Klade Varden. Born and raised in the Empire of Lectis - a powerful military nation. His father was a national mage and his mother a renowned scientist. They were both considered geniuses, whose discoveries and inventions had changed the modern world. 

Klade inherited their intelligence from a young age. As they mostly worked from home, he was able to witness their creations, and was immediately fascinated by them. He too, wanted to one day create something that would change the world.

No, he was obsessed with the idea.

Science and magecraft, the two subjects thought to be worlds apart from theories to application. Once someone has chosen to study one, they will find the other impossible to master.

He studied both. Ignoring the advice of his parents and the laughter of his peers, he buried himself under books and documents. Even as he went to college, professors and classmates continued to ridicule him.

He graduated with a doctorate degree in both subjects, laughing at those who once mocked him.

He was offered work by both the Imperial Council of Arcanum and the Institute of Science. He decided to work for both of them at the same time.

Over the years, his work has brought many innovations to the people of his country. But he was dissatisfied. He wanted to change the world with his inventions and discoveries, yet he found his work lacking in scope. 

It was when he found out about the hero summoning portal.

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The age of monsters and demons had ended centuries ago. After the battle of the Crimson Lord and the Hero of Light, their forces rapidly weakened. Over the years, they were gradually eliminated, and finally brought to extinction. 

And so too was the need for heroes. In the age of peace, their powers were deemed too dangerous, too destructive, and so all nations agreed to seal the portals they had built, and made any attempt at summoning them an international crime.

However, not everyone agreed with their decision. Those that seeked power and wanted it theirs. Those that thirsted for war and those who benefited from it. They despised their government’s willingness to let go of such power, such limitless potential it could bring.

The ‘Aurum Arcano’, an underworld association comprised of nobles, scientists and mages who had defected from the government. With knowledge about the hero summoning magic which they stole from the Council, they built their own portal to another world.

The association's goal was to artificially increase the strength of summoned heroes beyond that of their innate blessings, and turn them into human weapons that serve under it. Klade was 40 years old when he was introduced to it by a close acquaintance. 

Klade quickly became the head researcher and director. His methods of doping the heroes with chemicals and carving magic circuits directly into their brains proved to yield great success, and Aurum Arcano quickly rose up in the Underworld. 

He was still dissatisfied. Even with his methods, a hero's strength would only increase by about 30% at most, with a process so intricate and tedious that they could only be done by a few accomplished archmages and scientists. And even then, there were many failures that led to casualty. 

While that was enough for the association to praise him, he himself thought it wasn't enough to 'make a change'. 

The 'Demon rose' came to his possession soon after. Originally belonged to a wealthy noble, who after discovering the plant in some abandoned castle, was fascinated by its unique color and ordered it to be planted on his property.

And there it stayed, completely harmless, for several decades. Until a servant accidentally cut her hand tending the plant. It ate both the noble's family and his servants. 

People discovered his estate covered in vines and black roses. The country's national mages were summoned, and they had to use their most powerful flames at maximum output in order to kill the plant.

Save for a short piece of vine, that one of the mages had secretly cut off and brought home. Many years later, it somehow wound up in an auction where Klade was present. 

It took him one look to know the rose belonged to the Crimson Lord herself, and so contained her immeasurable power. He was ecstatic. 

Even now, as he was looking at a boy sleeping in a grey room through hidden cameras, he couldn't contain his excitement. The boy, no, the girl now, had begun to resemble the Crimson Lord - whose paintings Klade kept in his home, more and more. It was as if he was looking at a younger version of Crel.

He unlocked the door to her room, crouched down next to her mattress, and caressed her hair and cheek. She turned away from him, her sleeping face showing visible discomfort.

Still smiling, he whispered into her ear. "Sweet dreams, my beloved daughter. Sleep well and make father proud, will you?"