Daisy nodded, and charged the monster, her dagger in her hand. The beast lunged at her, its teeth bared. She dodged to the side, slashing at it with her dagger, cutting into its flank. It roared in pain, but continued to run at her. With a deadly fast slash of its claws, she hissed in pain, a line of blood running down her arm. She rolled to the side, getting out of the way of its teeth.

She came to her feet, and slashed at its legs. She managed to cut it, but its claws slashed at her again, leaving a bloody line down her back.

Magic washed over the beast, a line of it trailing back to the teacher who looked deep in concentration. It was slowing the creature. "Don't play with it, kill it! Hurry, I can't hold it for long!" Daisy was bleeding, but she had the power to kill the beast, if only she could find a weak spot.

With a great roar, she jumped at it.

─Desperate Assault activated. HP: 15%. Bonus: 240%

She ignored the words flashing in front of her as she brought down the dagger into the top of the beast's skull, narrowly avoiding being chomped in half, though it did graze her side with its mighty teeth. She was bleeding from many places, and her body felt like it was on fire, but she kept her focus and drove the dagger into its head, the blade sinking deep into its brain, the creature letting out a gurgle, and then collapsing, dead.

She was on top of the body of the beast, panting, her blood dripping down her face and arms.

The teacher came hurrying up. "You are a hero, or simply insane. I suppose one does help the other. Stay still." Not that Daisy needed to be told that. The healing magic made her shiver with soft pleasure as her injuries closed up and her body was restored. "I can't believe you fought that thing, but there's a good chance it would have taken me out. Thank you." Daisy smiled at the teacher, and tried to stand up, but she was too weak.

The teacher coughed into a clenched hand. "Don't look at me that way." She waved some of the curiously returning students over to help get Daisy moving towards town. "This adventure is over, however, there is one last thing to learn." She pointed at the great corpse. "If you kill it, you own it. We deserve the prize of our victory, do we not?" She smiled at the others. "So take a trophy of your kill."

Daisy was helped up, and she looked at the body of the beast. She took a step back, and looked at the teacher. She felt dizzy, but there was one part of that beast that called to her. She drove her dagger down in several cruel swings, hacking free one of its great teeth. Soon she had a much better dagger, the saber tooth that had cut such a fine figure on the creature. She turned and saw the others were also taking their prizes. The goblin was using a knife to carve a small spike from the bone. She saw the teacher was looking at her, and she grinned at her. "That is a perfect prize for a warrior. Now, you were the one that laid the kill. You could demand everyone else surrender what they found."

Daisy was quiet for a moment. "I won't do that." She looked around at the others, and they were all looking at her. "We worked as a team to take it down." She laughed gently. "The battle was from the start of that ambush to now. We all fought. Take your prizes." She held up her new dagger. "I got what I need."

The students were smiling, and she could see that they were all proud of their trophies. The goblin came over and showed off the small bone spike she'd carved. "It's a good trophy, don't you think?"

"Very good." Daisy slumped to a knee, one eye closing. "Whoof. I think I need a rest, now."

The goblin chuckled. "Well, you did get mauled pretty bad. You look like crap. Come on, let's get you back to the town."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Several students worked together to get Daisy up off the ground and as one they carried her off. She colored as she felt a hand wandering over her chest. The goblin girl next to her had her hand on her breast, and she blushed even more as she heard a giggle.

"Is that necessary?" The hand retreated.

"Not strictly." The goblin was snickering. "But I won't get another chance to admire a real brood mouse." She grinned up at Daisy. "So, got a mousey boyfriend already lined up? Why are you even here, learning magic? I thought brood mice had their life pretty worked out."

Daisy sighed. "I'm not from this world, so, no, I don't know about that life. I'm here to learn magic, because it's fascinating." She let out a tired sigh as she tried to shift in the grip of the others. "That fight took everything out of me. I feel like I'm going to pass out at any moment."

"Well, if you do, we've got you." One of the other students laughed. "We'll take you to your room and tuck you into bed."

"Goo—"

The next thing she knew, she was waking up in bed. Her head was throbbing, but she managed to get herself up and out of bed. She was in her own clothes, and her new dagger was on her side table, where she'd left it. She took a moment to gently stroke over it, admiring its heft and how perfectly ready for its job it felt. The teacher had been right. It was the best prize she could have taken.

She stretched, feeling a bit stiff, but otherwise fine. "I wonder how long I slept." She headed to her door, and opened it. She could see Dhiren on the other side, and he was standing there, his hands in his pockets. "Oh, did I catch you coming in?"

He shook his head, and stepped into their room. "No, I've been here a few hours. I heard what happened." He reached out and touched her arm. "Are you alright?" He seemed concerned.

"I'm fine." She rubbed at where she had been bleeding before. "Now. Mages are quite useful to have around." She colored, thinking of it. "Did they drag me in here with you? While I was passed out, I mean. That's weird, isn't it? Like, I'm a girl and you're a guy, and, you know, I was asleep."

Dhiren chuckled, and nodded. "I heard about what you did, and they did." He glanced down. "They had to carry you in, and yes, I was already here." He looked at her. "But I was a gentleman about it." He gestured over her form. "Not a single bit of fur out of place. I promise. Though I admit I was curious."

Daisy felt a surge of embarrassment rise up in her. "Curious?"

He waved his hands. "I mean, you know. You're a different race." He waved at himself. "I heard from your research partner that you are as entirely a brood mouse, just as I am entirely a lion. Yes, I was born that way, but lions aren't that rare." He gestured to her. "Brood mice are. I've never seen one in person, and I was curious if you were different." He colored. "I'm sorry if that offends, but I'm not interested in your body, I swear."

Daisy broke into renewed laughter. "What are you interested in?" She crossed her arms just under her chest. "Most people terribly interested in brood mice are exactly interested in their bodies. That reminds! I need to meet some other mice. I hear they're build a lot differently, but I've not had a chance to compare notes, if you know what I mean." She chuckled, and looked around at the room. "And, well, you're not wrong. But, um, well, what exactly do you want to know?"

He rolled a hand in the air. "Being a brood mouse, brooding is, um, your purpose. Do you have any abilities related to that?" He pinkened thinking of that tawdry subject. "Anything you'd care to share?"

She smiled at him. "I don't mind sharing, but, uh, well, Hm." She examined him, his male stats appearing before her. "This is just as strange to describe, but if I examine a male, any species so far, really hard, I can see how good, or bad, of a father they'd be, uh, genetics wise." He looked confused. "Blood wise? If they'd make strong children or whatever else."

She paused. "It's not just you, either. I've been examining a bunch of people. It seems random, though. I can tell some guys who don't seem to be much of anything that they're pretty good breeding material, and vice versa." She rubbed behind her head. "Don't tell him, which will be easy since I'm not giving names, but there's one I'm kinda interested in."

Dhiren nodded, his face going pink as he considered the matter. "That's a bit creepy. I'm not sure I want someone to be able to tell that." He shrugged. "I suppose it can't hurt, though." He paused with thought, then pointed at himself. "What do you see about me? Good blood, I hope?"