Your classmates arrive one by one, and are pretty good about the whole thing.

{if@ Gammod == False}Alright! Your Free Time's finished now, so you make your way towards your next class -- Monster Theory. Luckily you've got Combat class last period today, so you won't be super duper tired for every other class, and will get to fall asleep right after it (and maybe a bit of hanging around the Courtyard).

You march your way over to the Classroom, ready to learn a bunch of monster secrets that they would prefer you didn't know, and kick open the door!

"Hello!" You shout. "Debbie is-"

You clap your hands over your mouth. Ben is at the front, finger to his lips, gesturing for you to stay quiet -- the only other person in the room is Miranda, asleep at her desk with a heavy blanket draped over her back and the chair, its edges flattening out on the ground.

"Nurse Riley and I carried her here at the start of lunch." He explains in a whisper. "We're going to have to be really quiet this class. Could you wait outside and make sure nobody's loud on their way in?"

You nod, feeling really bad, and quickly drop off your stuff at your desk before going to wait outside the classroom door. Hopefully all of your classmates are understanding, you'd hate to keep Miranda from resting up. She already doesn't like Combat class, and she probably won't get to sit out this time, so you'd hate to make it worse for her.....

{endif}"So!" Ben whispers with enthusiasm intended for a louder voice. "How do you scare off a monster? Any ideas?"

He paces back and forth at the front of the room as he talks, which again, total teacher move you didn't expect out of your childhood friend so early into his new career. Tentatively looking around the room, Jace raises his hand. Ben nods towards him.

"Would-"

"HSHSHSHSHSHHHHH!" Ben waves his arms around in the air. Jace stops, touches his hand to his lips for a few seconds, then continues in a whisper.

"Would fire work? Like it does with wild animals?" Jace asks. Ben tilts his head in a way that means 'sort of'.

"That would work quite well against monsters that are more accurately identified as animals, like the veloxodontas you faced simulated versions of during your last Combat class." Ben says. "And while it might not scare other monsters, it can still be useful against the nocturnal sort of monsters, like we talked about yesterday. Here, let me put it this way first -- how do you scare off a person?"

Ben gives your class a chance to think for a second. You're not really sure, yourself -- you've never been that good at it. You turn to the opposite corner of the room, seating-wise, to look over at Delilah expectantly.

Cameron lifts his hand. "Do monsters speak English?" He asks. "I-I feel like most of it is..... words...."

"Some do, others don't, others could but speak a different language." Ben answers. "You're thinking too specifically. In general terms, not a specific example, what circumstances scare people away?"

Delilah's eyes flick over to you, and she sees you staring at her. There's a flash of insulted hurt that goes across her eyes, but she relents, uncrossing her arms to raise a hand.

"Yes, Delilah?" Ben looks to her.

"If the downsides of staying are worse than the upsides of staying are good." She says back, whispering to not wake up Miranda. "In general terms."

"That's right! So, then, how can we use that -- let's say, against a monster that doesn't speak the same language as us, if at all. Words being off the table, how can we make it appear either before or during a fight that escape is in the monster's best interests? And don't just say 'killing a bunch of them first', because if that's an option in the circumstances, we wouldn't need to scare them off."

Ben looks around the class, at each of you except for the sleeping Miranda. You're hoping that your childhood bond won't make him go full teacher mode and call on you, just because you're the only one who hasn't said anything yet. When a few seconds go by without any clear answers, he smiles, and flips the blank sheet on his board over the top to reveal the first of his newest set of paintings for the class.

"Well, there are actually a few ways." He says. "Pack monsters often have a leader, for one, and if you're able to....."

Ben goes on explaining a handful of the most commonly applicable methods for the rest of the class, asking questions and using a bunch of his own painted diagrams for reference images. He's actually running the whole thing pretty well, and though he's no Nurse Riley just yet, he's certainly got most of your class' attention -- the exceptions being Miranda, and occasionally you at random intervals of daydreaming before he pulls you back in. From the parts you listen to and remember, it's pretty informative! You even take some notes down, so that you can help Lexi catch up (since you didn't see her when you looked through vent grates in the room.).

".....and, in general, any action is more terrifying when the person performing the action can't be seen. So if you're able to do any of these, or even something lesser, without being visibly observed -- being heard is fine, and can actually help -- the level of presumed threat is amplified by a lot in the minds of most of these monsters."

The bell rings loudly through the classroom, signalling the end of class. A groggy Miranda lifts her head up from the table, blinking a few times, and looks around the room through tired and sleepy eyes.

".....hmmgh?" She asks, sitting upright so that the blanket falls off of her and onto the floor. Her eyes are mostly closed, to keep out the room's bright lights.

"That will be all for today -- I hope Professor Phoebe doesn't work you too hard in Combat class now." Ben says back at his normal speaking volume again, gathering his things. "She said to tell you to meet her in the Gymnasium."

"HMMGH?" Miranda asks, eyes shooting wide open.