Kaelen, a disgraced knight who had traded his sword for a blacksmith’s hammer, stood at the base of the monument. He wasn't there for the treasure rumored to be at the top, nor for the divine favor the priests promised. He was there because his daughter had been "called"—drawn into the Spire’s glowing entrance like a moth to a flame, along with dozens of other children.
The interior was not stone, but light. Gravity felt thin, like a half-remembered dream. As Kaelen climbed the winding, floating staircases, the Spire tested him. It didn’t use monsters; it used .
With every strike, the "Glory" faded. The illusions of grandeur shattered. The white stone turned back into common granite, and the stolen children awoke from their trance.