After Qing Yue and I finally pulled away from one another, we noticed the stares directed at us from all directions. Even Lin Luo and Obsidia, who had not been expecting me to do this, were gawking in shock.

"Xuan Kai… me too…

" Yu An Xue murmured, before pouncing on me like a tiger.

"H-Huh?! An Xue?!

" Yu An Yan turned to her sister in surprise.

"Since when did you get so aggressive?!

"

"Mmn…

"

Yu An Xue, ignoring her sister, leaned in and gently pecked her lips against mine. It wasn't as hot or deep as Feng Mian or Qing Yue's kisses, but this was nice for a change. Her lips tasted sweet, and her scent was that of a violet. Slowly, she pulled away, blushing deeply.

"How… was it?

" She asked faintly for my opinion.

"Uh… good?

" I replied, unsure of what to say.

"Mm…

"

"X-Xuan Kai!

" Yu An Yan interjected, before flushing red as soon as I turned to look at her.

"What…?

"

"M-Me too…

"

"Huh?

"

"Ah, mou~ come here!

"

She promptly closed the distance between herself and I, pulling on my collar and smashing our lips together. Then, she quickly backed off without trying anything else, wiping her mouth.

"T-There… now we're even, An Xue.

"

Yu An Xue smiled at her sister's actions, then embraced her tightly.

"Xuwan Kwai! What about me?

" Amane complained, taking the open spot left behind by Yu An Xue and riding on top of me.

"Fufu, everyone's joining in,

" Qing Yue giggled as she surveyed the scene.

"Qing Yue… why…?

" Feng Mian asked.

"You know what I did with Xuan Kai wasn't intentional… there's no point in forcing this to happen. The others will do it when they are ready.

"

"Really now? I think they're more than ready. They just needed a little push on their backs to take that final step.

" Qing Yue smiled as I tried to explain to Amane what a kiss was.

"… You don't mind this?

" Feng Mian asked quietly.

"Mind what?

"

"This… sharing Xuan Kai with so many other girls.

"

"Hm… sure, I want Big Brother Xuan Kai all to myself, but I don't want to lose any of you guys either. I mean, I think we can call each other close friends by now, yeah?

"

Feng Mian smiled sadly.

"Yes… but I can't help but still feel jealous. I'm really selfish, aren't I?

"

"I'm sure all of us here secretly want Big Brother Xuan Kai to themselves,

" Qing Yue said with a sigh.

"Yet, no one is strictly trying to push the other girls away from him. You're not selfish just because you feel jealous, Feng Mian. That's natural.

"

"… I see. Thanks, Qing Yue.

"

"No problem.

" Qing Yue chuckled and leaned in close to Feng Mian's ear.

"Next… is the real thing. But I won't let the other girls get a taste of that just yet, hehe~

"

Feng Mian's eyes widened.

"You mean…

"

"Why are you so surprised? You've already done it, no?

"

"W-Wha… you heard us…?

"

Qing Yue merely cackled mischievously, without ever providing an answer.

*****

After kissing Lan Xiao Su last, we all fell asleep one after another. Obsidia and Lin Luo pretended not to have seen anything, while the girls didn't speak to me again out of embarrassment.

The following morning, I oddly felt that I was hugging a warm figure. After opening my eyes, I saw Feng Mian's face directly across from me, but quickly realized she was not the one I was embracing. I looked down to see Flaria, in her human form, snoring gently against my chest.

This little… when did she…

Flaria suddenly turned around in her sleep, hitting her hand on Feng Mian, who was on the other side of her.

"Mmn…?

" Feng Mian woke up slowly from the impact, before realizing what was going on.

She looked at me, then at Flaria, then back at me. I shook my head, signaling I didn't know what was going on either. That is, until…

"Mommy… daddy…

"

Flaria tugged on both of our clothes and pulled us closer, surrounding her on both sides. She was still asleep, but there were tears coming out of her eyes.

Ah… I get it now.

Feng Mian seemed to have understood as well, and smiled sadly in response before gently slipping her hands around Flaria and hugging her tightly. I did the same, from the other side. It was already morning, but no one else was awake yet. I decided to just remain like this for a while, until Flaria herself woke up.

I didn't know why she was in her human form, but maybe, whenever she had a nightmare, she automatically switched forms. And since she was seeking for her lost parents, she just happened to pull the two closest people to her together — namely, Feng Mian and I.

I wasn't exactly prepared to be a father this early in life, but I guess I could play the role for Flaria, in this moment. I haven't been devoting much attention to her recently, and that was my fault. Perhaps it was because she was a phoenix even older than I was, but I kept forgetting she was still but a child.

*****

Flaria was last to wake up that morning. When the other girls slowly got up, they saw Feng Mian and I being practically held hostage by the little phoenix, and laughed lightly. Still, they remained as quiet as they could to avoid waking her up ,which I was grateful for.

When she finally did, she glanced at the two of us, then down at herself.

"Wha… why am I here… in my human form…?

"

"I should be asking you that,

" I replied.

"If someone apart from the girls or myself saw you, we would be in big trouble.

"

"S-Sorry…

" Flaria whimpered quietly and returned to her bird form in the blink of an eye.

She's being more obedient than usual today… maybe it's because of the dream?

Putting this matter aside for now, there were bigger things to be worrying about. Today was extremely important — Class A (Class D, really) had gained a significant advantage in Flags over the other classes already, but we needed more if we want to secure a victory.

After the incidents of last night, there was no doubt Class C would confront Class B. Whether this would be in the daytime or night, I had no idea — but most likely, it would be at night. After all, we did knock out most of Class C's members when infiltrating yesterday. They needed time to recover.

So what are going to do during the day? It's simple — train.

I spoke to Ming Hao and asked him to give us a good place to practice, where no one else could disturb us. He ended up leading us to the little area behind the actual temple, at the very north of the bamboo forest.

"This is a spot no one else in the class even knows of,

" he had said.

"You'll be fine training here.

"

And so, here we were, after taking showers, brushing our teeth, eating breakfast, and setting up a sound barrier.

"So, Xuan Kai. How are we going to do this?

" Yu An Yan asked, her embarrassment from last night nowhere to be seen.

"Do we all just take you on together?

"

I shook my head.

"No. You will face one another in one-on-one fights, while the people not fighting will spectate and give pointers at the end of the fight.

"

Qing Yue leaned in close to my ear.

"What, Big Brother Xuan Kai? Scared you'll lose?

"

I scoffed.

"No. I'm scared it wouldn't be much of a fight — I can absorb whatever you throw at me, and turn it back against you. There's no winning against that, given your current strength… even combined.

"

"Okay, okay, we get it, Chaos is overpowered.

" Feng Mian rolled her eyes, then turned to Mei Gui.

"Hey, Mei Gui, didn't you mention something about Xuan Kai's Chaos affecting the rest of us as well now? Does that mean we're going to get powers just like his?

"

Mei Gui shook her head.

"Not at this current stage. The absorption power of Chaos comes from the core itself, which is resting inside Master's body. The rest of you have just been affected by the aura it emits. While you will feel enhanced agility and magical strength, your base abilities won't be altered.

"

"Not at this current stage… so you mean, it's possible in the future?

" Lan Xiao Su asked curiously.

"Perhaps. I would need to recover more of my memories to say for sure, but it certainly is possible.

"

"… It would be quite nice if I could grant you the power I have as well,

" I murmured, then glanced at Lin Luo.

"Actually, on second thought, no. Just in case one of you decides to betray me one day.

"

"Hey. Why are you looking at me when you say that? Our souls are connected — I can't betray you even if I wanted to, unless I wish to kill myself as well.

"

I shrugged.

"I just trust the other girls here far more than you. End of story.

"

"Tch…

"

"Master, can you place her and I into the same bracket?

" Mei Gui asked coldly.

"She requires a beating.

"

I chuckled.

"No, no. I'll be choosing the matchups based on elemental affinities and power level, which means…

"

I patted her head gently with a wide smirk on my face.

"… Mei Gui, you'll be fighting against me.

"