddled herself into her wings, the bones shifting a little to better surround her body.
Instead of dropping on the grass, she slowly floated down a few centimetres before her bare feet touched the soft ground. She looked around and was happy to see clearly despite the darkness. Nymph sat in front of her on a branch. The mantis could now sit in her hand, even if it would be a little cramped. Catori had to be a little over 150 centimetres tall. Maybe 160? Too large to pass as a dwarf but not so much that living in the dwarven cities would be a huge problem. Their ceilings were mostly between 180 and 220 centimetres tall, luckily. And like this, she could spend time in human lands as well.
~ding~ Thank you for evolving! Adjusting Status… Complete. Enjoy your life!
‘Thanks, System’, Catori thought. She decided to take another look at the changes.
Species: Seraphim
Age: 2
Name: Catori
Gender: female
Status: sapient, healthy, Progenitor Core (unique, enriched – medium), twin soul (Fio)
Level: 25
Class: -
Strength: 10+39
Constitution: 9+36
Dexterity: 20+44
Perception: 12+45
Intelligence: 8+114
Wisdom: 8+114
AP: 0
Skills:
Racial:
Utility: [Eye for Danger lvl 6], [Shifting Wings lvl 4], [Healing Light lvl 1], [Light of Protection lvl 1], [Aerial Manoeuvring lvl 4],
Offensive: [Binding Light lvl 4], [Seraphim’s Song lvl 7]
General:
[Imaginatics lvl 7], [Hidden Identify lvl 7], [Sleep Talk lvl 6], [Eldritch Guidance lvl 5], [Sneak lvl 5]
That was interesting… The System had synced up some of her status menu with Fio’s. The enriched Beast Core, or Progenitor Core, was expected. The sorting of Skills into Racial and General was not. And especially not was getting every General Skill Fio had. Were they bound to their soul rather than body?
“That’s very interesting”, Fio sent to her thoughts, “Also, welcome back. We can finally talk again.”
Another presence entered their telepathic conversation.
“Catori, is that you?”, Nymph asked.
The seraphim nodded.
“You look wonderful! May I [Identify] you?”
“Go ahead. I’m gonna need to take a look at what Classes I can take now that I have a proper body. Maybe do it the proper way and work on some General Skills as well…”
“We still have our exploration”, Fio said, “I don’t want to keep you away from your body right now but we should get back to it, soon.”
Catori laughed. Out loud and in her thoughts.
“No worries, Fio. I’ll be there. Just give me… one day?”
“That’s fine. I want to try and break into that cellar at least before the meeting begins.”
“Sounds good.”
“You have quite the interesting species there, Catori”, Nymph said, “Let us see what you are capable of, yes?”
The seraphim nodded.
“After I get some clothes”, she grinned.