Star Priestess

Hazed stood in the doorway with a smile.

This was one of the locations that he'd discovered after 'The Awakening', but it was already deserted at that time.

However, because of everything he'd learned from the things left behind, he had a pretty good idea of who these three were.

If they really…

"Who are you!?" The Mother asked in shock, no one should've been able to reach the shack without tripping any traps.

Not even if they were the strongest person she'd ever met.

It's one thing to disarm a trap or trigger it early, but it's completely another thing to waltz through them like a ghost… wait, no, even ghosts would be caught in these arrays!

'He waltzed right through like he owned the place!' She thought in confusion. Only she could get through so easily she thought, and that's only after spending days here learning the place.

Well, in some ways she was right.

Since he owned it before, and he'll own it again.

"I'm your only chance for survival," Hazed said calmly with a smile.

The son immediately retorted, "Bullshit if we flee right now we…"

Hazed cut him off with a scoff and finished his sentence, "...will all be hunted down and killed, all because some idiot got himself hit by a tracer Technique." He gave him a grin and added, "Of course they could just leave you behind and flee and they might make it."

"Is that true?" The Mother asked seriously.

Hazed nodded, "Of course."

She sighed and asked tentatively, "Can you remove it?"

He shook his head, "I really can't. I can't even see it anymore, only the 'trace' it's giving off.

The daughter looked up at him with big sparkling eyes and asked expectantly, "Can you defeat them!?"

Hazed laughed, and he couldn't resist stretching out his hand and rubbing the girl's head.

Even though she was only around two years younger than him, she was so adorable he found himself thinking of and treating her younger.

He laughed and said gently, "That depends on who's coming, but don't worry, either way, I will protect you. Oh, but we should start with introductions huh… I'm Hazed."

The daughter giggled and introduced herself first, "Hehe, I'm Anza thank you for coming to help us Big Brother!"

"I'm Leanna. I promise to reward you if you can help us avoid this disaster!"

"First explain how many enemies to expect."

"He's Bolt and he can explain."

Bolt nodded and explained most of the relevant info.

The three of them are the final descendants of the Anza Clan who had travel quite the distance to come here hoping to find others of there Clan who survived, or at least their family inheritance.

This shack is where the Clan's Hidden Herb Garden is, however, because a lot was lost when they fled, including the exact information on entering the Herb Garden, they weren't even able to find the secret entrance before Bolt had gotten them in trouble.

Bolt had wanted to be helpful, so he tried to find information on the Herb Gardens Entrance, but he ended up giving away too much information.

The people coming should be a local force, and it's doubtful that they'd spread the information because they wouldn't want to share the loot and there were only three people here.

Even though it wasn't the more dangerous people that were hunting them, the local force was still too much for them to take on.

Leanna had her cultivation crippled while they were escaping, Bolt was at the Ninth Step, and only Anza had opened just opened her Dantian and reached the first step of the Qi Condensation Realm.

While it was estimated that the enemies would have a few people in the Qi Condensation Realm and a dozen or so people from 7th through 9th Step.

However, Hazed would most likely be able to deal with these people by relying on his Spiritual Pressure if he needed too. He should at least be able to scare them off, and if he's willing to sacrifice a lot of his Spirit, he can off someone with a very crude use of the energy.

Still, he had a better idea.

~Are you sure that this is worth it? What if she betrays you?~

"Luna, I haven't gotten a chance to tell you about what happened on Earth yet, but basically some of the most important people to our race and our planet betrayed us, and it took away any chance we ever had. And when I reincarnated I realized I could either trust no one or try to change how people see trust. At the very least I need to prove to people that there something that they can put their trust in and never be let down.

And this is the start of that, at least I feel that if I don't it might turn into some sort of mental block.

Or maybe even a heart-demon.

On top of that we need their families inheritance, that is unless you have an Alchemy Inheritance..."

With the most awkward expression he'd ever made in his life Hazed realized he said that all out loud.

He'd never grown accustomed to speaking to Luna through his thoughts…

"Sigh, I fucked up. Luna, come out. I'm very sorry about this, I've basically removed any choice in the matter… but I promise to make it up to you by treating you all splendidly."

Luna came out of his body and began to size up Anza.

All three of them were in too much awe and too shocked to even react.

That and Luna gave off an unbelievably aura that was superior to even the legendary Dragon Aura.

~Move closer.~

Hazed nodded and walked right up to Anza.

Suddenly a voice not his own came out of his mouth, "Little Girl if you want to live if, you want your family to live, you must protect them yourself. I shall give you the power, and you show me what he sees in you.

Kneel, and become our Star Priestess, and you shall be given a proper gift. The Star Priestess is one of the five fingers that create the right claw of the Celestial Tiger, one of only five bloodlines we can ever give out, and it is the highest honor I can give, do not let him down, do not let us down."

Luna would never admit this but she only took such a huge risk, giving this to this unknown girl with unknown potential because it removed any possibility of her betraying him.

Although the inheritance wouldn't enslave or brainwash the inheritor, it still made it impossible to directly betray them. It was similar to how a lessor dragon couldn't defy a great dragon.

It was an instinct.

Luna knew that he had been betrayed countless times and had trust issues. So she figured it'd be best to guarantee the first person he trusted wouldn't betray them.

She was more terrified of the thought of him losing the last of his faith in people than of anything else. If the very first person that he trusted betrayed him, she couldn't imagine what it'd do to him. 

While Luna was thinking, Anza didn't hesitate, nor did she look to her mother for approval.

Instead, she immediately knelt with a bright smile, looking extremely excited.

A power surged out of Hazed's body that was mainly Luna's power but carried his signature.

This was much different than he imagined, he expected to be sharing their bloodline with Anza kinda like how Dragons create Dragonkin but it was different, much different.

Anza received the power and her golden hair began to glow ever so dimly, and her eyes became like embers, they too glowed, however, they even seemed animated.

'We'll need to cover that with an illusion or something in public…' Hazed thought with a sigh.

Well, he too was going to have to cover his eyes or at least get contacts soon too...

He shook his head while smiling and sized up Anza.

The most obvious changers were to her hair and eyes, but even her face had become more beautiful and mature, she now looked to be around eighteen, even though she hadn't truly aged.

On top of that, she'd gone from Low First Stage to Peak First Stage of Qi Condensation Realm.

Obviously, this wasn't enough to defend them, but there was still one more thing missing.

Anza opened her eyes and looked at Hazed reverently.

"Master!" The Star Priestess bloodline came with a complete inheritance and some knowledge, it made Anza grateful even partially worship them.

She didn't call him master because she had to or anything like that.

This was how she showed her gratitude for being opened up to a much larger world.

The knowledge alone allowed her to see a world more amazing than she ever imagined.

However, her family didn't seem to happy about it, her brother looked pissed and even her mother looked upset.

Hazed coughed lightly, "*Ahem* I think you're making your family think I brainwashed you. Anyways, you may rise, you may call me whatever you like too. I won't stop you from calling me Master if you want to now because of the inheritance, but don't do it in public."

Anza rose and nodded since Hazed was being so casual about it, she wouldn't make it awkward, she walked over to her family and began whispering with them for a moment.

Hazed let them talk for a moment but eventually, one of the Alarm Arrays went off so Hazed quickly got Anza's attention.

"You're still no match for them and they're almost here, come receive your gift for joining me. This is something that cannot be found in this world, and you would not be able to refine it if it wasn't for certain circumstances, but I believe with your family's alchemy you'll be able to make much better use of it than me. You are the Anza Anza of this generation, after all, right?"

Anza Anza nodded with her mouth wide open, not bothering to hide her surprise.

"You knew who we were all along?"

Hazed nodded, "I'll explain later, your family needs to join the clan officially first. For now, refine this. Bolt, you're with me, it's time for you to man up and make up for your mistake.

Knowing how worried Leanna was he smiled and calmed her,

"It's fine I won't allow any harm to come to my people, and that includes you three now. This is a chance for him to get some combat experience. Oh and, welcome to the Cosmic Rulers, I'm considering taking Bolt in as my In-Name Disciple if he can prove himself. Later he can become a Direct Disciple with enough effort. And Leanna, I'll try to heal your injuries before we talk."

Even though everything had happened so quickly, they had no time to hesitate with the enemies approaching.

So, this time, Bolt learning from his sister didn't wait for his mother's approval and directly walked out of the door.

He turned back and asked Hazed, "Coming?" with a smile, garnering one in return from him.

'Hmm, maybe he won't be an In-Name Disciple for long after all…' Hazed thought with a smile.

***