The warden of the deep flame

The silver-lit stairwell descended into silence, not the emptiness Thalen had grown used to but a silence that was full. It pulsed with energy, vibrating slightly beneath each step, as though the ground itself was holding its breath. He walked with renewed clarity, Kindle at his side and the chain secure once more on his arm, but there was no comfort in the return of his tools. What he had experienced in the chamber above had stripped him bare and it had built him anew.

No one had told him that the Tyrant Spirit Exam was more than physical. But it made sense now. Power was not only something to be wielded it was something to be understood, earned in the bones and soul.