The stranger walked until he reached the stream. Fortunately, he stopped a little downhill from where Aster had made his camp.He would have stumbled directly upon Aster if not for one small mistake.
The moment the hunter removed his clothes and set them aside, Aster had already slipped away to retrieve them.
At the stream, the hunter crouched low, examining the mud. Animal tracks led away from the water in several directions. He studied them with a practiced eye before choosing one trail and following it into the forest's darker depths.
He did not notice the bird. High above, wings cut silently through the evening air, its beady eyes fixed on him.The hunter tracked his prey to a shallow cave. From within came a low, guttural growl.
Moments later, steel flashed, and the growl became a dying whimper. When the struggle ended, he emerged dragging the body of a wolf-like creature, its thick fur matted with blood.
He cleaned the wound carefully, ensuring the corpse would not drip along the path home.He never realized he, too, had been hunted, by the time the hunter left the forest, Aster's true body had already reached the abandoned bag. He rummaged through it quickly bandage-like cloth, Spare garments and nothing else of value.
As he walked back toward the stream, a plan formed simple quick and efficient.
He would climb a tree above the path, stone in hand and when the hunter returned, he would strike.
Pulling on the hunter's spare clothes, Aster moved with quiet urgency. He scaled a tree near the clearing and crouched among the branches, gripping a jagged stone and waited.
The hunter eventually returned, shoulders heavy with his kill, He set the corpse down and, without scanning his surroundings, began removing his clothes.
That was his mistake, Aster dropped from the tree like a falling shadow, the hunter barely had time to raise an arm before the stone struck his temple the world went dark for him.Aster wasted no time he recalled the bird to act as lookout, its presence perched silently above them then he gritted his teeth and sliced his own palm open with a sharp rock and blood dripped down his wrist.
He focused and the wound trembled something white began to emerge the worm slid from his flesh slowly, glistening and pale as spun cotton. Its body was formed of threadlike strands, segmented by seven distinct rings. It wriggled onto his palm, alive and obedient.
"I've never controlled two creatures at once…" Aster murmured. "But there's a first time for everything."
The worm slithered toward the hunter's ear and disappeared inside, what followed was violent the hunter's body convulsed uncontrollably his limbs thrashed.
At the same time, Aster's eyes darkened—crimson bleeding into black. Anyone who looked into them would feel as though they were falling into a bottomless abyss.
Then—Silence, the convulsions stopped the forest returned to stillness Aster inhaled sharply it felt as though he had grown another limb. Not just a limb—an entire being attached to him he could feel the hunter's body his senses, his heartbeat, his strength and deeper than that—Memories.
"Wow…" Aster whispered.
Accessing them felt like browsing an endless archive. When he thought of a question, the answer surfaced instinctively, as if his mind already knew where to look. He learned the name of the forest—Ony Forest, in the Edergrove kingdom and the Dominion city was the capital of the kingdom.
He learned the language spoken here differed from his own, yet through the hunter's mind, he could understand it.
The hunter's name was Kith an adventurer and a orphan in all but name his mother had died giving birth, his father had disappeared when he was eleven to go got milk leaving only a small house behind. Kith had survived on odd jobs, then graduated to hunting beasts for the Adventurer's Guide a harsh job to say the least
As the memories settled into place, Aster slowly opened his eyes, kith stirred…The hunter rose groggily, touching his bloodied head.
"Ah… what happened?"
Aster stood calmly before him.
"Sorry about that," he said smoothly. "I mistook you for a tree bear while hunting."
The lie slid easily from his tongue, Kith frowned he sensed something was off he noticed Aster wearing his spare clothes. Yet at the same time, the explanation felt… reasonable. That was the worm's influence temporary parasitism.
Unlike permanent parasitism—which would hollow a person out and turn them into a puppet—this method left the host intact. They thought and acted normally, unaware of the presence inside them. Aster could nudge their thoughts, soften resistance, guide conclusions.But he could not rewrite an entire life.
"I actually knew you weren't from here," Kith said slowly.
Aster raised a brow.
"Your hair," Kith continued. "I've never seen that color before."
White in this world, it was unusual.
"Hi. I'm Aster," he replied. "A traveler. I was heading toward Dominion City when a tree bear attacked me. I fled and lost everything. I've been… jumpy since."
Kith studied him. Suspicion lingered—but so did an inexplicable acceptance.
The sun dipped lower, bleeding orange across the sky.
"I should return to the city," Kith said. "It was… interesting meeting you."
"Actually," Aster replied carefully, nudging just slightly at Kith's mind, "I was hoping you might help me find somewhere to stay."
Normally, Kith would have refused to allow a stranger into his house, he hesitated then nodded, The walk toward Dominion was long Aster practiced speaking through Kith's understanding of the language each word came easier than the last.
When the city walls finally rose before them, Aster felt a flicker of awe Stone towers, guarded gates, smoke rising from chimneys beyond. Two guards stood watch.
"Kai. Zen," Kith greeted casually.
They exchanged pleasantries before turning their attention to Aster.
"The city has rules," one of them said. "Remember them, no crime, respect the nobles guards judge minor offenses but major crimes mean execution And the king's word is absolute and rule.
Aster nodded obediently and the gates opened letting him in. Inside, the city unfolded in medieval simplicity—dirt roads, tightly packed two-story houses, market stalls closing for the evening. It was nothing like the skyscrapers and neon lights of the world he came from.
People stared not at Kith but at him, his white hair marked him as foreign. So much for blending in, he thought. Eventually, they reached Kith's home—a small, worn two-room house in a rough corner of the outskirts. Hunting tools lined the walls. A modest bed sat against one side simple and lonely.
The evening passed quietly, Kith cooked their meal while Aster explored the city through his bird's eyes. But exhaustion crept in, since arriving in this world, he had eaten little, controlling multiple hosts drained him more than he expected.
As he lay down beside Kith, staring at the ceiling, thoughts churned he could spend is life trying to return to Earth but then what? He was like a fugitive there but here he had potential, with his ability—the Puppet Master Ashal—this world might not be a prison.