Now that I'm laying here and thinking about the Memory Trait. During the Aglaecwif encounter, she was whispering to the MC and then appeared out of nowhere in front of him. That could mean a few things here but we're going with the extreme to say that my living memory idea actually became a thing and I just noticed it now. Aglaecwif was possibly using her memory trait throughout the entire encounter before we even had sex with her. It also means she can use it at a distance.
After replaying that scene so much recently in such a short span, it reminded me that Aglaecwif's whole introduction was pretty bizarre. She starts off as a whisper that MC can't see and she begins to talk like she's listing off information she's receiving from his memory before appearing in front of him. This was overlooked by me because I figured she was just moving around as they talked but then I recalled it said she "slowly appeared out of thin air" in front of him. The key part was the "slowly" bit, which means that she wasn't physically there at all. She was possibly lingering around in a memory form before reforming her body when she confirmed what the MC was on arrival. A "Living Memory", as I like to call it.
I might be slightly delusional here but Mommy 4th, I hope that's accurate. I'm obsessed with the Memory trait, if you couldn't already tell. If true, that also means the 4th, and by extension MC, can also do it. Though, MC probably won't get that until Level 5, if his memory trait even develops into that direction. It would be on par with Ella's unchanging "Body" state ability. You can destroy the MC's body all day but as long as his "Memory" state exist, he'll reform. That's on top of him likely getting the same "Body" state as Ella too.
So what I'm getting out of this is you believe Aglaecwif wasn't PHYSICALLY present in the room until she "slowly approaches" from the shadows in front of us?
Or
That she can shed her PHYSICAL form to live as a sort of Mind entity and then physically manifested once she confirmed it was the MC?
I always just thought it was her moving exceptionally fast or at least above the perception of Lvl 2 MC whilst lurking in the shadows PHYSICALLY. But the way you describe it and point stuff out it does seem like it's one of the above...
You do bring up a side point that's always very fascinating to me, and that's the WAY Superhumans manifest their abilities. If a Superhuman focuses on a specific capability in their arsenal at say Lvl 1 or 2, throughout Evolutions their Superhuman abilities may try to lean on improving those specific capabilities that were focused previously.
It's hard as of right now to determine whether or not we will ever have the level of control Ella has as a shapeshifter by Level 5 because maybe THAT'S what ELLA'S focus was during her youth? It's odd.
What would happen if say Malik instead of being a War Veteran and nuking pillar high beams of singular attacks decided to go a more stealthy approach utilizing smoke as a cover, and then after a one or two Evolutions he gained a small control OVER the smoke he creates?
The MC had a tail that he utilized at Lvl 2 along with his Armor in almost every fight, then BAM; Level 3 and not only do we have MORE armors but also more tails. I don't see Ella having those as she seems to focus more on her hair and shifting into snakes and animals, and while it's not that she CAN'T do it I'm sure it's just that every Superhuman during their development leans more towards a certain way of using their abilities, so it comes as instinct and the power recognizes that.
Think of it like learning to master a gun. If you're a sniper for 40 years do you think you could automatically and just as EFFECTIVELY switch to a mini-gun? Probably not, you have the experience sure, the training to shoot a gun in the first place of course! The aim most definitely, but the same way of going about your opponents? Your distance? Mobility?
Curious subject indeed, as much as I distrust Xanthe I feel like I'd get along swell with him.