Attack On Titan: Left Behind
Chapter 1
-Year 845 before the Fall of Wall Maria, night of 99th Trainee Squad inauguration to Survey Corps-
The night was bright with the moonlight shone, illuminating the dim field. Million stars twinkled idly, scattered and radiated the black vast sky. The freshly graduated cadets lined up in the middle of the field in front of the stage; their expressions showed determination and bravery. Passionate, eager young soldiers, who were ready to take the responsibility to bear the hope of mankind on their shoulders, overcame their own fears to make a decision of their lifetime: Joining the Survey Corps. All the elite senior members of the Survey Corps stood on the stage, attracting admiration and respect from the junior members as the strongest soldiers among the three military legions. The inauguration ceremony was about to end, with the Commander Keith Shadis—who was standing tall on the front part of the stage—gave his closing speech.
Finally. I made it here.
"You are prepared to give your life as a spear of humanity! You are prepared to eliminate the threats of mankind! Give your every thing to fulfill your duty! Give your best to realize the hope, that one day, humanity will take back its freedom!"
I'm ready to give everything in, for myself.
"Will your blood and flesh give benefit for mankind!? Will you willing to die if you're ordered to!? Make a choice from your own volition! Serve well for humanity and die an honorable death without regrets!"
I will never regret this. I will never regret to die.
"I welcome everyone here, the courageous soldiers, to the Survey Corps! This is a genuine salute! I respect you for that from the bottom of my heart! Now! Offer up your hearts, Cadets! For the future that only belongs to mankind! For the glory of humanity!"
All the cadets banged their fists on their left chests and saluted the Commander.
"SIR, YES, SIR!"
-Year 845, a day after 99th Trainee Squad Inauguration-
A soldier rode his horse alone, breaking through the dense trees and bushes in the forest of southern side of Wall Maria. The wind blew strongly, brushing his short black hair, his Survey Corps cloak fluttered behind him. The sun shone right on top of his head. He pulled his hood on his head, trying to keep himself from the hot weather. He kept galloping his horse until he saw an old fortress between the towering trees.
At the mouth of the gate, a woman with glasses and brunette hair styled in short ponytail stood eagerly, as if she was waiting for him.
"Hey, Levi! You're late!" said Hange Zoe, her hands at her waist.
"You're too early," said Levi, pulling the rein of his horse and dismounting.
"You missed the inauguration last night," Hange reminded in disappointment.
"Would it really make any difference whether I came or not?" he said as he walked his horse to the stables while Hange was following him beside.
"From the point of view of your public relation, you should pay a little attention to your fans," she said cheerfully. "You know how young soldiers always idolize you. I believe they're dying to see you, and maybe dying to get you signed their jackets."
Thinking at the idea of bunch of brats surrounding him for an autograph, Levi scowled at her. "Tch. Like I care."
"Jeez, that is so cold."
When they reached the stables, their fellow soldier, Mike Zacharius, was there, filling buckets with water, one for his horse and the other for a brown stallion. He glanced to Levi and Hange as they approached him.
"Looks like someone left her horse to shrivel," said Mike.
"Aw! Thanks, Mike! That's so nice of you." Hange gave a friendly pat on his shoulder.
Mike sighed, throwing a disapproving look at her. "You pay more attention to titans than to your horse."
"She loves those monsters more than she loves herself," Levi corrected him.
"Hey, don't blame me. It's very hard to do everything when Moblit is not around," said Hange, gently patting her horse's mane as a form of apology. "You know, I'm delegating many of my tasks to him, including taking care of my horse."
"So where's your errand boy now?" asked Levi as he tied his black stallion's rein to the peg. "He usually tails you everywhere like a dog." .
"Still at Headquarter, cleaning my research equipments and trying to salvage anything left of my experiment reports beneath that rubbles…" Hange said with an ugly look on her face. "But still, I believe Military Police won't let him go anywhere near it before the investigation is over."
Levi quickly turned his head to her. "Those damn MPs still hanging out in our HQ?!" he said furiously. "What the hell are they doing?! And Keith is okay with that?"
"I don't know, but when Mike and I departed from HQ this morning, Keith was there," said Hange. "And he looked really pissed off, berating at those poor MPs. That man is really intimidating when he's angry."
"We cannot trust them with anything," said Levi harshly. "They might tampered or forged any evidences, or maybe just fooling around because they couldn't do their fucking job right." He always had a strong resentment toward the so-called most prestigious military branch, because for him, they were just a bunch corrupted, lazy ass pig, unworthy soldiers who always hiding in the interior.
"The upcoming expedition is in few days, our hands are really tight here," said Mike in his casual tone. "Like it or not, we need their help."
"Those idiot MPs," Levi continued, pouring a bucket of water for his horse, "it's been three damn weeks and they still have no fucking clues why half of our HQ suddenly crumbled into pieces. How wonderful."
"Stop complaining, Levi. It can't be helped, what happened, happened. We were lucky enough that building didn't collapse on our head," said Hange, who was looking equally upset. "But at least we got a replacement," she added, obviously trying to be positive with the unfortunate situation.
The three of them walked to the castle, and Levi's mood dropped to level minus one thousand when he saw the ancient-looking castle. It was huge, but very shabby and unkempt, with the roofs missing here and there, some broken windows, and very moldy wooden gateway. Fallen dry leaves from the trees covered the stone path to the main gate. The gray brick wall cracked in many places, with the vines of bittersweet nightshade climbing from the ground—covering most of the lower wall of the castle—and moss hanging abundantly from the rooftop. Also, there was a very big hole at the bottom watchtower, which made an impression that the tower could crumble in any time. In short, Heubach Castle was definitely the worst place to live in by the standard of human rights.
"Remind me why Keith insisted us to use this shitty castle," Levi grumbled, wincing at the unpleasant humid smell as they entered the main hall of the castle.
"Well, this former Headquarter is the best place we can use for now. Big enough to store our resources for the next expedition, close to Shiganshina District, and has enough rooms to accommodate the new recruits," said Hange, who didn't seem bothered by the squalor. "Good thing we have them to clean this place up."
"So, how many cadets crazy enough to join us this year?" Levi asked her.
"Not too many... Of course, given our grim reputation, but we get better recruits." Hange smiled in excitement. "Five of top ten graduates from southern division trainees joined us. That's good news."
"Quality over quantity," said Mike firmly, sniffing the air. "I could smell potential in them."
"I highly doubt that. Rookies are usually good for nothing," said Levi flatly.
They continued walking across the main hall, where Levi's furrow deepened as he saw the hall was not properly cleaned, toward the big staircase that led to the upper floor. But Levi suddenly halted his steps, turning his head to the dining hall, where many new cadets were busy cleaning it.
"Good for nothing…like them." He scowled.
"Hey, Levi, just leave them alone!" Hange tried to stop him but Levi already made his way into the dining hall. "Oh, damn it…" she muttered.
"Here we go again," said Mike, crossing his arms.
All the cadets were finished with cleaning the dining hall and preparing to leave, when they suddenly noticed Levi had just walked in. They stared at him in awe. Some of them even dropped the equipments they held because they lost in amazement of seeing the humanity's strongest soldier.
"Captain Levi, Sir!" All the new cadets saluted him.
But Levi didn't even bother to look at them, or even replied the salute; his eyes still meticulously scanned the hall. Whispers and small chatters rose in the room, coming from the cadets that still staring at Levi with sparkling eyes.
At the far back of the hall, a black-haired soldier whispered to the blond girl beside him. "Is that really Captain Levi?"
"Yes, Emory, that's him!" The blonde girl whispered back, sounding very convinced. "Humanity's Strongest Soldier, the real deal!"
"Wow! Awesome!" The boy named Emory widened his eyes in admiration at Levi.
"Are you sure, Sophie? He's nothing like I imagined," said the tallest, dark brown-haired boy behind Emory. "For instance, he's so short."
"Sssh! Don't talk like that, Kenneth! He'll kill you if he hears you!" whispered the blond boy beside Kenneth.
Levi was utterly dissatisfied with the awful level of cleaning. The hall was still a mess; grime covered most of the floor and some spider webs still hung at the corner of the ceiling and at the chandelier. He walked to the cupboard and wiped a thick layer of dust from the top of it with his fingers.
"Oi! You call this cleaning?!" Levi snarled, facing all the cadets. "Redo the whole thing!"
"What the hell!?" Kenneth shouted spontaneously, striding out of the . "What are you talking—"
Before Kenneth could do anything reckless that might cost him his life, the blond boy behind him quickly pulled him back.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" the blond boy hissed, trapping Kenneth in a stranglehold.
Kenneth tried to retaliate. "Gerard! Get your hands off—hmph!—"
The boy named Gerard already clamped his hand over Kenneth's mouth. "Shut the hell up, you dumbass!" he whispered angrily. "Do you want to kill yourself?!"
Levi glared at them. "What did you just say, cadet?" he asked in low voice, but the sudden silence in the hall made it as if he was shouting at the top of his lungs.
"I'm sorry, sir. Very sorry. Don't mind him. Please, just don't mind him," said Gerard tremulously to Levi, who was still glaring at them. "He didn't mean it, it's just the exhaustion talking. Please don't take it seriously."
If only a glare could kill, then both of them would already be in kingdom come.
Levi shifted his gaze from them, still feeling irritated, and continued to scan the untidiness in the hall. "Clean the entire first floor again from scratch," he said. "And I do mean the entire first floor. When I come back I want it all to be spotless, with no dust left behind." He glared to all the cadets, who looked very stunned by this new command. "And yes, that is an order! Do I make myself clear?!" he yelled.
"Sir, yes, sir!" All cadets answered in unison and saluted.
"Then start to work! Now!" Levi walked out of the dining hall, back to where Mike and Hange stood with impatient looks on their faces, and cleaned his fingers with his handkerchief. "Tch. Idiots..."
"Jeez. What a clean freak with annoying habit," Hange commented. "And that's how you successfully crushed the hope of your fans club."
"Shut your mouth, you titan-obsessed freak," said Levi coldly.
"Will you take it easy on them? They're not trained to be maid," Mike complained.
Levi frowned. "They are not even worth to be here if they can't keep this place clean. We can't bear to stay in this sea of dust castle."
"And by 'we' you mean 'you'," said Hange, pointing out the obvious.
Levi glared at her. Hange turned her head away, pretending she didn't see Levi's almost audible glare.
They walked up the staircase, heading to the meeting room on the second floor, and Levi let out a long sigh of frustration as he saw the corridor. It was a complete mess of hell with accumulated thick layer of dust sticking everywhere, spider webs hung between the huge pillars like thick white blankets, and garbage strewn along the way. At the end of the corridor, the meeting room's door was wide opened, and there were a bucket and mop in front of it. Levi narrowed his eyes, readying himself to berate anyone in that room for letting this immensely filthy condition untouched.
"Fucking stupid cadets... I'm gonna kill them!" He growled and sprinted faster to the open door, before Mike and Hange could stop him.
Levi was about to shout, but stopped. In contrast the corridor, the meeting room was totally clean and neat. The oval table and chairs had been arranged so neatly in the middle of the big room, complete with a fresh linen tablecloth. The floor had been mopped, so sparkling, that Levi could even see his reflection on the marble tiles. He wiped his fingers behind the bookshelf; he was impressed with the fact that there was no specks of dust left. He looked around and noticed there was only one person in the room.
A girl in military uniform stood near the open window, holding a handful of flowers. She was humming cheerful melodies while arranging the flowers into the vase on the side table and seemed unaware of his presence.
"Nicely done," said Levi with a light tone of satisfaction.
The girl stopped humming and turned around, looking very shocked to see him. "Oh! I'm so sorry, sir! I didn't see you coming!" She quickly did a salute.
Levi looked at her briefly. She was petite, slightly shorter than him. Her middle length auburn hair tied in ponytail with small curls at the end, with her bangs messily covered her forehead and framed her pale face. She had a round, bright hazel eyes that made her look like a little child. Her physique was definitely not something to be expected from a soldier: small and slender without too much muscle bulging. She looked so frail and without the military uniform, Levi would never know that she was a soldier.
"You cleaned this room alone?" Levi asked as he inspected the chandelier, which had been polished until shiny.
"Yes, sir, I did. I thought it would be better to clean this room first, since Commander Keith will hold a meeting this noon," she said. "The others insisted to follow the instruction and clean the first floor, so I have to do it myself."
"Woah! This room is pretty nice!" Hange complimented as she walked in with Mike. She looked at the girl and smile, pointing the vase filled with colorful anemones. "Ah, you even made some decorations."
"I picked these flowers from the yard," said the girl, arranging the last stalk of anemone into the vase. "I know we only stay here for few days before the expedition, but this room is so dull. I think flowers will lighten up the atmosphere a little bit. Don't you think so?"
"That sure looks great," said Hange as she hung her Survey Corps cloak. "I never see you before, new recruits?"
The girl saluted. "Yes, Ma'am. I'm from the 99th Trainee Squads."
Hange sat on the chair. "Ah, I see. At ease, Cadet. I'm Hange Zoe. The leader of the fourth squad," she said friendly.
"Yes, Ma'am, I know you," said the girl, nodding. "I saw you at the inauguration. And you, sir, you must be Squad Leader Mike Zach—"
The girl stopped dead, catching a breath with a frightened look on her face when Mike marched at her and sniffed her head.
"Um, sir…" said the girl quietly, taking a few steps back as Mike grasped a strand of her hair and sniffed it repeatedly. "What are you…doing, exactly?"
Mike only smiled and stepped away from her. He hung his green cloak and sat on the chair, leaving the girl staring at him with confused expression.
"Relax, cadet, it's just his usual way to say 'hi, nice to meet you' to new people." Hange waved her hand carelessly, though the girl still looked highly startled.
"Oh...okay..." the girl said, glancing at Levi, who was inspecting an old knight armor without a blink. "Um, and that's..." She looked at Hange again. "I don't know who is that..."
"Oh, that grumpy shorty who's assessing your work is Levi," said Hange.
The girl gasped in shock. "Captain Levi? The Humanity's Strongest Soldier?"
Hange nodded. "Yup, and an obsessive clean freak."
"He...what?" The girl raised an eyebrow.
"You could say he had some screws loose in his head because of an accident and since then, his subconscious told him to get rid of all filthiness in this world." Hange explained in dramatic way of speaking, and the petite girl looked even more bewildered than before.
"Oi! Enough of your nonsense, shitty four eyes," said Levi rudely, who had finished with inspecting every nook and cranny of the room.
Hange chuckled gleefully. "Don't be cross, I'm just telling the truth!"
Levi cast a threatening look at Hange before looking at the girl. "Your name, Cadet?" he asked, walking closer to her.
"Alex, sir, Alexandra Ritter," said the girl.
Levi put his hands on her shoulders and stared deeply into her hazel eyes. "Rookie, you are a prodigy," he said with utmost sincerity. "Your cleaning skill is remarkable. Every nook and cranny is spotlessly clean."
Still wearing a bewildered expression on her face, Alex seemed unsure how to react with his praise. "Umm…okay... Thank you, sir… I guess."
"I'm the one who should say thank you for your incredible work," said Levi, quite honestly. He had thought he must spent hours locking up in filth for the meeting. "Now, help your incompetent comrades in the dining hall. Those idiots don't even know how to sweep the floor properly."
"Yes, sir. Right away." Alex turned around, grabbed all the cleaning equipments and left the room.
Hange whistled, looking at Levi. "It's rare for you to acknowledge other's cleaning."
"I appreciate individual who works hard." Levi hung his cloak then sat down on the chair next to Hange. "At least, we have one tiny space without dust in this hell..."
"Finally you met someone who shared the same quirky passion with you. I'm so glad for you," said Hange seriously.
"She smelled alluring," said Mike serenely, rubbing his nose.
"Err… Mike, if you say it that way, it sounds really creepy," said Hange, wincing at him.
"That's what I sensed," said Mike, looking very pleased. "Her scent is so different… It's like a fresh breeze in the dewy morning. I never met someone with that kind of scent before."
"Jeez. Your nose is so creepy." Hange shook her head and took off her glasses. "I'm surrounded with freaks."
"That's including yourself," said Levi sharply to her. "Have you looked yourself in the mirror lately? Your head is the most fucked up in the whole military."
"Well, the last time I checked, my brain was still in its place. Thank you for asking," said Hange airily. She rolled her eyes to the empty chairs in the room. "So I presume the others will be late…"
"It's a long way from the Headquarter to here, and they must be quite busy with the reports from Military Police," said Mike.
They waited for more than an hour. Levi idly propped his chin on his palm, extremely bored with the long wait. Hange already fell asleep, burying her head in her arms on the table and snoring. Mike closed his eyes and tapped his foot repeatedly on the floor. All of sudden, he stood up and looked at the window.
"They're coming." Mike informed. He sniffed the air and sat down on chair. "All of them."
"Tch. They're so damn late," Levi grumbled, shaking Hange's shoulder. "Oi, wake up four eyes."
Hange opened her eyes and yawned. "Is…it…the time…?" she asked, sluggishly.
"They're just entering the building," said Mike, sniffing again.
"I hope this meeting will be quick." Hange quickly sat up straight and stretched her arms. "Damn, I'm so sleepy..."
"Stay late last night?" Mike asked her, noticing the dark shades under her eyes.
"Yeah, just like any other nights. Too many laborious paper works. I really need another assistant," she said with tiresome tone, rubbing her eyes then putting on her glasses. "And too many thoughts on my mind too…"
"If you're still dreaming about getting laid with a titan, just stop, it won't happen," said Levi with a deadpan expression.
"Oh yeah! If only I could bring them inside the walls and chain them in my bed, that would be the first thing I do," said Hange, grinning at Levi. "Their lack of external hardware won't stop me though, if you know what I mean," she added quickly, riposting his vulgar joke right at him.
"Tch. Tell me again why we even know each other…" Levi turned his head away from her, feeling disgusted with what she had said.
Soon after that, the rest of high rank officers of the Survey Corps entered the meeting room. Among them was Erwin Smith, the Second-in-Command of Survey Corps and Commander Keith's most trusted soldier. Erwin glanced at Levi, who looked back at him with a nod.
"What's the hold up?" Mike asked to Erwin, who sat beside him.
"Nothing too urgent, just some additional reports of the investigation from the sudden collapsed of our HQ," said Erwin. "The higher ups spent the whole morning to conduct more thorough inspection."
"Not them, I'm asking about you," said Mike, staring suspiciously at Erwin. "Don't lie to me, Erwin. The destruction of HQ is their responsibility but you won't waste your time on frivolous thing like that." Had been working together for years, Mike had known too well to tell that Erwin would never be late to a meeting, unless he had another crucial thing to do that caught his interest. "You were doing something else. I smelled excitement all over you."
"Your nose is really good in sniffing someone else's private matters like this," said Erwin, an impressed look escaped from his calm and collected expression.
"I'm very sorry to make you waiting." Keith Shadis, the Commander of Survey Corps, was the last person who entered the room. He took a seat, cleared his throat and officially started the meeting. "Now, the meeting for the 29th Expedition beyond the wall begins. We'll start with the report from the medic and corpsman division. Nanaba, please present your division preparation."
"Yes, sir. Thank you." A woman with short blond hair stood up and read her reports.
Levi leaned his back against the chair and folded his arms. He never really paid attention with whatever was happening in the meeting. He usually only observed and listened, without taking too much part of talking and questioning. Although he didn't get along too well with his other superiors and comrades because of his unimaginably abrasive personality, he still respected them, enough respect to make him follow the chain of commands. Levi had a great trust for his comrades, especially Erwin, and never bothered to ask the man's judgment because he believed that Erwin always had a good reasoning. It was only because Erwin directly asked him to come that he agreed to patiently sit on his chair through the whole boring meeting. And that was why, after two hours straight of presentations, arguments, debate and discussion for solutions, Levi found himself more interested in his fingernails than the presentation of the squad placement for Long Distance Enemy Scouting Formation.
Standing in front of the large paper drawn with the scouting formation, which was nailed to the wall, Erwin once again proved that he was a very superb specialist in making strategy.
"With this squad deployment, I divided our forces' combat strength equally between the left and right flank of enemy detection squad," said Erwin, tapping each of the outer half-round formation with a ruler. "While the middle flank lacks of combatant soldier, this is our best course of action to prevent any destructions to our formation. My goal is the enemy can not break through our outer layer defense, and thus, this placement will protect our entire brigade."
"Fascinating. Thank you, Erwin. Brilliant idea as always," said Keith solemnly with a great feeling of pride and satisfaction, as Erwin nodded and returned to his seat.
"As you all already know, this expedition has one sole objective: to build a resupply station at the old fortress of Rotwand Hill," said Keith, addressing to all the soldiers around the table. "If we can secure this location, we can take one step forward to our next objective. However, based on the reports from our last expedition, this area is well known for its inhabitant of Deviant type titans. Not to mention the rugged terrain we must conquer. The hill is surrounded with heavy forests, open hills with grasslands, and steep precipices. This is going to be an arduous expedition, even harder than the previous one. But I think we get a shot. I'm confidence with our capability and proper preparation. Thank you for all your hard work." Keith looked briefly to each one of his subordinates. "If there's no more question, I conclude our meeting—"
"Please, hold it, Commander," Erwin interrupted and raised his hand. "There's one more thing I would like to propose for our squad personnel."
Keith looked at him and nodded. "Proceed."
Erwin cleared his throat, making sure he had all their attention. "There is a cadet that I will recommend to join our expedition."
Levi immediately tore his gaze from his fingernails and fixed his eyes on Erwin, trying to contemplate the meaning behind his proposal.
There was a short moment where everyone silently stared at Erwin, and then, like noisy buzz of bumblebees, the meeting room filled with clamor of protests.
"Wait a minute, Erwin. Isn't this too early for cadets to take part?" Nanaba cut in. "They just became official members last night."
"Are you out of your mind!?" said one of Team Leaders.
"You can't be serious, Erwin!"
"A cadet? Have you gone mad?!"
"So this is what you are up to. I'm surprised," Mike muttered to Erwin. "Even I didn't see it coming."
"That's preposterous. I thought you weren't insane anymore," said Hange, evidently doubting if Erwin still had a sense of thinking straight. "It will be like putting a death sentence to an inmate!"
"Silence!" Keith ordered, and the room was quiet at once."Your proposal is too rash, Erwin," he said, looking very concerned with this unusual demand. "We usually don't include fresh graduates for expedition this sudden. They need to undergo more training before go beyond the wall. A month of intensive training, at least."
Maintaining his usual calm demeanor, Erwin was completely unperturbed by the harsh reactions from the others. "I guarantee I don't make any blunders regarding this matter, Commander. I'm making this request with thorough consideration," he said politely to Keith, who still gave him a distrust stare.
"Tch. Rookies are always the first to die. Do you want to give those titans extra little snacks? What happened with human preservation?" said Levi scathingly. It was very rare of him to defy Erwin, but as much as he valued Erwin's decision, the idea of intentionally risking the life of an amateur made him distraught. It reminded him of what had happened during his first expedition…
Erwin turned his head to Levi, astonished with this unexpected reaction but he quickly regained his cool.
"But this one is an exception," said Erwin. "I talked with the instructors from the academy this morning. They highly praised this cadet's skill and aptitude on battlefield. They said we are very lucky she joined Survey Corps and she will be a great asset for us."
Levi squinted his eyes as he heard Erwin's last sentence. "She?"
Meanwhile, at the main yard, all the new cadets of Survey Corps were taking a break after cleaning the entire first floor of Heubach Castle. They were extremely exhausted, not expecting that their first day as scouts would include becoming occasional labor workers. At the small, obsolete bench near the corner of the yard, four new cadets were resting; three were sitting on the bench while one was lying on the ground. Judging from the depressed looks on their tired faces, their dirty and messy appearances, plus their lassitude, it was safe to assume that they had experienced something so terrible like never before in their lifetime.
"God damn it! My back is really hurt!" said Gerard loudly, sprawling on the grass. "I spent three years of military training to scrub mucky tiles for three hours straight… Argh! Damn it! Even the drills at academy were much better than this!"
"I swear if I ever see dust again I can have a panic attack. Or nightmare." Emory slouched on the bench, rubbing his temples. "This is a mentally exhausting…"
"For fuck's sake! I'm here to kill titans, not doing bunch of housewife works!" Kenneth spat angrily beside Emory, clenching his palm. "Why the hell is this happening?!"
"Well, Survey Corps is always having problems with human resources, constant shortage of personnel and soldier. This is just an implication of the circumstances." Emory tapped on Kenneth's shoulder, as if trying to draw a plausible explanation would calm him down. "This is inevitable. Just accept it."
Kenneth gave him an upset look. "But not exploiting new recruits like this! I didn't sign up for this shit!"
"No one expecting this. Just deal with it," Emory coolly reprimanded. "Are you alright, Sophie? You don't look so good…" he asked worryingly to the blond girl who was sitting in front of him.
Sophie folded her arms on the table and buried her head in it, didn't move from her seat since the break began. If it was not because of her slow and stable breathing, people would assume that she was already dead.
"Yeah, Sophie, you haven't say anything since you almost collapsed onto the bucket full of slop," said Gerard, glancing at her. "Something must be very wrong with you."
"I'm…okay…guys…" she muttered weakly. "I never done something like this in my whole life, so… I'm worn to a frazzle…" She seemed so languid and barely could hold a conversation.
"Thank goodness. Here comes the fateful day when you can finally shut up for a moment without teasing everyone around you." Kenneth smirked, undeniably very exhilarated to see her in such pathetic state.
"Give me a break, Kenneth…" she grumbled. "I'm feeling so lethargic right now…"
"Guys! Here is the water!" A petite girl approached them, holding a wooden crate. "And lunch." She put the crate on the table and handed out the food and water to her comrades, who quickly grabbed the provisions like starving refugees in camp.
"Oh God! Finally!" Sophie drank the water with pleasure.
"Just exactly what I needed!" Gerard got up and happily received a pouch of water, taking a seat beside Sophie. "Alex, you're really a goddess!"
"I'm a goddess because I brought you water and lunch?" said Alex.
"And for saving the day! You're the hero of the century," said Gerard, playfully pinching her cheek.
"Wow, I'm so flattered," said Alex flatly, slapping his hand away from her face.
"It's true. Thank you for your help," said Emory. "If you didn't come to help we would probably still do cleaning until dinner."
"That's not a big deal. This castle is very old, so the dust already became sticky and grime covered the entire floor. The trick is, you have to swamp the floor with the cleaning agent, wait for half an hour, gently scrub the floor and rinse the whole mess with clean water," Alex explained matter-of-factly as if that was a common knowledge for everyone, "and that's how you got a sparkling marble floor, as sparkling as new." She put the empty crate below the table and sat on the bench between Gerard and Sophie. "But I can't believe you guys still hadn't done it. You had all morning to clean the whole first floor."
"Blame that to Captain Levi!" said Sophie angrily. "He's really stern! He ordered us to redo all the cleaning!"
"Huh? Why?" asked Alex.
"Because Captain Levi was very, uh, demanding with cleaning issue," said Emory in low voice as if he was afraid the said person would overhear the conversation.
"He yelled at us, said we're idiots because the dining hall was not clean enough for him!" said Kenneth bitterly.
"The way he glared at us, I think it will haunt my sleep tonight…" Gerard grumbled. "Is it okay if I call him Humanity's Scariest Soldier?"
"He's the worst person with worst personality ever!" said Sophie, eating her sandwich with a pout.
"Really, guys?" said Alex, raising her eyebrow, didn't have any ideas in the slightest what they were talking about. "But I met him in the meeting room. He's kind of odd, but nice."
All her comrades immediately turned their heads to her and stared in bemusement at her innocent face. They couldn't believe their ears that anyone could talk something positive about that scary Captain of Survey Corps.
"What?" asked Alex, looking back at them in confusion.
"Alex… Are we talking the same person here?" asked Gerard, still making puzzled look on his face.
Alex drank water from her pouch, frowning at his question. "Captain Levi is the soldier with black hair, right? In my opinion, he's a nice person."
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" said Kenneth in vexation. "Which part of that damn strict midget is nice?!"
"He complimented my cleaning and thanked me for that," said Alex, smiling thinly. "That was very nice of him."
Sophie giggled at Kenneth. "You can't even compete with her in simple thing like this."
"Cleaning is for sissy," said Kenneth in a horribly nasty tone, chewing on his sandwich.
"Say it to Captain Levi and see how you will end up, shithead!" Gerard replied in annoyance, throwing a rumpled brown paper bag at his head. "When you shouted at him in the dining hall, I bet he was ready to mince you into bit-sized and feed you to the titans!"
"Whatever. But still, cleaning is for sissy," said Kenneth in even nastier tone than before.
"You absolutely don't know when to shut your mouth. One day, you're gonna get killed because of that," Emory warned him. "Ever heard about chain of a command? An order is an order, so we have to do it."
Kenneth snorted, looking around incredulously. "Come on guys! I know he's an elite soldier with all bossy, infuriating superior attitude, but giving a ridiculous order to get rid of every single dust?! That's an abuse of power! That damn midget has a few loose screws in his head!"
Alex chuckled, remembering what Squad Leader Hange had said in the meeting room. "I guess he's always like that, so it can't be help."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Sophie.
"Oh, it's just… Squad Leader Hange told me he always prefers his environment to be cleaned perfectly, but, well, it seems like he has certain higher standard than anyone else," said Alex, didn't want to bring up a fact that the humanity's most powerful soldier already had a deep obsession for cleanliness. That quirk wouldn't fit with his character, would it?
"For a selfish, nit-picky reason like that!?" Kenneth snapped. "No wonder he's such an asshole!"
Alex curled his lips in disagreement. "Just because he made you knelt on your feet and scrubbed the dirty floor, doesn't mean he's a jerk."
"Nah. You are on his side because he favored you," said Kenneth darkly.
"I'm not. Really, I got a feeling he's not a bad person," Alex insisted. In her eyes, Captain Levi was very intimidating with his cold stare and frown, but she didn't see any reasons to consider him as someone who would do bad things.
Kenneth scoffed, sparing a very ugly look to her. "He didn't shout at your face, did he? You missed the best moment to see what an asshole he was."
"No, he's not an asshole," said Alex, shaking her head. "He was mad because you couldn't get the job done."
"Oh, now you're saying you're the only who could done everything right?" said Kenneth, raising his voice.
Alex squeezed her pouch, getting really annoyed with him. "When did I say that? You always easily jump to ridiculous conclusion."
"That subtle haughtiness is implied in what you just said," Kenneth accused rudely.
"Did I really prick on your pride because I was stating the truth?" asked Alex coolly.
"The truth? Are you talking about how you always become the perfect midget soldier in every aspect, being idolized by everyone? Hell yeah you are!"
"That's not even close to what I'm talking about," said Alex, squinting her eyes at Kenneth. "You're really a dullard."
Kenneth glared at her. "You annoying dwarf! Are you picking a fight with me?!"
Gerard slammed his hand on the table. "For God's sake! Is this conversation going somewhere?!" he said, glancing wearily back and forth at Kenneth and Alex. "Can't we just have a peaceful lunch before being forced back to become a laborer for this goddamn filthy castle?!"
"Kenneth, if you still have energy left to fight, channel it for something useful, cleaning the yard, perhaps?" Emory suggested, pointing at the bushy weed on the yard.
"Or clean Captain Levi's office so you can get complimented like Alex. You're envious of her, just admit it," said Sophie, a joyful sneer on her face. "Come on! Admit it! You can't stand being defeated by her, can you?"
"Shut your mouth, bitch! You got a pretty face but a very lousy mouth," Kenneth snarled at Sophie, who was sticking her tongue at him. "I challenge you for a duel with me," he said confidently to Alex.
Alex was about to open her sandwich, but her hands stopped in the air when she heard the request. "Oh, please no, we're not trainee anymore," she said, almost pleading to him. "You won't get any points from this."
"One round won't hurt. Come on, it's been a while!" Kenneth insisted, standing up in front of her with intimidating gesture, his tall and muscular frame easily towering the tiny girl. "Don't tell me you're afraid."
Alex sighed. "Fine then… But just one round." She stood up unenthusiastically and followed him to the yard.
"Alright, it's settled then!" Sophie quickly stood on the bench, miraculously regaining her vibrant self in a blink, and shouted out loud to the other cadets. "Gather around everyone! Hurry up! The 68th match of the two strongest cadets from southern division is about to begin! Don't miss it for the world!"
Emory turned his head to Gerard, clicking his tongue. "Your best friend is really a moron."
"What can I say, his brain is not well functioning like his muscles," said Gerard, ruffling his blond hair. "I'm getting really tired of watching this..."
"Still up for a bet?" asked Emory, beaming.
Gerard smirked, pulling a coin from his pocket. "He won't last more than one minute."
Emory tossed a coin at him. "Alex will kick his ass in forty six seconds."
Gerard nodded, pulling out his pocket watch from his jacket. "Deal."
Both of them shook hand and continued to eat their lunch as they watched Kenneth and Alex facing one another in fighting stance.
"Yes, it's a girl. Her name is Alexandra Ritter," said Erwin.
Hange raised an eyebrow and turned her head to Levi. "That's the girl from before," she whispered.
"Is she good?" Levi asked Erwin, unconvinced with this absurd information.
Erwin nodded with a faint satisfied smiled. "The best of the best. She ranked 1st in her class of southern division with the score gap between the 1st and the 2nd graduate was way too far. Even if she is compared with other 1st ranks from another division, she is still superior. Perfect in every subject and training. She's the best trainee in the history of military, so far. That's what the instructors said."
Levi looked at Hange and exchanged a quick look of puzzlement as he remembered the girl. The frail, ill-looking cadet with childlike face, not to mention her pint-sized stature was the last person he would imagine to even enroll in military. And that kind of little girl was the best soldier of all? It was very hard to believe.
"Wait. Wait. Wait a minute," Hange interrupted, seemed like she also shared the same disbelief like Levi. "Erwin, have you met this cadet?"
"No, I have not," said Erwin.
"Are you sure you're not mistaking her name with someone else's?" said Hange. "I mean, I met her earlier in this room and I had no slightest hint that she turned out to be extremely remarkable by looking at her. For instance, she's so tiny and frail, and an exceptionally cute girl," she added with a small smile.
"I believe I don't make any mistakes on that," said Erwin firmly. "Don't let her appearance deceive you, Hange. I haven't received her files from the academy yet, but I've gathered enough information regarding this cadet from reliable sources."
Hange nodded, feeling no longer need to inquire further. "I don't doubt your outstanding research ability. I believe in you, but this fact is just kinda blowing my mind." She shrugged, leaning back to her chair.
Erwin looked at Keith, who still had a concern frown on his forehead. "So, how is it, Commander?" Erwin asked.
"I'm inclined to agree with your logic," said Keith. "If this cadet is really that promising then I'm also looking forward to see her in action. It's very rare to have 1st rank graduate in Survey Corps, though… But no matter how skillful she is, she's still an inexperience soldier in real combat."
There were various murmurs of agreement from around the table, but they were not enough to make Erwin giving up on his proposal.
A very faint smirk curled in Erwin's lips but vanished in the next second. "And that reason is exactly why I propose her to join the expedition," he said, with a tone of careful persuasion. "She has talents and skills, but those will mean nothing if she never get a chance to use it. The earlier she gets chances to cultivate experiences from real battle will be better. Like you said, sir, it's almost unreal to have the best graduate in our hands. She will be great asset for us."
Keith watched Erwin for a long moment, apparently considering the advantage of having additional manpower for the expedition, but then shook his head.
"I still can't let an untrained and unprepared amateur in danger. That's not fair," said Keith, voice sharp. "She is not ready. She will need further guidance before she is able to even defend herself. Yes, she is the best, I get that, but doesn't mean we just can let her roam freely beyond the wall, fighting titans without even having proper preparation. That's very risky, especially knowing how hard our next expedition will be."
The two men stared at each other. Erwin had expected this decision would not be easy for Keith. As a Commander, Keith held a very great concern for the lives of his subordinates, considering each one of their lives was his responsibility. That quality was admirable, however, Erwin always thought there were times when a leader should lead without worrying too much on the future damages. Battlefield was never a safe place after all.
"Don't worry about that, Commander, I have a solution," said Erwin, glancing at Levi. "She will be put under Levi's close supervision."
Startled, Levi looked back at him. "Do you want me to babysit a rookie?" he asked coldly.
"No, I want you to guide and work with her as a team," said Erwin. "Give her a demonstration about how to fight in real battle. And I thought you were the one with the most concern about human preservation."
Levi wondered if Erwin was joking, but the blond man was still looking with a demanding stare. Erwin was dead serious with his request.
"Fine. I'll do it," said Levi finally, having no solid reasons in mind to object him.
"Thank you, Levi," said Erwin, then turned his head to Keith. "So, do I have your agreement on this matter, sir?"
The Commander's sour face indicated that he was about to spit no, but he stared at Levi for a moment, as if he was evaluating Levi's capability as a soldier. After a long silence, he faced Erwin and nodded slightly.
"Your proposal is accepted," said Keith, an edge to his voice. "I think that's all for today. The meeting is dismissed."
And with that command, everyone got up and left meeting room.
At the corridor, Hange approached Nanaba.
"Did you see it?" Hange whispered to Nanaba, smirking. "The love and hate relationship between Erwin and Keith? I counted how many minutes passed until Keith finally said yes. It was merely ten minutes! No matter how uncompromising Keith is, he does have soft side for Erwin."
"Erwin is really something else," said Nanaba in amazement, staring at Erwin, who was discussing something with a Team Leader. "To pull a trick like that, and succeed to gain concession."
Hange glanced at Erwin from over her shoulder. "That was a very bold move indeed. Keith just let him go with that ridiculous idea. I need to learn his moves to make Keith okay with my research budgets."
Nanaba laughed. "If it's about your titan experiment, I bet even Erwin can't do anything about it."
"It's worth to try! I'm thinking to make a presentation about my plan for capturing titan alive," said Hange thoughtfully, crossing her arms. "Keith needs to show more appreciation to my works. If it's not because of me and Moblit, the next expedition will be impossible! Last time, I spent hours watching Deviants' behavior in the forest, identifying them was really a pain in the ass, especially at night. If I have enough budget then I can finally make a special trap to catch one using new method I invented—"
Knowing Hange would not stop at all cost once she talked about the 'glorious and majestic beings', Nanaba quickly changed the subject. "So, when was the last time we got 1st rank recruit?" she asked.
Hange stopped talking, scratched her temple then shrugged. "I can't recall any, not after my enrollment I think."
"Yeah, I don't remember anyone either," said Nanaba. "This will be interesting. I'm very curious with this cadet he recommended."
"Erwin only heard gossips in the academy without even knew who the heck they were talking about," Levi chimed in, overhearing the conversation. "He believed everything they fed to him just like that."
"You didn't even go to boot camp, for your information, instructors don't grade trainees on their appearance and height," said Mike, standing tall beside Levi. "If they say the girl is the best, the girl really got the skills."
"So what if it's true?" said Levi. "Being the best among amateur means she can freely go to titan-land? It's a reckless judgment, even for Erwin."
"Erwin has his calculation, and as I said before, I smelled potential," Mike reminded him. "My olfactory sense is never wrong, so does his judgment."
"Tch. Potential without experience is like hitting the last nail on your coffin. We barely got any recruits and the first thing Erwin wanted to do is to kill one cadet in the next expedition," said Levi, frowning. It was not clear whether Levi was frowning because of Mike's strange habit to analyze everything based on his sniffing ability or because of the filthiness in the corridor was still the same as before.
"Why do you think she will die that fast?" Nanaba asked Levi.
"Rookies are always the very first to die," said Levi indifferently. "I hate unnecessary casualties. If you meet her, you'll think the same presentiment. You'll wonder how long she's gonna last before titan stomps her like an ant."
"But she is the best in her class..." said Nanaba, looking confused. "Does she really look that unconvincing?"
"A bit," said Mike.
"Hell yeah she does," said Levi curtly.
Hange faltered for a moment, but finally nodding to her question. "If you ask for my personal opinion, yes. Believe me, that girl's too cute to be a soldier, she's more suitable playing with dolls than using 3DM Gear."
"Speak of the devil, look at that." Mike looked outside the window, pointing down at the yard.
The cadets were gathering in circle, shouting and cheering enthusiastically to the two cadets who were throwing fists at each other; one was a tall boy and the other was a little girl. Levi noticed the girl had familiar flashy auburn hair.
"That's the girl whom Erwin passionately craved," said Levi.
"Are they fighting?" said Hange, adjusting her glasses to get a better look.
"More like she's toying around with him. She doesn't give a break for him to attack her," said Mike, sniffing the air then smirking at Levi, who was still frowning. "That's some potential."
"Oh, she's great!" said Nanaba when the girl evaded a sharp uppercut then swiped her opponent's feet off the ground with a low kick. "Uh, the big guy fell on his face. That must be really hurt."
Levi watched intently, feeling his interest piqued. Before the others realized it, he was striding the corridor in a hurry.
"Levi, where are you going?" asked Hange.
"There is something I need to make sure by myself," said Levi, quickly pacing down the marble staircase.
"What is he talking about?" asked Nanaba, glancing to Levi who was already out of sight.
"He's probably going to question Erwin for making him supervise her," said Mike lightly, didn't take his eyes off of the yard.
The fight between two best graduates was not an ordinary one; it was very intense and entertaining to the extent that even the veteran soldiers couldn't take their eyes off of the yard.
At the yard, Kenneth was panting heavily with some bruises on his face but still showing determination to beat his opponent. Alex, on the other hand, clearly looked extremely bored with the long fight, standing with loose fighting stance. Kenneth finally stood back on his feet, marching forward with the same fighting spirit and violently launching punches. Alex quickly read his all of his movements; she kept moving and dodging the attacks without using too much effort.
"Now this is just depressing," Emory commented, feeling a little sympathy toward Kenneth, who just got a kick on the abdomen from Alex. "He really doesn't know when to give up, does he?"
"He's yearning for revenge, let him be," said Gerard, propping his chin with his palm. "Remember when he punched Alex right in the face and made her screaming and crying?"
Emory puckered his forehead as he tried to recall the moment. "Nope."
"Me too."
"Wait, he never managed to land a single attack on her."
"That's why he's so desperate…" Gerard sighed. "I've known him since we were kids, he won't give up until he gets what he wants."
"What a moron," said Emory, shaking his head. "You're a moron too, you know. Her last record was fifty seconds. You should have known it's impossible for him to beat her."
"Yeah, but I feel bad if I keep betting against him…" said Gerard, biting his lips. "Seeing him like this is very heart wrenching. You know, I feel like I betray him…"
"You're supporting him out of pity, not chances," Emory concluded.
"Just look at him, he is so pitiful right now." Gerard winced and averted his eyes. "God damn it, I can't watch this any longer…"
The fighting scene was kind of pitiful for Kenneth. He was trying to pin Alex down, which failed because she swiftly broke loose from his arms, and do an armlock, but she already made a counterattack. She kicked his shinbone before he could react to block the attack. Kenneth hissed in pain but managed to stand still, rushing to her with rapid right overhand. Unfortunately for him, Alex was already doing a slipping to dodge and lowering her stance. She grabbed his right wrist and pulled him forward—cleverly using the advantage from the force of his speed—bending over then throwing him to the ground with a loud thud.
"Can we stop now? I'm tired," said Alex, standing up and tapping on her pants to clean the dirt. "It's already the seventh round."
"One more, Alex!" Kenneth shouted, getting on his feet with difficulty and gripping his right wrist. "This is the last!"
"Alright." Alex idly prepared her fighting stance with tiresome look. "Just one more and you will stop, voluntarily."
"Up for the next round! On my mark, fighters!" said Sophie, pretty much enjoying her role as the referee. "Ready!? Fight!"
And with that mark, Kenneth sprinted to Alex. She eyed him carefully as he ran closer to her.
Left punch, Alex thought. Dodge it.
The left jab missed her face by a few centimeters.
He's tired. Getting slower with each attacks. This won't be too long.
Kenneth launched another sharp jab, almost hitting her left shoulder. Alex slided to her right side to evade, positioning herself right behind him, then jumped high before he could turn to her.
That's the opening!
Alex launched a hard knifehand strike to his nape, which was also a downward attack from jumping, adding extra momentum to the attack. The sudden blow on the nape made Kenneth lightheaded, incapacitating him in instance. Alex harshly grabbed his left wrist and did a quick pronating wristlock, pushing the left arm at the elbow with her other hand to force him fall to the ground. She pinned him down on the ground, with her knee on his nape and his left arm locked firmly in twisted way.
Alex let out a long, weary sigh as she loosened her grip on his wrist. "So, can we stop all of this? I haven't even touched my lunch."
Struggling to get loose under her steady lock, Kenneth grunted something unclear to be heard, like a mixed of outcries and vile curses.
"You said this is the last round," Alex reminded. "I won't let you go until you give up, voluntarily. Keep resisting all you want, you may break your wrist in the end."
There was no sign of giving up from Kenneth, and Alex had no pity left to spare because she knew once she let him loose, he would go for another round. She looked at Emory and Gerard with tired gaze as thought she was saying 'please help me to stop this moron'.
"Aaaand the fight is over," said Gerard, sounding both annoyed and relief. "Just call it an end before he breaks a few of his bones."
Beaming, Emory slipped the coins inside his pocket, much to Gerard's dismay, then glanced to the blond soldier on the bench. "I guess we have a winner, Sophie."
Sophie clapped her hands in the air, signaling the fight was over. "And the winner is Alexandra! Isn't she amazing!? Unbeatable in 68 matches against the 2nd rank graduate—" She froze on her feet and widened her eyes in shock. "Sir!" She immediately stood up straight and did a salute.
All the cadets turned their heads to the direction of her eyes, and unison of horrified gasp burst in the yard. The cheering and excitement from the fight vanished in a single blink, followed with complete silence of fear. Everyone was too captivated with the fight and failed to realize that the Humanity's Strongest Soldier was there.
Standing among them, Levi glared at the two cadets, who were still tussling on the ground, with his irksome stare. Arms folded on his chest. Furrow crinkled deeper than Mariana Trench. His flat expression was as cold as North Pole. He stomped slowly, getting closer to them; every step he took was sending horrific vibes to every living organism nearby.
"Oh my fucking God!" said Gerard frantically under his breath, eyes widened in shock. "This is a goddamn catastrophe!"
"Sir! This is not what you're thinking they're doing!" said Emory, who was immediately rushing to the yard.
Alex hastily hid herself behind Emory. "W-w-we're not fighting, sir!" she said in dread. "It was just a f-friendly m-match!"
"Friendly match, my ass! You damn dwarf!" Kenneth hissed in anger to her, could barely get up on his own.
"You're the one who asked for it!" Alex hissed back at him.
"Fucking dwarf…" Kenneth cursed under his breath while Gerard was helping him to stand up.
"Sir, we can explain. This is not a fight, just a longstanding rivalry of two best soldiers in our class. This happened all the time since the very first day in academy," Emory explained in panic, gulping to see Levi's constant cold expression unchanged. "We didn't intend to make a fuss, sir. We're very sorry about this."
Levi didn't say anything, walking closer and staring at Alex. "Oi, rookie. Fight me," he finally said.
Alex cautiously peeked from Emory's waist. "Huh? Sir... What...?"
"You heard me rookie. Fight me," Levi repeated.
"WHAT?!" Alex screamed when her brain had finished processing the command.
The so-called most powerful soldiers of humanity requesting for a match of brawn was a valid reason for Alex to scamper and hide herself behind the barricade of three Walls. She almost got a heart attack, clutching Emory's jacket with shiver.
Suddenly, a high pitch happy squeal broke the tension, coming from the girl on the bench.
"Aw yeah! Go Alex!" Sophie jumped down and pulled Alex from her hiding. "This is gonna be the best match in history!"
"Sophie! Are you crazy!? It's Captain Levi!" said Emory, evidently very shock to see Sophie got so excited about this life and death situation.
"But Alex is the best in our class," said Sophie lightly as though it settled the matter. "At least she'll give us something worth to watch before losing. Right, Alex!?"
"Sophie! What are you saying?!" Alex screamed, trying to let go of Sophie's hand.
"What's wrong? You don't seriously think I'll expect you to beat Captain Levi, do you?" Sophie asked with confused expression.
"That's not what I mean!" Alex finally freed herself and ran to hide behind Gerard. "I don't want to fight him!"
"Come on! Don't be shy! Show him what you've got!" Sophie quickly grabbed Alex by the arm and dragged her toward Levi, literally dragging her. Alex's boots scraped the ground in her futile resistance to run away.
"I don't want to show anything! Especially not to him!" Alex shrieked, terrified to see Levi was only a few meters away.
"Hahaha! Are you scared, dwarf!?" Kenneth yelled, grinning. "I'd really love to see your ass got beaten!"
"Hey, loser needs to shut up!" Gerard smacked the back of Kenneth's head. "You easily kicked this moron's ass, why don't go for bigger challenge?" he said encouragingly to Alex.
"I don't ask for bigger challenge!" said Alex hopelessly as Sophie pushed her forward.
"Oi. Don't make me wait, you damn rookie," Levi snarled, glowering at Alex.
Alex forced herself to look at him and swallowed hard. "I-I-I don't want to fight y-you, s-sir, with all due respects—"
"Fight me." Levi repeated his command for the third time, clenching his fist.
"Sir, if you are planning to punish her for her actions, there must be some other way—" Emory began.
"This is an order," Levi said sharply, glaring at Emory, who quickly fell silent and nodded.
Alex prepared her fighting stance with hesitation, her knees trembling. Without wasting any seconds, Levi charged to her and launched a kick, aiming for her stomach. She gasped, stepping to the far left and raising her arms to block the kick, but soon realizing that it was a trap. The kick was a bait from to lower her guard down. Levi blew a straight right punch to her face instead of kicking her. She tilted her head, grabbing his punching fist quickly with both of her hands, trying to execute a rotational wristlock.
Then, the unexpected happened.
Levi smirked; he knew she would go for his right wrist after watching her fighting pattern from the previous match. Getting the advantage in strength, Levi gripped her right shoulder with his left hand—making her startled by the sudden, painful strain—and broke loose from her half-done wristlock. He made a powerful counterattack, twisting her right wrist and shoving her to the ground. Luckily, Alex managed to twist Levi's wrist on her shoulder with her other hand, freeing herself from his strong grip in matter of seconds before her face hit the hard ground. She fell on her knees and quickly rolled over, at the same moment when Levi was about to knee her face.
He's fast!
Still in daze and fear, Alex hardly stood up on her feet, feeling her legs suddenly turned into jelly.
"Stop fucking around with me. I'll definitely kill you if you keep holding back like this," said Levi menacingly.
And his threat was far from empty. He marched to Alex with greater speed than before, raising his fist and almost hitting her jaw if she didn't react in time. Before she could realize it, Levi already attacked with a roundhouse kick. Relying on her instinct, Alex blocked his kick with her right leg, something she immediately regretted to do because the impact of the collision was severely excruciating. The pain from her right knee quickly radiated to her body. Limping backward, Alex was in trouble maintaining her stance. Levi had no intention to spare her a second to breathe, as he kept marching forward, delivering a straight jab. Alex gripped his hand and his collar jacket. She lowered her stance and pulled him, redirecting the momentum of his force to throw him to the ground, but her attempt was in vain. Being airborne, Levi spun around and landed smoothly on his feet, easily regaining his balance.
Alex retreated in an attempt to get away within Levi's attack range as far as possible.
Both soldiers were standing at far distance, staring at each other.
Levi patted the dirt from his jacket. His expressionless face didn't waver in the slightest even after unleashing brutal attacks. On the contrary, Alex was panting, dodging all his attacks really drained her stamina. She tried to pull herself together. Her mind was running all the possibilities about how to deal with an opponent that she never encountered before. Humanity's strongest was not an empty title.
His strength… I'm sure my skull will be crushed if any of his attacks hit me.
She grimaced, her right knee still throbbing painfully.
Getting too close to him is dangerous. I'm so finished if he locks me into submission. Besides, my power is nowhere near his level...
She clenched her sweaty palms, recalling how Levi easily broke loose from her wristlocking and almost pinned her down.
He's serious about killing me.
Alex exhaled deeply, standing in steadier fighting stance than before. Her tremble was gone. Her innocent and scared expression vanished, being replaced with a ferocious glare in her eyes.
I have to attack him first.
"Now, that's an interesting face, rookie," Levi commented with a faint tone of excitement in his raspy voice. "Show me what you got."
Excitement was not for Levi alone; the spectators were cheering loudly around him. Some were staring at him in awe, some were clapping their hands for Alex.
"Damn it! Why's that dwarf always jumping around like a crazy cat?!" Kenneth shouted, definitely very eager to see Alex lost for once.
"Woohoo! I can't believe my eyes! She can keep up with Captain Levi!" said Gerard, throwing his fist to the air.
"That's our Alex! You go girl!" Sophie squealed.
"Guys! Why are you enjoying this?!" Emory shouted in disbelief, looking around with face as white as a sheet. "You should be worried for her life instead of cheering her!"
"Dude, let's make a bet!" said Gerard happily. "I bet my whole dinner on this! Mine is Alex won't—"
"My Goodness, Gerard! This is not the time!" Emory snapped. "Alex could get killed anytime soon!"
Rushing with adrenaline, Alex rushed toward Levi, sprinting with all her might. Levi readied his fighting pose, preparing to strike first once she got close enough. Alex quickly jumped and swirled in the air. Launching a flying back kick with lightning speed, she aimed at Levi's head. Levi raised his arms to block the surprise attack and succeeded; her boot almost scratched his face. Levi launched a punch and Alex greeted his attack with butterfly kick.
Witnessing the unstoppable sequences of merciless punches, brutal kicks, and split-second dodges were causing thrill to everyone at the yard. Anyone who didn't know what was going on would think that those two soldiers were sworn enemy, eager to fight until death. It was a very fierce and intense battle, making everyone forgot to breathe or blink. Alex literally went ballistic mode, jumping and kicking with incredible agility and ferocity, much to Levi's enjoyment. Levi attacked her without mercy, getting more pumped every time she managed to evade. It had been so long since he met someone who could keep up with him.
They stopped for a moment, keeping a certain distance to catch their breath.
In the next second, both of them were run forward and ready to strike each other again.
"STOP! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"
The loud baritone exclamation froze stopped all their movements at once. Levi halted his right low jab in the air. Alex already jumped to attack him in the face, but in the last moment she deflected her kick, tumbling to the ground.
Erwin was rushing to the yard, looking confused and displeased. "That's enough, both of you," he said, his voice was casual but deadly.
Levi muttered curses under his breath, staring at the girl near his feet.
Alex hastily got up and gasped, realizing that she just spattered mud on Levi's face from her kick. "Sir, I'm very, terribly sorry..." she said in horrified voice.
"Not bad," said Levi, cleaning his cheek with handkerchief. "Good news, rookie. You are now officially a temporary member of my squad."
"She what?!" Kenneth shouted in utter shock.
"Sir, I-I-I don't get it…" Alex stuttered, completely nonplussed. "Your s-s-squad?"
Levi nodded.
"Your squad...? But that's—" Alex paused, the sudden realization struck her like a lightning. "Wait, sir, does it mean that I'll participate in the next expedition?!"
"Of course you will. You have four days to prepare yourself." Levi threw his stained handkerchief at her face. "Wash this." He ordered then walked away from the yard, heading toward Erwin.
All the cadets were clapping their hands, surrounding Alex to congratulate her.
"That was a spectacular match!"
"Alex! You're so strong!"
"You're really gonna go on the next expedition? That's awesome!"
"It's very amazing! Way to go, cutie!" said Gerard, wrapping an arm around Alex's shoulders
"Beyond the wall!? Seriously!? But we just became a member last night!" said Emory incredulously.
"What the hell!? Why did he recruit you into his squad?!" Kenneth shouted.
"I don't know!" Alex yelped, still holding the dirty handkerchief in her hand.
"ALL OF YOU!" Levi shouted, turning around to face all cadets. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?! Using lunch break time for watching your comrades fight?! Make yourself useful, you idiotic greenhorns! Now move your ass and clean the second floor! No one gets dinner if I see a single speck of dust!"
"YES, SIR!" They briskly saluted and ran to the castle.
Erwin sighed, rubbing his forehead and walking toward Levi. "What are you trying to accomplish, to be exact?"
"Nothing. Just a friendly greeting from me," said Levi nonchalantly.
"Most civilized people use handshake."
"I prefer less traditional approach."
Erwin gave him a skeptical look. "By exchanging your fists? I see your term of 'less traditional' is more like 'too radical'."
"The only way you know how strong a stranger can be is by exchanging fists. I'm sure you understand. That's something I learned from you, at least."
"She's a soldier, not a thug. That barbaric method is outdated."
Levi scowled at him. "Tch. Don't bother count her in for expedition if she couldn't handle a few jabs to her face."
"She won't participate in any expeditions if you're trying to kill her," Erwin reprimanded. "Even if you hold back, she might end up in hospital for days."
"I was not holding back," said Levi irritably.
"Oh, really?" said Erwin, his calm face suddenly filled with amazement. "And you couldn't hit her, even just once?"
Levi gnashed his teeth and nodded stiffly. Admitting that she was better than what he had expected annoyed him for some unknown reasons.
"How could that happened?" Erwin inquired.
"She's damn fast. And she could predict my movements like she could read my mind. We were about to get more serious then you walked in and ruined the fun."
"I get it," said Erwin slowly. "So you were really trying to send her to hospital so she couldn't take part in expedition. Your way to preserve human lives is so screwy."
"Still a better way than your ridiculous order to make me babysit her," Levi retorted.
"If you're strongly against my request, why did you agree to supervise her?"
"Even If I did object, you would not give up on it, right? I don't how many sly tricks you can pull from your ass. I bet there are still some."
"That's maybe true," said Erwin, smiling faintly. "So, in your opinion, how is she?"
"I gotta say she's not bad, but I still don't like your idea about dragging an amateur into this," said Levi, his voice filled with distaste.
"She'll be a great asset," said Erwin confidently.
Levi looked at the girl, who was running toward the castle while pathetically munching a sandwich.
"I do hope so," Levi finally said, but with less doubt than before.
Revamped for grammatical errors: 3/3/16
Author's Note: I practice Tae Kwon Do and Jiu Jitsu, so Alex's fighting style heavily resembles those martial arts, that's how I got my inspiration for the fighting scenes. What do you guys think so far? Please review, constructive criticisms are highly appreciated. See ya!