THE OMNISCIENT READER // AOT

05 // A Summary Of Three Years Worth of Suffering

FIRST YEAR.

Maximilian's, or rather Eleanore's first year as a cadet had been... torture.

She went from being a doctor to a soldier-in-training which means it hasn't been a piece of cake for her. Switching careers is not a joke, people!

Especially for someone like Eleanore who didn't even think of wanting to become a soldier nor a policewoman or any of those jobs that require full physical prowess! All her life, she knows that she wants to become a doctor! So, switching from a completely different career path is no joke!

But you gotta do what your guts are telling you to do, right? In Eleanore's case, she's doing this because Maximilian wanted to run away and this is the farthest place that she could think of where no one from the upper class, especially those within Wall Sina, would think of searching for her. Well, there's Doctor Fallon but she trusts that the man could keep a secret or two. In the back of her mind, she knows that it won't be long before Doctor Fallon would search for her.

Heck, he might be on his way as we speak!

Anyway, luckily for Eleanore, she's not the only one having a difficult time adjusting to a life of a soon-to-be soldier. Everyone is literally suffering.

On their first day as cadets, they met Commander Keith Shadis, the former Commander of the Survey Corps and now the commandant of the Cadet Corps. Meeting such an intimidating man was very tense and Eleanore wished she could have kept a straight face so that Commander Keith wouldn't have yelled at her face.

"My name is Maximilian from Calaneth District!"

The reactions of all her fellow cadets were just as she expected. Of course, they would have heard of the name of the girl who made the penicillin. Ever since the council (Eleanore decided to call them that, for reasons) permitted to start the production of penicillin, the newspaper had caught ears of this and immediately asked (more like demanded) to interview the thirteen-year-old who invented penicillin. They wrote a whole three-page of newspaper about her which Eleanore honestly finds disturbing.

Since then, she's become quite a celebrity.

The newspaper didn't include a sketch of her face but everyone would know about her since the newspaper was specific in how they described her; the young protégé of Doctor Fallon (that alone would give out Maximilian's identity) and the young lady with the lamp (since she's almost always seen during the night, carrying a kerosene lamp, as she made her rounds around the hospital in Calaneth District, checking with her patients).

Commander Shadis didn't interrogate her any more than that. A thought suddenly crossed her mind; What if he's going to tell Doctor Fallon that she's here?! She can't take that risk! Heck, she doesn't have any valid reason why she suddenly wanted to become a soldier! And Eleanore isn't really a good liar. At this point, she would have no choice but, to tell the truth. But would he even believe her?

God, she should have just written in that letter that she's running away because she can no longer take the pressure and the fame and stuff like that!

The first few days as a cadet were mostly about practical learnings or some kind of demonstration Eleanore is still having nightmares about; how to use the ODM gear. They could teach about the titans later on but the most important part right is if they can master (just a little bit) the ODM gear.

Now, Eleanore knows what to do to make use of the ODM gear. She's read about it and watched it even. But seeing and reading is definitely a thousand times different than actually trying it.