[Mana Pool: 3067/3067]

Adom opened his eyes and exhaled slowly, his breath misting slightly in the cool air atop the temple. The meditation had worked perfectly—his reserves were completely replenished. He stretched his arms overhead, working out the stiffness that came from sitting motionless for hours.

Time to see what was inside.

Adom stood up and walked toward the edge of the roof, where a set of stairs had emerged when the temple rose from the ground. The steps led down to what appeared to be the main entrance—an archway so massive it made Adom feel like he'd somehow shrunk during his meditation.

Before heading down, he tested Wam and Bam, flexing his fingers inside the battle gauntlets. Wam emitted a faint blue glow at the knuckles, while Bam hummed with a barely audible vibration. Both responding perfectly—just for good measure.

"I'm ready," he said to no one in particular.

The descent took longer than expected. Each step had been designed for beings three times his height, forcing Adom to carefully navigate his way down. By the time he reached the bottom, he'd counted seventy-three steps.

The entrance loomed before him—a doorway that stretched upward at least fifty feet, with stone slabs thick enough to withstand a siege. The doors themselves stood partially open, with a gap of about three feet between them—more than enough for a human to slip through, but barely a crack by the standards of whoever built this place.

Adom approached the opening and peered inside. Darkness greeted him, though his enhanced vision picked up faint glimmers of the same purple-blue light he'd seen in the runes above.

He hesitated at the threshold, suddenly aware of his size relative to the structure. The gap between the doors made him think of how insects found their way into houses—squeezing through cracks in foundations or tiny spaces between boards. Or a mouse finding its way into the walls of a house.

A mouse. Valiant.

The little beastkin navigated a world like this every day—everything oversized, built for creatures many times his height. Beds like vast fields. Tables like plateaus. Doorknobs positioned at the level of bookshelves.

Adom had never really thought about how the world must look through Valiant's eyes. Sure, the beastkin had never known anything different, but his entire life experience was shaped by that perspective—constantly climbing, jumping, finding creative ways to interact with objects designed for much larger beings.

He made a mental note to be a bit nicer to Valiant when he returned to the Arkhos. Maybe ask him about his perspective on things. It seemed important now, standing here dwarfed by architecture built for giants.

Adom raised his hand, weaving a simple pattern. A sphere of light materialized above his palm, casting a warm glow that barely penetrated the shadows beyond the doorway.