There were many significant side characters in the game Spirit Realm Chronicles.
However, the story mainly revolved around the members of Squad 9 — the primary heroes.
The members of Squad 9 were Lily Elderwing, Michael Godswill, Alexia Zynxx, Kang Tae-jin, and Ray Warner.
Initially, their relationship, much like the start of the story, was slow.
But over the course of the game, they grew closer and became one big dysfunctional family.
As the game progressed, more members joined their found family, including characters like Vince Cleverly and Juliana Blade.
However, the original crew remained the Squad 9 members.
The underlying reason for their close bond was a major event in the story — the Massacre during the Class Excursion.
By the conclusion of that arc, the Squad 9 members found themselves stranded in a very dangerous region of the Spirit Realm…. alongside a few minor characters who were all killed off for character development and to show the high stakes of their situation.
Anyway, that event was still far in the future.
In fact, I doubted it would ever take place since it occurred because Samael came into contact with the Summoning Card of Asmodeus.
But Samael in this reality — who was me — was not foolish. I had clearly avoided that scenario.
So, my current goal was to prevent the original Squad 9 from forming at all, as I wanted to be a part of it.
However, I was facing a dilemma. I needed to decide who I was going to replace.
For example, I couldn’t take Michael’s place in Squad 9 for two reasons.
First, he was a crucial factor in his team’s success in the test that granted them their team-building mission assignment, which was the whole reason I wanted to join his squad.
Second, he would never agree to any of my shady requests.
The same applied to Lily.
Aside from the fact that she and I weren’t on talking terms, she would never simply give up her position in the Squad without a good reason.
Then there was Alexia.
I could approach her and try to strike another deal, but honestly, she scared me a bit.
And besides, negotiating with her wouldn’t be easy.
As for Kang Tae-jin — he was Alexia’s Shadow, so he would likely refuse to switch Squads with me as well.
That left just one person — Ray Warner.
And truthfully speaking, I believed I had a better chance of convincing him than I did with Alexia.
Why? Because at this point in the story Ray didn’t care about anything!
I wasn’t joking.
In the game — or in any media I had ever consumed — Ray Warner was the most laid-back character I had ever seen.
He only wanted to flirt with beautiful girls, drink fine alcohol, work out, and flirt with beautiful girls again.
He was the type of guy who loved to party and had an unbothered outlook on life.
That personality of his would make my task easier. Now all I had to do was find him.
Since Ray was one of the top-ranking Cadets — in fact, he was second in the top ten, just below me — he had access to some of the Academy’s VIP facilities.
One of these was access to the main training gym, which was reserved for only the top Cadets from each batch.
I had no idea if Ray would even be there, but my best chance of finding him was in that gym. So, I went there anyway.
The Academy’s main gym looked exactly as you would expect from a top-tier training center for the Awakened.
The building was massive from the outside, almost towering, and when I entered, I was even more impressed.
The interior was spacious, filled with cutting-edge magic and technology.
Gleaming, top-of-the-line equipment lined the expansive floor, ranging from state-of-the-art treadmills and weight machines to enchanted dummies designed to simulate live combatants.
A floating holographic scoreboard hovered near the ceiling, displaying real-time statistics of those currently training.
Even the floor was made of an adaptive material, adjusting its firmness and temperature to suit different activities.
Meanwhile, the walls were constructed from supersteel, designed to withstand heavy abuse.
“Damn,” I muttered under my breath.
But despite its grandeur, the gym wasn’t overly crowded. In fact, it wasn’t crowded at all.
Being exclusive to only a handful of Cadets, it was even quieter with the start of the first semester.
Most of the first-years had no energy left after our first academic day to even think about working out.
That didn’t mean it was completely empty, though.
I could spot a few faces from my batch, along with some upperclassmen.
And then, there he was.
A young man with wavy, light brown hair and eyes that seemed to glow softly. His features were almost too perfect to be real.
His face could easily belong to an angel, with flawless pale skin smoother than most maidens and a height that towered over average boys.
He was the kind of person who made everyone nearby wonder how they could possibly look so plain in comparison.
At the moment, he was laughing in that effortless, charming way of his, talking to a second-year girl, clearly the center of her attention.
Yeah, that was definitely him.
But now didn’t look like a good time to pull him aside to talk.
So, I figured I’d give Ray some time to finish up his flirt session, as interrupting him would only make things awkward.
So, instead, I headed to an empty corner of the gym and started stretching.
Not because I particularly wanted to work out, but because standing around doing nothing would make me look like a complete fool.
I notice that all the equipment near me were enchanted artifacts, faintly humming with energy.
I glanced at the weight rack, immediately dismissing it — too much effort.
The treadmills? Absolutely not. Running was for people who enjoyed torture.
Finally, my eyes settled on a nearby punching dummy.
Perfect.
It had been a while since I last practiced my martial arts anyway.
Deciding on it, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a few small, shimmering cyan crystals.
They were Essence Stones — one of the most valuable materials mined from the Spirit Realm.
And why were they so valuable?
Because these crystals had a unique property — they could absorb and store Essence from the atmosphere over a long period of time.
When broken, the stored Essence could then be absorbed by an Awakened, strengthening their soul.
This fact made these stones far more precious than diamonds ever were back in the old world.
But there was a catch.
For low-ranked Awakened like me — those who couldn’t sense Essence yet — most of the energy inside the stone was wasted upon breaking.
Since we couldn’t sense Essence, we couldn’t actively absorb it. As a result, a significant portion of it simply dissipated back into the atmosphere.
This was why the rich Awakened couldn’t simply climb their way to higher ranks by hoarding these stones.
It was also why Essence Stones were considered too valuable to be given to low-rankers.
Yet here I was, holding them.
The Academy had a long-standing tradition of rewarding Essence Stones to the top ten Cadets of every batch at the start of the semester.
It was a symbol of excellence. A mark of prestige.
In fact, these particular stones had been handed to me directly by the Grandmaster during the opening ceremony.
Of course, these ones weren’t very pure.
But they were still better than nothing.
I crushed the four stones in my hand one after another, watching them disintegrate into dust before my eyes.
At the same time, I felt a surge of energy flooding my body.
It was like adrenaline rushing through my veins, sparking a sudden burst of strength.
This was just the short-term aftereffect of absorbing a lot of Essence at once.
Nodding to myself, I turned my gaze toward the combat dummy.
As I approached it, the dummy sprang to life, adopting a defensive stance.
“Let’s see what you’ve got, you glorified scarecrow,” I muttered, more to myself than to the inanimate target.
•••
Thirty minutes later…
I was bent over, hands on my knees, gasping for air like I was drowning.
My muscles screamed in pain, my heart pounded wildly, and my limbs throbbed relentlessly.
The combat dummy stood tall over me, and even though it had no face, I could almost swear it was smirking proudly!
This was yet another side effect of absorbing too much Essence at once.
Once the initial rush of strength wore off, I was left completely drained.
Fortunately, by that time, Ray had finally finished his conversation.
The second-year girl he’d been flirting with walked away, flustered and blushing.
Finally, I could talk to him now.
Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself, then moved to deliver a sudden spinning heel kick to the dummy’s chest, sending it staggering back.
“Ha!”
This time I smirked at it and walked away.
“Ray Warner,” I called, stopping a few paces from him. “Got a minute?”
He turned and raised an eyebrow. A grin spread across his face when he recognized me.
“Lord Samael,” he greeted. “Should I be honored that you know my name, or should I be worried?”
“Honored,” I said flatly. “Even more honored because I have an offer for you.”
His grin widened. “Yeah, no. I’m worried. But go ahead, I’m listening. Though, try to make it quick. You saw that girl I was talking to, right? I’ve gotta meet her later. Wasn’t she cute, by the way?!”
Wow, this guy was a bundle of energy.
“…Yeah, actually, she was,” I agreed, despite myself. “Now listen up. The Academy will divide the first-years into Squads of five tomorrow. I want you to switch Squads with me.”
Ray frowned, caught off guard for a moment. He clearly hadn’t expected to hear that when I said I had a deal for him.
“Uh, why?” he asked.
“Personal reasons,” I answered curtly.
“And why would I listen to you?” His eyes narrowed.
“I’m not forcing you,” I laughed. “It’s your choice. But here’s the deal — my Squad will have Princess Alice.”
Ray froze, and I could see the effect it had on him.
Throughout the first few arcs, Ray had a thing for Princess Alice. It wasn’t exactly a crush — more like him wanting to score a real princess.
Unfortunately for him, Alice was one of the few sensible girls who wasn’t affected by his boundless charm.
Their interactions in the game had always been… awkward.
“You’re not lying?” he asked, his voice low and full of doubt. “How do you even know she’ll be in your Squad?”
That was a genuine reaction.
After all, the task of assigning teams was random. No one was supposed to know who their Squad mates would be.
“I just know,” I assured him vaguely. “But if you don’t believe me — for which I won’t blame you — I can also throw you a bottle of Lenharton 25-year-old scotch.”
Ray’s eyes widened at the mention of that.
Lenharton was a prestigious brand of whisky, and one of their 25-year-old bottles would be considered a priced luxury.
I knew it was something even Ray would never pass up.
And just like I expected, he stood up, offering me the brightest smile I had ever seen, and extended a hand for me to shake. “Deal!”
And that completed all my preparations.