MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin

What didn't kill you only made you stronger.

This was a quote that was generally used to help people who were going through a difficult phase in their lives. Giving them the hope that there would be a better tomorrow as long as they held on and muscled through the tough times. Survival was the key motive here.

This quote could also be used for people who had specific goals that they wished to reach in life. By giving up on many pleasures of life and accepting the suffering the path towards their goals entailed, they could obtain a better future for themselves. Hard work and suffering in return for a smooth sailing tomorrow.

It was truly a beautiful quote with an equally beautiful teaching. It was a quote that showed humans the essence of survival and the rewards of perseverance.

But Adam realized that this quote had to be changed for him, an ever-resurrecting immortal that he was.

Death was the only way for him to become stronger. Even in death...he would only return as someone stronger and better so there was no other way for him to improve his powers.

"Fuck..."

Breathing roughly, Adam was lying down on the cold and hard ground with his whole body trembling from the agony she felt. His body was covered in a sheen of sweat and sticky blood.

He could not move his legs anymore and this was not even a metaphor. He literally couldn't move them.

By moving the Prana through his spine and attempting to open the minor pathways there, he had made a mistake and while he didn't die for doing that, he had lost all sensations in his lower body.

Should he say that this was a boon instead? The small light in the sea of bad things currently happening to him, since he could not receive any sensation now. This simply meant that he could not feel any pain. The soul-shivering pain that could make any veteran warrior piss their pants with tears and snot marring their faces.

"Hah..."

Just remembering the sensations of pain was enough to make his mind and body shiver. It was a completely inhumane experience.

The opening of the Chakra itself was painful but as if that wasn't enough, every time he made a mistake, he was able to find out just how fragile the human body truly was.

'Sigh...I should just kill myself now, I guess.'

If there was one thing good about this at least, it was that he did not fear death as much anymore... However, he wasn't quite sure whether this was a good thing for him or bad.

The first death during this training was caused by his head exploding, quite literally, in fact. He had used too much Prana when trying to open the Chakra pathway that was located in his head. He was thinking of doing it because he thought it would be easier since the Crown Chakra was already open.

Boy! He was wrong as he could be.

The ten or so following deaths were caused by the same reason. Thankfully by the 11th, he was able to get a hang of the amount of Prana necessary to open a pathway perfectly.

The Eleventh death was caused by blood loss after his right arm exploded due to a slight mistake in circulation.

The thirteenth death was him bursting the artery around his heart and dying due to a literal explosion of his heart.

His twentieth....

His thirtieth...

Every time, the cause was slightly different than the rest but the result was the same.

Death. Death. Death. Death. Death.

Again and again and again. Over and over again without seemingly any signs of an end.

If there was one good thing about this then it was that as long as he opened a Chakra, even if he died afterward, the Chakra would stay open.

Genesis explained that it was because his body always reconstructed itself into its peak state.

This was really good news for him. He didn't know how many more times he would have died without having this cheat skill.

The bad thing though, was that he understood that his little idea for his mother had to be scrapped or changed entirely.

Since he could die and come back to life, he had thought about using his heart once he opened the Heart Chakra and giving it to his mother so that it could be a replacement for her weakened heart.

Of course, he didn't know if they were compatible or if there was a problem with a woman using a man's heart.

But he had been stopped in a more fundamental place.

His resurrection seemed to always wipe away all traces of his death. No blood, no brain matter. No busted limbs or anything of the like.

His body was always spotlessly clean when he woke up from death.

'Sigh. I should try opening a few more before dying.'

Adam did not even realize how much his psyche had changed in the few moments he spent deep in this basement.

It was then that the Book opened and the pages turned until stopping at a specific point. Letters started appearing before him as the book of genesis started inscribing something in itself to reveal to him a new set of Pivots.

[Pivot: Acedia -- A Sin Oh So Sweet--!

Description: Why suffer so much now when you can slowly push it back? Push back the opening of your Chakras and rest.

Reward: +500 karma]

[Pivot: Diligentia -- A Virtue Oh So Tiring--!

Description: Grit your teeth and continue trudging on the grueling path.

Reward: +250 Karma]

[WARNING: Pivots are choices, important or unimportant at the instant, that might change the direction of the future ordeals given to you...]

Adam looked absentmindedly at the book before simply ignoring it.

He did not even need to ponder on his choice.

"I will continue."

'At least, I have not become completely crazy yet.'

Was it because of his C-rank willpower? After all, the D rank was the limit of humanity. He literally had supernatural willpower at his disposal.

This was perhaps the only reason he could still grit his teeth and continue this horrible experience.

Prana entered his body once again and like a needle, it pierced the next chakra point following his spine.

"Ugh! Argh!!"

His eyes became bloodshot and blood flowed out from his mouth as the pain shot through his body.

People generally became used to resisting a certain threshold of pain as they grew older and went through more events during their lives.

A wound that would make a kid cry would only make an adult frown and professional fighters could take hits without even flinching.

But for Adam, the pain he felt was basically soul deep. There was no getting used to it. All he could do was do his best to stifle his screams as much as possible.

'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!'

The pain was simply too much to bear. But even though he wished to stop, even though he simply wanted to take a pause and breathe a little, he knew he could not.

He did not even try to think about the sweet temptation the book was offering him.

Right now, he was entirely working on adrenaline. He did not think that he would have the courage necessary to start something like this again if he really stopped now.

Acedia or sloth in Latin. He knew very well that once you found an excuse to push something back, you would find a new excuse the next time around.

Again and again. Always saying tomorrow. Always thinking that you had time. Even though time was the most precious commodity for humans.

A limited non-renewable resource that humans have always chased after.

The pain he felt now was only momentary. The blood, sweat, and tears that flowed now were necessary if he wished to not become a burden for his mother in the future.

Saying I would do it tomorrow was equal to saying I would never do it.

He did not wish to ever again be in a situation where all he could do was die helplessly because of the whims of someone else.

He wanted to become rich. He wanted to become powerful. He wanted to obtain as much knowledge as possible.

All of this was means to an end -- Living happily far from any wants and any fears.

He was greedy and it was this greed that continued to fuel him every time he wished to give up.

His scream rang once more in the room as Adam opened another Chakra.

This was going to be a long night.