[h2][center][color=F0E68C]Asteria[/color][/center][/h2][hr][hr]
Asteria couldn’t run as fast as she had wanted, because Mother Rat showed her tiredness by moving a bit more sluggish than usual. Nonetheless, they eventually arrived at Jason’s cave, and the first thing Asteria – and probably everyone else – noticed was the large green crystal, within which a red core was growing and spreading. While Jason experimented with looking at the large crystalline formation with a smaller green crystal of his own, Asteria looked over the cave, and noted the 11 Healing herbs, though one of them was an ominous black instead of a healthy fresh green.
 
Since their…leader was still busy, Asteria approached the garden. She now knew that the green herbs could heal one fully – and how had no one mentioned that to her before?! – because she had eaten one from the lake shore and immediately felt her injuries and aches dissipating. It wouldn’t surprise her if that meant the herbs also contained magic. She put a paw on one of the green ones and mentally flicked the Mana sense on long enough that she was able to momentarily sense the green herb, then flicked it back off. Now that she had a proper skill, it really was as simple as having a psychical light switch that she could turn on or off with her mind.
 
The green herb, while Asteria focused on sensing its mana, had the faint but sure feeling of nature, health, and goodness. It wouldn’t surprise Asteria at all if it had used the ambient magic to grow then “converted” the mana for its own use. Asteria drew her paw back from the green herb and warily approached the black one. This was surely a significantly worse idea, but she wanted to know what the heck was going on with all this sudden permeating darkness and death. Was it really the case that they had killed too many creatures in too short of a time period? Or was it something else? After all, there had surely been plenty of killing before they as humans were reincarnated into some of the monster inhabitants of this cave…so perhaps a warring intention was the key difference that was beginning to change the cave. 
Thus, Asteria put her paw on the black herb, and once again flicked her Mana Sense on long enough to get a feel for the plant, as it were.
 
She was a bit discomfited by what she discovered, but not as disturbed as she was by Jason’s shout proclaiming he wanted to become the Dungeon’s new master. [color=F0E68C][i]This better not mean he’ll suddenly turn into an enemy or something.[/i][/color] With that grumbling thought, Asteria finally left the herbs to their own devices and joined a panicked Ed in trying to help Jason. The Earth Mage slime was slumped at the base of the large green crystal, straight red thorns of new crystal formation beginning their approach. Suddenly, Jason regained his senses long enough to throw himself at the crystal, getting kind of impaled by the red crystalline thorns in the process. [color=F0E68C]“…I think he might want whatever is happening to happen, Ed?”[/color] she tried to reassure him, but the questioning tone of her encouragement gave away her own confusion.
 
[color=F0E68C]“Let me see…”[/color] she trailed off as she approached Jason and the green crystal with its red core. She cautiously lifted her paw and put a single crooked finger on one of the red tendrils, then activated her Mana Sense once again. Asteria assumed that the crystal was bound to have some magic, and so focused on diverting some of its energy away from Jason and towards herself. She was tense and ready to withdraw at the first sense of trouble, but both aware and utterly terrified of what would happen if she were overwhelmed or have her sense and spirit burned or whatever the heck the crystal might do to her while Jason was interacting with it.

[hider=Action Summary]
Uses Mana Sense on green Healing herb.
Uses Mana Sense on the oozing blackness herb.
Tries reassuring Ed.
Uses Mana Sense and Mana Drain on red crystalline thorn with the hope of helping Jason, or at least finding out what’s going on.
[/hider]