Judging by how distant it was, and how well I could see it anyway, it was absolutely massive. It was like a fusion of a volcano and an Aztec pyramid, while also giving off the vibe of an obelisk built by precursor aliens.

I didn't take long to gawk, though. I had made it through the first couple of the path's obstacles, but there was definitely still plenty more to go.

Almost as soon as I continued to advance, a dozen Flame Spirits rose rapidly up from the magma sea. Facing those was one of the worse-case scenarios that I'd anticipated—though at least I had anticipated it. Fire spells were useless against them, so I was limited in retaliation to a couple element less spells Grosstin had me learn at some point that were like upgraded Mana Bolts that were more powerful and more expensive in mana to cast.

In a short while, even that retaliation proved worse than useless. I struck down two of them, but for each of those, two more rose from the magma below. The only thing to do was to make a mad dash toward the Sanctuary while evading, blocking, and Imagination canceling their attacks as best I could. The path here was a little wider than the one before had been, so I had at least some room to maneuver.

Eventually I saw another cliff ahead. When I got within a few seconds of reaching it, the Flame Spirit attacks stopped. After another climb, I saw the Sanctuary was much closer, close enough to notice that it was still a ways above me.

I had hardly stepped forward at all this time when more Flame Spirits began rising up almost constantly. A moment later, I noticed this path was starting to sink like the last one. This third stage proved to be much more punishing than the previous two. The monsters didn't follow me, but no matter how far I went, more kept coming from up ahead. After the first kilometer or so, the path thinned out again as well, and even added places where I needed to jump across gaps like I was freaking Mario.

Even with how massive my stamina was from evolutions and over 100 stat points, I was panting with effort and down to 1/3rd of it when I finally reached one more cliff. With a slightly aggravated snarl, I climbed up, and up, and finally reached the base of the Fire Sanctuary. I had to admit, it looked even more impressive up close. I stuck to a more leisurely pace, taking it in, as I walked up enough steps to make for a passable Kung Fu Panda joke before at last I stood before the entrance.

It looked like a set of great stone double doors, though I suspected it was actually made of a much less natural material. It was also bigger than the main doors of your average, or indeed above-average cathedral. They were easily 15 feet high, and quite a few more people could have passed through them at once than could have traversed the path to get here. There was one thing missing, however...

"Okay, am I going screwy, or did the Tower not put in a dang door handle to this place?"

I got a little closer...and a notification appeared.

[Fire Sanctuary current status: INACTIVE]

[Do you want to challenge the Fire Sanctuary?]

“Yes.”

And that was all it took. With loud grinding that I thought successfully gave the moment the appropriate sense of ceremony, the great doors opened.

After the obnoxious brightness of the magma sea omnipresent on Magnos, the entry corridor of the Fire Sanctuary was shockingly dark. Possibly it would be a lot brighter if the Sanctuary was active.

It was another long walk before the scenery changed again, though not so long as to suspect the place—which was, in fairness, huge to begin with—was bigger on the inside. The light was still very dim, but it was light enough for me to tell that I had emerged into a cavernous chamber. In the next moment, torches—or what looked like torches, but gave off far too much light, began lighting two by two, slowly at first, but as the light spread halfway across the room they lit faster and faster, as though two lines of fire were racing each other.

The room really was cavernous, the ceiling stretching so far above I could barely tell it was there. From where I stood, paths led to the left and right, each one leading to grand corridors that branched off of the circular chamber like cartoon sun rays. In the center, there was a raised platform that held what for now appeared to be an ordinary pile of rubble.

And at the far end of the chamber there was a grand door. And when I say a grand door, I meant a portal of enough size, strength and decoration to make the giant ethereal door at the end of Kingdom Hearts 1 jealous. This second, much grander double door was marked at its epicenter by a tremendous orb set into it. Eight dark lines ran out of the orb and into the walls of the room, each one continuing on to enter each of the eight corridors from the top points of their entrances.

The orb itself was dark, and completely inert. For now.

Once I’d had a little while to take this all in, another notification appeared.

[Welcome to the .]

[This sacred place once powered the Safe Zones in . However, it was invaded, and the Sanctuary Core disabled.]

[To restore the Fire Sanctuary to its full glory, you must reach the Core Chamber and follow the instructions to reenergize the Sanctuary Core.]

[To challenge a Sanctuary is to attempt to dictate the very nature of Area 1. As such, those who seek to ruin it and those who seek to restore it must undergo the same trials.]

[That which lies at the end of the corridors within will test your strength, your skill, your wit, and your will.]

[Some trials can be failed without resulting in death. However, no trials can be retried.]

[Surmount at least five of the trials before you, and you will open the way to the Core Chamber. Surmount them all and restore the core, and you will be recognized as the . All trials must be attempted before the Core Chamber will open, regardless of results.]

[The Trials of Fire will now begin.]

[Good Luck]