[center][h2][color=F0E68C]Asteria[/color][/h2][/center][hr][hr]
Asteria startled mildly at the system notification; she had most certainly not expected to gain an analysis skill of all things. Hadn’t that been rather low experience-wise? Well, no matter. She now had an active skill, and was itching to try it out. Before she could do so however, her Mother let her know that she had found Ed’s scent. Obligingly, Asteria followed after her. They ended up near the Pool, a location Ateria had no yet investigated. The water seemed to reach surprising depths, but even so, Asteria wondered how it would be to swim in it. Since she’d been reborn as a beast, she had not yet had anything resembling a proper wash, though she didn’t find it too bothersome to make do the same way other beasts did – that is, by licking the grime off her fur. Besides, in a world full of monsters, jumping in was probably not the best and she wasn’t exactly confident of her current swimming ability, though she was pretty sure rats managed it decently. Around the pool were a few green herbs, but they were scarce in numbers.

Refocusing her attention back on the target she had went out of her way to seek out, she noticed Edward had moved towards a group of slimes, a green and a red one, as well as a larger blue one. The male Dire rat had just been addressed by one of the slimes. She assumed all of the creatures to be human, but used Monster analysis on them to confirm it. And despite their advantage, she decided to approach. Wary about being attacked and already thinking about possible escape routes in case the group decided that she could [i]not[/i] be an ally, Asteria carefully went closer, but not so much that they would feel too threatened. Hopefully, Mother wouldn’t cause any additional animosity. [color=F0E68C]“Edward,”[/color] she addressed him, not at all aware what he had just confessed to the slimes. [color=F0E68C]“I’m glad I finally found you. I wanted to apologize for how things yesterday went down.”[/color] Asteria looked at him earnestly, willing to explain if he was willing to listen. [color=F0E68C]“I understand if you can’t forgive it though,”[/color] she added, doing her utmost to appear agreeable, understanding, and contrite. [i]This[/i] was why not making mistakes in the first place was better. The consequences of bad judgment tended to be [i]nasty[/i]. And though she wanted to remain optimistic, she couldn’t help the tenseness of her body, fully ready to flee if it proved needed.

[@Searat][@Kazemitsu][@Guy0fV4lor]