"Holy shit! Dear mother of Spirits!!"
Neo couldn't believe it. Had he become overpowered just like that? So easily?
With just two fruits?
Neo was certain that, at this moment, he was at least as strong as a common-grade beast.
In fact, he was pretty sure he could kill most of them effortlessly.
Neo closed his eyes and imagined a wonderful scene.
If a beast tried to overpower him with strength or speed, he could simply apply the concept of weightlessness to his body and evade all attacks like child's play.
If it attempted to overpower him with its strong defence and hardening aura, one sweep of his spear, enhanced with the concept of sharpness, would completely skewer it.
Had he grown that strong?
With just two fruits?
He took a deep breath and thought of another scene. If he were... 'doing the do', wouldn't the speed of his thrusts make her come in seconds?
Had he grown that good?
Neo turned around with a solemn expression. He stared at the magical tree intently, wondering,
'What exactly is the last fruit going to be like? How strong will it make me?'
Neo was excited. His extremely slim chances of escaping this gorilla settlement had risen quite a few notches.
He wasn't delusional enough to think he could go toe to toe with an uncommon-grade beast, but he should be able to escape, at the very least!
And he was just a mortal!
Thinking to this point, there was only one word left in Neo's mind...
'Climb, baby, climb!!'
He stowed the second fruit away as usual and pounced at the tree.
When the gravity slowed his movements, a grey glow suddenly appeared all over his body, and he continued to move at the same speed as before!
Weightlessness was just too overpowered!
Soon, Neo reached the tree again and stared upwards.
He knew deep within that this would be his hardest climb yet. Reaching the last fruit wasn't the biggest issue he had to deal with.
The real challenge was touching the fruit and surviving the mind attack that would come with it.
Neo had definitely noticed that the mind attacks were becoming increasingly difficult the higher up the fruit was.
It was common sense that the topmost fruit was going to be the deadliest.
'And also the most valuable...'
Neo began to climb upwards silently.
A serious look filled his face, and his gaze was laced with determination.
This was it!
Go big or go home!
Actually, it was go big or die young!
After five minutes of climbing, Neo reached the last fruit. His outstretched hand paused mere inches from the fruit's surface.
Even now, he still hadn't looked directly at the fruit. He couldn't afford to lose focus at this moment.
He needed to make a decisive move!
Boom!
The instant his fingers touched the fruit, Neo was sent plummeting downwards by a mysterious force so intense that his bones cracked upon impact.
His ears began to ring, and blood oozed from all seven of his orifices. He tried to scream or release the pain in some way, but he had lost control of his body the moment he touched that fruit.
It felt like he was going to explode!
Ten minutes of extraordinary anguish passed in silence, and the pain slowly left Neo.
He lay on the ground, a deep scowl on his handsome face, his body still spasming from the ordeal.
Neo's pain tolerance was already abnormally high, forged from unimaginable suffering as a mere child. But this pain was insane!
It was wild!
Neo had wished for death so many times during those ten minutes that even the grim reaper would have complained about spamming!
After thirty minutes, Neo finally sat up.
'Good. I didn't die. We can do this!'
Neo was a madman. As long as something didn't kill him, he was willing to do anything for power.
This was the result of the extraordinary thirst birthed within him after eighteen years of struggle.
He slowly stood up and stretched his shaky legs. He was going in again!
Boom!
Bang!
Thud!
Dum!
Neo kept crashing to the floor in different postures, yet he kept getting back up. Each time he climbed, he managed to touch the fruit for a few more milliseconds before the mind attack forced him down again. But with every attempt, his condition became more miserable, and his state grew increasingly dire.
Still, Neo didn't stop. His body moved like a programmed robot, ignoring all the pain and injuries he was enduring.
Broken bones couldn't faze him.
Torn muscles couldn't stop him.
A splitting headache couldn't scare him.
He had one goal, and he wouldn't stop until he achieved it!
As time went on, Neo entered a state of concentration so intense it was shocking.
He didn't blink, groan in pain, or pause to think. He just kept climbing.
Over and over!
Slowly, Neo's nails began to turn purple and started to elongate.
His skin darkened gradually, and as time passed, it reached a terrifying shade—a mix of purple and black!
His pupils enlarged, consuming the whites of his eyes, making them look like the endless abyss of space.
His body grew taller and more muscular. The common shirt he was wearing stretched to its limit, and his purple hair grew longer.
Neo looked like a being of chaos, a being of destruction that had emerged from the deepest crevice of hell to pass cruel judgement.
He looked like a demon.
But as Neo morphed into this abomination, his strength grew as well!
His jumps were powerful, and the once formidable force of gravity seemed to have no effect on him.
He reached the fruit easily and grasped it.
There was no suspense. The moment Neo's hands touched the fruit, the mind attack came as expected.
Boom!
Neo's head flung backwards as if struck by a powerful blow, but other than that... his body remained intact!
Neo grinned wickedly and yanked the grey fruit from the branch. The moment the fruit was plucked, the beautiful tree wilted in seconds, and all its leaves vanished.
Then, as if on cue, Neo's eyes suddenly dimmed, and his body collapsed to the ground with a soft thud.
He had gotten the last fruit!