MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin

Adam was not given the time to decide on his skill choice as Sae walked back into the bathroom quite soon after she left.

"You seem quite focused. Anything of matter, Adam?"

"None. I'm just thinking… How do we act when we are with our friends? Do we need to tell them about…you know… Us?"

Sae was surprised, hearing his words as she started chuckling out loud, "See, funny that you are saying this now. The one who called me was actually Natasha. She is coming to see how I am doing. Just couldn't dissuade her. You know that she can be quite stubborn when it comes to things like these."

"Should I leave then?"

"Your choice really. What we do is our own problem. Not anyone else's. But I am not too keen on informing everyone about my sexual life or my partner in crime."

Sae would really prefer if Adam chose to leave right now. She seriously did not want to face any form of drama; she hated that with a passion.

Their relationship as sexual partners was purely physical, at the end of the day.

Ideally, they should be able to separate their relationship as friends and as lovers so that the two worlds would never collide and cause friction in either of their relationship identities.

"I see. I guess I will leave then. I have other things I need to take care of."

Adam was relieved as he honestly didn't want to stay but didn't wish to seem like a jerk either.

He nodded and went out of the bath while receiving a smack on the ass from Sae as she laughed out loud and fled before he retaliated.

———

A few minutes later, after Adam had left Sae's apartment — of course, after helping her clean the room as much as possible and taking care of all the incriminating traces of their passionate time together — Sae opened the window of her bedroom wide and used a few fresheners to chase away the musky scent of sex that heavily doused the room.

When the subtle beeping noise resounded, signaling the door of her apartment being open by bypassing the safety feature, she belatedly remembered that she had given Natasha the password to her apartment room. It was hindsight on her part.

'Thank god that she didn't come without a warning. Perhaps, it's time to change the password.'

"Hi, short stack. Mommy has come to see you. Look at what I brought?"

Natasha entered the room, clad in a clean pair of jeans and a pristine white shirt. Despite the simplicity of her attire, her beauty and grace were unmistakable.

In her hand, she was holding a bottle of wine that was clearly expensive even at first glance. Clearly, she had come here to be there for her in her time of need.

Sae was about to answer when she noticed Natasha suddenly stiffen on spot, as she sniffed the room a little before giving her quite the funny look at Sae.

Sae felt her heart seize a little at seeing her unnatural expression, thinking that her secret might've gotten exposed. But once she saw Natasha shrug and take a seat on the corner, she thought that she was overthinking things. At least she thought so until—

"I initially brought this wine so you could drink your worries away. But it seems like it will need to be a congratulatory wine instead."

"Haha~ What do you mean?"

"Gonna deny it until the end now, will ya? This room reek of sex. Who was it? Adam?"

"Why the heck did you even directly jump to hum? You know Adam's scent or something?"

"So it was really him, huh? Let's just say I have a pretty good nose."

Sae covered her face in shame when she realized that she had just been tricked. She deduced that Natasha was just guessing randomly and managed to get a good guess that uncovered the secret she had wanted to keep.

"Fucking bitch!"

"Heh, at least I am not a bitch in heat."

Sae chortled before shaking her head in resignation, "It's a long story."

"All the better then. Listening to a long story while drinking wine would surely be an interesting experience."

She took one of the glasses Sae brought and filled it to the brim with the expensive wine she brought.

"So, tell me, what pushed you toward him? I am truly curious. Also, did it feel good?"

Natasha asked with great curiosity evident in her eyes. Learning that two of her best friends might enter into a relationship didn't surprise her much.

She had witnessed much worse in her life.

'Though, his scent seems a little off. Should I speak to him?'

She shook her head as soon as that thought came to mind. Now wasn't the time for thinking of such things. It was not her problem to care for their future.

Soon she will need someone to accompany her for a private dinner but she still hadn't found anyone to take with her.

'I hope that woman will finally answer me and give me what I asked.'

'If she didn't get it this soon, I would be pissed royally.'

———

Adam, meanwhile, was finally back home after that exciting day at Sae's.

He wondered if it was finally time for him to see that skill. He had already noticed that Shuri was not present, so this was perfect.

"What should I do before activating the Eyes of Truth?"

[You will need cold water. A lot of cold water.]

"I read the warning, Will the change affect my body in any way?"

[The Eyes of Truth is a skill that belongs to a Bodhisattva who attained enlightenment before entering Samsara and became Buddha after discarding their physical bodies.]

"...Okay."

Adam swore that he could basically hear Genesis sigh in repressed frustration inside his mind even though the book's spirit was supposed to be emotionless.

But what could he do? Knowledge was not so easily acquired.

[It will affect your body and your mind.]

It seemed to have given up on giving long explanations, which caused Adam to frown visibly. He did not mind getting an explanation from the spirit. Having more knowledge was always good.

"Is it truly worth it, then? Will the effects be only positive without any aftereffects?"

[I have made some research using some terms that should be easier for you to understand. Imagine that the seven Chakra are Skill trees. You need to unlock one of those trees before being able to learn the skills.]

[The Eyes of Truth is the last and most difficult skill in that tree. Humans cannot open the Third eye. Which basically means that they should in theory be unable to get that skill. Even so, some very rare exceptions did. only a few tens out of Billions of humans and after sacrificing their bodies and becoming Celestial Supernatural creatures.]

[Now then there's you. Who can learn that skill, just because you made love to a woman and broke the knees of two people.]

Adam closed his mouth, deeming it accurate to not speak of any more nonsense. He began to walk toward the bathroom in order to prepare himself.

[I cannot judge whether it will be worth it for you or not. Since you already opened the Third Eye, you can theoretically learn all the skills available under that skill tree with just enough training and time. Time is meaningless for an undying existence such as yourself so the choice is yours to take.]

Adam mused, "In short, you are saying that everyone else is a free-to-play (F2P) player and I am about to become a Pay to win (P2W) player?"

[.....You…You could say that?]

"Nice. I hate grinding anyways."

Adam had always envied the pay-to-win players. Sadly, he never had the means to follow in their footsteps.

Now though he was about to become a pay-to-win player in real life. Why would he be willing to miss such an opportunity?

[Do not be mistaken. The karma price of a skill depends on how many of the requirements you reached or your level of knowledge. The less they are the higher the skill cost.

Without the two prerequisites, I placed for you. Eyes of the Truth would be unavailable for you without hundreds of thousands of Karma.]

Adam was not stupid and immediately understood. "The free pass. It's thanks to entering the library that I obtained Appraisal."

[Indeed. Do not squander your opportunities as they will be quite rare in the future. Appraisal is a skill only available to witches after they have signed a contract with a Celestial supernatural entity.]

"So I am basically using a Hax."

[All Primogenitors break the law of Providence and nature by their very existence.]

Adam chuckled when he realized he had obtained one free pass for free and another one just for doing his work at the bar.

The more he learned about the supernatural, the more he understood just how helpful Genesis was.

There were still so many things he did not know nor understand. He really hoped they could have a better relationship in the future.

"Thanks for dumbing it down a little for me. I am still new to all this so it was very helpful."

[....]

Adam ignored the silence and took a look at his handiwork.

The bath was completely filled with adequate amounts of water. He also filled it with all the blocks of ice he could find in the freezer.

'Well, I heard ice baths are good for the health.'

He gave himself a pep talk. Then took a deep breath and unlocked his seal before plunging into the ice bath.

[Skill: Eyes of Truth

Description: Eyes that allow one to gaze beyond the boundary of reality and into the world beyond.

Potential: EX]

[Requirement 1: 100 Karma]

[Requirement 2: Skill Appraisal.]

[All conditions meet.]

[Do you wish to learn the skill?]

[Y/N]

[Warning: Eyes of Truth is a skill with an EX-ranked potential. It's advised to learn this skill in an isolated place.]

Adam's choice this time was immediate…

'Yes.'

He thought powerfully as he fought his instincts of escaping the confinement of the glacial water.

At first, nothing happened but then, everything changed as if the reality he knew of had been altered.

[Start of the synchronization]

'Synchro?'

Adam only had a moment to wonder what that word meant when a leaf with an eye in the middle appeared in front of him, covering his entire vision.

There was a sharp ringing sound! The sound cut through his eardrums and made him dizzy.

It felt like he was being pulled out of his body. His mind felt like a weak blade of grass under that suction.

His vision was entirely covered in white and when he finally was able to see he was nowhere near his bath. Nor even his home or Los Angeles for that matter.

A beautiful and vast grassland. A refreshing air that could not be found in polluted cities and a man meditating with his eyes closed in front of a large tree.

Just where the hell was he?

(AN: Serious question. What do you think about the gaming terms? I usually avoid them in my other story, Son of the Hero King, since it's medieval fantasy. Midnight Prince though is modern and Adam learned game and anime through Sae. Of course, I won't use them every time. But I just wanted to know the overall opinion about their uses.)