I WAS Humanity's HOPE-Chapter 31: Black Dungeon

A crisp morning wind rustled the rows of novices and seniors alike, as they gathered before the shimmering purple portal.

It stood in an open field fenced off by the Mage Guild—an otherwise unremarkable stretch of grass now alive with murmurs of excitement and trepidation. The sky hung over them in a pale wash of grey, promising rain.

Richard stood amidst his classmates near the rear, leaning casually against a wooden supply crate. Next to him, Oren looked a tad nervous, fiddling with the sleeves of his robe, while Trevor pretended to stifle a yawn. Nadia, her blonde hair caught in a loose plait, hovered close to Richard, occasionally casting glances at the seniors beyond.

A few metres away, the Draco Malfoy of the senior class—real name Adrian Greyford, but no one bothered calling him that after the incident—held court.

He was still sporting a faint bruise on his jaw where he had tumbled into a shelf last week, courtesy of Richard. Despite his wounded pride, Adrian attempted to look every inch the commanding leader for those who surrounded him.

Oren nudged Trevor, lowering his voice.

"Look at him, holding himself like some grand warlord."

Trevor snorted. "Our dear Draco is definitely overdressed for a D-Rank, if you asked me."

Richard arched a brow and leaned in. "Let’s not ruffle his feathers again, lads. He might challenge me to another airborne sprint across the library."

All three of them grinned. Nadia, her cheeks colouring, nudged Richard’s arm.

"You’re terrible," she whispered, though there was a flicker of amusement dancing in her pale blue eyes.

"Only a little bit," he admitted. Then, he gestured them conspiratorially closer and whispered, "But I’ll behave—scout’s honor."

They watched as Meredith, wearing her instructor’s robe and a stern expression, conferred with Master Kirsch. A few scribes in official Mage Guild attire stood off to one side, taking notes on their tablets. The entire field crackled with magical residue from the portal, that distinct fizz in the air.

At last, the seniors filed up first. Adrian led them, pressing a hand dramatically to his chest.

"We’ll secure the initial corridor," he announced in a carrying voice. "Then the novices can follow after five minutes."

Richard exchanged an unimpressed glance with Trevor, who mimed gagging.

"The entrance area was literally cleared by our instructors. What’s he talking about?" Oren whispered with a quiet snicker and coughed into his sleeve to hide a laugh.

Nadia only shook her head, her expression stuck somewhere between mortification and delight at their antics.

Without further ado, Adrian and his posse marched straight into the portal. The purple surface rippled with energy as it swallowed them one by one. Then it settled, looking no different to how it had been a moment before.

Meredith stepped forward, brandishing a small ledger in which she jotted times and names. She beckoned Richard’s class next. "All right," she called. "The senior group is inside. You will enter in the same order assigned during the briefing. Walk in calmly—no pushing."

A trickle of their classmates stepped in with a mix of excitement and fear.

Then it was time for Richard’s group. Nadia, Oren, and Trevor mustered together; James hovered near them, glowering at Richard as usual, determined not to appear fazed by anything.

"Move along," Meredith told them gently. "Be sure to keep to the left once you cross. The corridor inside is wide enough, but we don’t want people crashing into each other."

Nadia stepped through first—her slim form swallowed by the violet shimmer. Trevor and Oren followed, both flashing Richard quick, encouraging smiles before they too vanished. James cast Richard a brief, disdainful glance, then strode in with a clenched jaw.

Richard readied himself to enter next. He glanced at Meredith, who offered him a nod.

"I’ll be right behind you," she murmured.

He dipped his head in response and took a step. Then it happened.

A jolt of wrongness slammed into Richard’s senses. It was like the air itself seized up for a fraction of a heartbeat. The portal’s surface, which had been a steady swirl of purple, flickered. In less time than it took to blink, the shade darkened.

Richard’s blood ran cold.

Black?

A hush fell, as though the world itself momentarily held its breath. He didn’t think—he only reacted. In one fluid motion, he summoned his Mirror Daggers, their S-Rank stats boosting his physique. Then the familiar burn of Nova Ascension ignited under his skin, white-hot energy rushed through his veins. Silver sparks crackled at his feet.

He lunged forward, Burst Step launching him in a swift streak of astral light. The wind of his sudden motion slapped away the remaining mages, and they stumbled back with a shocked cry. But Richard was already gone. He was already inside the portal just as it finished turning black, plunging inside a moment before it sealed like a slammed door.

There was a flash, a noise like splitting thunder as time seemed to find its track again and the portal swirled into an obsidian void.

Its surface solidified, becoming a slick, black mirror that reflected the stunned faces left outside. A second later, that reflection shimmered, then faded, leaving only the unnervingly opaque shell of a Black Dungeon.

For a moment, no one moved.

Then voices broke out, clamouring. The novices who hadn’t yet entered stepped back in fright. A few staff rushed forward, scanning the portal’s unreadable energies.

Meredith, heart pounding painfully, was the first to regain some semblance of composure. She was the only one who managed to see what happened, courtesy of her rank.

Her chest felt tight with alarm—Richard, the entire group inside, all sealed away. Her mind reeled.

One of the novices—a tall girl from another class—stammered, "Wh-what just happened? Why did the portal turn black?"

Meredith clenched her fists, fighting the knot in her throat as she mustered a cool tone. "It’s a Black Dungeon," she heard herself saying. "The transition happens in the blink of an eye. The rank... we have no idea what it could be. And once it locked, there is no going in or out."

She wheeled round to a one of the professors’ assistants. "Notify the Guild Master—this is an emergency. We’ve got the whole senior class and a handful of novices stuck in there."

The man nodded shakily, fumbling with his communicator.

The curious novices crowded closer, though fear kept them at a distance. Another voice piped up: "Miss Blackwood—if it’s a Black Dungeon, c-can they get out again?"

Meredith met the speaker’s anxious eyes, but it wasn’t she who answered.

"The only way is to defeat the Dungeon Boss," Kirsch barked. "In black dungeons, the door is barred from both ends. No rescue team could break in from outside. It’s sealed, and worse still, the time flow inside runs differently. It might be hours in there and mere minutes out here, or the opposite. We just can’t be sure."

A shaky hush fell over them.

Another staff member, pale-faced, rushed over. "Miss Meredith—who went inside? Do we have a full roll call?"

Meredith’s face tightened, but she took a breath and flicked through her ledger. She rattled off names. "The whole senior group, led by Adrian Greyford and five novices. Anne Smith, James Kallow, Trevor Odgwen, Oren Steel, Nadia Florence and... Richard Blackwood."

The staff member grimaced, scribbling the list on a notepad. "Right..."

He then hurried away, phone already pressed to their ear.

Meredith stood rooted to the spot. She couldn’t believe this was happening. One moment it was a routine E-Rank mission, the next, everything had gone horrifically wrong.

She pictured Richard bursting forward with that effortless speed, Mirror Daggers flashing, the astral aura swirling about him. Always so maddeningly reckless, always diving headlong into the unknown.

"Idiot," she murmured, though her voice trembled with worry rather than anger.

A cluster of novices remained by the field’s edge, whispering nervously. The faint shimmer of the black portal seemed to draw the eye like a dark magnet. Someone muttered about a dungeon break—the possibility that a black dungeon could erupt unpredictably, spewing monsters into the outside world if the boss wasn’t cleared.

Meredith rounded on them, forcibly steadying her voice. "Calm yourselves. Speculation won’t help. We’ve procedures for this sort of emergency."

Still, they all sensed the futility in her words. She turned away to ring her superiors, stepping aside so she wasn’t overheard. Her phone trembled in her grip. After two rings, a familiar voice answered—the Guild Master.

"Meredith Blackwood here. We have a Code Black." Her gaze drifted towards the silent, obsidian portal. "Yes... yes, I know." She swallowed. "The whole senior class is trapped inside, including novices... and—" her voice caught momentarily, "—and my brother."

She listened, pacing anxiously. "I understand... we’ll hold our position. But please hurry."

But, deep in her heart, dread coiled. Richard, you’d better be ready for whatever is inside that black dungeon...

Because out here and inside there, no one could help him. He was on his own.