MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin



Medusa gazed at Adam with interest. Her intense gaze was enough to make others uncomfortable but she was too immersed in her observation of Adam's psyche, so she didn't pay much mind to it.

Even though he was silent right now, she could feel the small fluctuations that were emanating from his mind, the change in his heartbeat, and even the small twitches that he didn't even know that he was subconsciously making. These were actions that would have remained unnoticed if it was anyone else, but that wasn't the case for Medusa.

She was the precursor of the science of psychology in this world and obviously, she had mastered her craft beyond the realm of perfection itself.

Her innate authority [The Hierophant] was also very helpful in this regard.

'Who is he talking to, or rather, what is he talking to?'

She could feel no magic, not even the slightest lick of power of another being coming from Adam. So, was he then really talking to a god? Perhaps the god that had bestowed him with his powers?

Medusa rejected this notion. She had already summarized that Adam was either a hybrid or a special human like Arthur or Minamoto no Raiko. [1]

This would not be completely impossible as the Kaminaris were direct descendants of that man.

There was no other explanation for his powers other than that. Since, from the documents she had on him, it was easy to summarize that he had awakened barely one month ago.

No normal human, not even the greatest Hero could grow so fast as soon as they awakened, and that was one of the many things that Adam had that made him all the more special.

Even if his growth slowed down from now on, what would his level be in the coming six months? What would it be just one year from now on? His potential was so staggering that there was no way to measure the power level he would reach at any time.

"Say… since we are waiting for our order to come, why don't we have our first class? If you do well, I will give you a reward."

She spoke lightly, knowing very well that Adam would choose to accept the mission. She had already deciphered the signs of his acceptance that he subtly showed in his actions after she had laid the proposal to take the mission to him.

In fact, she was more or less sure that he was even thinking about taking the statue for himself right now.

This time it wasn't guesswork but rather a hypothesis based on the fact that all hunters reacted the same way when hearing the news of an unobtained Divine Weapon.

No matter how weak it was, a divine weapon would still allow one to become an Executor at the minimum. Albeit one that is at the very bottom of the Executor rank.

Only soldiers fiercely loyal to the state would not have selfish thoughts about such a tempting object and everyone knew about it on the surface. Of course, it didn't mean that the countries would allow the hunters to take that Divine Weapon for themselves.

Except for a few powerful families, most countries did their best to have full control over the supply of divine weapons as that would implicitly also mean controlling the number of potential powerhouses in your country.

Moreover, some divine weapons could easily go from being a tactical weapons to a strategic one in no time. So, there was even more reason to take a firm hold on the supply of these godly weapons.

Anyways, if Adam were to try stealing the weapon for himself, she would have to do some work and take some measures so she could cover up the incident and his involvement in it. Then again, she doubted the state would openly antagonize the potential heir of the Kaminari family for no reason.

Adam separated one of his minds to continue speaking with Genesis while his second one kept a lookout on what was happening in the surrounding and finally, his third mind focused solely on Medusa and proceeded to converse with her.

"What kind of class can we have in a cafe?"

"Let's see…"

Medusa's glasses quite literally seemed to be shining as she looked at her surroundings. Perhaps she was using it to scan the people in their surroundings, Adam thought to himself.

"You said you were interested in psychology, right? Why don't we test how much you can glean from the people here just based on their body language."

"Heh…"

"Of course. No cheating is allowed. Do not use any of your supernatural skills to assist you in this task. The only thing that is allowed is your naturally sharpened senses."

"Well… Okay. This seems to be quite fun."

Adam stood up and placed his chair next to hers. Her position was the best in the whole cafe, as it gave her a vantage point over everything that was happening and she was practically able to see everyone inside the cafe.

"What reward do I get from this game?"

Medusa smiled, "A very interesting reward." Her expression shifted a little as she went back to scanning the room and the people in it.

"Do you know? Many people like to say that every human is unique and different from the others. If there are 9 billion humans on earth right now, then there must be 9 billion different types of mind, personality, and disposition, right?"

She shook her head and put on a derisive expression of ridicule on her face, "But as you see, this is not exactly the case. There are not 9 billion unique minds in the world, that concept in itself is stupendous. There are only 9 billion variations of the same mind."

"Do you sometimes hear things like, all men are the same? I know the type of person you are. You remind me of my son/daughter/friend or anything that draws parallels between people. In the end, people are all the same. Human minds can be studied and placed in different known categories. The shy ones, the nerd ones, the bimbos, the overzealous teachers, the uncaring ones, and so on and so forth. Those different archetypes exist for a reason, you know?"

Her smile deepened, "I have discovered this truth once when I discussed it with a Siren and you would be surprised by what I found out."

She looked at Adam, "Since you follow the path of illusions this is something that might be useful to you. To understand dreams and illusions you must first understand people themselves. Then one day, you must walk into the sea of consciousness of humanity."

Her expression was infinitely serious as she spoke her next words, "For starters, use all your senses. Do not simply look at people superficially, but truly look at them and observe them from the inside out. The speed of their heartbeats, the movements and directions of their limbs, the small twitches that they themselves do not realize exist in their expressions and bodily movements. Through their subconscious actions, people always reveal themselves externally."

"This is one of the reasons why your skill that affects cognition doesn't work on me. I know when you lie. Even when my brain tells me you aren't lying, my skills and senses tell me the truth that I need to know about the person I am observing."

Adam did not expect that he would receive a lecture on the very first day, but this seemed to be quite interesting, to say the least. He indeed needed to better understand those things if he wished to obtain the [Snake Tongue] skill which is the evolution of the [Silver Tongue] skill.

"What are those cues?" [2]

"Hmmm. I have much to teach you so let's take this simple."

She looked around and her gaze settled on two people, one man, and a woman, "Take those two, for example… This place is pretty warm and obviously, as a hunter, even a place that is extremely cold would not pose any problems to them as they can channel their Prana to preserve their body temperature. So… Why do you think she is crossing her arms?

"People have what we call open and closed postures. Someone seated in a closed position might have his/her arms folded in, legs crossed or be positioned at a slight angle from the person with whom they are interacting. In an open posture, you might expect to see someone directly facing you with hands apart on the arms of the chair. An open posture can be used to communicate openness or interest in someone and a readiness to listen, whereas the closed posture might imply discomfort or disinterest with the person you are interacting with."

"Like you, for example… When you came in, you were very wary of me and the same goes for this woman."

"Well…"

"I don't mind at all, to be honest. Trust takes time to build. This is pretty normal for any and all humans. Shall we continue this lesson?"

Adam smiled brightly, "I have always been a good student. Please, continue…"

They received their drinks and then continued the lecture.

———

eαglesnᴏνel (AN: Guys, next month I am entering classical in win-win, this means I need 10K to unlock to obtain a banner and be promoted on the front page. I would really appreciate it if you guys could help me reach that goal. This is why, for next month only, as it is my first month of Classical, I will make all the Tiers at 99%. I would really appreciate it if all of you guys subscribed once again next to my story and helped me reach that number. Perhaps even promoting my book to your friends if you think I am good enough. Really thanks for your support during this month. Thanks to your support, I reached more than 5K before leaving newbie Win-Win, which was really helpful.)

[1]: In the myths, Susanoo killed Yamata no Orochi and obtained the grass-cutting sword. Kusanagi no Tsurugi.

In another version, Yamata didn't die but fled and impregnated a woman who gave birth to the Oni, Shuten Doji. Shuten Doji was later killed by Minamoto no Yorimitsu also known as Minamoto no Raikou.

The Minamoto clan was one of the four great clans that ruled Japan and were considered to be of royal blood. What is funny is that The Minamoto clan is also known as The Genji clan. Hehehe.

[2]: Dreams and psychology are linked in our world. As dreams are sometimes the repressed cry of our mind. This is something I really liked in LoTM (Lord of The Mysteries) and it did give me inspiration. Haha, sometimes I want to call them authorities. It kinda sounds good. As those authorities are indeed paths to godhood. What do you guys think?