I Was Born With A Bloodline That Ended The World-Chapter 125: Portals are back

Rhian woke up feeling something he hadn’t in a long time, genuine excitement.

Today marked the official return of the portals.

The rumors had been swirling for months, whispered through hallways and buried in speculation.

But yesterday, the academy finally confirmed it.

The announcement had gone out late in the evening, and the entire student body had been buzzing ever since.

Now, the air felt sharper, charged with anticipation. Students were no longer whispering, they were planning, organizing, preparing.

It had been a long wait. Too long without portals and without progress.

But that was over now.

For a carrier, that silence was dangerous. Their growth depended on absorbing divine cores from monsters.

No cores meant no power. No advancement. No chance to catch up to those ranked above them.

Rhian sat up, stretching. His muscles felt restless, like they already knew what was coming.

He grinned to himself.

"Finally," he muttered, getting out of bed. "It’s about time."

Rhian heard muffled voices outside his door. At first, he ignored them, thinking it was just the usual early risers moving around. Then his door flew open.

He blinked in surprise.

Ash stood in the doorway, wide awake.

This alone was enough to throw Rhian off. Ash never got up before sunrise.

Most days, he only appeared once everyone else had eaten and dressed. Yet here he was, fully alert, staring at Rhian.

"What’s wrong?" Rhian asked, sitting up.

Ash looked at him for a moment, unreadable as always.

"...Never mind."

And just like that, he turned and walked out.

Rhian frowned. He wasn’t about to let that slide. He quickly got dressed and followed.

Downstairs, he found Aras and Iris sitting in the common room, deep in conversation.

They both looked relaxed, but the energy in the room felt different, like something was about to happen.

"Morning," Rhian greeted.

Iris turned, her face lighting up with a smile. "Hey, Rhian." Her voice was softer than usual. It had been a while since they’d spoken like this. Too long.

Aras gave a nod. "Morning."

Rhian glanced around. "What’s going on?"

Aras replied, "Nia still not here?"

Iris glanced at her phone. "She texted me. Said she’ll be here soon."

Rhian blinked. He looked at the three of them again, then down the hall where Ash had disappeared.

Everything felt out of sync. Ash, up early. Iris, visiting before breakfast. Nia, on her way.

It was like he had woken up in a different version of reality, one where something big was about to happen.

Rhian finally raised his hands in defeat. "Okay, okay, okay. What is going on?"

Everyone turned to look at him.

Ash strolled over and casually placed a hand on Rhian’s shoulder. "Ah, little Rhian. Tsk. Always the last one up."

Rhian stared at him. "You’re joking, right?"

But Ash just grinned and stepped back.

Aras stood up from the couch. "No. We’re just trying to plan how we’ll work together for the portals. Since we’re all different ranks, we can’t go too high. But we don’t want to waste time on low-level ones either."

Rhian glanced between them. "Couldn’t this have waited until breakfast? Or lunch? It’s not like the portals are going to vanish again."

Aras shrugged. "They might not disappear, but the good ones will get taken fast. If we want to hit the right spots before others do, we have to move early."

Rhian sighed. "You all could’ve at least warned me."

Ash gave a lazy shrug. "Where’s the fun in that?"

Iris chuckled quietly from the couch. Rhian looked around the room again. Nia still hadn’t arrived. Something told him this was going to be a long day.

Rhian sat down, rubbing his face. "Anyway, tell me what happened."

Iris took the lead, sitting up a bit straighter. "Well, since you know the portals are opening today, there’s a new area that’s been unlocked. It’s got daily challenges tied to the portals and a trading center where you can exchange whatever you collect inside for credits."

Rhian blinked. He’d heard about something like that, brief mentions during class, and once or twice in the library.

"So they actually opened it?" he asked.

"Yup," Iris confirmed. "This morning. It’s all been officially cleared. There’s a list of what’s available for trade, too."

Rhian leaned back. "How much can happen while I’m asleep..."

Ash smirked from across the room. "Clearly, a lot."

The door flew open again.

Nia stepped in, dressed casually, her jacket slightly unzipped and hair tied back, like she had come straight from training. Rhian caught his breath at her appearance, but before he could say anything, Ash smacked the back of his head.

"Chill."

Rhian frowned and barked under his breath, "You chill."

Nia walked in, greeting everyone with a small wave. "I hope I’m not late."

"Perfect timing," Aras said.

She looked around. "Have you guys started?"

Ash nodded, leaning against the back of the couch. "We did. But it seems Rhian is very eager to finish."

Iris bit her lip to stop a laugh, while Rhian stepped over and stomped on Ash’s foot.

Ash barely flinched. "See?"

Rhian shook his head and sat down. "Can we actually focus now?"

"Sure," Aras said, smiling slightly. "Let’s go over the plan again, from the top."

Ash chimed in, "To the very bottom... right, Rhian?"

Rhian took a deep breath, trying not to react.

Ash wasn’t exactly pulling these comments from nowhere. Rhian had been caught staring more than a few times, mostly by Ash himself, who never let it go.

Ever since Nia’s transformation, things have changed.

She hadn’t told anyone what exactly happened or how she went from a standard physical type to a hybrid. It wasn’t just a power change.

There was something different about her presence, the way she moved, the quiet control in her voice.

Nobody asked, and Nia never offered.

But the change wasn’t just internal. There was a new kind of confidence in how she looked, how she carried herself.

It made her stand out more than she already did. And that, unfortunately for Rhian, meant endless teasing from Ash, who either caught him looking or simply assumed he was.

Rhian shot him a glare. "You done?"

Ash gave him a lazy grin. "Not even close."

Everyone shook their heads at Ash’s usual confidence.

Aras leaned forward, trying to keep the conversation on track. "We were discussing which rank portal to enter. I’m D-rank. Ash is... I don’t know, probably somewhere in that neighborhood. Iris just got to E-rank. Rhian’s also E. And Nia," he turned, "you’re D-rank now too, right? Considering that new power-up."

Nia gave a calm nod. "Kind of."

"So here’s my thinking," Aras continued. "We skip F-rank. No point wasting time. But instead of going straight for all D-level monsters, we hit a D-rank portal. It’ll have a mix. A few E-rank creatures for Rhian and Iris to fight, but also stronger ones so the rest of us can still benefit. Fair balance."

Iris looked like she was about to voice a concern, but Aras raised a hand.

"Just hear me out," he said. "If we want to climb fast, we can’t wait around in E-rank portals forever. They’re too slow. This way, we get experience, pressure, and potential core drops that actually matter."

He glanced at Ash. "That work for you? I still don’t even know your rank, so I don’t want to assume."

Ash leaned back on the couch and waved lazily. "F-rank, A-rank, I’ll take any. As long as I get to hit something with a face and insult its mother while I do it, I’m good."

Everyone stared at him.

Rhian sighed. "You really could’ve just said yes."

Ash grinned. "Where’s the fun in that?"

Aras turned to Rhian with a questioning look.

Rhian just pointed at Ash. "What he said."

Aras exhaled, glancing toward Iris.

She gave a small nod of agreement.

Finally, he looked at Nia.

She spoke up calmly, "I think that’s fine. But just remember, D-rank bosses aren’t normal D-rank."

Rhian frowned. "What do you mean? I thought the boss was just another D-rank monster, just stronger."

Ash chuckled. "Forgot you’ve only ever been in the school’s trial portals."

Rhian narrowed his eyes. "And you haven’t?"

Ash tilted his head. "tsk, i’m older than you. I’ve been on so many you wouldn’t even count?"

"What’s age got to with this... gramps"

Nia stepped in before they spiraled. "Technically, it’s not just a stronger D-rank. The boss in a D-rank portal is usually considered a low-tier C-rank. It’s stronger than any D-rank you’ll find in the portal itself, but it’s weaker than an actual C-rank. That’s true across all ranks. Think of portal ranks as the average difficulty inside, but the boss is always one tier higher."

Rhian blinked. "Wait, so in a C-rank portal, we’d be fighting a B-rank boss?"

Nia nodded. "Exactly. That’s why you need to be careful. In higher rank portals, it’s not uncommon to face something like an A-rank boss at the end of a B-rank portal."

Ash grinned. "So basically, don’t get cocky."

Rhian exhaled slowly. "Right. D-rank it is, then... and we don’t touch the boss unless we’re sure."

Aras nodded, satisfied. "Good. Then we’ll scout, gather what we can, and see how far we get."