In the year 847 two years after the Colossal Titan had destroyed wall Maria, the now twelve year old Achilles enlisted in the military and joined the 104th Cadet Corps. During orientation all of the cadets were greeted by Head instructor Keith Shadis; Keith was an older man looking like he was in his early fifties or late forties, he had a look in his eye of extreme aggression, he had no hair on top of his head but he did have a small goatee. First he went to the blonde boy that Achilles had seen on the boat during his escape from Shiganshina, Achilles recognized the boy as the only thing that had really changed about him was his height "What do they call you?!" Keith demanded. The blonde boy did a solute "Armin Arlelt, from Shiganshina District!" The blonde boy replied. "I see, what a stupid name, did your parents give it to you?" Keith said in disgust. "My grandfather, gave it to me, sir." Armin replied. "Alright, Arlelt! Why are you here?!" Keith demanded. Several other recruits looked around nervously. "I am here to help humanity gain victory over the titans!" Armin replied as Keith looked down at him. "That's great, you're gonna make a nice snack for the titans." Keith said as he leaned in slightly. Keith then placed his hand on Armin's head and spun him around "Third row! About face!" Keith said. The rest of the people in Armin's group turned around to face the second row of cadets. Keith then walked up to another cadet who had short brown hair which was basically shaved on either side, and green eyes. Keith glared down at the cadet "What do they call you?!" Keith demanded. The cadet saluted Keith in the same way Armin did only moments ago "Jean Kirschtein, from the Trost District." The cadet replied. "And why are you here?!" Keith asked angrily. "To join the military police and live in the interior." Jean replied looking nervous. "Ah so you want to live on the interior eh?" Keith asked. "Yes, sir!" Jean replied. Keith then slammed his head down on Jean's which caused Jean to fall to his knees in pain. "Who said you could sit?! If you can't handle this, you should forget the military police." Keith replied. Finally he came to Achilles "What do they call you?!" Keith demanded. Achilles now stood at five feet and nine inches tall, his silver hair had grown and was tied up in a pony tail behind his head, he had a scar on the bridge of his nose which came from a blade of some kind, he appeared to be relatively scrawny but was still strong, and he wore the normal cadet uniform. He looked up at Keith without showing any fear "My name is Achilles SilverBlade, of the Shiganshina District." Achilles replied. "SilverBlade, is it? Another good-for-nothing, pathetic-sounding name! What are you doing here, kid?" Keith asked glaring down at Achilles. "I am here to reclaim Shiganshina and help humanity in the war on the titans." Achilles replied. "Good we can put you on the front line and let the titans tear you apart." Keith sneered. Keith then turned to the side "Alright, 104th cadets, listen up! Currently all you're good for is feeding the titans to slow them down! But we're going to teach you how to fight them! So if you don't want to become Titan food, I suggest you learn and learn quickly." The head instructor said angrily. "Today, you'll be learning how to use ODM gear properly. If any of you dopes are feeling clumsy, pick up your gear right now and head back to the interior! ... Alright, let's see some action!" Keith shouted. Everyone gave Keith a solute in unison. All of them soon picked up their ODM gear and put it on, a flare was seen going off not far from them so Achilles acting on instinct hit one of the triggers on his blades' handle which launched the first grappling hook onto one of the rocks near them and in what felt like seconds Achilles made it to the next training area where targets resembling mostly four meter titans and a couple probably ten meter tall titans, Achilles used his gear like he was an expert and swung from one target to the other and slicing what would be the titan's vitals if they were real in a matter of moments "Impressive, SilverBlade." Keith said as he watched while on the back of a horse. Keith soon called the session to a halt "Alright now let's see how you'd fair against some smaller titans." Keith said. Some machines on the ground then caused four wooden cutouts designed to look like four and five meter titans to be propped up "Let's see what you can do!" Keith shouted. Achilles and the other recruits activated their ODM gear again, Achilles' gear latched on to one of the dummies and using propelled himself forward then using some of the gas contained within the small tanks on Achilles' gear sped up dramatically and used his blades to slice a chunk out of the back of the dummy's neck which would've been more than enough to kill a live titan. Achilles propelled himself forward again toward another dummy and executed it the same way, and did the same thing to another Titan dummy before running out of breath and landing Keith began clapping "Very impressive, now let's see how you handle some bigger targets." Keith said. "Head down that way." Keith said as he pointed to the exit of the training area they were in. The cadets all soluted Keith "Yes, sir!" They all replied. Achilles and the other recruits made their way to the next training area in record time and when they did a fifteen meter tall titan dummy was erected with pads on the backs of its neck and its thigh "Depending on the titan there can be multiple places to attack! Make sure to hit with as much precision as possible." Keith shouted. Achilles launched one of the hooks from his ODM gear and it latched on to the wooden target and using his blades he sliced the target right across the heal, then he propelled himself upward and sliced where the vitals would be if the Titan was real causing the target to fall over with a loud thud. This happened each time a target's vitals were struck.
"Right, now we start the final drill of the day!" Keith said. The recruits all moved into a forest with massive trees, rocks, etc. everywhere "This time there will be multiple targets scattered through out the area, find and destroy them as quickly as possible!" Keith ordered. Achilles swung effortlessly from one tree to the other and spotted his first target while he was still more than ten meters off the ground; the target was of a five meter titan, using his gear Achilles launched a grappling hook down at the target and do to the momentum that being in a high position granted him when he sliced through the pad on the back of the target's neck the blades caused a huge crack to appear that nearly caused the target's head to fall clean off and causing the target to fall onto its side, while Achilles landed on the ground safely with little to no signs of injury. Achilles activated his gear once again flying from tree to tree effortlessly until he came across his next target: A target of a fifteen meter tall titan with the pads on its thigh and neck Achilles launched one grappling hook that caused him to swing toward the thigh of the target and this time it actually severed the leg off the target, Achilles then launched himself upwards and then once he felt he was high enough in the air he retracted his grappling hook and performed a perfect backflip then he used his grappling hooks to pull himself toward the back of the target's neck and deliver what would've been a fatal blow to a live titan. Achilles passed a girl with pale skin, gray eyes, and short black chin-length hair and a red scarf around her neck "Even in training I can't leave Eren alone." She said to herself as she propelled herself in another direction. Achilles didn't have time to think anything of it while he and the other cadets were flying from one tree to another executing the titan dummies that is until someone ran out of gas and started to fall "Oh no!" Achilles said before impulsively using his ODM gear to fly over to the person who was falling from almost thirty feet in the air and caught them seconds before they hit the ground "You okay?" Achilles asked as he landed on the ground with very little trouble "Y-yeah, I'm fine." The person said. Achilles could get a good look at them now the person was a girl less than half Achilles' height with short blonde hair, eyes blue like the sky, and flawless pale skin. Achilles set her down and launched himself into the air again, flying through the air like an arrow "Time to announce your mid-session grades!" Keith shouted. "SilverBlade, currently you're ranking second behind Mikasa!" Keith shouted but neither of them paid much attention to him, they along with everyone else were still training. This continued until all of the targets had fallen "Right then, lets see how you all did." Keith said. "Reiner Braun! You rank first." Keith said. "They should put me in the top percentage." muscular-looking with short blonde hair said with a cocky smile. "That ends todays training session! Anyone who wishes to may keep training by themselves." Keith shouted. Achilles, Reiner, and a slightly skinnier boy with short black hair and gray eyes decided to stay a while longer and Achilles was using his ODM gear very well until he came to the last target; he launched his grappling hooks at the target but the hooks broke off the target seconds later causing the cords to retract and causing Achilles to fall "Oh Shit!!" Achilles shouted. Achilles was about to hit the ground when Reiner (the muscular-looking boy) flew in and grabbed him "Are you alright?" Reiner asked. "Grab him, let's hall him up!" Reiner said. The skinnier boy from before showed up and grabbed Achilles from the other side, together the two of them hoisted Achilles up into a large tree once the three of them were up there Reiner and the other boy put their hands on their knees and started breathing heavily "God, that was reckless! Way to lose position!" Reiner reprimanded. "But everything worked out fine, now let's head back." The other boy said. "Sounds good to me, by the way I didn't get your name." Achilles said gesturing to the boy who helped Reiner save him. "Oh, it's Bertholdt, nice to meet you." The newly-dubbed Berthold replied. "Likewise, I'm Achilles." Achilles replied.
The three of them made their way back to the barracks by the time the sun had just started to set, as Achilles walked through the barracks he was suddenly stopped by someone a boy roughly Achilles' age but a few feet shorter the boy had short brown hair, bluish green eyes, and wore the same uniform Achilles wore. "Tough training today huh?" The boy asked. "Yeah, by the way I didn't get your name." Achilles replied. "It's Eren, I saw during orientation you weren't scared of Keith in the slightest." The boy replied. "Nice to meet you Eren, I'm Achilles." Achilles replied with a smile. "...Oh that reminds me, Keith was looking for you earlier. You can probably find him at the training grounds if you go now." Eren replied. "Oh okay thanks Erin." Achilles said before running off to find Keith. "See you at you later." Eren said as he waved.
Achilles entered the training ground standing in front of two cadets; one was a girl about four feet tall with long black hair, but Achilles couldn't see her face because she had her back to him. And a boy only about a foot taller than the girl with short blonde hair however he also had his back to Achilles "Alright, you maggots! If you're not in it to win it, you can pack your things and ship out to the interior right now!" Keith shouted. Keith turned to the boy "Thomas Wagner! Even a waste of space like you could make it in the Interior! They're low on numbers son." Keith said. Keith then turned to the girl "And you! Mina Carolina! Born in a pigsty weren't you? Then go back and live with the swine, kiddo! Titans don't eat pork!... Although I dunno if the pigs would even take a runt like you in!" Keith said. Keith walked away and walked passed Achilles without even regarding him, Achilles then walked over to the two cadets and they turned to him revealing Thomas' gray eyes and Mina's blue ones. "He didn't need to be that harsh. I'm doing my best." Thomas said as he looked over at Mina. Mina looked up at Achilles with tears welling up in her eyes "I don't know how much more of this I can stand... Maybe the life of a pig IS better than this." Mina said. Achilles looked down at the two of them "Don't let it get to you." Achilles replied. "Well that's easy for you to say, you handle the ODM gear like a pro." Thomas said. "Yeah, how'd you even learn to use it so well?" Mina asked. "Well when I was younger my dad used to take me to deliver blades and other weapons to the Survey Corps outside the wall, and while he did that I'd often watch the recruits train, and I learned from watching them." Achilles explained. "Okay, but how exactly do I not let it get to me?" Mina asked as she placed a hand on her hip. Thomas looked down sadly "I don't know if we're going to make it like this." He said sadly. Thomas looked up and crossed his arms "And to be honest, I really don't know how to improve my training results." Thomas said. "I know! I'm trying my hardest already, and look where it's gotten me. What do you think we should do SilverBlade?" Mina asked. Achilles thought for a second "Well I learned pretty much everything I know from watching the recruits so why don't you try that? Observe the like Reiner and Mikasa and try to copy what they do." Achilles suggested. "Watch and learn...? Well there are certainly a lot of really talented people among our group, I suppose if we studied their strong points, it could help us improve." Mina said with a smile. Thomas perked up "Study their strong points, eh? Yeah, if we made a conscious effort to do that, it could really make a difference." Thomas said. "Alright, so why don't we each try that and meet together again later to compare our results? You can join too, SilverBlade, I mean it was your idea, right?" Thomas said excitedly. Achilles simply smiled at him and turned to leave but before Achilles could leave the training grounds he was stopped by none other than Keith "You need to push yourself to strengthen your skills. And learn from your peers. Some are very talented." Keith said. Achilles stood tall not breaking eye contact with Keith but didn't reply "Rookies like you need to spend a lot of time with other soldiers, identifying their strengths and trying to mimic them." Keith said in an overly serious tone. "I know sir." Achilles replied. "Alright, we're done here. Get back to the barracks." Keith replied before stepping out of Achilles' way. Achilles nodded and walked passed Keith and through the door to the training grounds, Achilles then made his way back to the barracks where the rest of the soldiers were.
Shortly after entering the barracks Achilles was greeted by Eren "I guess you found Sadies, then?" Eren said. "Yeah." Achilles replied. "What did he have to say?" Eren asked curiously. "Well first he was yelling at two cadets for not being good enough and told me that I need to learn from my peers." Achilles explained. "Oh, hey we've got some night-time training later right? Man, my mind's willing by my body has had enough." Eren said. "Don't give up." Achilles replied. Even though he was pretty worn out too he still knew he could push himself further. "Yeah, you're right. If I want to be a titan killer I need to push myself hard." Eren replied as a look of determination filled his eyes. Achilles smiled and he made his way across the barracks, he figured he should get to know his comrades better since they were all gonna be together here for a long time. He kept walking until he saw the girl who he had saved before and went over to her "Hey, you okay from earlier?" Achilles asked. "Yeah I'm fine thanks, and by the way my name is Christa." The girl replied. "Well Christa, it's nice to properly meet you, my name is Achilles." Achilles replied. Christa smiled "Everyone seems pretty tired don't they? By the way I heard you almost had an accident during training this afternoon. Are you okay?" Christa asked. "Yeah, I'm fine thanks to Reiner and Bertholdt. Thanks for your concern." Achilles replied as he looked down at her and smiled. Christa blushed very slightly "I was really worried! Don't do anything rash next time, okay?" Christa replied. "Not like I did it on purpose." Achilles replied. "Right, it'd probably be a good idea to rest up in preparation for our next bout of training today." Christa replied. "Good idea, but I'm gonna keep looking around for a while." Achilles replied as he walked off. Achilles found Jean next "Damn, that training was HARD! But you won't hear me complaining. After all, if I want to make it into the military police I've gotta get my grades up." Jean said. "You'll manage it, Jean." Achilles replied. "Yeah, I know I will." Jean said with an aura of confidence beaming from him. Achilles walked across the barracks for a while longer until he was stopped by a young woman with light gold eyes and brown hair kept in a ponytail that reached the base of her neck. Her bangs were slightly parted to the left, cascading down each side of her face and stopped around the middle of her neck who was nibbling at a potato. "Man, I'm always so hungry after training. Isn't there any meat or anything lying around out here?" She asked. "Kitchen would be the best place to look." Achilles said. The girl giggled "You think there's meat in the scouts kitchen? Wouldn't count on it. Could be potatoes though. Maybe I should go check it out." She said. "Yeah maybe, what's your name by the way?" Achilles asked. "Sasha Blouse, What's yours?" She replied with a smile. "Achilles SilverBlade." Achilles replied. Sasha's smile soon faded "We're not done with training for today, are we? Man I'd better get something to eat quickly." Sasha said. "Yeah probably." Achilles said with a chuckle before walking away. Achilles made his way through the barracks until he heard someone call out "Hey you there!!" A male voice called. Achilles turned around to see a tall, well-built man with short blond hair, and a thin dark mustache. He wore the typical uniform of the Garrison Regiment walking up to him "Me?" Achilles replied. "Yeah you. You dropped something." The man said before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a small leather bound book. "What is this? A journal or something?" The man asked. Achilles stayed silent as he took the journal back from the man "Right, well try not to drop anything else if you can help it." The man said. Achilles chuckled "I will." Achilles replied. "So, you're one of the 104th corps cadets eh?" The man asked. "Thanks for bringing me back my journal. And yes I'm in the 104th corps, are you in the Garrison Regiment?" Achilles asked. "Yes, My name is Hannes." The man replied. "I'm Achilles." Achilles replied. "Since you're in the 104th corpse, then you probably know Eren Jaeger don't you?" Hannes asked. "Yeah, he's in my corps too. And we were both in Shiganshina when the Colossal Titan appeared." Achilles replied. "Oh? You were in Shiganshina too, eh? Like Eren and me, and the others." Hannes replied. "Well if that's the case you probably know Armin and Mikasa too, I guess. They're 104th cadets from Shinganshina too, They've lost their real parents so... Well, I'm kind of like a father to them now. Or something like that anyway." Hannes said. Achilles didn't respond as he thought back to the fateful day he lost his parents. "Well since you're from our district too, feel free to come to me if there's ever a problem okay?" Hannes asked. "Yeah thanks, I appreciate it." Achilles replied. Hannes smiled and crossed his arms "Right well, maybe next time bring along Eren and the others along with you, huh?" Hannes said. "Well uh... I gotta go and sorry about looking in your journal before." Hannes said scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "It's fine." Achilles said waving his hand dismissively. "I've gotta say I'm impressed with your attention to detail, that's something we need in our troops." Hannes said with a smile before walking off.
Achilles walked around the barracks some more absent mindedly until he literally bumped into the girl from before with the black chin-length hair now that Achilles could actually get a good look at her he noticed something he hadn't noticed before she was fairly tall her head reaching up to Achilles' shoulder, physically fit, and well-toned woman with muscles lined throughout her arms, legs, and abs. She is of partial , with pale skin, gray eyes, and as stated before she had chin-length black hair. "She's beautiful." Achilles thought to himself. This thought caused him to blush very slightly but he quickly pushed that thought to the back of his mind. "Oh sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Achilles apologized. "It's fine." The girl said with a blank expression. "I'm Achilles by the way." He said as he reached out his hand she shook his hand "I'm Mikasa." She replied. "I noticed you were hanging around Eren a lot, any particular reason?" Achilles asked. Achilles wasn't sure what prompted him to ask this "He's my brother and the only family I have left." Mikasa replied keeping that same blank expression. "Well, I suppose I'll see you around." Achilles said before he walked off. "Yeah, see you around." Mikasa replied. Eventually Achilles came across Armin standing outside just kind of thinking about something "Hey you're Armin, right?" Achilles said. "Yeah how'd you know?" Armin asked. "I saw you during orientation." Achilles replied. "So what did you think about that training this afternoon?" Achilles asked curious of what Armin would say. "It was really tuff. I was really struggling to keep up." Armin replied. Armin cracked a smile "But I was very impressed with how well thought-out it was. It really brought the stuff I've been studying to life. Oh yeah, didn't Reiner help you out in the training earlier? You should probably say thanks don't you think?" Armin said. "Yeah, you're right, where are they?" Achilles asked. Armin pointed behind him "Around the corner over there." Armin replied. "Thanks." Achilles replied before walking off to see Reiner and Bertholdt, he walked passed the building Armin was standing in front of and rounded the corner to find both Reiner and Bertholdt in an alley over there "Oh, it's you. Don't tell me you've sought us out to say thanks?" Bertholdt said. Reiner smiled slightly "We help each other out, right? That's what a soldier does. No need to make a big deal out of it every time." Reiner said. "Yeah but still I might be dead if I had hit the ground so thanks guys." Achilles said. Reiner chuckled "Yeah and 'oh shit' would've been terrible last words." Reiner commented causing Achilles and Bertholdt to also chuckle. Eren suddenly ran around the corner into the alley where the three of them were standing followed by Armin "Reiner! Bertholdt!" Eren shouted. "You guys too? What's the deal?" Reiner asked. "You're both experts in ODM gear right? Can you give me some pointers? Please?" Eren asked.
The five of them went into the soldier office which was currently empty so they could talk in being interrupted "... Sorry Eren, there isn't really much for me to tell you." Reiner said. "Damn..." Eren replied. "So tell me, you three are all from Shiganshina right? You know first hand what titans can do, what made you sign up for the survey corps?" Bertholdt asked. "For me, I couldn't just stand idly by and watch humanity crumble after I lost my family to the regime's ridiculous territory reclaiming strategy." Armin replied. "So... Where are you two from originally?" Armin asked trying to change the subject. "Both me and Reiner come from a small village in the mountains southeast of wall Maria." Bertholdt explained. "So..." Eren said confused. "There was no time for us to get word back to the village when the titans showed up that day. I don't remember too much about what happened after that. I signed up hoping to join the military police and serve behind wall Sina, but if that's no good, maybe I'll jack it all in... It's not like I can decide." Bertholdt replied. "It's a good thing that you see the value of your own life you know." Armin said. Reiner smiled. "I just want to get back to my hometown. That's all I'm really interested in. What about you, Eren?" Reiner asked. "The day that the Colossal and Armored Titans I vowed to slay every last titan on earth with my bare hands if that's what's necessary." Eren replied. "Nice, what about you Achilles? What made you want to sign up?" Reiner asked. "I lost my family when that Armored titan showed up in Shinganshina, I swore I'd either kill that thing or die trying." Achilles replied. "Ah, you were there too? My mother was killed that day..." Eren said looking saddened. "No surprise you want to become a cadet after that. For revenge..." Armin said. "Yeah I can see that." Bertholdt said in agreement. Reiner smiled "Well, sounds like I'm not the only one who wants to reclaim their home. But to do that we must train." Reiner said. "I wonder if that day will ever come." Armin said. Reiner shrugged "Who knows? But one thing's for damn sure, if we don't try, nothing's gonna change. The first step is joining the corps." Reiner said. "Yeah, that's right." Eren replied. "Exactly." Achilles said before they all walked out of the room "Ya know we've got night training after dark today, remember? We should probably get some rest before that." Eren said. "Yeah I'll go take a nap." Achilles said with a chuckle. Eren chuckled too "Yeah you've got the right idea." Eren replied. Achilles went to the room with the beds for the cadets and crawled into one of them after this, he set his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes
Night came in what only felt like minutes Achilles was woken up by Eren shaking him slightly "Come on, it's time for night training." Eren said. Achilles sat up and stretched "Right let's go." Achilles said as he followed Eren out to the training grounds. Achilles, Eren, Sasha, Mikasa, and several other cadets all stood in line at attention with Keith standing in front of them "Okay, troops, let's get this special night time training underway!" Keith shouted. "This drill is different as it won't be testing your individual abilities. Instead it's going to test your intra-squad cooperative skills and tactical abilities." Keith explained. "Squad assignments are previously communicated. So, once you've made all your preparations, move to your designated locations. Let's go!" Keith ordered. Achilles' team consisted of: a boy standing roughly five feet tall, he had a slim build, gray eyes, and his hair was shaved completely who Achilles found out was named Conny. Sasha was also part of Achilles' team. Another boy about four inches taller than Conny and with a short crop of spiky light hair; his name was Daz. And the last member of Achilles squad was a boy named Marco who was of average height with a broad, muscular build, he had short, parted black hair, freckles, and light brown eyes. Conny had his hands behind his head casually "I didn't follow exactly what he was saying, but sounds like a walk in the park... For a genius like me anyway." Conny said with a cocky tone in his voice. "Okay, so this is very different from our normal training, but just leave it to me. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to the forest." Sasha said. "Why do we even have training at this hour? I just want to go back to bed..." Daz whined. "The instructor said he'd be judging us based on our cooperative skills, I wonder how well this will go." Marco said curiously. Conny put his arms at his sides "Only one way to find out! Let's do this!" Conny said excitedly. Almost an hour later the five of them were stranded, low on gas, on their last set of blades, and out of breath "We aren't working together the way I had hoped we would. If we can't change this..." Achilles thought to himself worriedly. "Dammit, why isn't this working out? Everyone's pulling their weight." Conny said scratching the back of his head. "We've got almost no gas, or blades left. Thanks to you going all out the entire time, Conny." Sasha said angrily. "When it comes to cooperation, this trigger-happy squad was doomed from the start, right?" Daz said sadly. "If this keeps up we'll be forced to split up. We have to do something..." Marco said. "We need to replenish our fuel and blades and regroup." Achilles said. "Yeah, that's a good idea and this time let's make sure we're properly prepared." Marco said nodding. "Alright, in that case, I say that Achilles should lead our squad, what do you say? You seem to have a knack for keeping us in sync." Marco said. Achilles nodded "Leave it to me." Achilles replied determination filling his eyes. "Right, I'll do what I can to help out as well feel free to call out if you need a hand from me, or any of us." Marco said. "Very well then, we're in your hands! Take the lead, and get us into shape, captain!" Marco said excitedly. Conny smiled "Time to give the others a little surprise." Conny said. "Right then, let's turn the tables but first we have to resupply." Marco said. "There's a base we can stop at to replenish our gear not far down the path, let's head there." Achilles said.
Achilles and his squad made there way over to the base at breakneck speed, and they had resupplied in a matter of moments. "We're all stocked up on blades and gas! Now let's head to the meeting point." Sasha said excitedly. "You read my mind." Achilles replied before he and the rest of his squad activated their gear and swinging from one tree to the other and even running up several. Keith was waiting for them at the meeting spot "You're late, that means you're dead last! What took so long?!" Keith demanded. "S-sorry sir!" Marco said quickly. "Hmmph... anyway you're now going to practice attacking titans as a group!" Keith said as a fifteen meter titan dummy was erected behind them. The five of them scattered in various directions "Sasha, Conny go for the leg!" Achilles shouted as he propelled himself through the air. Sasha and Conny swung around and sliced the dummy across the pad on the leg "Marco, the neck!!" Achilles ordered. Marco swung in and sliced the neck half deep enough to kill a real titan and Achilles flew in and delivered the killing blow seconds later. Another titan dummy was standing not far from where they were "Daz the leg!" Achilles shouted. Daz flew in and sliced the pad on the dummy's leg which would've only been a flesh wound if it were real. Achilles flew in and sliced across the titans neck only half way yo be enough to kill a real titan "Sasha finish it!" Achilles shouted as he propelled himself away. Sasha did as he said and sliced the pad which would've been enough to kill a real titan band the dummy fell easily "Not bad, now get started on the rest of the dummies." Keith ordered. Achilles and his squad propelled themselves away and for the next several hours Achilles' squad and Eren's squad all went through out the forest taking out the dummies like it was nothing. While that happened someone informed Keith about how Achilles and his squad ran out of gas and blades earlier "So SilverBlade, you and your squad ran out of gas and blades...I never thought you'd be able to Rally like that. But SilverBlade you brought it all together and made it happen." Keith thought to himself as he watched the groups train. Achilles and his squad kept taking out the dummies even when other groups stopped to argue about someone going off alone or something "Wow, we're doing pretty well." Conny said as the tenth dummy fell. They took down another one seconds later "Yeah maybe we can do this." Daz said with a slight smile. "It's all thanks to Achilles... You're doing a good job keeping pace with everyone else." Marco said as Achilles flew passed him. This rigorous training continued for a couple of hours until Keith called it all to a halt "Well done, but the top squad goes to Eren Jaeger." Keith shouted. Achilles patted Eren on the back "Nicely done Eren." Achilles said. "Thanks, I saw you guys did pretty well too." Eren replied looking up at Achilles. "Now training is finished! Give yourselves a break!... Dismissed!" Keith shouted.
All of the groups returned to the training grounds shortly after an assistant stood next to Keith as the other recruits conversed "These latest recruits look well matched. I think we can expect great things from them." The assistant said to Keith. "While Ackerman's an obvious ace... I'd say your top students are pretty well decided anyway." The assistant said. Keith nodded "Yeah, a lot of them show promise. But a good soldier is more than his or her own abilities. Most titan encounters boil down to teamwork. Sometimes how well you cooperate with your comrades is what saves your skin." Keith said as he looked at the recruits. "That's what this kind of training is about. Finding who is a team player and who isn't." Keith said. Keith said as he watched Achilles and his team chat. "I don't know how you did it, but somehow we're back on track. Thanks!" Marco said happily as he looked over at Achilles. Achilles smiled at Marco "It's thanks to everyone pulling together." Achilles replied. "No, it's thanks to you! This cooperation stuff is WAY more important than I first realized. T think we're gonna ace training!" Conny said hopefully. "Hmm you don't often find a soldier who can pull a group together just like that and get them to perform at their best, but this time... We seem to have found someone with that innate ability." Keith thought to himself as he watched the cadets for a minute longer before walking away.
In the room where the males of the 104th squad were meant to sleep as everyone got ready to bunker down for the night "Hey, Achilles?" Eren said. "Yeah?" Achilles asked as he sat on his bed and removed his boots. "How'd you get that burn scar on your hand?" Eren asked curiously. Achilles removed his boots then his jacket and turned to face Eren "You see back in Shinganshina my father was a blacksmith and he was teaching me his craft, but the one day I didn't listen to him about wearing protective gloves was the day a glowing hot steel ingot fell right on my hand, left me with a few third degree burns and this nasty scar." Achilles explained showing Eren his scarred hand.
After three years of training in the corps, the soldiers learned the skills they knew they needed to face the titans head on. Upon graduation all of the grueling training, they were assigned to one of three regiments. Military Police, charged with maintaining the law and order among the population and serving directly under the king, they wear a mark that displays a shield with a unicorn in front of it. Garrison, charged with reinforcing the walls, and protecting the territory within them they wear a mark that displays a shield with two roses in front of it. And the Scout Regiment, those who venture beyond the safety of the walls into titan territory... those in this regiment wear an emblem that shows shield with two wings in front of it; wings of freedom. While many hope to go into the Military Police Regiment only the top ten graduates are given the luxury to choose. All of the cadets stood at attention at graduation not much had changed with them except all of them had grown at least a foot, Achilles now stood at seven feet and nine inches tall. All of the cadets stood at attention as Keith walked up in front of them all, all of the cadets saluted at once "I will now announce our top ten graduates... Step forward when your name is called." Keith ordered. "Number ten, Christa Lenz! Number nine, Sasha Braus! Number eight, Conny Springer! Number seven! Marco Bodt! Number six, Jean Kirschtein! Number five, Eren Jaeger! Number four, Anne Leonhart! Number three, Bertholdt Hoover! Number two, Reiner Braun! And our top-ranking graduate, Mikasa Ackermann!" Keith called out each of these people one by one. Each one stepped into line as their names were called "That is the top ten. But these results are based on scores during training..." Keith said before walking passed the line of people. "Whether you can put your skills to use in an actual battle is another matter entirely. Those of you who didn't rank should think long and hard... What can you do? What should you try to achieve? Tomorrow you'll be asked which Regiment you'd like to be assigned to! The 104th Corps is hereby disbanded... That is all!" Keith said.
Everyone returned to the barracks right after the graduation ceremony the first thing Achilles did was make his way into the soldier office where Mina and Thomas were waiting for him "Hey, we've been waiting for you, SilverBlade! Too bad we both couldn't make it into the top ten..." Thomas said slightly sadly. "Still, all of those debriefings weren't for nothing right? I think we're way better soldiers now." Thomas said. "And now that we've graduated from the Cadet Corps, what do you say we check back on the things we've learned before we officially join up?" Mina asked. The three of them got together and explained what they had learned; Thomas explained that by spending time with Eren and Armin he learned from Eren that soldiers must have a lot of fighting spirit, and from Armin he learned to be smart and determined not to lose. Mina explained that from Mikasa she learned that keeping control of your emotions is a very strong necessity, and from Christa she learned that you must be mindful not just about what's happening in front of you but also what's happening all around you. Achilles had mostly spent time Around Erin, Bertholdt, and Reiner so the only thing he learned is that one of if not the most important thing in any fight is to work together. "So I suppose that wraps it up, this has been very interesting." Thomas said. "Yeah, I think it's been really helpful getting to know some of the others better. And I've learned so much." Mina said. Achilles smiled at them "You both seem really motivated now." Achilles said. "Yeah, we aren't giving up yet." Mina said. "We'll have to spend some time with other people in the corps to see what else we can learn." Thomas said. "Good idea, with other people's help and a lot of hard work, I know we can become great soldiers." Mina said. "Not just that we can but we will." Achilles said with a smile.
Achilles left shortly after and made his way to the mess hall where he spent the next several hours speaking with his friends and the other cadets not much happened until he came to Mikasa "Whatever branch of military Eren chooses I'll follow... What about you? Where are you hoping to go?" Mikasa asked. "I'm hoping to go for the scouts." Achilles replied. Achilles then turned to Eren and Eren smiled up at him "That was close. I really thought you'd make it in one of the top ten spots." Eren said. "I wasn't really expecting to do so well." Achilles said scratching the back of his head. Armin and Reiner walked up from out of nowhere "Really? Everyone else thought you would." Armin commented. "It was pretty close and if you ask me you're basically as strong as those in the top ten." Reiner said. "And like baldy said out there, training doesn't give you the full picture anyway. It doesn't really tell you who will be good in an actual fight." Reiner said. "I suppose we'll see when we find some titans." Achilles replied. Reiner smiled and nodded before walking away. Marco looked at Eren "Are you sure about not joining the military police? You were in the top ten so you can pick." Marco said. "Yes Marco, I'm sure. I had made by decision before even enlisting. I came here so I could train and learn to kill titans, nothing else." Eren replied. Jean suddenly walked up to them "Oh leave him to his death wish, Marco. We've secured our futures in the interior. And we get to enjoy a simple life." Jean said with a smile. "I can finally get out of this fucking front-line hole!!" Jean said excitedly. "Jean come on, we all know you'll enjoy a simple life wherever you choose to go." Eren said. "What was that??" Jean asked glaring at Eren. "Are you calling me stupid Eren?" Jean asked. "Calm down, Jean." Marco said. "I'm not stupid, Eren I can just see the truth that everyone else is blind to. It should've been made obvious we can't beat the titans after we lost twenty percent of our population!" Jean said clenching his fists. "Yeah, they had an upper hand on us, until now. Because now we know more about them than we ever have before. Are you really suggesting we just give up on all of the advances we've made at the cost of tens of thousands of lives and just lie down and die? Get real, Jean! What we know gives us hope and as long as we have that humanity isn't done for yet." Eren sneered before running off. "Eren wait!" Armin said before he and Mikasa ran after Eren. "Go wherever you want Eren, you haven't changed my mind!" Jean replied. Achilles didn't respond he just made his way to the door silently.