The Cursed Extra: Bloodline of Sacrifice

The air outside the portal was clearer than the stifling tension within it—cool, tinged. The shimmering veil behind Caspian gave a low hum before dissolving with a faint hiss.

The portal closed behind him.

A soft breeze rustled the long coat on his back, now stained faintly with sweat and dried blood.

He glanced to his side—Fianna was already stretching her arms, her breath steady. Her hair was slightly tousled, a few strands stuck to her cheek.

Neither of them said anything.

Caspian's eyes flicked toward the color-coded emblem still glowing faintly of the portal: Green

"Three months," he muttered under his breath.

Fianna glanced at him. "Hmm?"

"Green rank portals… they stay dormant the longest," Caspian said. "About three months before they collapse. Longest delay before the monsters start pouring out."

"Oh," she said. "And that's why most guilds don't care about them early?"

"Exactly," he nodded, his voice quiet, measured. "Red portals are the real threat. They break within a week. No time to prepare, no margin for error."

"And blue are the Middle ground. A month before they collapse. But… it depends on the rank too."

They walked past the checkpoint of academies union guild, where a few officers gave them a passing glance but didn't stop them.

He looked down at his hands. The bruises had already started fading thanks to the potion he'd taken earlier.

"There's something wrong with the way they classify portals," he murmured as they stepped onto the gravel road leading back toward the academy checkpoint. "An A-rank red gate is more dangerous than a B-rank green. But officially, they're both just 'A' and 'B'. Makes it look simpler on reports."

Fianna tilted her head slightly. "So what would the S-Rank red gate in Nyxoria have been? You said it was like a death zone."

He paused. "It was listed as an S-Rank Red. But the mana reading… thirty thousand."

"Thirty…?" Fianna blinked, processing it.

'Usually S rank portal mana reading is around 15,000 and A rank 5,000' Fianna thought.

"Yeah. Should've been a different category altogether," Caspian said, voice low. "They needed a new letter. Maybe —SS —But they didn't have time for that. So they slapped an S on it and hoped to contain it."

Fianna was quiet for a while. Then she smiled softly. "You really remember all this stuff."

"Hard to forget when you're… in the middle of it."

'It was time around when caspian was declared dead,' fianna thought.

So she decided to not push it further.

The silence stretched again, this time comfortably. Gravel crunched beneath their boots. The sky had begun its slow shift toward dusk—warm hues bleeding into the horizon. The academy was still far off in the distance, lights flickering on across its towering spires.

"I could handle C-Rank red gates alone now," Caspian said eventually, like he was trying to convince himself more than her. "I couldn't before."

"Same goes for me but green ones,You?" Fianna asked, watching him.

"Obviously green ones," he said.

.

"I still need more points," Caspian muttered, watching the numbers flicker across his holo-band.

The total was far too low for his comfort.

He let out a slow breath. "Guess I'll have to clear two—maybe three—more portals."

Fianna turned her head, surprised. "But… you can't take more than one mission per day. The system won't allow it."

"I know," Caspian said, rubbing his jaw.

That rule was added after a student died. He was trying to finish his third gate in a row. Collapsed midway. C-class portal.

"Foolish," Caspian muttered slowly.

His voice wasn't mocking. Just detached. Analytical.

"Still," he added, "who am I to judge? Maybe he needed the points more than I do."

Fianna didn't respond. She watched him carefully, but Caspian had already turned his gaze forward—eyes narrowed in thought.

"I'll practice tonight," he said to himself. "The third technique. I need to move forward."

Unnamed Technique (Shield Type): Incomplete.

He needed something that could guard, absorb, and redirect force. A technique for survival. For enduring what couldn't be dodged or shattered.

"It has to be instinctual," he murmured. "Not something I activate consciously. My body has to understand it before my mind does."

Eventually, they reached the split in the path. Fianna slowed her steps as they approached the gates of the girls' dormitory.

Caspian gave her a polite nod. "Get some rest."

"You too," she said. Then, after a beat, "Hey… don't overdo it."

He didn't promise her anything.

Just turned and walked down the darker path toward the boys' dormitory, hands tucked into his coat pockets. The campus lamps flickered to life one by one, casting long shadows that stretched and twisted over the cobbled path.

Later.

The sky had turned to ink. The moon was sharp above the academy spires.

Caspian leaned against the railing of the small balcony outside his room. He looked down at his open palm. Light traces of dried blood were still caught in the creases—proof of battle.

"Against Darian…" he whispered.

His eyes narrowed.

"It was luck. Nothing more."

He clenched his fist.

"If Darian hadn't turned against his own team, we would've lost. Despite all my training. Despite everything I prepared. Despite everything I know."

There was no bitterness in his voice. Just clarity.

"I practiced. I perfected. I planned. And still, in a one-on-one fight, I can't beat a 17-year-old without dragging it into a death match."

He exhaled, slow and long. The wind tugged at his hair.

'I have two lives worth of memories. One lifetime of regrets. And still… I'm not strong enough.'

He closed his eyes.

'I need to be stronger than anyone else—not just for pride. Not just for revenge. But because weakness.....it makes me look pathetic even after two life time I am not on par with a 17 years old boy.'

{Thinking doesn't do the thing.}

Caspian didn't react, but a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

{So do the thing. Don't always think.}

—Bloodmoon.

The blade's presence vanished again into the background—.

Caspian turned, stepped back into his room, and shut the balcony door behind him.

'I Guess i should rest first' caspian thought.

{This idiot}