MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin

A beautiful silver-haired woman, wrapped in a holy halo, waved her hand toward him while focusing on her work.

"Hi! I am happy to see you again, Adam…"

When Adam opened his eyes, he found himself in the immense library, that seemed to stretch on and on limitlessly, once more. It was becoming a familiar sight at this point. A sight he found welcoming as it sparked the advent of his growth.

This time, unlike his previous visit, however, Eve could be seen working as she was putting the books in the bookshelves pertaining to a certain order. She was floating quietly in the air, while a multitude of books surrounded her floating in the same way as her, waiting to be put in their respective places. She seemed to be busy at the moment, as even the brief welcome she had sent her way seemed to be made in haste.

"Have I come at a bad time?"

He approached her slightly only to be surprised when she floated directly above him. Instinctively, Adam looked up but he was startled to realize that no matter from what angle he looked at her, something seemed to be blocking his vision.

"Don't waste your time. I am the first living being to have ever felt shame. This is almost like a concept of divinity for me."

Adam shrugged his shoulders, "I wouldn't have tried to look if you hadn't shown up right above me though."

"Heh…"

She chuckled quietly and continued to arrange the books one by one until finally.

"Phew! It's all done."

She wiped some imaginary sweat from her brows before slowly descending beside him. Her naked dainty feet touched the group and Eve looked at him with curiosity.

"You have grown quite a bit. How long has it been since your last visit?"

"One week."

"Oh my..."

Eve looked at the few remaining books on her end and snapped her finger as they all started to enter the specific places they were assigned to almost immediately.

"Now, tell me what happened for you to grow so much…"

She had only been playing around to waste some time till now. Even though animes were fun and she technically had an infinite number of them. She still needed some rest and cleaning up was a good way of having some relaxation time for herself.

Adam was guided to a table where she sat down and waited for him to join her.

As he retold the story he could see Eve's eyes twinkling with undisguised interest.

She widened her eyes when he reached some parts, expressing faint sorrow, joy, sadness, and so many other emotions that were so different from her usual self.

In the end, she gently patted him on the back and said with a soothing smile on her lips, "You really did a good job."

She then spoke in a soft tone, "Also, I am happy you were able to analyze Asmodeus's Dream concept. It may not look like much right now, but this is without a doubt, one of the most powerful concepts to ever exist. And you will soon know why once you unlock the true limits of the power."

"Is it really that big of a deal? In the end, a dream is just a dream."

Eve smiled at his nonchalant dismissal of the concept, "A dream can also be reality and reality could most definitely be just a dream. You said that you lived an entire life in a dream, right? But who said it couldn't simply be another reality that you witnessed of your alternate self?"

She clapped her hands and stood up with spring in her steps, "At the highest level attainable of this path, it's possible to affect the physical world through dream manipulation and even create an entire dream universe through that power."

She came back with a book. It was a beautiful black and gold-covered book with the name, [The Blind Idiot].

"This is the Introduction to the Dreamscape. The author is… Well, someone really nasty. But he understands Dreams better than anyone else since he is acquainted with the Oldest Dream, the biggest dreamer to ever exist. You cannot enter yet and in fact, you should never enter it before being able to condense a true dream in your soul world. Otherwise, you will become crazy, and since you are immortal… Yeah, let's not mention the consequences…"

He took the book carefully and with bated breaths, "Is this something that should be in the Bronze section?"

He said so and looked at the small sparks that were affecting Eve right now. He already knew a little more about the Storm of Causality and knew that this limited powerful entities like her greatly.

"Hehe. Since you already have the pass to the Silver section, I was able to cheat a bit. Take this as a gift. Let Genesis analyze it. If you read it here, it will consume all the time you have very fast and you will be unable to train your other powers."

He shook his head in bewilderment, "You are like a grandma who gives gifts every time your grandkids visit."

"I mean… I am your grandmother, though. Am I not?"

Adam closed his mouth but Eve chuckled and placed a hand on his head, affection brimming in her eyes, "You are my cutest grandchild out of all the ones that have managed to visit this place. So I have to work hard to pamper you."

She then stood up and stretched her body slightly, "Well, I guess I will leave you alone to study. I will tidy up this place a bit, in the meantime."

Adam sighed as he watched her walk away. There were many questions that he wanted to ask her. Questions he never truly took the time to ask. Question about Eve herself.

Holding the book in his hand, he realized that despite everything she had given him until now, whenever he visited, it was all about him. There was nothing he was able to discover about her.

Eve may have had a hand in preparing his awakening but she was not the one who stuck a hand in his heart.

'If I go by my standards from last time… I should be able to stay for six months here at least, right?'

If he used his time well, he could perhaps read a little more about gravity or even Dreams and so much more. He could even perhaps learn about Death.

But, he did not know how much time all this would cost him. As such, rather than simply reading and trying to decipher things by himself… Perhaps it was time for him to have a proper discussion with her.

"Should we watch some anime?"

Eve, who had been on the verge of vanishing in the distance, turned her head to look at Adam with surprise. Adam had come enough times here by now to understand just how precious the seconds he wasted here could be.

Like him, whenever anyone entered this place, they would be busy using each and every second very carefully and would barely acknowledge her existence as long as it wasn't necessary for them to learn something from her.

The only one who would occasionally talk to her was Lilith when she wasn't busy plotting to try and steal a few books from the library.

"Are you sure?"

She hesitated slightly. Eve may have tried to keep it tame. But she was truly happy whenever Adam visited her like this. His constant visits had helped him put an end to the monotony of her existence.

This was why she fell in love with those so-called animes and mangas. This was a way for her to escape her prison even if it was only an illusion she cast on herself.

"I am." Adam shrugged and walked towards her, "So, I am not really a fan of anime, you see. So, what do you propose we watch?"

pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ She looked at him with bewilderment then a gentle light of joy shone in her eyes as she clapped her hands.

"Let's start with something old school."

Her eyes twinkled at the thought that she had finally had someone she could watch and share her new passion with and Adam simply gave her a simple grin.

Be it here or in the real world, he had always walked like he was being chased by something.

He could rest a little now, right?

———

(AN: Adam trying to bond a little with Eve. A relationship where you only receive but never give is extremely toxic. Also, I think there is nothing sadder than having that one moment of super joy. Then realizing that you have no one to share it with. I think this is one of the reasons why Social media is so popular. Anyways this will be a small arc as this will be the last time I will make a Full chapter about Adam in the Bronze section. Next time it will be the silver section.)