You're SO ready to use your stuff now

All of your gear feels so right in your hands and on your body. Just like it really belongs there! As nervous as you are about all of this stuff Professor Phoebe is talking about, you're also almost shaking with excitement to actually get to use it all properly. And so early!{if Weapon == 3}{if ExplosiveShots == True}

You're sort of wanting to ration the explosive bullets you made with Professor Meddle, since there's only so much of the boom powder you've got on hand and the process of making it and combining it with the impact bullets is difficult. You've limited yourself to five for this class, which is enough to fully fill up your Pepperbox pistol with them. Besides that, you just fill one of your pants pockets with a few handfuls of impact bullets, for safety.{else} You still don't have a spot to carry all of your impact bullets, so once again, you've just filled up one of your pants pockets with a bunch of the loose ones.{endif}{endif}

Everybody meets up with you in the blue-mat-floored Gymnasium, kitted out in their gear and with most of their nervousness turned to excitement. Professor Phoebe is {if CumSuccess == 1}back there now, waiting for you all and{else}waiting there for you all,{endif} holding a notepad and pencil{if CumSuccess == 1}. And wearing a slight smile, which you're very relieved to see back on her face. You're still a bit nervous.

You take another deep breath, and try to bring a smile back onto your own face. You shouldn't get so worried about it, since she seems so calm about it. This is Combat class, and you're learning to be a Warrior, you should be excited right now! So you resolve to get yourself back into a happy mood. Cheer up! By the time everybody else arrives (except for Lexi and Miranda, of course), you're back in pretty good spirits again just in time for Professor Phoebe to start her explanation.{else} and wearing a wide smile. Once everybody else has arrived (except Lexi and Miranda, of course), she begins the explanation.{endif}

"Now! As life-saving as general skills proficiency with different forms of combat may be, if you want to be effective Warriors on top of being alive Warriors, then we need to get each one of you feeling fully comfortable with your own equipment." She says. "Being able to hit your shots and land your strikes well is of the utmost importance -- especially since in most cases, we're on a time limit when fighting against monsters."

{if Weapon == 3}You load {if ExplosiveShots == True}your five explosive shots{else}five impact rounds{endif} into your pepperbox pistol as you listen to her.{elseif@ Weapon == 2}You tighten and untighten your grip on the Sledgeaxe handle in anticipation as you listen to her, {if RocketSledgeaxe == True}admiring the shiny rocket thrusters bolted onto either side of the hefty weapon's head.{else}excited to begin.{endif}{elseif Weapon == 1}{if BatonVolt == True}As you listen to her, you have the back ends of your batons against each other, locking them together into staff mode and unlocking them into baton mode again repeatedly. The clicks sound nice.{else}You tuck one baton into your waistband, and use your now-free hand to safely guide the other baton through a slow spinning motion you're trying on the other hand's fingers as you listen to Professor Phoebe. It's not that cool, since your free hand is pretty much doing all the work, but it feels pretty cool.{endif}{endif}

"Later in the year, that will mean drilling combat against each other. For now, it means drilling against things it doesn't matter if you accidentally kill with inexperience." Professor Phoebe walks to a nearby cupboard in the Gymnasium, and takes out a helmet with a face-cage. She puts it over her head before turning back to you all with the notepad and pencil again. "That also means that for today, you get to go all out. Hold nothing back. I'll be providing tips and advice to each of you after you face off against the simulated targets together, and telling you what you should work on before we have our next class tomorrow evening. This will also help me guide my teaching to something a little bit more.... specifically tailored to your individual needs."

She raises the pencil-holding arm out to the side, and points to a large double doorway in the back wall of the Gymnasium. There are double doors on all three walls, with the fourth wall having instead the normal-sized door you just came through.

"That door." She says. "Once you step through that door, you'll be on the battlefield. The simulated monsters will be lower-level, but they will still be monsters. They are not lower-level to make the fight easy for you, they are lower-level to make the fight potentially survivable for you. Today, survival will be your only objective. The session ends when all of the monsters are defeated. You can head through when you're ready."

With that, she turns and walks over to the door to push herself inside. As it closes loudly behind her, you and your three classmates are left standing in the room in silence, looking out towards the ominous doorway. Everybody's standing still, waiting to see who goes forward first. After a few seconds of waiting, without a word, Cameron starts walking towards it. Jace looks between you and Delilah.

"Santa's elves count as lower-level monsters, right?"

With that, the rest of you start walking and quickly catch up with Cameron. All together, weapons in hand, you push through the double doorway and step into the room.....