A creature, unlike any he had ever seen. It was bear-like in shape, standing three meters tall on all fours. Its fur was dark brown and black, with a long, sharp tail that swayed behind it like a weapon.
Aster crouched low, holding his breath, watching the creature from the shadows.
"A bear?" he wondered aloud, though something about it seemed off. The tail, the unnatural size—this was no ordinary bear. It was a beast born from the strange, twisted reality of this world.
His instincts flared. Could he parasitize it?
The idea seemed risky, but powerful. If he could control the creature, perhaps he could better navigate this foreign land, or at least defend himself. But how to incapacitate it? His mind whirred with possibilities.
"I clearly can't take it head-on but Maybe if I follow it, it might lead me to civilization or something similar."
He decided to trail the creature, hoping it would lead him somewhere, perhaps toward safety—or at least away from the treacherous unknown.
After hours of trailing, Aster found himself deeper in the forest, his muscles screaming in protest. His lungs felt as though they were on fire. He had never been one for outdoor survival, always preferring the comfort of books to the harshness of nature. But necessity was driving him forward. He couldn't stop now.
His thoughts shifted when he heard the distant sound of running water.
"A stream?"
He pushed through the underbrush, his eyes lighting up when he finally came upon the stream. The bear-like creature was already there, fishing with its sharp tail, pulling out fish with ease before retreating into the forest.
Aster, now feeling the gnawing emptiness in his stomach, decided to set up a trap in the stream. It took time, but eventually, he had constructed a simple trap using sticks and vines. His hands ached, his body sore from the effort, but hunger pushed him on.
"This is harder than I expected and where is all the magic? Where's the system? And where is the powers? That is normally obtained in this situation." Aster queried.
For the next hour or two, Aster tried desperately to catch some fish but clearly he was new to the experience with him knowing little to no information about trapping and catching fish and most of them moving around his trap.
As the sun began to set, Aster crafted a crude shelter. It was basic, nothing more than vines and leaves, but it would suffice for the night. His stomach growled in protest, and he tried to focus on sleep, even though the hard ground and the chill made it impossible to rest.
The next morning, the sun rose again, casting golden light over the land. Aster's body was stiff from the previous day's exertions, but he had no time to dwell on his discomfort. He needed to find food—and quickly.
As he was freshening up, he heard the sound of a bird seemingly coming from somewhere close, turning his head on instinct he saw a blue bird perched on a branch entering a hole in a big tree which was at the opposite side of the stream. He Suddenly froze, stopping what he was doing and while acting like he did see the bird got up and headed back to his shelter.
"A bird. A bird... finally."
While his brain was churning, Asters came up with a plan which involved first making something to block the tree hole with then trapping he bird inside. He quickly got to work by using the vines and sticks from the shelter to make a square shaped door for the hole. Then he got a sharp stone and placed it into his mouth.
Now that, that was sorted out he took too huge breaths slowing down his heart before closing the stream at a far distance from the birds nest. The force of the stream wasn't to big making it easier to cross…on the other side he stealthily made this way to the nest.
The only problem came when he reached the tree, firstly he had never climbed a tree before and secondly was how to climb silently while carrying the door to prevent scaring the bird.
With silent movements he slowly climbed his way to the nest, and as soon as he reached the hole, he quickly closed it leaving no time for the bird to react.
The creature inside fluttered in panic, its soft chirps echoing in the quiet morning air. Aster's heart pounded in his chest, but he maintained his calm, slowly reaching into the hole. He carefully grasped the bird, pulling it free, and took a moment to examine it. It wasn't purely blue, as he had first thought—strands of black feathers interspersed its chest, creating an intricate and unusual pattern.
"A beautiful creature," Aster murmured under his breath, his voice a mix of awe and purpose.
With a deft motion, he used a sharp stone to cut his wrist, allowing a single drop of blood to fall onto the ground. From the cut, a strange white worm, almost ethereal in its appearance, wriggled out of his skin. Its body was like a delicate string of cotton wool, its texture soft and unsettling. As the worm slithered into the bird's ear, Aster's eyes turned an unnatural crimson, the black of his irises swirling into something deep, abyssal—almost otherworldly.
The bird convulsed violently, its body writhing as if something had taken control of it. Aster's breath quickened, the blood pounding in his ears as the connection solidified. Through the bond, his senses expanded, splitting into two perspectives—one from his human form, grounded in the body of Aster Forder, and the other from the bird, perched delicately on the edge of his consciousness.
The bird stilled, its frantic movements subsiding. Its body, once alive with energy, now stiffened into a rigid, unyielding form like a robot. His eyes slowly returned to their normal blue hue, the crimson darkness retreating from their depths.