Chapter 153: Building a Mental Minefield [bonus]
Regulus stepped into the washroom and twisted the brass tap. Steam billowed up, fogging the mirror.
He stood under the stream, eyes closed, hot water pouring over his head, tracing down through his hair and across his face, washing away sweat and fatigue. He shut off the tap, and in the next instant every droplet on his skin evaporated into nothing.
A deep grey house robe, belt cinched at the waist, and he was back in the bedroom.
Seated at the desk, he tapped his fingers lightly against its surface.
Set aside the intent behind the gift, and the object itself was worth serious thought.
Magical inheritance took several forms in the wizarding world. Written texts, oral instruction, sealed memories. And then there was the Black family's method: ancestral insights preserved in inheritance crystals, transferred directly through touch.
But the Dark Awakening was different. It showed your soul, directly, what you stood to gain by walking the dark path.
It let you watch a city crumble in your palm. Let you hear power surging through your blood. Let you taste what it felt like to hold another person's fate in your hands.
It bypassed every intermediate step and injected the result, or rather the euphoria of the result, straight into your mind.