Dozens of screens appeared around me, along with a massive three-dimensional image of myself floating in the middle of it all. I could still move my body around, so I wasn't restricted. Perhaps the pod simply took me to a different place. I took a step forward, closer to the image, to inspect it.

It had me labeled at the height of one point eight meters tall. The image of me was a mixture between being heavy-set and muscular, with a mopy head of black hair and a pair of soft brown eyes. There was a small splatter of freckles that framed a medium-sized nose. Really, I would describe myself as just plain. There wasn't anything that made me stand out. Next to the image of me was a long holographic screen with a keyboard made entirely of light.

I shifted my attention to it and skimmed across the screen.

You have been granted Tier 5 genetic knowledge by Malek.

You have been granted the Angel racial template.

You have been granted the Demon racial template.

Ah, so those were the boons he granted me. Genetic knowledge, along with two racial templates, didn't seem like a bad haul. All it took was me joining his guild. It was a little strange if you asked me, but I would not argue with it. I looked over the screen for a moment as I tried to get used to its setup.

After a bit of fumbling around with it, I pulled a second screen up and positioned it to the side, and brought up a copy of one race Malek gave to me. On a whim, it was the Angels to see what they were. The screen flickered a moment before it expanded and gave me two examples. One was a male with four white wings stretching from his back. A shimmering golden halo floated above his head that seemed to rain down a strange substance onto his blonde hair. His flesh was the color of copper and lacked any sort of imperfection. The body just looked average, as there wasn't anything special about it.

I glanced over to the next version and saw that it was a female version. Her bones were slightly smaller, and she had long, flowing locks of auburn hair. Besides both of the examples was a long-flowing script that explained genetic code, along with other variables that this race seemed to have. I could read that this race seemed to be a master of magic, with a low physical strength threshold. With a wave, I dismissed it and brought up the Demons.

The first example of this one was a large male covered in muscles. His flesh was deep gray and was framed in by four scarlet red wings. Above his head was a blood-red halo that crackled with power and sat above a pair of large menacing horns. His iris was the color of a raging fire, while the pupil was as black as ink. The Demon looked to be filled with vast anger. A far cry from the Angels, who looked serene.

The female didn't look all that much different. She was a bit more muscular than the female angel and had a tad softer features than the male Demon. I would say she was beautiful, in a destructive way. I glanced to their right and quickly read through the racial summary, and saw that the Demons and Angels had close to the same genetic traits. There were a few key differences between them. The first was the cells that governed their use of magic. The Demons had a strange mutation that seemed to limit them to only two specific affinities. It would also seem that those mutations further affected their genetic code, enhancing their strength. They were also filled to the brim with hormones that seemed to keep them in a state of anger and affected overall muscle growth.

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The further I looked into them, the more I realized it was intentional. They were almost entirely identical to the Angels in almost all regards. What if I were to clean out the impurities? I expanded the screen a bit and opened up another tab, which brought up four more screens. Each represents different functions of the body. The first was the muscles and organic systems. The next was the nervous system, and then after that was the mana channels, and then there was the overall genetic marker for the race. With the knowledge that Malek gave me, I already knew what I wanted to do.

I needed to clean out the mutations and reduce the hormones that would flood the Demon's body at conception. With that, all I had to do was clean out a bunch of the junk DNA that was acting on the overall cell structure. I reached forward with the task in mind. But the second my finger touched the screen, a notification popped up.

You have been prohibited from altering the Demon's genetic code.

Well, damn, that ruins my fun a bit. I dismissed the screen and looked at the two for a moment. Well, if I can't alter them, how about I combine them? It never said I couldn't do that. I created a copy of both templates and drug them down to another screen, and quickly set them both up.

I cracked my fingers and quickly looked through the code to see what I could merge and get rid of. I went ahead and pulled down a copy of the Demon's muscular and organ system and saved a copy of the template. With that being done, I mixed and matched the various parts of their bodies. While I couldn't directly alter the genetic code of the Demons, that didn't stop me from utilizing them in a certain way. As I worked, though, I realized it would take me a while to get somewhere. I had nothing but time, so let's see where this leads.

I failed far more than I liked and had to scrap the project multiple times. I couldn't seem to get the two to connect in a way that would work. Both seemed to reject one another. But what was causing it? I looked through each of the codes to see if I could find a reason it wasn't working. They were both almost the same, so why couldn't I? I tinkered around with the code for a while longer, hoping I could do something.

I was close to just giving up. I've tried everything and couldn't seem to get them to merge. With a frustrated movement, I slammed them together. 'Stupid fucking restrictions,' I muttered to myself as I backed away. I was going to close out the template and forget about it. Until the screen turned green, and a line of text appeared before me.

You have successfully used the Angel and Demon template. You have created the Nephilim template. This template has been added to your inventory.

I stared at the screen for a moment as my frustrations seemed to fade away. Ah, well, that works. I didn't know what I changed, but I won't argue with it. I dismissed all the screens and brought myself back to just one, and summoned my new race.

The Nephilim male was a potent blend between the Angels and the Demons. Part of its flesh was the color of copper, and the other half was the same as a storm cloud. His halo was split into three fragments that orbited each other. The first was pure white, without a single flaw. The second was as red as blood, while the third was a mixture between the two, with neither side thoroughly mixing. One eye was the color of solid gold, while the other was that of a raging fire. Both the male and female had long jet black hair that hung down to their backs, and both looked as muscular as the demons were.

I looked over at both the male and female, impressed with both of them. The Nephilim seemed to represent duality since they were both halves of a whole. I glanced through their traits to get a feel for them. They inherited traits from both of their parent races. They were skilled in magic and martial combat, almost to the degree of each race they were sired from. Within their template, they also had access to unique magic known simply as corrupted magic.

I looked it over for a moment and glanced through the other templates to see what the Angels and Demons offered. I really didn't pay enough attention to either of them. But now I was curious. With a quick gesture, I opened up the other two. The Angels held affinities for high-tier light and holy magic. The demons used Hell and dark magic. I looked between them all for a moment as I tried to compare them, but really, I had no clue what magic was. Well, I knew the basic definition, but other than that, nothing.

How strange. The more I sat here and thought about it, the more I realized why it was good that Malek didn't give me back my memories. It would have made everything a little more complicated. At the moment, I was a blank slate, with only my parents' faces to keep me company. I was sure that if I could remember my life and what it was, I would make far more different choices than I am now. But that was neither here nor there. All that mattered now was that I finished what I was doing in here.

I cracked my fingers, and scrolled over to the Nephilim, and selected a preview. I wanted to see how they felt and if I liked it or not. I fully intended on exploring everything else before I made my eventual choice. I, however, was just excited to test some things out.