The Dimensional Vagabond

The wind howled like a raging beast.

Before Kael stood a sheer cliff face. Tall, frigid, vertical like a death sentence. No path. No foothold. Nothing but a wall of black stone, carved by centuries and swept by time.

There was only one way forward: climb.

Kael took a deep breath, clenched his jaw, and drew both his blades.

He drove the first into the stone, used the second as a hook. Slowly, methodically, he began his ascent.

One step. Then another. And another still.

But he wasn't alone.

A piercing shriek tore through the clouds.

Shadows burst from the fog: demon-birds, massive, with bony wings and blank white eyes. Their cries ripped through the air, their talons scraped the cliff face with feral savagery.

Kael drove one blade deep into the rock, hung from it with one hand, and with the other unleashed a wave of energy that shattered one of the monsters. The creature exploded into black dust — but two more were already rushing in.

Every grip was slick. Every second counted. The danger was as much mental as it was physical.

In the gusts, voices hissed at his ears — treacherous whispers, born from the ancient magic of the place.

> "You'll never make it…"

"You're going to fall."

"You WILL die."

Kael clenched his teeth.

His muscles screamed. His arms burned.

But he kept going.

He climbed. Again. And again.

A wing brushed past him. A clawed foot slashed at his side. He barely deflected it, his blade singing in the wind like a cry of steel.

The wall grew smoother. The attacks more frequent. The voices, louder.

He had no grip left.

Then Kael made a reckless decision.

He ripped both blades from the rock, turned toward the void, and with a cry, crossed his swords before him. A double wave of energy burst downward, creating a shockwave so powerful it hurled him into the air.

His body cut through the wind.

He reached a ledge. His back slammed against the stone. He rolled across the ground — wounded, breathless, but alive.

Behind him, the demon-birds still circled. But none could pass the invisible barrier that surrounded the summit.

He had done it.

He had climbed… into another world.

Before him, the sky opened wide. A strange plateau stretched out, bathed in supernatural light, frozen in an eerie silence.

But Kael had no time to savor his victory.

Beneath his feet, the ground trembled.