Heaven's Ichor

Taking a deep breath, Astel didn't know how much he missed his home until he was on the verge of death in the Labyrinth, walking to a inconspicuous house that was next to a clogged sewer pipe, if to outsiders like the cultivators of the four sects or people who found out that his Uncle had learned a Dao spell and were looking yo make a quick buck by selling them in the slave market, they would quickly escape by entering the sewers,

Living in the slums his while life, Astel knew the area around him like the back of hand, making him know exactly where to go to avoid getting lost in the sewers unlike the sect cultivators and any other unwanted attention looking to harm the two of them.

Entering the house it the difference between the interior and exterior was like the difference in Heaven and Earth, it was neatly furnished and organised, without a speck of dust visible to the baked eye. Seeing that everything was okay, his Uncle left immediately after making sure he got home safely and started walking to the market to find some work to do, hoping to make some money as they used their previous savings on supplies for the Labyrinth.

Opening the door to his room, seeing all the books scattered about he let out a wistful sigh as he remembered how he read through every book his parents left him hoping to find some hidden knowledge about the workings of the labyrinth "what good that did" Astel said, kicking it to the side.

Diving onto his bed preparing to sleep after everything that happened, Astel felt the faintest connection to the thread he felt pulling him from the space in his mind slowly dwindling bit by biy second by second.

Immediately getting up Astel sat in the lotus position, legs crossed over each other, focusing as hard as he could on the thread that he felt pull him back into reality from the space in his mind, trying to attempt to enter the space in his mind with the thread rather than being pulled out of it, only to no met with a flash of pain, like if someone momentarily stabbed his brain with a hot poker 

"Agh" Astel yelped in pain, smelling a metallic scent Astel put his finger under his nose feeling a warm liquid running down his nose, looking at his finger covered in the liquid, only one word came to Astels mind, "blood" 

A frown appeared on Astel's face, remembering the increase in strength after basking in the suns gaze, Astel was unwilling to let it be, after leaving the Mosquito Creature's corpse in the Labyrinth and now unable to enter his mind again, Astel felt like he wouldn't be able to sleep if he had to forgo another opportunity in front of his eyes. 

"Fuck it" concentrating as hard as he could on the thread griiting his teeth as hard as he could, enduring the sharp stabs of pain he felt, Astel was unwilling to let this go, even if he got injured or possibly killed by doing this, Astel was smart enough to know that in this world, playing it safe, forgoing opportunities and not taking risks was the same as slowly waiting for death to take you. 

Streams of blood running down all his orifices, Astel gripped his bedsheets as tightly as he could feeling the pain increase twofold from before, his mouth tasting the salty taste of blood that dripped from his nose, only serving to steel his resolve. 

Felling the pain increase threefold from before, Astel blacked out for a moment before immediately waking up from the pain, unable to hold back anymore Astel stuffed his head into a pillow, letting out a silent scream of agony, his cries of pain unheard by nobody but himself, 

Suddenly feeling the pain increase fivefold, it felt like Astel's brain was just hit by a sledgehammer, his amethyst eyes almost popping out from his head, all Astel was able to let out was a quiet whimper before passing out from the pain. 

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Opening his eyes, the first thing Astel realised was that he wasn't in his room anymore, seeing the familiar starry world, the countless thoughts colliding, Astel let out a sigh of relief, shivering immediately after, after imagining the prior events, hoping he didn't have to go through that ever again in his lifetime,

Turning around and seeing the sun shining as brightly as before, expecting it to be the same as before yet this time when it opened its eye, Astel saw a faint purple outline of the number one appearing in its eye, Astel started to think that even though he only saw it once before, it somehow got even weirder than last time. 

Unable to ask it last time, as he got pulled back by the thread, Astel finally had an opportunity to talk to the sun.

"Hi" 

Sun: "..." 

"Sooo, what are you?" 

Sun: "..." 

"Yeah, yeah, I know you're a sun, but like seriously what are you?" 

Sun: "..." 

"Come one, I know it must be boring being here all the time, no one around to speak with, but I'm here now, you can talk to me... 

Sun: "..."

Seeing it stay the exact same, unmoved by anything he said, Astel started to blush, covering his face with his small hands, thankful for once that the Sun probably couldn't speak or listen to anything he said. 

Waiting for the Sun to gaze upon him again, to bask in the same comfortable feeling as last time, all he got was the unending blinking of the Sun's eye, waiting a couple minutes yet seeing it stay the exact same, Astel started to feel dejected, just as he was about to pull the thread to get back home and stop wasting time, he felt the sun's gaze land on him again, closing his eyes the same as last time, expecting to feel that warm comfortable feeling he felt previously, yet this time he felt a cool refreshing feeling like drinking an ice cold glass of water after a day of hard work in the sun, or taking a dip in an freezing lake covered in sweat and grime. 

Eyes still closed, Astel didn't feel any different than before but deep inside him he felt as if he was forgetting something, like he remembered something important and immediately forget it the moment after, focusing on that feeling, Astel felt something growing inside him, feeling like he was about to comprehend something important, just as he was to comprehend it he felt the thread tugging at him taking him out of his stupor, unknown to him that a seed was planted in his mind, ready to awaken at the faintest of enlightenment. 

Feeling the thread tugging at him, Astel didn't resist, letting himself be pulled back into the waking world, opening his eyes, Astel sat up and walked to the bathroom, looking in the mirror, seeing himself in the mirror, Astel sucked in a cold breath, seeing the state that he was in, clothes almost ripped to shreds, sweat covering his entire body, and dried blood all over his face, Astel knew that he had to do the thing he hated the most in this cruel word.

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Taking a bath...