Chapter 6: Into the Blackridge Nest
With that, they walked toward the gate.
Frank stood behind Kota, one hand resting on the flat of his blade. The dungeon gate pulsed like a cracked lens, light bleeding at the edges as it sealed behind them. The team adjusted their gear in silence. Four others, all strangers. He hadn’t given them his real name. On paper, he was "F. Hagan"—support-class melee, F-rank, here to assist.
The air hit first: warm, wet, and heavy on the lungs. The tunnel walls appeared grown rather than built—pale orange with streaks of red, like something organic had hardened into shape. A faint hum rolled through the surface beneath their boots, not quite sound, but more like pressure, as if the place were breathing.
Frank kept his sword sheathed and slid a Vital Surge potion into his side holster—just one for now. The rest were packed tightly, evenly spaced, and ready for quick grabs. He adjusted the tension strap on his glove and tapped the corner of his interface. A minimap flickered into view—half-complete, with terrain labeled "unstable" and paths curving in too many directions. There were side chambers and one main shaft twisting downward.
"Stay tight," Kota said, his voice low but clear. He carried a reinforced steel shield nearly as wide as his torso. "We’re not here for a clear. Just pressure mapping and field data. Two hours in, max."
Eliya, the healer, barely nodded. She looked pale under the blue glow of her charm light, her grip on the mana baton nervous—too high, too stiff. Riva adjusted the leather strap across her back and rolled her neck. Dual blades, lightweight armor. She moved as if she were already calculating kill angles. Torin didn’t speak; the bow on his back was clean and well-kept as he watched the corners.
Frank remained silent, moving when they moved.
The first ten minutes were quiet, marked only by steps on damp ground. The tunnels narrowed and opened in strange bursts, the walls slick in places and cracked in others. Riva pointed to a ceiling line—webbing, burned at the edges.
"Last party came through with fire," she said. "Didn’t last long."
The hum in the walls deepened.
Torin lifted a hand. "Movement."