Luna suddenly found himself in a different place. "Is this a dream?" he wondered. He was aware that just a moment ago, he had fallen asleep on the sofa after letting Sura have his bed. He recognized the location from his childhood: Mount Kanlaon, an active volcano southeast of Bacolod City.
The situation was peculiar. He wasn't standing on anything; in fact, he was suspended right above the crater. Yet for some reason, it felt as if he were on solid ground. The scene before him was even stranger, as if the place had been cut in half: one side was night, the other day. As he observed his surroundings, a man seemingly emerging from the sun moved toward him. At the same time, from the other side, a woman who seemed to come from the moon arrived in front of him.
Looking at the two as they met each other's gaze, Luna could sense the warmth between them. He also noticed guilt in the man's eyes. The woman, charming and beautiful, was missing one eye.
"Dear brother, why do you still blame yourself?" she asked.
The man clenched his fists. "Mayari... how could I not? If it weren't for me..."
Before he could finish, the woman, Mayari, interrupted him. "Hush now. We have a guest, you see? A descendant of the people who once followed us." She turned to Luna. "What is your name, child?"
"My name is Luna," he answered, his voice full of awe. "Are you Mayari, the Goddess of War, Revolution, Equality, and the Moon? And you, sir, are you Apolaki, the God of Wisdom, Strategy, Patron of Warriors, and the Sun?" He had read about the son and daughter of Bathala, the supreme deity in Philippine mythology.
"Correct. It is good to know we are not completely forgotten," Mayari replied, her expression growing solemn. "But without faith, without believers, gods cannot continue to exist for long. At least, not those of us who have not broken our shackles to elevate ourselves higher. But that is a concern far beyond you now. What matters is that you inherit our blessing."
Apolaki mirrored her solemn expression. "Kid, we have lasted this long thanks to the help of other gods who still have followers. But something has happened. They can no longer sustain us, nor can they prevent what is coming to our beloved Earth. They can only offer limited help. With your permission, we would like to offer you our blessing. You stand to gain more than you can currently imagine, but there is a very high chance your soul will not be able to handle it and perish, leaving your body an empty husk where you last slept, and we die along with you. If you become strong enough in the future, we may have an avenue to survive. Are you willing to take this risk along with us? "
Luna pondered the choice, weighing the pros and cons. Even without a blessing, he was confident he could grind levels and survive. But was mere survival enough? They spoke of a great danger that even the existing gods struggled to handle.
Who knew what was coming next? It had only been a day, and they had already faced zombies that a normal human could never hope to defeat. With that in mind, Luna steeled his resolve. "I am willing."
BOOM.
Almost instantly, moonlight energy containing Mayari's essence began to flow into his soul. Apolaki followed soon after, sunlight energy pouring forth with his essence.
Luna felt as if his soul were a balloon being filled with water—straining to contain it, closer and closer to bursting. Just as his soul was on the verge of breaking apart, he felt a warmth in front of him. Looking down, he saw Sura hugging him.
She looked up. "My soul is bound to yours. Let me carry some of your burden. If you die, I die. If you grow stronger, I grow stronger. You are the only human deemed worthy for me to follow."
Inherited Passive Skill: Mayari's Blessing
Inherited Passive Skill: Apolaki's Blessing
With the blessing of both Mayari and Apolaki:
Your body has been refined by Apolaki's sunlight essence.
Your soul has been refined by Mayari's moonlight essence.
Both essences will be provided in amounts your body and soul can safely handle.
They could both feel that much of the essence remained undigested, waiting until they leveled up further to be fully absorbed. Even so, the improvement to their bodies meant they had already far surpassed the capabilities of others at their level. Scarier still, this enhancement would not show in their stats, much like the game did not quantify the difference between Maria and Clara's athletic bodies compared to Boni's sturdy build. In the future, even if someone could scan their level, any enemy who judged this duo by that alone would be dangerously misinformed.
Even with Sura's help, they had only barely contained the inherited energy. They woke in the morning, sweating and gasping for breath, facing each other beneath the covers with only their heads visible.
At that exact moment, Boni's voice called from outside the door. "Luna, Sura, breakfast is rea---" The door was unlocked, so he opened it, only to hear heavy panting and see the two lying together on the sofa. Goodness knows what ran through his mind. He quickly closed the door and ran downstairs, yelling, "I CAME AT A BAD TIME! I'M DEAD! I'M FOR SURE DEAD THIS TIME!"
Luna felt a severe migraine coming on. He knew he had to clear up whatever assumptions Boni had made. Sura couldn't help but snicker. She looked at Luna with a wide smile, her eyes nearly disappearing. "I could get used to days like these. I didn't think I'd ever have so much fun."
Luna was stunned by her beauty. Acting on an impulse he had never felt before, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. It felt strange yet right, especially since he had never dated before, having found it hard to trust anyone with his heart.
To his surprise, he was met with a stunned expression. Thinking he had made a mistake, he prepared to apologize when Sura interrupted him.
"How did you know?" she asked, her eyes wide with shock.
"Eh?" was all he could say.
"We are lying together, and you kissed me on the forehead after sharing a bed. You just performed the traditional Asuran proposal for marriage." She stared at him, searching for an answer. "How did you know?"
"Wha--at?" As if Boni hadn't given him enough of a headache to start the day, now he had created an even greater one.