The rush of Divine Energy increased over time.

It enveloped Neo in a golden hue.

He took a deep breath and sucked the Divine Energy surrounding him at once.

His core bloated like a balloon about to burst.

He compressed the Divine Energy and forced it to stay inside the core.

When the compression reached the limit, he let go and the Divine Energy exploded into the surroundings.

It was denser than a moment ago.

Neo sucked it in again and compressed it.

He let it all out when he was done.

After repeating the process several times, his core cracked.

It let out a thunderous-roar and shattered.

Another core, larger, formed from its pieces and it stored his dense Divine Energy.

[Divine Energy Purity: Grade 1 Awakened → Grade 5 Mythic.]

Neo's blood gained a strong shade of gold.

His skin became fair and his scars disappeared.

He could tell his affinities became stronger.

Specifically, his attunement to his elements increased.

Neo opened his eyes slowly.

He let out a putrid breath and noticed his body covered in black gunk.

His nose scrunched.

"It smells."

Neo was about to take a bath when suddenly a faint lightning bolt hit his window.

He saw Felix and Arthur below at the ground.

Scanning the area, he could see several students who were similarly staring at Neo's window.

"What was that?" Felix shouted to ensure his voice reached the third floor.

"…?"

"Your Divine Energy just went berserk! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I had a breakthrough. My Divine Energy didn't go berserk."

Felix went silent.

He, along with Arthur, stared at Neo with wide eyes.

"Breakthrough?"

Felix spoke with trembling voice.

"You were successful in digesting the Starplum fruit?"

Neo nodded.

"...Mythic Purity?" Felix questioned in disbelief.

"Yeah."

"Wow, fuck."

Felix covered his face.

He suddenly turned around and laughed hysterically.

"Hahaha, everyone, you called him a weakling?

"No, he is far stronger than all of you! I bet none of you have Grade 1 Divine Purity, let alone Grade 5 Mythic Purity!"

Harrison and Lucas frowned and left without saying a word.

The other students, irritated by Felix's boasting, returned to their rooms.

Neo just shook his head.

"We'll have a party tonight! It's your treat!" Felix shouted before Neo left.

"Okay."

Neo closed the window.

He smiled at Felix's antics.

After he returned from the bath, he cleaned the room.

It took a bit of time to remove the smell.

"I've achieved my goal of Mythic Purity."

Neo sat on the sofa and opened a drink.

He let himself rest as a reward for the hard work he did during the tournament.

"There are still two and a half days left.

"What should I do now?"

Underworld was anything but safe.

Neo knew he had to prepare more if he wanted to complete Barbatos' training.

"Since my combat techniques should be sufficient, I should focus on survival."

Food and water.

Neo needed them after he lost the Underworld's blessing.

Battles exhausted him greatly.

It made him hungry and thirsty.

He could ignore hunger for the 12 hours he spent in Underworld.

Water, however, was a problem.

"I guess that decides it. I'll learn to create water.

"It should be possible with my Water Affinity.

"And I'll use the remaining time to awaken my Shadow Affinity."

Neo needed training manuals.

He was about to visit the library when someone rang his doorbell.

"Delivery. Please sign this," Damian said.

Neo took the parcel and returned inside.

"This sender's address… It's the previous Neo."

The parcel was sent from the apartment where Neo woke up in this world.

It was sent one day before his arrival.

Neo opened the parcel.

The box was empty save for the slip of paper at the bottom.

"What's this?"

The paper had nine dots similar to a phone's lock pattern.

A line joined multiple dots.

"Is this my phone's password?"

Neo checked.

The pattern wasn't for the phone.

"Strange…

"Why send this?"

The suspicious timing and address of the parcel made Neo frown.

Looking back, Neo never knew what happened to the original Neo.

He, according to Henry, was an introvert, who often acted as if he lost his memories and ran away from home.

It was against his usual self to register for the Demigod Academy.

…!?

Suddenly, a thought appeared in Neo's head.

He looked at the paper in his hand.

"Is it the private app password?"

He used the Akashic Record (Internet) to know how to open the privacy settings.

After watching a tutorial, he opened the private app space.

It asked for a pattern-type password.

Neo used the pattern on the slip of paper.

…!

The pattern worked!

There was a single video in the private space.

"Why am I nervous?"

Neo noticed his heart beating loudly.

He gulped.

There had to be a reason why the previous Neo left a video behind and used a roundabout way to send the password.

It was as if…

He knew someone else would possess his body.

"No, that is impossible."

Neo took a deep breath to calm himself.

He clicked on the video.

…

The recording started with a static noise.

It showed an apartment.

The original Neo sat on the sofa.

He scratched his face repeatedly, leaving red marks over his face that caused him to bleed.

His eyes shook and he seemed to be out of breath.

…He was afraid.

"I-If you are seeing this video, then I a-am dead."

The original Neo took a deep breath.

He tried to smile, but it only revealed the intense fear he was trying to hide.

"I'm leaving this video as a wa-warning for my successor.

"Run away…"

There was a noise as if something fell in the kitchen.

The original Neo jumped and tried to run away.

He came back after a few seconds.

He smiled bitterly.

"I g-guess you must be thinking I'm p-pathetic.

"Hehehe…"

His body shivered.

"S-sorry. Is the v-video weird? I g-guess I'll start from the beginning."

He picked the camera and held it in his hand.

His sunken cheeks and hollow eyes made him look like a corpse.

"I'm Neo Clinton, th-the second person to possess Neo Hargraves."