[h2][center][color=F0E68C]Asteria[/color][/center][/h2][hr][hr]
Touching the core and trying to drain it felt remarkably like Asteria was suddenly submerged into a deep cold ocean, drifting down, deeper and deeper, drowning. She felt the pressure of it against all her senses and struggled to block the oppressive feeling from overwhelming her. However, the sensation passed as swiftly as it had begun, until all that was left was a brief paranoia of being watched. Asteria removed her paw from the red crystal spike, and looked left and right, trying to find the watcher, but knowing she wouldn’t. That made her uneasy, and her fur fluffed up a bit as the suspicion raced coolly down her spine, leaving her tingling, alert, and aware, her tiredness forgotten for the moment.

She refocused on Jason as soon as she noticed him stirring, though his waking words were unexpectedly aggressive. She opened her maw with a distinct rat-like frown present and was just about to give him her piece of mind, when he visibly reigned himself in. He then explained himself telepathically, and Asteria noted he no longer needed physical contact to message them mind-to-mind. She focused on what he was communicating as much as she was on trying to feel the foreign mana she assumed would be present while Jason used his telepathy. Next thing she knew, Jason had already reached for her with a pseudopod, and was apparently [i]talking to the crystal[/i], announcing that she was to be his subordinate. Confused as to why exactly Jason did such a thing, she nonetheless activated Mana Sense while they still had physical contact, though instead of trying to read his general magic affinity, Asteria concentrated on sending a short [color=F0E68C][i]“OK”[/i][/color] through the mental link. Whether he received her affirmative response or not, Jason curled into a ball and barrelled straight out of his tunnel.

A wisp – Asteria thought he might be the one she knew as Danny from that Lorek incident way back, even though one glowing ball wasn’t that different from another glowing ball – and Ed followed Jason soon after, while a pixie she still didn’t know the name of said his goodbye. [color=F0E68C]“Good call. I’d love to sleep too. See you later,”[/color] she waved a bit carelessly with her paw, not caring just then whether they would actually see each other again or not. As she had said, she was tired. With that in mind, she curled into a ball next to Mother Rat, and focused on slowing her breath, clearing her mind, and keeping partially alert to the sounds of trouble. However, she hadn’t even managed to doze before being interrupted by Jason shouting that everyone should die. [color=F0E68C][i]The hell? Did he meet the rest of the enemy goblins or what?[/i][/color] Asteria wanted to dash off and go check out what was happening but remembered Jason’s insistence that someone stay at his base and guard the crystal.
 
Feeling restless, she silently joined Digbie in his digging, doing the mindless task to burn her remaining energy and doing her best to [i]not[/i] think of that presence she now knew existed and which may or may not be constantly watching them all. She pushed her whole body into each shove, using leverage and force to her advantage as she dug. Determined to get a proper work-out, she even focused on her newly gained magical sense, concentrating on feeling that mysterious energy flowing within her, prodding and pushing at it to try and get it to imbue her muscles, especially her arms. After long moments of digging, when she felt properly exhausted, barely keeping her eyes open and almost having to drag herself to walk, Asteria plopped down right next to Mother Rat, nearby the dungeon core, and fell asleep. Before oblivion claimed her, she focused on her hearing, hoping that even asleep, she could react swiftly enough if anything noteworthy and/or dangerous happened.

[hider=Action Summary]
Tries to find the source of the being watched sensation but gives it up as a lost cause.
Feels energized by the extra mana.
Tries to get a feel for Jason’s psychic mana as he messages them all.
Uses Mana Sense on Jason (physical contact present) while trying to send him a basic affirmation telepathically.
Says goodbye to Ardur.
Tries to relax her worked-up state enough to nap while still listening for trouble.
Gets interrupted by Jason’s shout and goes to join Digbie for a while.
Experiments with getting her mana to imbue her strength while digging.
Goes to sleep near the dungeon core, but keeps an ear open for further dangerous developments.
[/hider]