The moment Astron stepped into the chamber, the searing heat pressed down on him like a physical weight, saturating the air with an intensity that would have crushed lesser men.
The room was bathed in a deep red glow, the shadows shifting and dancing along the walls as small tongues of fire licked at the edges of the stone. Yet, for all its warmth, he knew instinctively that this was only the beginning. The true test had yet to reveal itself.
He moved further into the room, his steps careful and measured, and settled in the lotus position at the center of the chamber.
Closing his eyes, he began to steady his breath, allowing his awareness to expand. His mana senses unfurled slowly, reaching out like invisible tendrils to probe the environment.
The ambient mana here was thick, dense with the potency of generations of Emberhearts who had faced these flames, and he could feel the lingering echoes of their battles imprinted on the very air.