The sun began to rise, the exhausted grunts of a lone trainee echoing throughout training field S Alpha. He pulled his chin above the bar, his toned arms burned from hours of training. The trainee was around sixteen years old. He is average height with an average build, although he is very muscular. He has dark brown hair and emerald-green eyes that shine with a lot of intense emotion. He has a somewhat tanned complexion with sparse and often furrowed eyebrows that at first glance make him look troubled or annoyed. He wore his branches standard military equipment, minus his jacket which lay beside the pull-up bar. His tan jacket has an image of wings, one blue and one white, on its back and over his heart. His name was Eren Yeager; Rank E Level 3. In his branch he is rated as the fourth highest trainee, but overall he is rated number five.

"One hundred and ninety-nine." He groaned. In truth he should have quit training hours ago. He should have went back to his individual barrack and gotten some rest straight after supper. Of coarse that is what he hadn't done. Instead, like usual, he had stayed past training hours to try and raise his position in the overall trainee ratings.

His instructors know he does this. At first they had stopped him. Although after numerous attempts of them trying to stop him they finally gave up and just decided to give him a key to the fences and allowed him to train whenever he felt like, as long as cleaned up after himself and didn't damage equipment.

Eren made an effort to pull himself up one more time. His hands let go of the bar and fell to the ground. He lied on the ground spread out. His chest rose and fell rapidly. He breathed heavily as the sun climbed higher into the sky. It wasn't long before Eren heard the alarm that signaled all trainees to wake up.

"F...Fuck..." He cursed as he picked himself up slowly. He stumbled a little bit before he picked up his jacket. He began walking to the mess hall as he threw his jacket over his shoulder lazily. Eren stepped to the gate and stuck the key into the door's lock. He unlocked and stepped out of the training field once he heard the buzzer that signified the door was unlocked sounded. He glanced up as he closed the door. The light above it switched from red to green, indicating that the entrance had auto locked like it was supposed to.

Eren slowly made his way to the mess hall, his every muscle sore from the nearly constant exercise. He rubbed his sore shoulder constantly as he continued walking. He walked by himself for about thirty minutes before he heard his name called out.

"Hey Eren!" He heard a familiar voice call out to him. "Wait up!"

Eren turned to see his childhood friend running up to him. He is short for his age, which is 15, with a small build. His round face is framed by his blond coconut shaped hair. He has large expressive eyes, blue as the ocean he had always dreamed of seeing. He was wearing the same outfit as Eren was. A symbol that he is part of the same branch of Military training, the Scouting Legion. Armin Arlert is Rank E Level 3. In his branch he is rated as the one hundred and fourth positioned trainee.

Eren was always put off that Armin had joined the Scouting Legion Branch of training. Don't get him wrong he respected Armin almost more than anyone. He was a certified genus with an IQ that was nearly off the charts, but he was also scrawny and weak. He could barely lift a riffle. In Eren's opinion it would have made far more sense to have Joined the Garrison. Instead of going out on the front lines he could of become a General and lead an army from safety.

"Hey Armin." He greeted his friend.

"What's up man?" Armin greeted as he took a second to catch his breath, even though he hadn't run vary far. "Did you spend all night training again?" He asked worriedly. "You look exhausted. And even the bags under your eyes have bags." Armin stated as he stood up straight.

Eren rolled his eyes at his blond friend. "I'm fine Armin." He assured him. "Let's go eat." He replied as he turned on his heel and began walking in the same direction he had before. "And please don't tell Mikasa." He added in frightened.

Armin chuckled to himself as he walked beside his friend. "Okay I won't. As long as you take a break every once in a while and sleep every other night." He bargained with a devilish grin.

"Deal!"

The two entered the mess hall moments later. It was filled with other trainees. Each wearing a similar uniform if not the same. Other than the jackets with images of wings on them there were three types of Military Uniforms. One of which was a pair of crimson roses. The symbol of the Garrison cadets. Another one was of a blue unicorn. The marking of a cadet belonging the Military Police. The final one was simplistic drawing of two swords crossed in the form of an X. For new cadets whom have yet to finish their first year of training.

It had only been a few weeks since his third year of being a Scouting Legion trainee had begun. Meaning for all of the cadets without a year of training under their belts that they had only began a few weeks ago.

"Come on Eren." Armin said, interrupting his train of thought, as he pushed Eren towards the line to get breakfast. Or at least he tried to.

Eren stepped foreword and grabbed his breakfast. He stepped to his usual table, where his friends were waiting for him. Eren sat beside his sister, Mikasa, and across from his "friend" Jean.

Mikasa Ackerman is a fifteen year old girl whom is fairly toned and incredibly muscular. She has raven black hair that reaches her chin accompanied by her calm black eyes. She has noticeably pale skin that contradicts her Asian features. She wears a jacket that matches his own and a red scarf around her neck. She was adopted by Eren's parents when they were both young after her parents were murdered my members of the organization Titan. Mikasa is Rank E Level 3. She was rated as the best trainee for both the Scouting Legion and for all three branches overall.

Jean Kirstein age fifteen Rank E Level 3. Branch ranking is fifth and overall ranking is sixth. Jean is average height and build with has light ash-brown hair that's shorter on the sides. The sides of his hair is a darker shade then what's on top. He has has small, intense, brown eyes that people say have the same vicious look that Eren does accompanied by a scowl people also say resemble Eren's. Eren doesn't see it though. Jean has too much of a horse face to look like him, in Eren's opinion. Jean also wear the Scouting Legion's insignia on his uniform.

There were two boys on either side of Jean.

The boy to his left is an incredibly short boy with a slim build. He has an unmistakably shaved head with bright hazel eyes. He was also wearing a Scouting Legion uniform. Connie Springer age fifteen Rank E Level 3. In the Scouting Legion he is rated Seventh while in overall rating he is rated eighth.

On Jean's other side is a boy of average height and broad shoulders. He has parted black hair and light brown eyes. He has distinctive freckles scattered across his cheeks. He had the same jacket on as Jean. Marco Bott age sixteen Rank E Level 3. Scouting Legion rating sixth. Overall rating Seventh.

On the other side of Mikasa was a girl devouring her food like she hadn't eaten in weeks. Sasha Blouse age 16 Rank E Level 3. Scouting Legion rating eighth. Trainee rating ninth. Sasha has light brown eyes accompanied by auburn hair tied in a ponytail that reaches the base of her neck. She was average height with a slim figure, which was surprising giving the amount of food she ate on a daily basis.

At the other end of the table sat five people, four of which Eren knew.

One of them is tall with broad shoulders and a serious expression. The defined bone structure in his face with his serious expression makes him look intimidating. Despite this he is actually a very caring person that often acts as a big brother figure to Eren and a few other trainees. He has short blond hair with gold colored eyes. He was also a member of the Scouting Legion. Reiner Braun age seventeen Rank E Level 5. Branch Rating and overall rating second.

Another of the people Eren knew was a boy taller than Reiner but incredibly slender. He has short brown eyes that don't go well with his green eyes. The tall boy is rather quiet and tends to only speak to Reiner unless spoken to. Also a member of the Scouting Legion. Bertolt Hoover age seventeen. Rank E Level 5. Scouting Legion rating and Trainee rating third.

Sitting across from Reiner is Krista Lenz. Age fifteen Rank E Level 3. Branch rating ninth, somehow. Overall rating tenth, somehow. Krista is a petite blonde girl with long blonde hair. She has large blue eyes and she is incredibly pretty. That, as well as her unnatural kindness, has caused some of their fellow trainees to give her the nickname "Goddess of the Scouts." Beside her was her "Shadow" Ymir. Ymir is a tall slender girl with tan skin, long brown hair tied in a ponytail, and intimidating golden eyes. Ymir is seventeen years old Rank E Level 3, only because she somehow convinced the military to let her begin training late, and is rated tenth for the Scouting Legion and eleventh overall. Both girls were members of the Scouting Legion.

Sitting in between both groups of people was a boy short boy with a small build. He had bright orange hair and freckles littered his entire body. He was incredibly pale with large blue eyes. His face was drenched with fear and his eyes darted across the room over and over again. He wore a jacket for a trainee without an assigned branch.

"Hey guys." Eren greeted as he took a bite out of his loaf of bread.

"Hey Eren." Jean greeted in between bites. Everyone greeted each other accordingly before Eren was given the third degree.

"Have you been getting enough sleep?" Mikasa asked looking at him.

Eren faced foreword, ignoring the drills she was staring into the side of his head. "Yeah." He lied as he took a mouthful of "food."

"Don't lie Eren." Jean smirked from across the table. "I already told her the truth." He stated and Eren glared at him.

"God dammit, Jean." He mumbled to himself.

"You need to get more sleep Eren." Mikasa commanded with worry in her eyes.

"Stop worrying." He replied. "I'll get more sleep." He stated then quickly switched subjects. "Hey kid? Who are you?" He asked.

The boy looked at Eren with surprise. He pointed to himself then mouthed the word "Me?" and Eren nodded. The kid cleared his throat before answering. 'M-my name is Mathew P-Piles." He stuttered. "R-Rank F... Age eleven"

The group responded by stating their own names followed by their Ranks and Levels.

Jean questioned. "So Newbie? How are you enjoying trainee lifestyle?"

"I-it's alright..." He answered. "I-I'm just a little confused on all th-these rank and level talk."

"Marco? Armin?' Mikasa piped in. "Who's turn is it to explain?"

"It'd be my turn." Armin stated as he cleared his throat. "Let's start with Ranks. Ranks are leveled positions that the government uses to easily tell who is high up in the military and who is not. For example a Rank F like yourself is a Trainee second class. Then there are trainees like us, Rank Es, to show that we are Trainees first class. The difference between us is that Rank Fs are taught basics that all soldiers will need and Rank Es choose different branches and are trained to the standards of their chosen branch. Now time to move on to Levels. It's not surprising you don't understand Levels yet because Rank Fs don't have Levels. Level stand for the number of years we've been a trainee for our Specific Branch. For example, Eren, myself, and most others at his table have Scouting Legion Trainees for three years. So we are Level 3s. Understand?" Armin asked as he wrapped up his explanation.

"Yeah... I think..." Mathew responded carefully. "So what's the highest Level?"

'That'd be a Level." Eren stated. "Like my boys Reiner and Bertolt over there!" He called.

A smile grew on Reiner's face as he stood up. "RANK E LEVELS 5 REPRESENT!" He roared and dozens of other trainees stood up with him.

They all pumped their fists in the air and cheered together. "HIYAAA!"

Reiner they all sat back down and Reiner joined the conversation. "Yeah." He replied happily. "This is our last year of being trainees. After this year is over we'll graduate to Rank Ds. Then we'll be official soldiers." He bragged.

Sasha interrupted. "Hey Reiner you gonna finish that?" She asked.

"No." Reiner smirked. "Go long!" He yelled as he threw his loaf of bred across the room.

Everyone in the mess hall stopped talking and watched as Sasha jumped to her feat. She ran in the direction of the bread, jumping onto the tops of tables when they got in her way. Eventually she jumped on one table and ran across it's entire length. She dove off and caught the loaf in her mouth before she hit the ground. Everyone waited in anticipation to learn if the pass was a completion. Then, suddenly, Sasha stood bot up with her fists in the air and loaf of bread hanging from her mouth. The entire lunch room cheered.

They all cheered until one of the instructors, Shadis walked in. Shadis is a tall intimidating man with no hair on his scalp. Although he does have a short brown goatee. He has a tan complexion with noticeable wrinkles on his forehead. He has dark circles around his eyes that make him seem even more frightening and imposing, if possible.

"What in the hell is going on here!?" He roared, questioning them all.

Reiner stood up and saluted his superior officer. "Sir!" Reiner answered becoming serious. "It was my fault, Sir! I had first caused my fellow Level 5s to cheer! Then in response to a fellow trainee asking for food I told her to go long! I threw it then cheered along with everyone else once it was confirmed that she had caught it, Sir!" He explained.

Shadis stared at the Reiner. "I see." He stated calmly. "I will leave you with a warning Cadet Braun. But only because you told the truth, and because what you did was harmless." Shadis stated before walking out of the mess hall.

Reiner released the breathe that he had been holding and sat back down. "Phew..." He answered. 'Thought I was a goner." He chuckled.

The others chuckled at what he had said this.

Eren stopped chucking as soon as someone he had not recognized walked through the mess hall doors. It was a girl. The girl is considerably short with a small physique. She has moderately short pale blonde hair, tied at the back with her right fringe mainly draping over the right side of her face. She has icy blue eyes that have a sullen vibe to them. Her complexion is rather pale with a pronounced nose. She was wearing a Military Police branch jacket with a white hooded sweatshirt underneath it.

"Who's that?" Eren asked without thinking. His eyes were glued to her.

"Why?" Asked Jean with a shit eating grin. "Love at first sight, Eren?" He joked but then yelped in pain as Mikasa kicked him in the shin.

"You're so mean Eren!" Krista accused him. "That's Annie. Annie Leonhardt." She pouted as she said this. "She was in our training year when we were all Rank F. She started with us."

At hearing this Eren felt like a dick. He looked back at Annie. How could she have been in his first year and not have noticed her. That's just unthinkable to him.

"Annie Leonhardt you say?" Reiner tuned in. "If I remember correctly she's rated number one in the Military Police and Number four over all." He stated and Eren looked at him with wide eyes. 'Eren. She's the one you've been trying to surpass for the past three years."

Eren bolted up from his feet, slamming his hand against the table in the process. This brought the attention of everyone in the mess hall focused on Eren. All accept Annie Leonhardt that is. He marched towards Annie, whom was the only one in line to get breakfast. He stood before her, waiting for her to notice him.

She turned to walk away only to be face to face with Eren. She glared at him. "What do you want?" She asked, annoyed.

"My name is Eren Yeager." He stated. "I am the fifth highest rated trainee. I challenge you to a Gladiator Match.

Annie sighed and slammed her tray against the counter. "Fine. Whatever. Let's just get this over with."