As the healing rain continued to fall, I watched as glowing symbols began to manifest above everyone who had stepped outside. Blue circles with letters—A, B, C, D, and so on—appeared hovering above the heads of all the human students and the handcuffed pradavarians we'd rescued.

Red triangles materialized above the heads of the pradavarians who hadn't been subdued by the handcuff-manifesting guns.

"Candace," I said. "What are those?"

Her gray eyes lit up from within with silver flashes as she took in the magical markings floating above everyone's heads. "Classification markers. Nothing bad… just high level magic tags."

Professor Fern snapped her fingers with another thunderclap, and the rain clouds parted instantly, returning the sky to normal afternoon sunshine.

"Clever use of water Elementals," Candace commented. "Dang, she's a big time Delver League gal. I've no idea how she's controlling this many Elementals. I'm def' jelly."

The healing rain stopped as abruptly as it had begun, leaving the rescued students standing in puddles, looking confused and slightly disoriented, staring at their red and blue tags.

"Good try, everyone," Professor Fern announced, voice echoing across the entire course. "The first phase of today's practical examination is over."

"Or is it?" I muttered under my breath.

The Instructor gestured toward the students marked with red triangles—the pradavarians who had avoided the fate of being subdued during our rescue operation, since they had no human mates who cared enough to rescue them.

"Those of you bearing red markers have spectacularly failed my first test," she declared. "You allowed yourselves to be consumed by dungeon psychology and died from heat exhaustion and dehydration. Congratulations—you all get an F!"

Shocked and irate murmurs rippled through the red-marked group.

"However," Professor Fern continued, "death in a dungeon scenario merely means rebirth as Sentinels. You will play the role of dungeon monsters for the remainder of our practical examination. Consider it your opportunity to redeem your failing grade, starting today."

"Wait, what about our next period?" Someone asked. "Weren't we supposed to…"

"Today's schedule was a ruse," the Instructor revealed what I had already discovered. "A dungeon delver must always be ready for unexpected twists and traps! Today, all of you will be enjoying a day with me."

The students groaned.

One of the wolves with a red triangle raised his paw tentatively. "So, um, if we do well as... monsters, we can get a passing grade?"

"Yes. If you show prowess as Sentinels, your second mark can help you pass the first practical with a D, C or a B grade instead of an F, depending on how well you defend the dungeon treasure against delvers," Professor Fern replied. "Anyone with a red triangle tag is free to head to lunch and prepare for your new roles as undead Sentinels, put on your delving armor, etc. You are dismissed."

The red-marked students began filing away, some looking relieved to be out of whatever was coming next, others looking very frustrated by their 'deaths'. I noticed that several of them kept glancing back at the blue-marked group with murderous glares.

Some red-marked students stayed to see what the fate of their handcuffed friends or packmates would be.

Katherine, still struggling against her magical handcuffs, snarled up at Professor Fern. "What about us? How do I get these cuffs off?"

"Ah yes, the rescued," Professor Fern's grin widened, showing far too many sharp teeth. "You have been subdued, captured, and saved from certain death. In dungeon terms, this means your old delving teams are now dissolved by your failure to maintain pack cohesion under pressure."

"That's bullshit!" Katherine spat, her feathers bristling despite her restraints. "We were magically compelled! It wasn't our fault!"

"Oh?" Professor Fern tilted her head. "Did the magic force you to abandon your teammates? Did it compel you to fight amongst yourselves like fools? Or did it simply amplify what was already present in your nature? As it stands, only three students managed to defeat the compulsion, step out of my Charmchain loop dungeon sim—Alec Foster, Candace Rhinehart and Adelle Dallia. Their current grade, unlike yours, Miss Strand, is A+. Also, anyone who managed to rescue more than three delvers, gets an A. Two delvers saved is a B. Rescue of a single delver is a C."

The raptor fell silent, her amber-green eyes burning with frustrated rage.

"Your old teams are hereby dissolved," Professor Fern repeated with finality. "Those of you in handcuffs have been given a second chance at life by your rescuers. You now have a choice to make."

She gestured toward the human students who had wielded the pacifier guns.

"You can pledge loyalty to your rescuers—accept them as your new pack Alphas and get a D instead of the F—or you can join the red-marked group as dungeon monsters and keep the F. Know this: if you choose to become monsters, you will be hunting your former teammates. There will be no mercy, no holding back, no 'it's just a simulation.' You will attempt to kill them as if this were a real dungeon scenario using provided weapons."

"What new Alphas?!" Katherine snarled, her voice cracking with indignation. "I am a Second-born Scion of the Strand family! I don't bow to anyone!"

"In your case, Miss Katherine Strand," Professor Fern's grin became absolutely predatory. "The human who saved your life while you were lost in magical compulsion. By dungeon law—by the law of survival itself—Alec Foster now has the right to claim dominion over you!"

The silence that followed was deafening. Every handcuffed pradavarian was staring at Professor Fern in shock, while the human students looked equally stunned at this unexpected development.

"This is ridiculous!" Katherine growled "You can't just... reassign pack hierarchies based on a training exercise."

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"Can't I?" Professor Fern's burning eye fixed on the raptor. "Tell me, what would have happened if this had been a real dungeon scenario? If the heat hadn't been artificial, if the compulsions had been genuine dungeon psychology that feeds on your soul, and this human hadn't been there to save you, to pull you by force from the dungeon loop?"

Kat's mouth opened and closed several times.

Her older sister answered for her. "We... would have died."

"Exactly. And who saved you?"

Kristi's gaze found mine, her eyes filled with a warm tea of gratitude sprinkled with bits of embarrassment. "Alec did."

"Then by right of rescue, by the ancient laws that govern dungeon delving, he has earned the right to your loyalty," Professor Fern stated. "The same applies to all of you. Your rescuers saved your lives when your own Alphas abandoned you to attain an unattainable victory. The question now is: Will you acknowledge this debt, or do you choose death and a failing grade?"

"You're screwing with pre-established packs, breaking up delving teams, giving humans a leg up with those guns!" Katherine howled. "You can't do that! No instructor did this sort of shit on our first day! I'm going to tell Lord Marshal that…"

"Oh? Who do you think hired me for this job, Miss Katherine Strand?" The Instructor asked, her tail lashing through the air like a whip.

"Wait… Dad hired you?" Kristi guessed.

"No," Professor Fern shook her head. "High Administrator of the Western Reaches, Archmage Amadeus Strand hired me."

"Grandfather," Kristi's violet-blue face grew pale as did her sister's. Their grandfather was clearly a legendary figurehead of some sort.

"Correct," Professor Fern said, eyeing the shocked-looking Katherine. "Archmage Amadeus wishes to make sure that his grandchildren survive your first Superstore trip. Your performance and arrogance thus far has been… disappointing."

"You're trying to force people into artificial pack bonds based on a training exercise. These aren't real life-debts," one of the human students voiced, looking at his very annoyed prad partners.

Professor Fern's attention snapped to the boy with laser focus. "Aren't they, Mr. Sid?"

Sid seemed far too scared to go against his packmates, but even more scared to go against the teacher.

"So?" Professor Fern asked "What would you call it when someone risks their own safety to save another's life?"

"Basic decency," I commented without hesitation. "Human or pradavarian, you don't let people die when you can help them. That doesn't create some kind of magical ownership."

"Interesting perspective," she mused. "And yet, you've already formed such bonds, haven't you Mr. Foster? Miss Rhinehart and Miss Dallia clearly see you as their Alpha and are obeying your orders, which was why only your group survived the initial loop and the other traps I set afterwards. Is your relationship with your pack mates invalid as well, Mr. Foster? Because I see respect and appreciation in the eyes of your prad packmates."

Student eyes turned toward me, Candace, and Adelle. The comparison was a tad uncomfortable because it wasn't entirely wrong—both of them had declared loyalty to me after a high-stress situation where I'd stood up to the Butcher of Delvers.

"That was their choice," I said after a pause. "They weren't coerced by a teacher using artificial scenarios."

"All scenarios are artificial until they become real," Professor Fern shrugged. "I'm preparing you to face the Superstore dungeon. Everything we do here is preparation for that inevitably. Everyone in handcuffs can choose to get an F or a D! To become a follower or an undead monster under the direct control of the dungeon core aka me."

"How come only the humans got to use the pacifier guns?" Adelle asked. "Why did one of 'em zap me when I tried to pick one up?"

"Because this is exactly how the Superstore behaves, Miss Dallia," Professor Fern said. "She tolerates humans… but she hates pradavarians with a passion. She considers us lower than roaches, an infestation, an invasive species that must be exterminated."

"How are you so sure of this?" Kristi asked.

"Because I've been to the Human Resources Department of the Superstore," Professor Fern said coldly. "I've spoken to its avatar, Insurance. These were her words, not mine." She gestured broadly at the assembled students. "Thus, this is your team selection process, created through circumstance. Stick with it or… 'die'."

"I refuse to accept this fucking human as my Alpha!" Katherine snarled as expected.

The blue tag above the raptor girl turned red and her handcuffs fell apart into blue sparks.

"Then you're dead," Professor Fern shrugged. "Get out of my sight. You get an F, Miss Katherine Strand. Your grandfather will hear of your failure today."

Sending me and Professor Fern a glare, Katherine departed with a huff, twitching at the mention of her grandfather.

I looked at the rest of the handcuffed pradavarians, seeing the fear and uncertainty in their eyes as they struggled with pride, survival instinct, and the idea of accepting a human as their Alpha that was suddenly thrust upon them. Then I looked at my fellow human students, most of whom looked terrified at the prospect of suddenly being responsible for pradavarian lives.

"So what's it going to be?" Professor Fern asked, her voice carrying across the sudden quiet. "Loyalty or death?"

"What about us?" I asked, waving a hand at myself, Candace and Adelle. "We don't have a blue or a red tag."

"Ah yes, the clever untagged trio," she said, her voice carrying a note of approval. "You three managed something quite remarkable today. You recognized the trap, resisted the compulsion, and extracted yourselves from the scenario entirely, not letting the looped track, handcuffs or the classification rain tag you."

She gestured at the empty air above our heads, where no glowing symbols floated.

"In dungeon terms, you have successfully escaped. You've beaten today's practical examination with perfect scores. You are free to leave, to skip the remainder of today's 'delving exercise' if you so choose."

"And if we do leave?" I asked, though I already suspected the answer.

"Then the two remaining blue-marked students you tagged, Mr. Foster, will automatically 'die'," Professor Fern replied with clinical detachment. "They become dungeon Sentinels and receive an F. Their handcuffs will dissolve, their tags will turn red, and they'll join the hunt against any newly formed delver teams after lunch and tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Kristi blinked. "How long are you planning to keep the students as monsters?"

"For the entirety of this semester, if that's what it takes to get the necessary delver cooperation skills into their thick skulls," Professor Fern shrugged. "In fact it will take just a single F mark in any class this semester to turn you into a monster. Climbing back to "adventurer" will not be an easy path!"

More grumbles from students.

Glancing behind me, I could see Nessy and Kristi. The husky's blue eyes fixed on me with an expression I couldn't quite read.

"So basically," Candace said, her gray eyes narrowing as she worked through the implications, "you're giving our team a choice between keeping our perfect grade, going home and abandoning the girls we just rescued, or staying to help them and risking our own scores."

"Precisely," Professor Fern confirmed. "If you choose to stay and participate in the next phase, you'll be taking on significant responsibility. As their rescuer, Alec would become pack Alpha. Their survival, their success, their grades—all of it becomes your responsibility for the duration of Advanced Delving class!"

Adelle snorted. "Sounds like a raw deal. We already got perfect scores. Why risk it?"

"Because," Professor Fern stated almost conversationally, "the real test isn't whether you can escape a trap, Miss Dallia. Any smart enough delver can walk away. The real test is whether you can return to the dungeon again to rescue someone trapped there who isn't your family or best friend."

I walked over to the raptor girl and the husky.

"What's it gonna be, ladies?" I asked. "Wanna die and play monster or do you want me as your new Alpha for the rest of this semester?"

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