Stone gave way to crystal.
From a distance, it looked like the spine of a fallen god—towers jutting into the heavens, some angular like blades, others coiled like the spirals of ancient runes. What began as a typical skyline of fortified walls and watchtowers soon unfolded into something far stranger. Gleaming pillars of translucent ore rose from the ground, interwoven with veins of blue mana-light that pulsed in slow rhythm, as if the city itself had a heartbeat.
Streets were alive with movement: spell-driven carts hummed past stone roads that reassembled themselves after every step, glowing faintly beneath the weight of enchantments. Children danced between floating lampposts that flickered with aetheric fire, their laughter mingling with the soft whir of automaton sentries patrolling the edges of the noble district.
And at the city's heart—neither a castle nor a cathedral—rose the Spiral Nexus.
