The following day was Daisy's first trip into the dungeon. Sure, she had gone to one to get her tablet, but this one was far closer, within the school even. It was where they normally sent students to train and practice.

She stood at Cedric's side. "Ready?"

He nodded, his long ears swaying a bit. "Yes, I am ready." He was a little shorter than she was, but his black-tipped ears rose higher. "I'm glad I'm not going in alone." He gave a nervous smile. "With you there, I doubt I'll be in too much trouble. I heard how you were on your last trip into a dungeon."

Daisy huffed at that. "Theo talked about me!"

The teacher , a male human, frowned at them. "Quiet in the back. As I said, this is a standard dungeon. You will face a variety of monsters. You will not face any traps. This is a safe place for you to learn." He pointed at the entrance. "If one of you manages to completely bungle, we have an enchantment that will haul you to the surface, but any mutagens you suffered will not be cleared for you. So avoid them."

Daisy nodded. She was still learning magic, but she was a warrior first. Her dagger was at her belt , and her shield was on her arm. She had a small pack of healing and other useful potions, as well as some food and other supplies. She chuckled at the thought of the potions. "My magic will make that less needed."

The doors into the dungeon swung open with the grinding of stone on stone. The teacher pointed. "Enter. The door will close after the last of you. It will reopen in two hours, or once all of you have exited, or when one of you triggers a rescue."

Daisy waved as she went past. "Is there a tablet in this dungeon?"

"Hm? No." The teacher raised a brow. "Your last test would have been a lot easier if it did. If you get to the bottom and defeat the boss here, there will be no tablet. You may find other things worth your time, young warrior."

"I'm a healer," she countered, but it was all in good humor.

The students all descended into the depths, and Daisy was quick to take point. She had a shield, after all, and was the best choice for a forward scout. "You behind me?"

"Of course." Cedric was wielding a staff, just as he would normally hold a broom or a mop. "Ready to help!"

The students began to scatter, groups forming. Daisy stuck with Cedric as they explored into the depths of the dungeon. Their footsteps echoed on the stones of the hallways. "Anything dangerous?"

"Nothing I can feel. But I'm not that sensitive yet." Cedric paused, his ears twitching.

Daisy focused on sensing magic, picking something up just as something rounded the corner. "Enemy!" She thrust her shield in the way, and the little beast crashed into it with a snarl of irritation. It was a kobold, a little reptilian thing with a spear, but its attack had been thwarted, and it was left confused.

"Elements aid me!" Cedric waved his staff, boulders and fireballs flashing past to strike the kobold. It screeched and hissed, but it was no match for Cedric's spells.

Daisy grinned over her shield at the bunny man. "You know what you're doing!" She kicked the downed enemy and stepped over them. "Nothing worth worrying about. We got this."

Cedric nodded. "I'm not a fighter by nature. I'm glad to be a mage. It's a lot safer. I have more control." He smiled gently. "I'd rather not fight, but I want to learn, to defend myself."

They pushed through the first floor swiftly, dispatching monsters foolish enough to stand in their way. The deeper they went, the more they were forced to deal with larger, more dangerous enemies, but the pair of students were able to handle it, though not without some injuries. Daisy's shield was battered and dented, and her body was bruised.

Cedric tapped her on the shoulder. "Sorry, um, to bother. But why haven't you healed that?"

"Healed?" She peered at the shield. "It's not alive." Still, she tried it, and it did heal. The dent popped back out, and the metal was as good as new. "That's handy. I wasn't even sure I could do that."

Cedric nodded. "Healing and repairing at the same thing. Some say it's even easier to heal things like that. They don't have squishy organs to avoid offending along the way." He chuckled. "Though I've never seen it done with a shield."

Daisy grinned and gave her shield a little shake. "I'm a healer. I do that stuff." She moved on. "Let's see how far we can go."

They pressed into the next room just for sudden teeth, fangs really, to sink into Daisy's armor, and she screamed. "Get off get off!" She flailed to beat the creature away.

Cedric was quick to react, and he blasted the creature with a fireball that sent the monster staggering. She came down on it a moment later with her dagger, snarling with fury. "Got me by surprise, stupid thing! Dang, that stings." She shook out her arm as it tingled fiercely. "Okay, maybe not got off without injury."

The bunny nodded to the door. "There's a safe spot ahead. We can take a moment, there."

They moved into the safe area, and Daisy settled down. Cedric's eyes were on her arm as it distended and changed, becoming more and more like the arm of a snake, if one imagined a snake having an arm. "O-oh no." Cedric cringed back. "It must have had a mutagen. I'm so sorry."

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Daisy was quiet. "I'm, um. Okay, so." She examined her arm, and then looked at Cedric. "How do I fix this?" The arm felt just as strong, but different in countless tiny ways. "I liked being a mouse, thanks"

Cedric rubbed behind his head. "If you were a construct, like me, going back is easy. For, you know, alive people, you need another mutagen of what you want to be. But you're a very rare species. I'm not sure where we'd find a brood mouse mutagen anywhere."

Daisy frowned. "So I'm stuck like this." She curled her tail with a sigh. "Great. Well, not great, but I'm not dead. I can keep going. I can live with this, at least for a little while." She flexed her arm, the scales rippling in the light of the torches. "Stupid monster. Let's avoid that happening again, okay?"

They rested a short time, then pushed on into the dungeon. They were in the depths, and they were forced to move carefully, as many of the monsters lurking below were dangerous enough to be a serious threat. With the two of them working side by side, nothing seemed able to keep them back for too long. "Having a mage behind me is starting to feel good." She brushed her tail against Cedric's front. "Second time, and it's feeling better each run."

Cedric chuckled at that. "I'm glad to help. I don't think I could handle being up front like that." He rubbed her ears gently. "But you're doing so well there. If you don't mind my saying, you make me feel very safe."

"Aw." She paused long enough to give him a great hug. "Thanks, I needed to hear that." She returned to her scouting. "I'm glad to have you with me. You're doing good, too."

The pair reached what appeared to be the deepest chamber of the dungeon. Daisy peered into the darkness. "I can feel magic, a lot of it. I bet we're close to the boss of this place. No tablet, but maybe something as good?"

Cedric nodded. "Yeah, I can feel it, too. Not too much further. But this is a really deep floor. We're running out of time." He gestured with his staff to the far doorway.

"Then let's make this fast." She kicked forward, almost jumping into a sprint. "We can do it!"

A roar answered her, and something large and furry stepped out. It was an ape, and it was enormous, towering over them both. Daisy slid to a stop. "D-damn." She raised her dagger and shield into readiness. "Got any buffs, Cedric?"

He waved his staff, and the air around them shimmered. "It's not much, just enough to help." He gave a nervous smile. "I hope it's enough, this is a big one."

Glimmering with the faint spell Cedric had to offer, she charged the beast with dagger ready. "Show me what you got."

The ape roared and slammed its fists into the ground. The rock cracked, and Daisy felt the floor under her tremble. She was knocked from her feet, but she was able to roll and come back to a standing position. Huffing for breath, she lashed her dagger forward. She was able to cut the ape several times before it roared, spittle flying as it slammed a heavy fist into her shield, knocking her away. She staggered, and the ape roared again as it stomped closer.

Cedric sent several bolts of electricity and ice crashing against it, distracting it, and it turned to snarl and stomp towards him. Daisy charged to catch it off-guard, and she stabbed the ape in the side, her dagger slipping through its fur. Cedric joined the attack with fireballs that set its fur alight.

Together, the pair of students were able to slay the great beast. Daisy was panting for breath as she leaned against her dagger, using the weapon as support. "That was, a hell of a fight."

Cedric grabbed her in a warm hug. "But we did it! I mean, you did it. I, uh, helped?"

Daisy laughed at that. "We. We did it, together." She stood up, sliding her dagger away. "Now let's see what loot this thing had for us."

Cedric nodded, and he moved with her to the ape's body. It was gone, leaving behind some coins and gems, and a strange looking wand. "What's this?" He lifted it and turned it over. "Oh! This is a wand of lightning bolts, I think." He showed it to her. "See, the lightning rune right there." He tapped at the rune she'd only seen on a chalkboard a few times. "A mage can use this to do lightning bolts, even better than if they cast it themselves." He considered the wand and her.

"Um."

She peered back at him. "Are you wondering if I want it? You helped me get it, and you're the mage. I'm a fighter that learned to play the part. There's a difference." She waved in deference to him.

He smiled gently at that and tucked the wand at his belt. "Thank you. It's a useful tool. I'll put it to good work, I promise." He looked around as things began to shimmer. "Oh, I think the teacher's calling us!"

Daisy looked around at the glowing room, and she laughed lightly, nodding. "I think you're right. It's about time to go."

With a soft yank, they appeared at the top of the dungeon, just outside the entrance. The others were of varied expressions, with some looking quite satisfied and others groaning in clear pain and some others transformed in various ways.

That reminded Daisy to check herself, but her arm was back to being a mouse again. "Huh?" She lifted her arm to examine it. "But why am I back to normal?"

The teacher approached her, his eyes focused on her. "You're clearly attuned to your form, tied to it at a deep enough level one could call it spiritual. You will shrug off mutagens in time that do not align with it. Lucky you. Some people never return."

Daisy smiled at that. "It must have something to do with my coming from another world." She looked around the assembled group. "Anyone else?"

The students with different mutated parts just groaned. One, who had started as a female human, was clutching her new tail to herself. She looked terrified, and she was clearly crying, her face stained with tears. "I'm not a dog, I'm a girl," she whimpered. "Please, what can we do?"

Daisy moved over to her and gave a gentle hug. "Easy, we'll find you the right mutagen. There are human ones, right?" She washed green energy over the girl and each other that looked injured, at least able to mend injuries she could see.

"Yes." The teacher nodded to her, and to the girl. "You can be fixed. But they aren't free, I should warn. This is the risk you take every time you enter any dungeon. If you are scared, this may be a good time to withdraw from the class."

The girl sniffled and shook her head. "No. I want to keep going." She looked around at the others. "I want to be a hero, and that's what heroes do."

Cedric clapped gently. "That's the spirit!"

The teacher nodded to them all. "Very well. You have a week of rest before the next dungeon. Do your homework. Class dismissed. And if any of you need to speak with me, about anything, just come by my office and knock."