"To think traveling to a different world can be that easy…" Mara, one of the Elemental siblings, commented as she tried to peek into the opened Portals by the Principal.
Of course, with my request, the sly old man reluctantly agreed to open those four Portals to the World of System, Barbarian, Spirit and Meta.
Apart from the girls who already completely filled up the slots for the Flux Energy State, all of the others went inside one of the Portals to assimilate the new Source Energy and Mortal Pathway.
Like I planned I also called Lexie and Ophelia to do the same. Since the Portals were opened nearby them, it didn't take long for them to show up in front of me to which I suggested the suitable Pathway for them.
Ophelia as always was somewhat subservient that she immediately followed my suggestion while Lexie deliberated for a while before ending up following it as well.
"You can enter it and see for yourself if you're curious. They won't disappear for a while."
"Eh? Can I?"
Well, it's not just her who was curious about the glaring Portals in front of us. Ezyn and Yse also went in to check on the status of the Spirit Beasts. Well, for Yse, she's checking on her sister who she left behind.
The twins, Rei and Ren as well as Jagu and Chee also had a look of longing in their eyes but after some time, they steeled themselves. Although they're not a Transcendent yet, they still had that determination to become one. Moreover, they would continue following us to the Otherworlds. There's no more threat in this world so by following us, they would be able to encounter more challenges that would push them to progress. Not just them, there were also other Humans, Elementals, Noxians and Luxians that were gearing up to follow us in one of the five Otherworlds that would be opened later.
To aid my former comrades, I gave the four a few Energy Stones for their Absorption Session. I couldn't do the same for them the same way I did with Yuko's party members.
Well, they consisted of a married couple and inseparable twins. It's not like I could just ask the two women to become my Companion and I had really no inkling on asking a male to be my Companion… It's a different companionship after all.
After an hour, most of the girls already came back, equipped with their new Pathways and abilities. Looking at their confident smiles naturally made me feel light. It added to my assurance that they would be fine even if we would be separated again for a while.
Before letting them go back to their world, I asked Lexie and Ophelia to stay for a bit. To check what they got with their new Pathways as well as check if my view towards them was already leaning to that of a lover and not just a companion. It's only been a few days so… it's not that apparent yet but knowing myself. I knew that the two, or four if I included Noelle and Caila, had started to run inside my mind.
There's now always a time where I would wonder what they're doing. I guess there's truly only one endpoint for me regarding those added as my Companions. I would probably eventually fall in love with them regardless of the start of our relationship.
Either way, at the moment, it hasn't reached that point yet.
Lexie's awakened ability was called Plant Control. Initially, it could only let her control any type of Plant. A simple grass can become a deadly blade or a softwood can become a sturdy shield, durable enough to block an attack for her.
As her ability continued to evolve. It could now allow her to temporarily create out of nowhere the plants or wood she needed.
Of course, her weakness was extreme heat or fire.
When she fought Amry before as a soldier of the League, she made use of her Metagen to enhanced the plants or trees she could create, giving them a boost on fire resistance.
However, Amry's Pyrokinesis was a true nemesis of her Plant Control.
That's why to help her further strengthen that ability of hers, I suggested for her to assimilate Elemental-type and Spirit-type.
Like Nysia, she got Earth Element as her Main Elemental Core while her Secondary Cores were one Earth, two Water and two Light. As for her Transformation Skill, it resembled Jayna's Nature Nymph but she's more like a Dryad with how her body became wrapped with twigs and green leaves, giving her the natural allure of a grown woman.
I couldn't deny that upon seeing her transform like that, my attraction towards her heightened. Perhaps it got to do with how my view of her changed ever since listing her as one of my Companions.
As for Ophelia, she got Spirit-type and Psyche which gave her the ability called Weapon Specialist and a Transformation Skill which made her look like a Valkyrie. Given that the Passive Skill I got from her was about Weapon Proficiency, I expected that kind of awakened ability from her. If she was already proficient at any type of weapon, the Weapon Specialist ability strengthened it and gave her additional skills to use.
"This is great. Your strength could now be said to be at the top of Rank 1 Transcendents. Nonetheless, always be careful and don't hesitate to contact me if something unexpected happens." I nodded in approval towards Ophelia which she returned with a deep bow.
She even wanted to kneel down and kowtow towards me but I stopped her by grabbing her shoulders.
"You don't need to do that anymore. Like I told you, you're now my Companion. Like Erin and Avelin, you're now as important to me." After saying that, I turned to Lexie who's watching from the side. "You too, Lexie. I told you about this before making you my Companion. I don't need the two of you to be too formal with me. I'd like it better if you treat me like before."
With the two acknowledging my words, the somewhat restrained atmosphere loosened up. Due to that, our conversation became more meaningful. Dropping the formal act, the two became as talkative as the other girls which led me to know more about them. And in turn, I did the same.
When it's time for them to go back, the two of them had a brighter expression than before coming here.
"Let me rest for a while. I need to replenish my Energy to open another set of Portals."
After seeing off the two women and closing the four opened Portals, the Principal coughed twice to gather our attention.
Naturally, no one objected. Moreover, we still needed to decide the distribution of groups.
"Dai-kun, we already prepared it" Yuko along with Yumiko, Leianne and Sofiel went towards me to present the list of groups.
Before they presented it to everyone, the four brainstormed on who would be in what group. Factoring in our strength and abilities, even if they're somewhat reluctant to separate from me, they prepared it with care.
I trusted that they would be fair so after checking the list, we gathered everyone once again.