[center][h2][color=F0E68C]Asteria[/color][/h2][/center][hr][hr]
Asteria pinned the freshly caught fish to the ground with a paw and promptly bit off its head, ceasing its useless flopping. She ate whatever parts she could, carefully picking the flesh apart and removing bones with her dextrous fingers. After all, she held no desire whatsoever to accidentally pierce her own throat with her breakfast. She burped in satisfaction after the meal, leaving the fish skeleton lying scattered on the ground. [color=F0E68C]"Morning. I'm larger because I 'evolved', if you could really call it that..."[/color] she replied to Ed. Asteria snorted at his poor attempts at being non-offensive, and was that supposed to be flirting? Either way, she simply shook her head, rolled her eyes, and left Ed to his own devices. She noted Danny managed to learn a primitive form of water magic and stored this information on another way to use mana for later consideration. She as a Dire Rat would obviously need longer to learn use the mana she possessed in any productive way, but eventually she [i]would[/i] get there. 

Now that she was well-rested and sated, there was finally time for a longer bout of trying some things out. The first thing she did was something that she’d lacked the energy to do the previous night. She stood up on her hind legs once again, using her tail for support. Perhaps growing into adult form and the level ups she’d gained up till now would improve her balance some more. She kept up the bipedal form as long as she could, though she was fully aware her current body wasn’t meant for such a thing. And yes, she could have evolved into that Rat-man, but she believed there was a merit in trying to gain some skills on her own. What backed that belief up was none other than the Mana Drain and Mana Sense she’d learned simply by putting points into it; though she could certainly use both efficiently, it didn’t automatically mean she understood what or how she was doing it. After standing up for as long as she could, she then dropped back to all fours, dug out a hole, until she collected three to four medium sized rocks. With the dug-out earth and the rocks she’d found, she attempted building a primitive training dummy, fetching the nearby water for softening the material she was working with if needed. 

She assessed the created structure, trying to ascertain its quality. To test it, she surmised attacking it might be best. Asteria concentrated on a tail lash she wanted to test on it, swinging her tail in the air in preparation a few times, imagining the impact she was about to cause. After the last windup of her tail, she sent it flying with a sharp whistling whoosh at the training dummy, yelling [color=F0E68C]“Hiyah!”[/color] as she did so. Whether the dummy was still standing or not, she’d hit the earthen lump a few more times in the same manner, concentrating on each hit, and shouting at each impact. It was a great way to destress! That bit of exercise done, Asteria drank some water from the lake, hydrating. She then went on an early morning jog, starting slow, but building up her speed, until she was sprinting, waving among stalagmites, making careening sharp turns whenever necessary, avoiding crashing into anyone or anything, but also not wandering too far away from Jason’s base with the dungeon core. It was so, so relaxing not having to worry for at least a little bit, and although the run would probably be even better outside of the cave, she’d have to do with this for now.

A few laps later, Asteria took a luxuriant dip into the pleasantly cool lake water, swimming near to lake shore. If any fish dared go near enough her, she’d once again wrap her tail around the offender and chuck it onto the land. Even if none did, Asteria’s goal was to catch at least two or three more fish, and so she went back to the shore, and repeated her tactic of dipping in her tail, wiggling it around as bait. Hopefully, nothing larger than what she could handle would be attracted to her vulnerable appendage…

[hider=Action summary]
Eats the fish, avoids its bones.
Replies to Ed.
Stands up on hind legs for as long as she can, helps balance herself with her tail.
Builds a primitive training dummy using some earth, water, and rocks.
Proceeds smashing said creation to smithereens with her tail, focusing on each attack.
Drinks some water.
Runs around a bit at current top speed.
Takes a brief swim near lake shore.
Goes fishing again.
[/hider]