Pain.

Aster could feel incredible pain.

At first, his senses were provoked by shock before quickly turning into incredible pain that made him wish to scream his lungs out.

Aster turned around, wishing to see who had stabbed him.

It was an unknown person.

It was a person he had seen for the first time.

The man had a thick beard and bloodshot eyes. His lips had dried blood, and he stunk as if he hadn't washed in years.

As the man pulled out the knife, he kicked Aster, making Aster fall into the pool of water.

It was painful.

It was hard.

And it was even more hateful.

Aster gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the pain that overwhelmed his existence, and swam to the surface.

He wasn't a good swimmer, but with enough effort, he could swim in the most basic of ways. Most humans can survive being suddenly thrown underwater as long as they can relax and fight.

Because of that, Aster managed to barely reach the surface. Grabbing ahold of the land, Aster breathed heavily.

It was hard to breathe because of his wound, and holding his breath underwater was even harder.

It was a big ordeal that most people wouldn't get out of as easily.

Aster looked up. He saw Ash fighting the man who backstabbed Aster.

'Wait, why did I not notice him?' Aster wondered. He wanted to think of a reason, but the pain and his muddled thoughts couldn't allow him to.

With a final push, he barely got himself on the ground.

'I... feel tired.' Aster thought as he closed his eyes.

His surroundings turned cold.

His wounds hurt.

And all he wanted was to relax and escape it all.

Aster closed his eyes.

He dreamt of that fateful day when his views of the world were shaken.

He was still a kid, barely seven years old. Aster had been abandoned by his parents just a month after he was born.

Because of that, for his whole life, he had grown up in an orphanage. Effectively, it was his home.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

There were many corrupt people there and many kids that were, in a way, even more vile.

But there were a few good caretakers. As was Miss Xenia.

She was the person who cared the most about Aster. She played with him, introduced him to her own child, and even taught him how to read and write.

Many other kids received education as well, but none of them had a private tutor like Aster.

In Aster's eyes, in Aster's world, she was his mother.

Until that fateful day.

Because the owner of the orphanage was a rich businessman, some vile people decided to kidnap kids from the orphanage and blackmail the owner for money.

Unfortunately, the orphanage was guarded, and it was really hard to get a kid without an insider.

Which was why they decided to get a kid from outside the orphanage.

Xenia's own son was kidnapped, and she was given an ultimatum.

"Get me a child from the orphanage, and you will return home safe." The kidnapper had said to Xenia.

Aster watched the scene with emotionless eyes.

Of course, the scene was from his imagination. He didn't see what actually happened. His subconscious had only constructed it from the stories told.

He watched Xenia go and arrive in front of a small, innocent child. The child smiled the moment he saw Xenia.

"Moma, Moma, I want to learn what negative numbers are! The grown-ups said that once I learn that, I will be close to being proficient at math!" Seven-year-old Aster said to Xenia.

"I told you not to call me that." Xenia looked at Aster as if he was a demon. As if he was the one who had stolen her child. "You won't ever understand why your parents abandoned you. You won't ever understand the true value of money. And don't you call me like that when all you want is to learn about your true parents!"

She hit the kid.

As the kid cried, Xenia took him by hand, leading him towards a car outside the orphanage.

Aster, the sixteen-year-old one, watched the scene with emotionless eyes.

For him, Xenia was just a stranger who had helped him for some benefit.

And when the time came, she cashed out.

Just like his parents.

At that moment, he saw Xenia turn towards him, looking at Aster with a tender gaze. Not the kid from the dream, but Aster, who observed.

Gritting his teeth, Aster threw a punch at her.

"AGH! Dammit!" Aster heard a shout. Opening his eyes, he saw Ash with a first mark on his face.

"Huh?" Aster looked around. He found himself inside an unfamiliar room.

"Did I dream the whole exploration?" He asked aloud, but just as he wanted to get up, he could feel pain in his chest.

It wasn't impossible to get up, but it was certainly painful.

"Yes, you are dreaming right now as well." Ash grinned. "Wake up, the matrix is attacking you."

"Ma- what?" Aster looked at Ash as if he was an alien. What kind of nonsense was he speaking?

"Inside joke. Anyway, how are you feeling?" Ash asked.

"I feel fine. Well, as fine as I can. What happened?" Aster asked. He looked around, noticing the walls of the room being painted green, probably by grass and the green slimes.

He saw that it was a single room that awfully resembled his own inside the temple.

'This is Asher's room inside the temple? He carried me back?' He guessed.

"Ah well, you see..." Asher started speaking. He took out a coin and played with it. Flipping it up and down.

"Won't that affect your luck again? Let me remind you that I can't save you from every misfortune. If a meteor decides to fall on your head, I can only run." Aster said. He guessed that Ash took the coin while carrying him.

"Ah, don't worry, this coin is too awesome." Ash grinned, flipping it again. "If I don't want it to work, it won't. And even better, my passive luck from my Providence gets nullified when I flip it."

"So?" Aster didn't understand why that was a good thing.

"It's it fun? Finally, getting the same odds as others? I can actually be happy about getting lucky!"

Ash's grin made Aster chuckle. "Must feel nice. Escaping from your Fate, that is."

"It damn does." Ash showed him a thumbs up. "Oh yeah, by the way, I need to tell you what happened. Well, you see, the person who attacked us was someone from outside the temple."

"No, actually, let me get him for you," Ash said before dashing outside.

It didn't take long before he returned with the bearded man.

The bearded man looked Aster in the eyes before gritting his teeth. "Transcended!"