The One Luna

Hana and the rest were standing guard in the area surrounding the cave while Elise was waiting on the spot Boni disappeared, the same thick red smoke described by Hana earlier appeared in front of her.

"Boni!" She cried out expectantly. True enough, Boni stepped out. Her smile widened and she was about to run towards him and hug him, but what she saw erased her smile completely.

Boni was actually holding the hand of a woman who was completely n.a.k.e.d.

"BONI!!!" Her initial cry of concern and relief turned into an enraged howl.

"Ah? Elise, my love! I'm back as promised!" Boni who was unaware of the n.a.k.e.d Tala following right behind him still thought Elise was happy to see him. With his arms wide open and his eyes closed he ran forward, expecting a movie-worthy reunion from his concerned lover.

*BOOM*

What he didn't expect was the solid uppercut that sent him flying towards the cave's ceiling.

"Ah! Elise! That's not the expression of love I was looking for!" Boni complained. As a tank with incredibly high VIT, that punch didn't affect him all that much, but it did make him see stars for a bit.

"Expression of love?! You want an expression of love after you show up in front of me with a n.a.k.e.d woman?!" Elise screamed.

"N.a.k.e.d woman? Can't you see she's covered with sta---" Boni pointed to Tala behind him, and as he was about to finish his sentence, he turned around to see Tala completely n.a.k.e.d. "Ah... Eh? But you were.." His expression froze.

Tala had a casual expression on her face. Obviously, such things didn't matter too much to her, but after recognizing the situation, she had to rearrange her thoughts and realize that not everybody shares the same perspective as her.

"Oh, this. My apologies, it seems my powers have been waning faster than I predicted." With a thought, she was wrapped with the same outfit as she had before. It seems that despite her inheritance already being put into a tangible form, her connection with the Anito of the Stars was still intact.

This made sense since despite being born with it, she wasn't like Juan who never bothered to train. Her mastery with the Anito of Stars had actually reached Rank 7. Together with her siblings, they had to work hard in order to enter Kaluwalhatian,* the Kingdom of Bathala, their father. After all, they were born from a mortal woman and had to prove themselves worthy, not to their father, but to the rest of the citizens and the nobles.

Although she might not have the supporting energy of the stars themselves, her control wasn't diminished at all. Unfortunately, if she ended up becoming Tabula Rasa, she would have to start from the beginning. All she would keep was whatever was truly a part of her, like the wings of the Angels, and whatever passive skill she would naturally gain as she leveled.

"So nothing happened?" Elise asked. The fact that this woman came from that portal already made her aware that she wasn't normal. The demonstration of her conjuring her star garments shocked her even more.

"Nothing at all, wife of Bonifacio." She smiled.

"W-we're not married!" Elise replied. With how busy they've been, being together seemed enough. The subject of marriage was never even brought up.

Tala felt amused at this as she worked towards her and said, "Well before you do, you should learn to trust him more, no matter how bad it looks. Because if a man as loyal as Bonifacio could betray you, then there is no hope for man at all." then she walked towards the cave entrance as her voice lingered in Elise's ears "Of course, if your distrust eventually leads to the ruin of your relationship, I'm sure a lot of other women would want to have him as their partner. You never know, even a Goddess might fall in love with such a loyal man." Tala said as she lightly giggled.

She admired Boni, but she never really had any intention of stealing him away. She just wanted to let Elise realize what she had and to not take him for granted.

Elise's face turned red in embarrassment. Although she couldn't really be blamed for her reaction, it was true that Boni out of all people would never participate in any type of betrayal towards his friends and especially her, his partner. Walking over to Boni, she extended her hand towards him and said, "Sorry."

Boni had a huge smile on his face as he reached towards her hand, "Hehe! I know you'd trust me!"

Looking at the dumb smile on her man's face, she couldn't help but hold his hand a little tighter.

"Well, lovebirds, seeing as you two have made up, where can I find this person called Luna?" Tala asked.

"Oh, right! I'll contact him now."

***

Luna who was surveying the area of Boracay, one of the tourist hotspots in the country, got a communications request from Boni.

"Boni!? Are you okay? What happened to you?" There was no one more affected by Boni's disappearance than Luna. He had to keep himself busy so as not to dwell on what happened for too long. Now that he heard Boni's voice, all of his worries finally vanished.

"Bro! I got some good news, someone called Tala, the Goddess of the Stars, or previously the Goddess of the Stars, according to her, wants to pass on her inheritance to the person who inherited Mayari and Apolaki's blessing! That's you!" Boni excitedly shared the news.

Luna was slightly suspicious at first. Are old Gods and Goddesses really out here just giving out inheritances? But regardless, Boni risked his life for this chance, he couldn't bear to question it in front of him. "Oh? Where is she now?"

"She's still with us at Mount Malindang. She was actually wondering if there was anything the Life Tree could do for her, that's all she's asking in return." Boni presented Tala's offer. Actually, it wasn't much of an offer. She was already intending on passing on her inheritance, the news of the Life Tree was just an added factor that she ended up considering.

"Alright. I'll meet you at the Life Tree area." After cutting comms, he had one of the aerial mutant beasts come over to take him back to base. The trip didn't last longer than 20 minutes for both him and Boni.

***

Life Tree Area.

As usual, it was still surrounded by the most advanced automated turrets, adamantite walls, and mutant beasts.

This made it one of the most secure locations within the Sovereign Nation, showing the importance of this area.

As soon as Luna got there, he was greeted by Boni.

"Hey bro! Missed me?" Boni grinned.

"Of course, you reckless little shit!" Luna locked his arm on his neck and gave him a noogie. "Who told you to take risks for my gain, huh?!"

"Ahh! This is not the thank you I was expecting!"

Tala who was gazing at the Life Trees from the shore finally looked towards their direction. She held a huge amount of appreciation towards these two who were so close to each other.

"At first I thought it was only young Bonifacio that was blindly loyal to you, Antonio Luna. But it seems to me that the loyalty isn't one-sided." Tala commented.

Luna finally stopped messing with Boni as he replied, "Of course."

He didn't need to explain why or what he would do for Boni as well. It was just a simple "Of course." as if not even the universe could question their loyalty to each other.

"Then I have an offer for you," Tala said.

"Oh? What would that be?"

Tala held out her hand and on it, was the inheritance she had prepared. "This is the inheritance of the Star Goddess. After receiving the Blessing of Mayari and Apolaki, you should be aware of the benefits this brings."

"I am," Luna replied. How couldn't he? It was because of the inheritance he received from Mayari and Apolaki that he was able to go toe-to-toe with monsters much higher leveled than he is.

"Good. I just wanted to make you aware that these inheritances, as easy as they may seem to come to you, are impossible to find for others. After all, how many dying Gods could this Earth have? These inheritances are additive and eventually, if and when you manage to obtain my sister Hanan, the Goddess of the Morning's inheritance, it will amplify the benefits you receive even further. Will you take this inheritance or... will you give it to young Bonifacio over here?"

"Give it to Boni." Luna immediately replied.

"Bro! No! You're the leader of the Sovereign Nation, your strength takes priority!" Boni protested.

"He's right, you know. If you die, the Sovereign Nation's assets disappear along with you. If you get stronger, fewer people can question your rule, and the more your enemies would be willing to submit to you." Tala reinforced Boni's statement, obviously trying to sway Luna's decision.

"I said give it to Boni." Luna gave the same reply, his facial expression not even changing slightly.

"Might I know why? If you died and your nation suffers for it, what then?" Tala was even more intrigued.

"If I die then that meant I was foolish. A fool has no right to lead. I've encountered someone who had all the power at his fingertips and did nothing with it. In the end, even he died to people weaker than him. I will get stronger, don't you worry. But if there's anything I've learned about this new world, is that one man can only do so much. Take this island for example. Do you think that I can defend all fronts by myself?"

"No, for the current you, and even with this inheritance, you cannot," Tala replied.

"Exactly. Right beside me is a perfect candidate for that inheritance. Someone who will use it well to protect the innocent and the men around him," Luna patted Boni on his shoulder, "Then this is the guy you want. Don't get me wrong, Goddess, I am not doing this solely because I am not greedy, because we all have certain amounts of greed within us. I'm doing this because it's the right decision, logically, strategically, and morally. I will need someone like Boni when the next phase comes, to have the advantage against the enemy at whichever front he's defending. Fewer things for me to worry about."

"I see. Very well then, Antonio Luna. I already fixed it so it will identify young Andres Bonifacio as the inheritor." The object in her hand floated in front of Boni as he stared at it with disbelief.

"Bro, are you sure?"

"Did you not hear what I just said? Don't think that this thing won't come with a heavy responsibility."

"I know." Hearing Luna's statement, he looked at the object floating in front of him, and he steeled his resolve, and said,

"I accept," as he clasped on to it, it entered his body.