Caleb was speechless seeing the skill the system created for him. As a geneticist, he knew a lot about the genome of organisms, especially the human genome.
However, to see something like a skill where he could manipulate genetic makeup, made him a bit confused.
'Then again, it did mention analyzing past memories, so it created a skill based on what I already knew.'
He thought with eyes focused on the display before him, wondering if the system he got was a sentient one he could interact with.
"System, what do I call you?" He asked.
But no response came as the system's display projected the just-created skill.
'I'll just call it genetic system or G-system for short'
"Hmm…. What exactly is genetic manipulation?" He tried again and this time, the prompt changed to a description of the skill.
"So I can command it to project what it already knows and not to engage in a conversation actively."
Caleb then focused on the description of what the skill could do and he was already feeling excitement bubbling up inside him.
Where there was manipulation, there was playing with. It meant he could do a lot of messing around with the genes.
[Genetic Manipulation: Allows host to make changes to their genetic makeup and the genome of other organisms.]
It was simple and straight to the point.
"But how exactly am I to do that? It's not like you can pull out your genome and manipulate it. Those things aren't even big enough to see with the naked eye."
However, considering what the name and description implied, there was certainly a way that can be achieved.
With that in mind, Caleb thought of another question.
"Show me a list of your capabilities."
Abruptly, the description disappeared as the system made a list of some of the things it could do. Because Caleb did not specify exactly what those capabilities were able to do, it just presented him with a list.
[Gene Splicing]
[Adaptive Mutation]
[Bio-Interface]
[HUD]
[Appraisal]
[Areal Scan]
[Storage]
[Cellular Regeneration/Healing]
[Memory Encoding]
Caleb's breath hitched the more he read as the meaning behind those functions was ingrained in his mind.
Even without the actual descriptions, he could infer what most of the functions meant and while some were a given, it still made him incredibly excited.
"Hehehe... This is good." He grinned widely, feeling the urge to yell in absolute bliss. "This is definitely going to be a good life."
He had already forgotten about his death just a few minutes ago, completely taken over by the new wonder.
After taking a couple of deep breaths to calm his rising emotions, he focused on some of the functions and decided to check them out.
"Hmm… Which one to choose?"
He thought about his situation, looking around to see if there was any presence around, but still detected nothing.
His eyes stared at the [Adaptive Mutation] keenly and then made his choice. He attempted to click the projection and it reacted to his touch.
"I can interact with it as well. That's nice. But the screen was too small for me."
Looking at the opened window for the [Adaptive Mutation] function, Caleb made a gesture with both hands as he pinched both ends of the screen and widened them.
The screen followed as it enlarged and covered the space around him.
"Sweet."
He grinned in delight, feeling like a certain tech billionaire genius in the movies. The enlarged screen didn't just enlarge but turned into a holographic 3D interactive interface.
The turquoise blue colour of its interactive interface gave Caleb a feeling of using futuristic tech.
[Adaptive Mutation: Allows host to adapt genetic structure for enhancement]
"Now I'm wondering where the system came from." He shrugged and forgot about that. Whatever powerful being gave him the system, he was thankful.
Standing inside the 3D interface, Caleb looked at the projection of a human figure with labels pointing to different sections with small descriptions.
'Is it a representation of my body?' It was the only logical thing to think, considering the function he wanted to explore was about mutations and enhancements.
"Hmm…"
He focused on the chest region as he noticed something that humans on Earth did not have. He zoomed in on that portion and the description.
[Mana Core: An organ found in the bodies of all humanoid beings. Stores mana and allows for circulation through mana channels to cast magic.]
[Current State: Drained]
The size of the core was about that of a gulf ball, "No wonder I couldn't cast any spells when I tried earlier.
"And I'm not feeling any effects of being drained as you'd think." He muttered and looked at his arms not finding any signs whatsoever.
But then he wondered if being drained was a result of dying, but with no proof, he could only speculate.
After a moment of thought, he commanded.
"Bring out my genome."
The system complied and projected his genome arranged in 23 pairs of chromosomes aligned the same way he knew it.
The chromosomes were not much different from what he knew aside from a few differences in height or shape.
They all carried descriptions outlining which chromosome carried what and was responded for which aspect of his genetics.
Then he brought out one that carried the expressed genes for making his muscles and then zoomed in on the sequence, taking in the long line of bases that had some areas greyed out.
'I want to see if I can strengthen my cells and muscles.'
Before he made his way to any village or town, he needed to be strong enough to fight off whoever killed the previous being.
Those people could come after him again if he was careless, and the being died once, it meant he was either too weak to fight back or was taken by surprise.
Whatever it may be, he needed to be ready. There was no rush on his part, no deadline to meet or work to rush to.
Taking a deep breath to dispel his wandering thoughts, Caleb focused on the genes and went to work.
'I can make an overall change to my body cells to be tougher and stronger than the average person, and still maintain their flexibility.'
His mind spun rapidly as many ideas and theories about what he could do came to mind.
With a knowing smile, Caleb began studying his genetic makeup, making changes, and running simulations with the system to see what was doable and what was not.
Those that were acceptable, he stored and moved on to new ideas that kept popping up.
He worked on increasing his physical toughness, strength, speed, healing factor and increasing the capacity of his mana organ.
"Hehehe…. This world won't know what hit it."