Warrior Within The Walls

Chapter 6

Year 850...

"What's that, Arlert? You're falling behind! Do you want to be one of those who will put down their equipment and go to the reclaimed lands?" Shadis went silent before speaking up again.

"If this is a titan battlefield, you'll be eaten immediately. Scarlet! Suppress that glare of yours if you want to keep your eyes!"

Armin gasps, attempting to breathe in air.

He has never run like this his whole life, and it makes him tired. Suddenly, someone grabbed his bag and ran beside him.

"Reiner!"

"If you keep this up, you'll drop out in the last minute!" Armin worriedly stared at him.

"But now, you'll be punished too!"

"Then do your best to keep it unknown!"

Reiner ran ahead of him.

Keith Shadis smiled as he silently watch them.

Reiner Braun, he possesses great mental and physical fortitude. His comrades trust him deeply.

Armin clenched his teeth and ran faster than before, grabbing his bag from Reiner before running forward.

Armin Arlert, what he lacks in physical strength, he makes up for extraordinary academic aptitude.

The next day...

Shadis smiled as he saw three of the trainees cutting a mock titan's nape, although one of them did not cut deep enough.

Annie Leonhart, while her fighting skills are outstanding, she doesn't work well as part of a team. A lone wolf.

Bertholdt Hoover, he is higly skilled, but lacks initiative.

Jean Kirstein, his 3d control is top class, but his overly blunt personality causes friction.

Jean gritted his teeth.

'I can't cut deep as those two. I need to find the titans first immediately if I want to pass!'

He continued to roam and fly past the trees, until he saw a mock titan.

"Gotcha!"

But, before he could even fly out to get it, a figure passed by him.

Connie laughed loudly.

"Thank you, Jean! It really is the right decision to follow you!" And yet, when Connie is also about to cut the mock titan's nape, someone did it first. Sasha swung and shouted in glee.

"Yahooooo!"

Sasha Blouse, she's talented at operating unconventionally, but that mentality makes her unfit for organized activity.

Connie Springer, he's skilled at making sharp turns, but his mind is nowhere near sharp enough.

"There they come!"

Another figure flew past the trees, cutting deeply on the mock titan's nape. Someone followed behind her, but was not able to cut deeply as the first. It was worst for the third one though, as she did not really cut the target.

'Damn it! I wasn't able to cut like Mikasa!' Eren scolded himself.

'But Erza-san is doing the worst! How can she not even cut even once?!'

Erza frowned and sighed.

"I broke the swords..."

"WITHOUT EVEN USING IT?!" Mikasa and Eren both shouted.

Shadis sighed lightly.

Mikasa Ackerman, her performance is exemplary at every subject. She is truly a genius of historically unprecedented significance.

Eren Jaeger, while he lacks any outstanding talents, he improved his grades through outstanding diligence.

Light passed through Shadis's eyes.

In additional, he possesses an exceptional sense of purpose.

"Training ends here!"

Shadis announced, and as he was about to leave, he heard the commotion of his trainees.

"Erza-nee! You injured your hand!"

"You have not cut even one mock titan, you damaged your swords and now you injured yourself? Hey... I wonder how you survived for three years."

"Shut up, horse-face! Erza, you must treat that immediately. Food might come out if you don't."

Shadis walked away completely.

Erza Scarlet. The most mysterious of them all. Three years ago, in the aptitude test, she showed great potential, and that talk I had with her clearly shows that she knew something... but during the three years that I am training her, she showed no improvement at all. She may be skilled at hand to hand combat and had great control oved the gear, but at this rate...

She can only run away from titans.

Am I mistaken about her?

~

Armin could not help but flinch as he saw Erza's wound being poured with alcohol. Jean, Connie, Reiner and Bertholdt, who's watching her, could not help but feel amazed.

"She's not wincing at all. As a girl, she should have cried a lot because of that." Connie remarked and Jean huffed.

"That's been happening for three years. Maybe she got used to it." Armin and Mikasa sighed because of their idiocy and was about to say something when Sasha appeared out of nowhere.

"Well, you guys, have you ever wonder how Erza cries?"

Mikasa sharply glared at her, clearly not liking what the girl said.

Sasha put her hands up in defense.

"Well! T- that Mikasa... it's just that... Erza always seemed to be carefree and does not care about the rules! A-and she's not worrying over things which is kind of weird." She reasoned out. Reiner seemed to have remembered something too.

"To think about it... Eren almost cried when he thought he will not pass the aptitude test. Armin cried when he lost his grandfather's hat but thankfully Erza found it, and Mikasa almost cried because Eren was out of her sight and she thought something bad happened to him. Yet, during those times..."He was unable to continue his words because Bertholdt continued it.