MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin

After a rather embarrassing interruption, from Cecilia's side, the mother and son duo found themselves back on track with their discussion.

"Okay. *Ahem* Any questions so far?"

"I do have one, actually. All supernatural creatures can use Prana, right? If so what advantage do humans even have? If they can also use reinforcement then there would be no hope for humans, right?"

"Heh…"

Cecilia grinned after hearing Adam's plausible words. She promptly replied to clear out his confusion, "Before answering your question, I need to first point out that you are making one simple mistake. Humans can hardly match Supernatural Creatures of equal level. However, you see… We are called Hunters. Not fighters or brawlers or anything else.

"We don't fight them as equals. We hunt them. Ambush. poison, gang fights, weapons, anything you can name… Everything is fair game for us at the end of the day if we are able to hunt our targets. The best hunters aren't actually the strongest, but those who know how to exploit all the weaknesses available to them of their prey."

She smiled and explained further, "For example, all our weapons are always covered in a thin layer of silver. Not only that, but we also have legendary weapons created by using the remains of powerful creatures. The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi that your mother wielded is an example of that. You could also include legendary and mythical weapons like Excalibur or Balmung into this category."

Adam's eyes shone the more he heard his mother speak. He was getting really interested in this right now, "So King Arthur and Siegfried were actually hunters?"

"Oh, Adam. I have so so much to teach you."

She shook her head and dispelled all the regrets she was feeling right now for her past decisions. As long as one was alive, it was never too late to redeem themselves and right any wrongs.

"Anyways, as I said weaponry is an integral part of the reason why we are able to fight those Supernatural Creatures. But of course, that wouldn't be enough for us to really triumph. No matter how powerful a weapon is, if the disparity between the hunter and the creature is too great then it would be useless.

"Thankfully— Supernatural creatures cannot use Reinforcement or rather they can do so but it's so inefficient that they simply don't. They do not have the Heart Chakra after all. As you may have surmised already, the Heart Chakra is absolutely essential for one to master the ability of Reinforcement."

What followed was a rather simple explanation that anyone would be able to understand, but it was important knowledge nonetheless. All Chakra had a specific role and only Celestial Supernatural creatures at the level of gods were able to open all of the 114 Chakras as they were born as the perfect being.

But for the others it was different.

"The three ways of using Prana are Reinforcement, Cladding, and Emission. Those main types also have subtypes but, in the end, everything comes down to those three methods. We humans, thanks to the Heart Chakra, are very good at Reinforcement. Less so in the art of Cladding.

"Most Earthly supernatural creatures are pretty good at Cladding and completely surpass us at the art of Emission.

"After years of research. There are two things that we noticed. One– they never have the Heart Chakra unlocked and two— they always have their Solar Plexus Chakra, also called Manipura or in simpler words, The Core unlocked."

She groaned as she remembered this fact and subsequently informed him in an annoyed voice, "Honestly. That Chakra point is a literal cheat. It isn't an engine like the Heart Chakra but rather a great container that can hold a large quantity of Prana at once."

Once she pointed at Adam she spoke in a slightly leveled tone. "Now there is you."

"You do not have a Heart Chakra. So you cannot strengthen your body efficiently. You don't have the Core Chakra, so your reserve of Prana is also shit. You aren't a real shaman either so you cannot use the energy of a superior entity. As if that wasn't enough. Because of the curse, your body cannot surpass the limits of humanity."

The more she spoke, the heavier her tone became, "From what I know, none of the other Primogenitors were born with the Curse of Cain. If you did not have Genesis and had awakened as you were… I don't really know what would have happened to you."

At the end of the day, The curse that was placed on Cain was a punishment. Not a way for him to become stronger.

The goal was pretty simple, all things considered. Reducing all the capacity of the fleshly body to that of a mortal but giving an Eternal Life with no end in return.

She clapped her hands to clear out the gloomy aura, "Thankfully, that isn't the case. You have opened something much much better in a certain way."

She pointed at his forehead before continuing her speech. "The Crown Chakra. I guess we can call it lucky in a way?"

"What makes you say so?"

"Humans have studied the chakra in order to better understand our target and find a way to become stronger. All Chakra are complementary see? But The Crown? Heh, it gives you the ability to constantly absorb Prana from nature itself."

———

After Cecilia finished her lecture, she began to give directions for his future training.

Firstly, the fact of the matter was that Adam could endlessly absorb Prana from the world and that was a great advantage for him to utilize. In a way, it meant that his Prana was basically endless. But of course, nothing was ever so easy and convenient.

For one, he was limited by his own upper limit of Prana and the limits of his physical body.

It was decided that for the third Chakra, he was going to open, Adam should choose to unlock the Manipura or The Core. Doing so would give him an immediate great boost in maximum output.

The second thing they needed to take into account was using his ability – [The World] – to its fullest potential. It was decided that Adam would now spend most of his time completely blindfolded when training and even in his everyday life as long as he was at home.

The goal was for him to completely adapt to the sensations of moving by using the information he received from his skill.

Not only that, he would have to use his Eyes of Truth at the same time to constantly identify different objects not only at the surface level but also in depth. This would not only rise the proficiency of his skill but as long as Adam became used to this way of doing, even if he was surrounded he would always be able to obtain the maximum possible and subvert any danger as long as he was physically able to do so.

Once Adam became used to this, they would accelerate their training regime by running and even fighting while blindfolded.

Adam had been pretty skeptical about this. But when he saw her avoid all his punches with her eyes closed, he wisely decided to shut up and listen to the professional.

Learning to fight in the dark was a necessary form of training for Hunters at a high level. After all, Earthly Supernatural creatures generally moved during the night when they had all the advantages for them.

Of course, there were limits to this training. There was only so much humans could do without their eyes. But he, in fact, did not have such limitations. He basically had a 360° vision alongside X-ray vision and would add more to the list when he absorbs more sensory-type abilities.

For him, becoming a master at this training was a necessity. She wished that at least in the 5-meter diameter of his domain, no one would ever be able to take him by surprise.

After finishing all those explanations, Cecilia sighed, "To begin all this, we need one prerequisite to make this training as efficient as possible."

Her voice was low as she spoke in a strained tone, "We need to open your minor Chakras to start the circulations of Prana."

Opening the Chakra was a very painful experience for all individuals. It was like piercing open parts of their bodies that had been intentionally closed.

Some Hunters even compared this to the pain of childbirth. Cecilia never had a child of her own but she definitely would never forget the first time she learned the Breathing Technique of the Kaminari clan.

The worst thing was that one couldn't even use sedatives and they couldn't faint either.

"For humans to learn Prana circulation, many sacrifices were necessary as the slightest mistake during the opening could make you a cripple or outright kill you. After years and years, the circulations techniques are now very diversified and perfected.

"But here is the problem… You do not have the Heart Chakra so no Breathing Technique in existence is suitable for you as of now. The only way is— to open all your Chakra one after another by yourself."

Adam closed his eyes in resignation.

The body was composed of 114 Chakras— 107 minor ones and 7 Major Chakras.

Opening all the Chakra points by force?

Then he would have a high chance of dying more than one hundred times to complete this ordeal.

[AN: I hope the explanation has been clear. If not, don't hesitate to ask me. But if I have to make things simple. Think of Demon slayer. Humans need to learn breathing Techniques. Demons don't. But if a demon can learn breathing techniques (Those who read the manga know) he instantly becomes a true monster.]