After Obsidia, Mei Gui, and I had gotten back from the Avast Mountains, I called each of the four other girls on their phones and told them to meet up in the lobby of the girls dormitories. I didn't specify the reason of this meeting just yet, but despite being skeptical, the four of them all agreed.

"Okay, they are en route," I said, hanging up my final call. "They should be coming downstairs right about now."

Since we had spent quite a bit of time on the Avast Mountains, the girls had all already completed their own quests and had went home to rest. I felt kind of bad calling them all down here this late, but this was something necessary. As I looked at Obsidia, I realized something.

"Hm? Wait, Obsidia, if you have a wisp of Chaos within you as well, shouldn't you be able to use every single element just like me?" I asked, keeping a keen eye out for anyone listening in to our conversation. I kept my tone low, even though no one should be loitering around this late (it was around 8:40, 20 minutes before curfew). Just to be safe, I also set up a Sound Barrier around us, using Sound Magic, of course.

Instead of Obsidia answering like I expected, Mei Gui responded to my question. "Master, the Chaos within her is not nearly as strong as yours. She should be stronger than the average dragon, but she cannot surpass the natural laws of this universe like you can."

What the hell, so my abilities count as 'surpassing' the natural laws of the universe? Hm...that aside, it made sense for Obsidia to not be as powerful as me in terms of Chaos energy, since she wasn't born with it. I was, except it just remained in a dormant state until around two months ago. Most likely, she just came into contact with an artifact imbued with the essence of Chaos, and was transformed due to that.

"I have never actually tried using spells other than those of the Water and Fire elements," Obsidia added. "Those are the two elements the Azure Dragon tribe specializes in. Incidentally...by human standards, I am around an Advanced Mage level."

"So you can cast spells up to Level 3?" I asked for confirmation.

"Yes. I have yet to succeed in casting a Legendary-Tier spell."

Huh...so she wasn't all that overpowered in terms of magic. But her physical strength still made her an absolute monster, though. Especially in dragon form.

"Well, we'll have you try casting spells of other elements sometime," I said casually. "It doesn't hurt having a few more spells at your disposal."

"That is certainly true," Obsidia agreed.

It was at that moment that the four girls we had been waiting for piled out of the elevator. I noticed them immediately and gave a little wave. However, the first thing their eyes landed on (yes, all four of them) was Obsidia. They then slowly shifted their gazes onto me, and I felt a hint of killing intent behind their puzzled expressions.

It's not what it looks like...

"A-Ahem," I cleared my throat to get rid of any uneasiness swelling up within me. "The reason I called you all down here today is to have you meet a new companion."

I then eyed Obsidia. "This is Obsidia. She's a dragon."

"She's a what?" Feng Mian asked, not sure if what she heard was right. The other girls all shared similarly shocked expressions.

It was then that Obsidia stepped up, and introduced herself properly. "Hello, everyone. My name is Obsidia, and as you have already heard - I am a dragon. Due to certain circumstances, I will be joining you starting today as a new companion. Nice to meet you all, and I hope we can get along."

When did you get so formal?!

"N-Nice to meet you too..." Yu An Xue murmured quietly, still having trouble processing the fact that the black-haired beauty before her was a genuine, bona fide dragon.

"Y-Yeah...let's get along," Yu An Yan stammered, similarly shocked.

They believed her, since one, I had said it myself, and two, we had no reason to lie. Still, I couldn't blame them for being suspicious. They knew that a dragon could turn into human form, of course, but they never expected to see one outside of Dragon Territory. Since they were known as a secluded species, dragons were rarely spotted outside of their own land.

"But how did you meet her anyway...?" Feng Mian asked, catching on to the main problem.

Qing Yue stared at me in the eyes as her lips slowly curved upwards into a devious smile. "Hmm...there's something you've been hiding from us again, isn't there, Big Brother Xuan Kai?"

We don't have a telepathic connection like Mei Gui and I do, and yet...well, I guess we're really like real siblings, after all.

I sighed, and braced myself for what's to come. "Well, you see...here's what happened..."

*****

- Roughly 5 Minutes Later -

"...And that's about the gist of it," I finished.

I had told them everything, from beginning to end - my plan to trick them into thinking I gave up on becoming a Hunter, my fake name in the Hunters' Guild, how I met Obsidia, what happened during our encounter, how I brought Mei Gui the second time - everything. Of course, I left out the tiny details such as the cowboy-esque dude and the veiled receptionist, but those weren't important. Wait...come to think of it, I still don't know her name...I'll ask her the next time I see her, I swear. Didn't I say the same exact thing before sometime...? Ah, whatever.

The four girls all just stared at me with deadpan expressions, as if they didn't know how to react.

"I don't even know what to say anymore..." Feng Mian sighed in exasperation.

"Big Brother Xuan Kai...you're supposed to use that cleverness of yours to outwit enemies, not your own family...sniff..." Qing Yue muttered, on the verge of tears.

"I-I'm sorry!" I apologized immediately, since I couldn't stand hurting Qing Yue. I quickly pulled her into an embrace, and patted her head softly. "I won't do it again..."

"Sniff...you promise?" Qing Yue asked softly from within my arms.

"...I promise," I replied. Great. Now, I really can't hide anything from them anymore...not unless I want to trample all over my pride as a man, at least. Going back on my word would be shameless, unless for winning a fight - in that case, anything goes. But as things are, I made a promise, so I can't break it.

"Anyway...Xuan Kai, you said Obsidia has the same power you wield?" Yu An Yan asked. Good thing she wasn't as caught up on the small things as the other were. Well, to me, they were classified as 'small things', but to them, it probably mattered a lot, since it made it seem like I didn't trust them. Of course, that wasn't true, it's just that I'm used to being alone, and I work more efficiently independently.

"Yeah," I answered confidently. "Though it isn't as strong as mine, she definitely has the power of Chaos within her."

Since I also told them the agreement Obsidia and I settled on, the girls knew what had caused Obsidia's transformation and the mysterious cave as well. We were going to head there eventually to investigate, so it was better for us to keep that in mind now. It wasn't going to be anytime soon since we were nowhere near strong enough, but it was something we would have to do down the road...though whether or not these girls will stay with me until then, is a different matter.

To be honest, I hope not. Things were only going to get more catastrophic from here on out, so being by myself is probably for the best. That being said, knowing them, they definitely won't abandon me in the face of danger.

"Hm...okay, we'll help out as well then," Yu An Yan said at last. Then, turning to our newest companion, she continued with a smile. "Welcome to the crew, Obsidia."

"Welcome..." Yu An Xue said gently.

"Yep, yep! Let's all have fun together!" Qing Yue exclaimed cheerfully.

Feng Mian, sighed and smiled in resignation. "Mou~I can't take my eyes off of you for a second, can I, Xuan Kai? Every time I do, you bring back a new girl...ah, whatever. Nice to meet you, Obsidia."

I laughed awkwardly. "Alright...well, it's almost curfew, so you guys should probably head back up. We'll go back to ours as well."

"Huh?" the girls all looked at me with looks of confusion.

"...What?"

"Um...you don't mean to say...Obsidia's living with you?" Feng Mian asked hesitantly.

Oh, shit. I completely forgot she was a girl. It's not like I'm going to do anything to her, but well...school rules. Mei Gui was fine since she was a 'golem', at least to everyone else. But how will I explain Obsidia...?

"Er..." I struggled to come up with a good excuse.

Yu An Yan sighed. "She can come live in my dorm. It's pretty isolated as far as location goes. The topmost one. The only other girls there are the ones here right now."

"Hm...yeah, that will be the best choice," I agreed. "If anyone found out about her, it could pose a problem. Obsidia, you cool with living with Yu An Yan?"

"I do not mind," she replied stoically.

"Allright! Then it's decided," Qing Yue said with a bright smile. "Good night, Big Brother Xuan Kai!"

"Uh, yeah...good night."

As I waved to the girls, who in turn waved back before heading towards the elevators. I discretely ran a Detect Presence on the area just to make sure no one had been listening in to our conversation. I had picked out such a late time precisely because of this, but there was still a chance someone overheard. However, my worries were quickly settled as my little test turned out empty. I let out a sigh of relief, and turned to Mei Gui.

"C'mon. Let's head back as well."

"Yes, master."