After Michael wasted some time by arguing with our survival instructor about one of his teammates — which happened to be me — we were finally given ten minutes to regroup with our Squad members and strategize.
Right now, Michael and Lily were standing in front of me.
Juliana had left my side to join her own Squad.
Our other two teammates, Alexia and Kang, were still nowhere to be seen.
So the tension around our little group was palpable.
Michael looked like he was barely restraining himself from blowing up again.
Lily, on the other hand, seemed like she wanted to say something but didn’t know what.
As for me, I couldn’t be bothered. I was casually inspecting my nails while ignoring those two.
Luckily, before the anxious silence between the three of us could get any more awkward, Alexia finally arrived.
The blind girl moved through the crowd while holding onto the sleeve of her Shadow — a tall, tan-skinned, white-haired boy with cerulean eyes and an almost feral appeal to his sharp face.
That boy was Kang Tae-jin.
He was one of the supporting male leads, alongside Ray Warner.
In the original story, Ray was supposed to meet the main cast today, but since I had taken his place, that wasn’t going to happen.
I was fully aware that altering the story this early would create unpredictable consequences down the line, but honestly, I couldn’t bring myself to care.
The academy had promised a reward — a mission granted to the best-performing Squad during this test.
And I needed to secure that mission.
Once it was over, I figured I’d return Ray his spot on this team by swapping Squads with him again.
I wouldn’t do that because I was afraid of changing the story, but because the thought of spending another moment in the same team as Michael was simply insufferable.
Alexia stopped a few steps away from us and let go of Kang’s sleeve.
He leaned in to whisper something in her ear — likely describing how we looked.
She nodded, turning her attention toward us with an amused expression.
“So,” she began, spreading her arms theatrically. “Why is everyone in such a sour mood? Rejoice — you’re all graced by my fabulous presence!”
“You’re late,” Michael snapped, his voice sharp enough to cut through stone.
Alexia tilted her head, a bemused smile on her doll-like face. “Late? Oh, no, Michael. I arrived when I intended to. The issue here is that you were early.”
Michael gritted his teeth, looking like he was battling the urge to facepalm.
Alexia rolled her eyes and pointed vaguely around to the gathered first-years. “Fine. I’m sorry, I guess. Crowds are annoying for me. Everyone’s Aura blends together — it’s like trying to walk through a maze of fog.”
Kang crossed his arms and stepped forward, his voice carrying a dry edge. “Besides, it didn’t seem like you were discussing anything important… or even talking at all.”
I let out a quiet sigh. It was a barely audible sound. But Alexia’s head snapped toward me instantly.
That was when I noticed a Card floating around her waist. It was the same sensory enhancement Card that I’d given her.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Lord Samael,” Alexia teased, a mischievous grin lighting up her face. “What brings you here?”
Before I could answer, Michael cut in. “He did something and got into our Squad!”
“Whoa, what’s with the accusatory tone?” I shot back, feigning offense. “And what exactly do you think I did? I just wanted to change my Squad, so I put in an application and ended up in yours. It was pure coincidence.”
Michael narrowed his eyes. “It was a coincidence, was it? Sure. And I’m the king of the world.”
“Congratulations on your coronation, Your Majesty,” I said with an exaggerated bow. “May your reign be long and uneventful.”
Michael glared at me like I had stolen both his kidneys. “Do you ever take anything seriously?”
“Yes,” I replied sincerely. “I’m serious about a lot of things. Like my personal comfort, for example. Which, right now, is in grave danger thanks to your annoying voice.”
Michael’s face turned red, and I swear his head was about to explode. But fortunately before that, Lily stepped in and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Okay, let’s all calm down,” she said, her voice as sweet as ever. “We need to focus on strategizing if we want to win. First, we should assign a Squad leader.”
She hesitated for a moment before shifting toward me. “S-Samael, since you’re the Ace… do you want the position?”
But instead of answering her, I started inspecting my nails, blatantly ignoring her question.
A whole minute passed in complete silence as Lily stood there, visibly waiting for my response.
Honestly, I didn’t know what was wrong with me.
Why was I ignoring the female lead?
Maybe I wasn’t as at ease with her presence as I’d convinced myself.
Perhaps some stubborn part of me still hadn’t forgiven her, no matter how much I pretended I didn’t care.
Alexia’s grin widened as she watched the interaction unfold. “Ooooh, I smell a drama brewing!”
“No! There will be no drama!” Michael barked, his voice cracking with frustration. “And for the record, why would he get to be leader just because he’s the Ace? He wouldn’t even be the Ace if it wasn’t for his Shadow helping him!”
I scowled at the accusation. “Excuse me? I won that title fair and square.”
Michael jabbed a finger at me. “Fair and square? You didn’t even win by your own strength!”
“Huh?!” I couldn’t believe how hypocritical this guy was.
He had help from a literal ancient Demon created by the False God — one of the most powerful creatures in existence!
He was the protagonist — the only one capable of killing the Spirit King and saving the heavens!
The entire world practically revolved around him.
He was blessed by Destiny!
And he was accusing me of cheating?
His entire existence was the biggest cheat of them all!
A vein throbbed on my forehead as I barked back, “I just used every resource available to me! And for your information, the Ace isn’t about being the strongest Cadet in a batch — it’s about being the best. And guess what? I bested you. I bested all of you!”
Michael turned to Lily, throwing his hands in the air dramatically. “Do you know how to perform CPR, Lily? Because this guy is coping so much he’s practically drowning in it!”
Then he swiveled back to me. “I’m unarguably the strongest here, so I’m the only one fit to be Squad leader!”
Lily looked like she was ready to sink into the earth and disappear forever, but before she could utter a word, Alexia chimed in.
“I wasn’t planning on joining the drama, but you’re both wrong,” she said, her voice full of amused confidence. “Obviously, I should be the Squad leader. After all, I went toe-to-toe with both of you — teaming up against me, I might add.”
Michael scoffed as he shot her a glare. “You just caught me off guard. If we fight again, I’ll take you down — easily, I might add.”
Alexia’s smirk widened. “Sure you would, Your Majesty.”
“We didn’t team up,” I sneered. “You were the one who was attacking both of us together.”
“Nuh uh,” Alexia shook her head. “You guys were totally working together.”
Michael laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. He then faced Alexia. “I would never work with this guy. And just to be clear, I would’ve won if it wasn’t for you paralyzing my arm.”
And just like that, we kept on bickering.
•••
In the end, before the three of us could settle on who was more fit to lead our Squad — even though it was clearly me — our ten minutes ran out.
Needless to say, we didn’t come up with any strategies either, since we spent most of the time arguing.
But honestly, we didn’t really need any strategies.
As much as I disliked those two, having Alexia and Michael on the same team was almost a bit too much for everyone else.
And that was the whole point.
The Academy had set these teams, and they sure as hell weren’t trying to make them balanced.
In fact, the goal was to make the Squads as unbalanced as possible, so they could create as many strongest teams as possible.
After all, real-world Hunter Squads were formed the same way — with the strongest Awakened joining forces and working together.
Was it unfair to the rest of the first-years, especially during tests like these?
Of course it was.
But, then again, real life wasn’t exactly fair either.
Selene Valkryn soon appeared in front of us once again and began calling out the Squad numbers.
“Squad 1, approach the Portal!”
A group of five Cadets stepped forward hesitantly as they moved toward the Portal.
One by one, they disappeared into its oppressive darkness.
“Squad 2, next!”
Once again, five Cadets made their way to the Portal and vanished inside it.
Selene kept on calling out Squads until it was finally our turn.
“Squad 10–”
Before she could even finish speaking, I had already begun to run.
“Whoever goes through first becomes the Squad leader!” I yelled over my shoulder and jumped into the Portal.