This was a new battlefield, and I couldn't wait to become stronger.
The moment I stepped onto Floor 29, the air itself felt different—sharper, heavier. The landscape stretched wide under a fractured sky, towering canyons cut through the terrain like ancient scars, and narrow ridges twisted into natural bridges above shadow-filled abysses. Wind howled like an ever-present warning, carrying with it the scent of cold stone and distant blood.
Above, massive birds circled high in the sky. Their shadows swept across the land in silence, gliding with predatory elegance. It wasn't just birds—they were monstrous vultures, each the size of a horse, their talons long enough to tear through steel. They wheeled in formation, dark shapes riding the air currents in eerie synchronization. It wasn't just flight—it was a wake. A hunting party. They scanned the floor below like a flock of executioners waiting to pick off anything too slow or too foolish to hide.
