They also didn't know how or why, but they all woke up almost simultaneously, within seconds of each other.
First was our father, who woke up on the floor, his body having outgrown the bed. He used to be 1,88 meters, but now he was 2,14 meters. Even the hair on the top of his head had partially returned, returning to the same reddish-brown color he'd had when he was younger. Not to mention that he was much more muscular, much more muscular, according to Mari.
With this description, I initially thought he might have become some kind of giant, but Mari assured me he hadn't. Father had become a dwarf-giant hybrid, brilliantly named Dwarf-Giant in the status race tab.
....
Wow, I wake up a little more unusual than I did. Dhampirs are hybrids, but in several stories, they are also a species of vampires, along with normal vampires, Nosferatu, Ghouls, and noble vampires.
Giant-Dwarves, on the other hand, at least in the stories, are completely isolated cases that, as far as I know, are never described as a race of their own—maybe in some DeD stories, but none that I can recall.
As for our mother, she became something even more unusual than a half-vampire or hybrid of some kind: she became an angel. Pure and simple, she became an angel.
.... Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know how to feel about this, since I'm a dhampir, technically a type of vampire, and everywhere you look, vampires and angels don't mix.
Except as enemies. After all, vampires are walkers of the night and darkness, usually having some relationship with demons and angels... seriously, do I need to explain?! The compatibility is obviously horrible; I literally have an ability called [vulnerability to light].
Haaaaa, I'm feeling really depressed right now.
"Well, don't think about that now. We know Mom became an angel, but that doesn't mean she'll dislike you, or you dislike her. You know angels generally have subtypes, like celestial angels or elemental angels, right? You already gave a thesis on that (which no one asked for) in high school, right?"
That was my sister trying to cheer me up, considering one of my family members would now basically be a walking torch for me; if I get close, I'll get burned, probably literally in this case.
Aaahhhhh!!!!!!!
But she's not wrong either. So far, from what I've gathered from what she said, we all become something that somewhat aligns with our interests and habits.
My sister became a pixie, a fairy who's good with both animals and plants (basically the same type of fairy as Tinker Bell, but without being separated by subtypes like in the movies), which, honestly, she always was.
I became a dhampir (I still have complaints about that), both because I prefer the night and because I'm still quite active during the day, and probably also because I'm kind of... arrogant and slightly sadistic. I admit I can think of other reasons why I ended up this way, but I doubt anyone wants to hear it, so I'll just continue with my analysis.
My father becoming a Giant-Dwarf... Honestly, he was the one who made the most sense, completely dedicated to work when necessary or just for pleasure, just like dwarves. He even seemed to enjoy himself when he made some homemade bows when I was archery, but not so much when he used them, just like the craftsman dwarves are in 99% of stories.
He's also extremely stubborn about most things, like a dwarf. If something he's dealing with isn't going his way, he tends to resort to pure brute force (when possible), and doesn't ask for mercy or help until he finds a solution. Kind of like how giants (and dwarves too) were described in many stories.
Stubborn, a bit short-tempered on occasion, and with a tendency to use force, but not resort to fighting if he has a disagreement with others (I'm the one who does that). There are also several other points that corroborate this, but I doubt anyone will want to hear them.
My mom—I'm obviously biased, but she has several basic angelic characteristics. Protective, loving, scary when she gets angry, and always there for you when you need her.
That describes most mothers, but what can you do?. I think many of them really have the potential to be angels, maybe mine wasn't the only one who became one.
Essentially, it makes sense that we became these creatures, but the burning question is: WHY?! Why did we become these creatures in the first place??!!!!.
I've read about people who went to other worlds and turned into mythical creatures, like dragons, goblins, slimes, orcs, etc. They even turned into objects like swords, axes, dungeon cores, and even more unfortunate ones who turned into normal insects like mosquitoes or bees.
But I've never seen anything like a magical apocalypse where people turned into mythical creatures out of nowhere!!!
Now, stories about magical apocalypses where people gain systems and monsters start appearing? I've seen that many times.
Oh, my head is really hurting now.
"Hey Mari, do you still have any headache medicine at home?"
She just stared at me with a look that said, "You already know the answer."
Haaaaaaa~..... OK, let's try to ignore the pain and continue the conversation.
"And what did you do after you woke up?"
"Basically the same as you. We entered the house, saw everything ransacked, heard a noise coming from the entrance, and found a group of armed goblins, I think there were about 7 or 8 of them."
She told it completely casually, as if this were something routine... well, I guess from now on it really will be.
"And..."
"We fought and killed them."
She said calmly again. I was starting to think she might have lost her mind.
"Well, Mom and I screamed and froze. When they got close enough to use their daggers, Dad appeared out of nowhere and punched the nearest goblin. He was thrown like a volleyball across the street and turned into just a red stain on the neighbor's wall."
Now that she says it, I think you actually saw a stain like that near the front neighbor's gate.
"The other goblins didn't even seem to notice one of them was missing when they turned to Dad. They jumped on him and stabbed him."
When she said that so calmly, I really thought she'd lost her mind. Who says Dad was stabbed like that?!
"Hey, don't look at me like that. You don't need to worry. Mom and I were shocked when it happened too. We went straight to them to get them off Dad, but we didn't even need to."
She said, pausing briefly to gauge my reaction, then continued.
"We hadn't even taken two steps when Dad did that movie move where the protagonist has several weaklings on top of him, then he opens his arms wide and throws them away. When he got up, we saw that several of the knives hadn't even made deep cuts, even though they were sharp. Some were still in the skin, but not very deep, since he wasn't bleeding."
"Even though everyone was thrown against the walls and the floor, only two had their necks broken. While the others were simply stunned or surprised, they quickly attacked again, this time aiming for me."
She paused briefly. Remembering being attacked by a goblin with a knife can't be a good memory.
"Since I was the smallest, they must have thought I was weaker. They weren't far wrong. When I realized one of the goblins had gotten close to me, he was already grabbing my arm and attacking with his dagger."
I continued to watch her as she made the move, so I could get a better idea of what had happened.
"And in that moment of despair, I just wanted to get away from that creature as quickly as possible. I closed my eyes and wished for it with all my strength. The next moment, I felt my body light, like when we go down a zip line, but with the rope attached to my back instead of my legs."
"As soon as I opened my eyes, I didn't feel any pain, and I saw that I was near the wall, about 3 meters from the goblin that had grabbed me and 1 meter from the ground, and for some reason everything around me seemed bigger."
"I think I was in shock, since I was floating in that corner until the fight ended. But from that spot, I could see how things ended. I could see Father punching another goblin into the house, kicking another into the street, and the last one that had grabbed me... Mother took care of him."
"How?"
I'm a little scared, to be honest, but It was necessary.
"When she saw the goblin holding me down and attacking me with the knife, she said she felt a great wave of anger radiate from her heart and pass through her stomach, and from there to her fingertips."
....
"She said it was something different from normal anger, she couldn't quite explain it, but she knew something wanted to come out of her, and when she raised her hands, lightning literally shot out and pulverized the goblin."
…..
Maybe I should have let curiosity kill the cat.