Gerald Lauder. Eldest son of the current proprietor of Lauder Armaments, the largest distributor of weapons in the country. Weapons and equipment that were made from metals that came from the Portal.

  Gerald was born 2 years before his brother, Harvey. And they were always doted by their mother, she bought them anything that they ever wanted. Despite being the wealthiest family in the country, they could be considered normal.

  They weren’t too fancy, not even a guard in sight, they didn’t indulge in luxuries that one would expect from their wealth. Gerald’s parents also liked to donate some of their wealth to the neighboring villages, which didn’t have the capacity to feed all of their people.

  They always leave him and young Harvey with the servants whenever they go in their donation runs. But one day, his mother never came back.

  She was killed. And not by some Portal monster, but by a human. People from the Deadzone, which Gerald’s parents were trying to help turned on them when they weren’t able to provide for everyone.

  His father came back alone, limping with his body covered in blood. Their healers tried to heal his leg, but it was already too late and the damage was already done. A few hours later, his father went back to the Deadzone to retrieve his wife’s corpse, with an army in hand.

  Whatever happened in that village afterward, nobody really knew.

  Gerald was only 5 years old back then, both he and Harvey had no clue as to what happened. He didn’t even know why her mother wasn’t waking up and playing with them anymore.

  And not even a month after that incident, Gerald got his first bruise. Harvey accidentally spilled their father’s cup as they were playing in their father’s study. And since Gerald did not want Harvey to get in trouble with their father, he told him that it was him who did it.

  He even had a bright smile on his face, a slight giggle as it was the first time ever that he ever tried to lie. But what followed after that was a resounding slap on his cheek that echoed throughout the study.

  And when Gerald cried, his father hit him again.

  Crying is for the weak, his father said.

  "Do you know why your mother died!? Because I was weak!"

  Those were the exact words that his father said when he beat him again and again with his cane. His mother was killed by beggars when they didn’t get what they wanted, they mobbed and killed her…… and his father couldn’t do a thing about it.

  Don’t cry! Don’t be weak!

  Again and again…… and again. Gerald’s small body was hit by a cane that was taller than him. The servants had to pull Lionel away and carry Gerald out of the room just to make him stop. They even had to call another System Holder to heal Gerald.

  And from then on, it somewhat became a habit in the estate. A week would not go by without Gerald being beaten, his fragile bones shattering over and over again…… and when Harvey got a bit older, he too got his share of bruises.

  And Gerald, he made sure to take all of the blame after seeing his younger brother crying. He hugged his brother every night, telling him that everything would be alright as he bled from his nose.

  He told him that he would protect him. He would protect him from their father, he would protect them from the beggars that killed their mother.

  The beggars…… it was their fault. All of these things are happening because of them. The 5-year old Gerald blamed everything on them. It was then that a blazing fire opened up in Gerald’s eyes as he tightened his embrace towards his brother. The will to protect him was born.

  But alas, something else awoken inside Gerald. Every time that he was beaten by their father, livestocks that were being tended to by the servants would go missing from one of the coops, a chicken.

  A servant then later found out that Gerald was bringing them into the forest, and when they followed him, they could not help but feel their chest tighten. It turned out that Gerald was killing them. Bashing their heads, breaking their necks, beating them with sticks, or just plain stomping them with his feet.

  And then at 13 years old, he gained and unlocked a System.

  His father immediately wanted him to enroll in the Academy, but Gerald refused as Harvey would be left all alone with his father. And for some reason, his father agreed. But in return, he had to be trained in the estate every day by various System Holders.

  He was also forced to absorb Crystals even with his young body.

  And with the awakening of his System, Gerald’s peculiar vice became worse. From chickens, it became cows. Crushing their heads, watching them bleed, and breaking their legs forcing them to walk with a broken leg.

  The servants could not really stop him. How would they? And when he was asked why he was doing these things, he just answered with……

  "Because they are weak?"

  And a year after that, Harvey also unlocked his System. Both of them had Enhance-type Systems. With this, Gerald no longer had to worry about his baby brother being beaten up by their father. He can’t hurt him anymore even if he tried.

  And so, Gerald felt a huge weight on his shoulders being removed, replaced by the excitement of finally going to the Academy in the following year. Still, he did not choose to live in the dorms as Harvey was still left in the estate, no matter how he puts it, he didn’t really want to leave Harvey alone with their father.

  Who knows what he would do to him.

  But maybe in the year after next year, he thought. Maybe then both he and Harvey would be in the dorms and away from their father.

  And so, at the age of 15, Gerald was finally enrolled in the Academy. He thought that he would finally have a normal life…… but in the end, he was still surrounded by people that were hired by his father, following him around like a dog and doing everything that he wanted.

  The closest thing he had to a proper conversation was probably with the club that he was forced to join by the Headmaster, the student council body. In a way, he started to somewhat look forward to attending it.

  Now…… if only that beggar, Van, was not part of it, then everything would have been perfect.

  Why…… why is someone like that even allowed in the Academy? Don’t they know how dangerous someone like that is?

  And why was he even backed by someone like the daughter of the Chairman of the Explorer Association? Don’t they know that if he doesn’t get what he wants from them anymore, he would betray them without even the slightest hesitation?

  And so…… that beggar, Van. He must disappear.

  And the coming excursion would be the best place to do it. The Portal……

  A lot can happen inside a Portal.