The Discarded Son's Skill Market
Chapter 1: Expelled

Chapter 1: Expelled

In the opulent Zachary Family Ballroom, a grand celebration was taking place.

The young man for whom the celebration was supposed to be—in honor of his 18th birthday—was lying on the floor, surrounded by everyone, with blood pouring from his mouth.

Zaid’s bones ached, and his flesh writhed inside him.

He looked up at his father, mother, and siblings.

"Father... Why...?" A hoarse, pain-filled voice escaped his lips.

A dusty, purple-tinged breath escaped his mouth along with blood. At his own birthday party, his own father had made him drink a deadly poison.

A thousand questions swirled through his head; none were answered.

"The scum, Zaid Zachary, has brought shame on the family for many years. He is unworthy of it," his father said.

After observing Zaid’s reaction, he continued: "As of today, I, Roger Zachary, declare that your name will be erased from our family history. A talentless person like you is not worthy of bearing our last name," he declared.

Those words hit Zaid like a bucket of cold water and made him tremble.

He turned his head to look at his mother, seeking her help, but she just looked at him indifferently.

His brothers... made mocking gestures.

"They’re finally going to kick that trash out," one of Zaid’s younger brothers sneered.

Zaid felt as if a stake were piercing his heart, causing him immeasurable pain. It wasn’t a physical stake; it was his family’s mockery, indifference, and coldness.

The pain he felt from the poison eating away at his insides was nothing compared to the pain he was feeling right now.

Although they had never been affectionate toward him since the System appeared, they hadn’t behaved this way before either.

They simply ignored him or gave him minimal resources—barely enough to eat and clothe himself. But now he was seeing a completely unfamiliar side of them.

Cruel. Indifferent and mocking in the face of a family member’s pain.

Faced with this situation, Zaid—unable to believe what he was seeing—turned his head to the side, looking for his girlfriend’s face. She was there, but she hadn’t said a word in quite a while.

Surely her family could do something!

In a matter of seconds, their eyes met.

Elara was a beautiful and tender woman. She was very warm, though a little self-serving. However, seeing the love of his life there made Zaid’s heart feel a little warmer.

He wanted to speak...

But she suddenly snorted and turned away.

Under Zaid’s eager gaze, she walked over to where his brothers were standing and stopped right next to one of them—the oldest: Zayn Zachary.

Elara spoke. "Zaid, our engagement was called off by our families. As of today, I, Elara Brown, have nothing to do with you," she declared coldly.

Zayn Zachary wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled Elara closer to him.

"Elara has been given to me, my dear younger brother," Zayn sneered. His hand slipped openly through the opening in her dress. "I will enjoy her very much... in your honor."

Zaid’s heart clenched.

His body began to sweat.

His hands trembled.

His heart ached.

He couldn’t tell the difference between the pain of the poison striking his heart and the pain of the words and taunts from all his loved ones.

Suddenly, he felt an overwhelming urge to vomit.

"BUAGH!"

Dark red, almost black blood splattered on the floor in front of him, nearly causing him to lose consciousness immediately...

His father flashed a peculiar smile at that moment and waved his hands. "Throw him into the Waste Gate Zone. From now on, he has nothing to do with our family."

The guards obeyed and coldly dragged him toward the area off-limits to the weak.

They beat him and then threw him in.

"Mr. Zayn’s wedding will be next year. If you survive, maybe you’ll see your beloved fiancée in a beautiful white dress." They taunted him before leaving him out in the open to the beasts.

Zaid’s breathing grew weaker with every passing second. He didn’t have a health bar, but he was certain he was losing health points with every passing moment.

He was dying at an accelerated rate.

While a poison was eating away at him from the inside, the guards’ blows were tearing him apart on the outside. And now his circumstances were not favorable.

He didn’t even have the strength to get up.

His father’s words, his mother’s indifference, the taunts of his brothers, his beloved girlfriend, and her betrayal caused every part of his heart to shatter into pieces.

In his mind, there was nothing but intense hatred.

’It’s because I’m weak... and not very clever.’

’I didn’t notice the signs...’

’And now I’m dying in a cold place...’

As his mind berated him, he saw movement in front of him.

His body trembled when he saw a small snake slithering among the dry leaves. His fear of snakes did not stop him from looking directly into its tiny eyes.

It was about 30 centimeters long. Its color was a deep black like the void of the universe and a perfect blue like a sapphire. Its two eyes glowed a deep red, while its tongue flickered with every hiss.

It was heading toward him and didn’t take long to arrive. Its tiny body stood before him.

Sssssh!

Even though the snake was tiny, it looked imposing.

And Zaid, for the first time, felt no fear. On the contrary, an intense thirst for power was growing inside him as he watched it.

’If only my talent were as impressive as you are, little one...’ he thought. Zaid gritted his teeth in frustration at being so useless.

His talent, which had awakened eight years ago, was the most useless thing in existence.

Because it did nothing. It just had a name.

Scavenger.

If only his small, useless talent were as imposing as this snake, he would be a different person right now.

Suddenly, he saw the snake lunge at him, aiming for his eye. It opened its small but ferocious mouth, and strange, translucent blue teeth glinted in the faint moonlight filtering through the gap between the tree leaves.

Zaid didn’t flinch. For the first time, he wasn’t afraid of a snake. He simply accepted it and tried to close his eyes. But something entered his field of vision at that very moment and prevented him from closing them.

[The Talent Copy Shop System has been activated.]

[You have been granted the opportunity to upgrade your talent.]

[Rank F Scavenger will be upgraded to Rank C Scavenger and unlock new attributes.]

[Confirm the upgrade so you don’t die from the deadly poison in your veins.]