The Despairful 104th Cadet Corps: Theoretical and Practical Training.

A few weeks had already been and gone, and while Mukuro couldn't say that there had been any mind-changing experiences so far, a few things were worth pointing out.

For starters, it seemed that Mikasa took her words about looking for a path to push herself past her limits seriously, as not so long after, the grey-eyed girl found a way to challenge herself. Why does Mukuro believe that?

It appears Mikasa began to see her as that said path.

With every anti-human combat session where Mukuro didn't practice with Annie 'Which admittedly I have only sparred with her on three different occasions so far…', Mikasa was eager to take the role of combat partner for herself, regardless of how many times Mukuro bested her.

Things didn't stop there, though. For any activity where the performance between the cadets could be measured, Mikasa didn't waste the opportunity to turn it into a competition of sorts.

While this sudden fixation from the grey-eyed girl did catch Mukuro off-guard, going almost as far as weirding her out, she would be lying if she said that having someone like Mikasa around hadn't its benefits. It was far from what she was used to with Ogami, but she wasn't going to give her back an opportunity to keep herself in the most optimal shape.

Speaking of fixation.

While the other raven-haired girl along with his two friends have calmed down on the stares they used to give her on the first days…that didn't mean they have stopped in its totality. Every so often she could feel the glimpses they send in her direction, even if now they were slightly different. While in the beginning, there were some clear signs of curiosity in those gazes, now there was this…emergency of sorts, as if they wanted to tell her something important, but didn't know how to say it.

Mukuro had the suspicion that it was related to the incident in the mess hall from the second day. Fortunately, that wasn't an incident that escalated too much, and if she was honest with herself, she couldn't help but internally wince every time she remembers it now that it was clear that those three didn't have any malicious intentions with their remarks.

Maybe they want to apologize? Although taking the context into consideration, perhaps it should be me who does it…

Regardless, apart from those sparring sessions with Mikasa, Mukuro had practically never directed a word to any of them, and any possible animosity between Mukuro and those three had long since died out, so perhaps it was for the best to leave things this way.

Do not attempt to fix what isn't broken. That's how it goes, right?

Besides those three, things have already fallen more or less into a routine of sorts within the training corps. Waking up, eating, training until the sun sets 'Or when Instructor Shadis says we are done…', having dinner, watching the occasional spar between Jean and Eren, sleeping, rinse and repeat.

Although…

Even if Mukuro mentions training as if it were the only relevant activity she does, that wouldn't be a precise statement. While most of the time spent was on the development of the cadet's physical aptitudes, at the end of the day this place was also an academy of sorts, so theoretical education was also a thing.

Living this side of the training corps was an admittedly…odd experience.

It wasn't until Mukuro stepped inside one of the classrooms at the end of the first week and caught sight of the desks and the chalkboards that finally registered in her mind that she was once again in this place's equivalent of a school.

Of course, it goes without saying that this caused a mixture of feelings within her.

The one both surprising and unsurprising was the fact that unlike her first's days 'And the last ones too…' within Hope's Peak, Mukuro didn't had a feeling of detachment here. Putting aside the coming from another world ordeal, she didn't felt like this wasn't a place someone like her belonged. While more often than not, the cadets of the training corps acted like teenagers 'Sure, they were the equivalent of centuries past teenagers, but it truly wasn't that different…', even so, Mukuro didn't felt weird for being among all these people.

I suppose that them being in all but name child soldiers and that some of them will fight man-eating giants helps in that.

That didn't mean her conscience was clear of sorrow though. She still felt guilt and shame for being part of something like this, even if it was for different reasons.

What is my right to have back what I stole from my own classmates…?

…

…

…

…In regards to her own grades, they were unsurprisingly at the very top so far, tying up with Armin. Now, this wasn't because she suddenly discovered a secret genius side to her. No, the only reason why she was doing so well was due to the fact that she had an edge of almost two decades of experience from a previous life against this world equivalent of middle schoolers, and that at the end of the day, even when it comes to education, the training corps focuses their subjects around the formation of soldiers, not people meant for administration, trade, or any other area were proper education was the biggest priority.

If anything, the blue-eyed boy should be the one considered a prodigy of sorts when it comes to being gifted of mind.

But whether he or Mukuro does better academically was honestly irrelevant for the light purple-eyed girl. As long as she gave it her all and her grades were not causing any impediment towards her possibilities of graduating, that was good enough for her.

"…Um…" As if summoned by her thoughts, a voice she recognized spoke in her direction.

Bringing herself out of her internal musings, Mukuro turned in toward its origins, there she saw the blue-eyed boy that was part of her inner contemplations, even if it was to a minimal degree. She also noticed he was actually addressing her, if that nervous look he was giving her while fidgeting was any indication.

Regardless, she quirked an eyebrow in his direction "…Armin, do you need something?"

"Well…" Credit where is due, rather than panicking any further, the blonde-haired boy shifted from nervous to awkward "…I…I was wondering if you don't mind me sitting here with you?"

If Mukuro's questioning eyebrow could be raised any further, it did so by now, and immediately she proceeded to ask the most concerning issue regarding that request "What about Mikasa and Eren?"

It wasn't like she was interested in the happenings of those three, but by now even the less social member within the 104th batch 'A spot I am surprisingly fighting with a certain blonde-haired girl…' knows that they were practically inseparable, so the fact that he was asking for this instead of sticking to his friends was worth raising some questions at the very least.

"Ah, y-yeah, that was the plan, but…" Armin's awkward posture deepened at that as he began to scratch the back of his head with an embarrassed laugh "…I stood awake all night helping Eren with some of his notes from past lectures, and well, Eren has always been an early riser with all that, erm, extra energy he carries" That was a way to put it "So it wasn't much of a problem for him. The same couldn't be said about me, though. I oversleep, and because of that…" The blue-eyed boy's gaze shifted behind Mukuro "…It seems someone else beat me to it"

Mukuro followed Armin's sight and saw what he was referring to, humming in understanding after doing so.

A few rows behind her, the green-eyed boy and the other raven-haired girl were sitting at the same desk, which similar to the rest of them, had a capacity for up to four persons. The issue was though, that those remaining spots which Armin could have used on any other occasion were occupied by Sasha and Connie 'Thank god I learned his name before speaking to him…', who were, unsurprisingly, fooling around. The brunette was tainting the desks with her drool while murmuring delusions about food, and the bald kid, while seemed to be taking notes of something at first glance, Mukuro knows from previous scoldings of their instructors that he was wasting paper on drawings instead.

Then her eyes flickered towards her own desk, where on its left corner was Ymir, following the example of the potato girl, and just beside her, Krista was ignoring her surroundings as she kept struggling with what appeared to be an internal debate about whether leaving the other freckled girl in peace or waking her up.

Mukuro couldn't help but pity Krista to a degree.

Finally, she looked to her right where the only empty spot in the entire room was available, and then once again at the blonde boy who apparently found her gaze too much to bear with, if how he refused to look her in the eyes was anything to go by.

Deciding that making him feel even more uncomfortable was just plain unnecessary, Mukuro replied to Armin with a shrug "Alright, I don't see why you couldn't sit here"

She truly doesn't, and neither felt like it was her jurisdiction to inquire more when it involves something as unimportant as a sitting spot. Besides, for all she knew, it was possible that he didn't wanted to make a scenario hushing the brunette or the bald kid away.

Leaving those thoughts aside, the blue-eyed boy sighed in relief and muttered a low thanks before taking a seat, whether that was part of his reserved nature or because he didn't want to suffer Ymir's wrath for waking her up, will be a mystery that she won't bother to find the truth of.

With that matter resolved, she turned her attention toward her notebook. It was true that Instructor Shadis told beforehand what today's lecture was going to be about and its relevancy in regards to the next steps in their training, but Mukuro can't discard the possibility that this was also a test of sorts in which there will be also other subjects brought up with the intention of catching the cadets off-guard.

In its own way, this was a battlefield of sorts, and just like a thousand before this one, she wasn't going to allow anything other than a flawless victory to happen.

Mukuro's suspicions of a secret test happening increased by a tenfold as the figurative clock ticked in and there wasn't any signal that their instructor for today's lesson was coming anytime soon.

With that thinking process in mind, and wanting to take proper counter measurements against it, she went a few pages back from her current reading. Seeing that she lacked the propel intel to precisely conjecture which subjects their instructor could ambush them with, studying a little bit of every topic appeared to be the proper course of action.

As she flickered through the pages, she instinctively let out an approving hum. Mukuro knew that it was inappropriate and undeserving of her, but she couldn't help feeling the slightest bit of pride at how organized her notes were, with each subject properly bookmarked and ready to swiftly move into it for whichever classes could require them.

While for most people her talent of Ultimate Soldier meant being good at following orders and killing, it also involved the proper development of discipline, even if most tended to overlook that.

But that is to be expected, after all…I never truly made the effort to prove otherwise about those negative remarks, did I?

Seeing that the appraisal of her own notes was causing those depressing thoughts to resurge 'And was also wasting my time for study…', she opted to going back to reading them instead.

As minutes went by and she felt confident about having crammed every piece of knowledge within her notebook as best as she or anyone could've done, somewhere in between she began to give an inconspicuous glance at the blonde-haired boy beside her every now and then. Ironic as it may seem, the very reason as to why was because so far, Armin hadn't bothered to give her so much as a single glance. Rather than doing any of that, the blue-eyed boy was respectfully minding his own business while giving his entire attention to his own notes, just like she was doing a moment ago.

…

…I…suppose I am grateful that out of them, Armin was the one who missed his seat. While I am already on my way to making peace with those three, I doubt the other two would've stayed content with just this.

In any case, after deciding that any more of her gazes in Armin's direction would not only be inappropriate but also made her a hypocrite considering her own reservations against him and his friends doing the same, she deemed into going back to her own devices and stop bothering the boy, regardless if he noticed her intromission or not.

And just in time, it seemed. The only door leading into the classroom made a creaking sound as it opened and from it came a man. She couldn't tell much about him besides that he appeared to be in his late forties, had shoulder-length grey hair pulled back, and his closed-up trench coat was the standard when it came to the highest authorities within the academy.

While not very descriptive, for her was enough to identify this person as this class's instructor.

Along with him, the chattering murmurs and whispers came to an end, with everyone's attention now solely focused on their instructor "Ah, I see everyone's already here, that's good. I do apologize for the tardiness, it just so happens that I had an encounter with your Head Instructor on my way here and there were some last-minute arrangements that required my attention" She could've sworn there was a collective shuddering at that for some reason but decided to wave it off and instead nodded in understanding at her instructor's words "Now, with that out of the way, I suppose a brief introduction is in order. I am Elias Huber, and I will be your instructor in charge of Titanology's class. While the contents of this subject are concise enough to be covered in three, perhaps four sessions, it is your duty as humanity's next generation of soldiers that regardless of which branch you end up enlisting by the end of the next three years, for you to digest and comprehend the contents I am about to impart with absolute commitment. Is that understood?"

In response to that, the instructor received the standard unison salute and shout within the corps.

Following his respective nod in acknowledgment, the grey-haired adult spoke "Let us begin then. The first and most important thing we must understand about the Titans is ironically our precise lack of understanding about them. Even in the few history books humanity has managed to retain, there isn't anything to salvage about the origin of the Titans. Truthfully speaking, we know next to nothing about them"

From her peripherical vision, Mukuro noticed how some faces turned sour at the blunt and grim reality her instructor stated. She couldn't blame them for it, she long since became aware of what his instructor just said. The first 'And only…' book Mukuro read about them was…well, calling it vague would be the same as praising it. It didn't reveal anything that the general population didn't already know through rumors and third-hand knowledge.

That was also why, in combination with its utility for the lesson Instructor Shadis had prepared for them, she had been looking forward to this class. Her one and only chance of acquiring proper intel and learning how to defeat the enemy before an actual confrontation with them will be here.

"Now, about what we know about them…" Most likely deeming enough of the lingering silence he left just a moment ago, the instructor continued with the lesson "While some basic notions were already known way longer than half a century back, most of what we understand about the Titans we owe it to the survey corps' expeditions from the past three years"

Mukuro quirked up her eyebrows to an unnoticeable degree when she heard that last part.

Three years? That's…just one year before I came here.

Based on what she managed to investigate in the time she had spent here, she knows that the recorded history of humanity within the walls dates about one hundred years. With that into consideration…well, it wasn't as if she had any delusion of grandeur to believe she was the chosen one or some nonsense like that, but the fact that so many eventful things were taking place around the same time of her arrival in this world was worth some concerning thoughts about what was to come. Thus, making her hope that none of them become a reality within the years she will spend here.

It is preferable they never come to be, period, but that is falling into wishful thinking.

Pushing those thoughts aside, she continued listening to the lesson, which truthfully speaking, even as small as it was, Mukuro couldn't deny it ended up being quite informative for someone whose knowledge of Titans was practically zero.

There was the obvious, or what one could infer on their own, like everything pointing out towards Titans being incapable of possessing rational thinking so far, and therefore making any attempt of forming a communication line between them and Humans a pipe dream. There was also the mystery that was the Titan's reproduction process considering their lack of sexual organs.

She also learned some interesting things. For example, even with their lack of…that, they tend towards having a male physique, with some rare exceptions in which their faces come as effeminate, and even then, it never goes to anything more than that. Besides that, it appears that their bodies emit high temperatures, and, most strange of all, it seems that they have absolutely zero interests in any other living being that aren't Human, going as far as even ignoring creatures bold enough to approach them.

That last point turned out even more confusing when she heard what his instructor said next.

"So far, we have concluded that the Titan's sole behavioral principle is to devour humans, although…" The features of her instructor grimaced as more words came out of his mouth "…when we consider that they have no interest in other living forms and they had lived in an environment devoid of people for over a century…while humanity lacks the means to affirm it as a fact, we can make the conjecture that Titans do not require to eat humans to sustain the preservation of their race. Putting it in cruder words: Titans kill for sport, not for survival"

To some degree, she would've seen the morbid logic behind the conflict between humanity and Titans as the latter 'merely' sustaining themselves while seeing humans as no different than any other source of nutrients. Not like that made things any better, but…

Eating people without a purpose.

Killing for the pleasure of it.

Despair for the sake of more despair.

The more she hears about these Titans, the surer she was about these creatures' despicable nature and how much they remind her of that someone responsible for her nightmares. If she needed any more reasons to fight them, that sure as hell worked as motivation enough.

She would've liked to say that was the worst she heard about them, but…

"Besides their bizarre fixation with the human race, the main reason humanity has been driven into the verge of extinction is because of the Titan's astounding regenerative abilities"

Regenerative…abilities?

Although she truly wanted to ask more about this, she abstained from it. Not because it would embarrass her if she was the only one unaware of it or how suspicious that would be on her part if that were the case. Rather, it was possible the instructor was about to explain it, turning her possible interruption into an unnecessary offense towards his superior.

"Elaborating further into this…" Much to her relief, her silence was the right course of action "…Although humanity has long since developed weapons with enough firepower to blow the heads of Titans, even that isn't enough to stop them. There are some variations on each individual, but more often than not, they are capable of regenerating it in between a minute or two. Suffice it to say, it is the same story when speaking of their limbs. A pair of minutes is all they need to recover from any damage they may receive"

What followed was silence from part of his instructor, most likely with the purpose of making sure his words were digested by the entire class. Meanwhile, said cadets were just as quiet, although for a whole different set of reasons, that much Mukuro could notice.

The mention of the regeneration alone was enough to worry some of the recruits, but the further explanation of how it worked cemented a gloom and depressing aura of impotency and dismay, with some people looking utterly helpless, making them incapable of hiding their now rediscovered fear for the giants. From the corner of her eye, she could notice how a glint of despair growing on Armin, and even the likes of Mikasa and Ymir had some grimacing on their faces. Mukuro herself, who until just recently accepted that Titans were a real thing, was internally dumbfounded that a creature capable of something like that could be real.

Nevertheless.

"What method do we use to kill them?" Was the immediate question that came from her mouth at the same time she raised her hand, with her controlled features a distinct contrast from the panicked and full of despair most of her peers showed.

She briefly noticed some looks of disbelief that some were sending her way, and based on those whispers that varied between "Impossible" or "Immortal" among other commentaries questioning her sanity, she could only assume they didn't believed Titans could be defeated.

Mukuro couldn't care less about their opinions on that matter.

They were killable. Even if she had never seen one of them fall in battle, she was sure of it. She refused to believe that even with their size, their strength, or that extraordinary regeneration each of them had, they were invincible. After all, the last time she fought against someone who claimed to be immortal she came victorious. It wasn't the same thing and neither was an incident she could claim feeling proud of, but she will take what she had at her disposal to reinforce her belief that there was a light at the end of the tunnel that was this conflict.

In the end, her perseverance was rewarded by a knowing smile from her instructor "I'm glad someone asks. You see, it is commonly believed that Titans are unstoppable creatures. While an understandable sentiment, it is, fortunately, a misconception"

That quickly turned the skepticism into surprise.

"Wait, seriously!?"

"D-Does that mean we can truly defeat them!?"

"It is possible" Her instructor reassured with a sharp nod "Now, I want you all to understand that I am not saying Titans are weak. They aren't. Even the most veteran soldier within the survey corps, which is the branch with the most anti-Titan experience, can easily fall prey to them if they let their guard down. With that being said…"

As people received with mixed feelings the reality check from their instructor, he meanwhile picked up a chalk from his desk and began to draw on the board behind him.

A minute of that later, Mukuro noticed it was a drawing of a person showing their back, from their face all the way down until reaching their shoulder area.

"There is a way to defeat them, and that is…" Once again, the instructor made use of the chalk, only this time he did a circle surrounding the nape of the person in the drawing "…aiming right there!" He exclaimed in the middle of the encircled area.

If this lesson hadn't her attention before, this for sure made Mukuro channel her entire interest in it.

Without wasting a breath, the instructor continued with what will most surely be the most important lecture in this class "This area below the occipital region is a Titan's weak spot. If they suffer enough damage here, not only it nullifies their regenerative abilities, but they die" Then, he pulled out of the desk what she recognized as a 3DMG set "This is the why of the importance of mastering the vertical maneuvering equipment. The mobility it offers in combination with the replaceable blades as your weapons will allow you to cut through their vital spot within a Titan's nape area. This is the way you can kill a Titan"

Mukuro hummed in understanding, finally filling the holes of doubts she had about the core purpose for the 3DMG and the multiple blades soldiers carried around. On the other hand, the cadets within the room made different sounds of elation, and while nowhere near as expressive or enthusiastic as them…she couldn't help feeling a spark of determination burning inside her.

"Finally, we…I can be useful" She heard a voice say in her right flank.

"Hm?" Which is why she unconsciously addressed it.

In response to that, the blonde-haired boy gave her a panicked look "Ah! Did I say that out loud? Sorry, I didn't mean to. It wasn't anything important anyways, haha…"

That awkward laugh at the end was sufficing enough to not be convinced of his words. Nevertheless, it wasn't her jurisdiction to dwell on what she could only assume was a personal issue for Armin, so she allowed the topic to rest, thus ending what could barely count as a conversation.

"Actually…that was a lie" Or at least that was initially the case "I truly want to be useful. I…I want to stand side by side of my friends. To show them I am worthy of being part of their lives"

Something about that…that glint of resolution in his eyes. For some reason, there was a feeling of familiarity when she saw it, like she briefly recognized it from somewhere else, even if it was at the tip of her tongue rather than being fully aware of what it was.

Before she could dwell deeper into the meaning of that feeling, Armin turned to look at her in the eyes, the meekness from just a moment ago, gone as if it never existed "Mukuro…when the instructor talked of the Titan's regeneration, making it seem they were practically impossible to defeat, you didn't have any hesitation for even a moment, did you? When you asked about how do we kill one, you did so with a firm resolution that they weren't invincible, isn't that right?"

On the inside, Mukuro was admittedly surprised at how sharp Armin was. She already knew he was smart; it was just that she didn't know he was that type of smart too.

Despite that… "Mhm, that was the case. If I am to fulfill my goal, I can't allow any hesitation against them"

Wait, what?

She suppressed the urge to widen her eyes at the slip-up of her intentions. It wasn't some sort of big secret that required subtlety and its absolute concealment 'At least not that part…', but even so…

"I see…" Fortunately, it seemed Armin had zero intentions of prodding further about it "Hey, please don't take it the wrong way, but…I am truly jealous of your strength"

"Jealous?" Mukuro repeated, rather than offended, Mukuro couldn't help the barest hint of curiosity mixed with confusion about the sudden declaration of the blue-eyed boy.

"L-Like I said, I don't mean that in a negative way! It's just…" There was a minute of silence in which Mukuro could only assume he was gathering his thoughts so they don't turn into a train wreck. Following that brief period of nothingness, he spoke up once again "…It hasn't been that long, true, but regardless of that, you have already shown to everyone how above the cut you already are, just the same as M―…erm, someone else I know…" She knew whom he was talking about, but all the same, Mukuro appreciated his cautiousness regarding how sensitive that topic was for her, even if he didn't know the why of it "So, it isn't like I wish you were at my level, quite the opposite in fact. Even if I am deluding myself…I hope someday I can be at least half as strong as you"

Ah, so that's what it is…

That admiration towards strength, where rather than heatedly envy others for what he had yet to have, it was his desire to overcome his own weakness, and show to the entire world what was he truly capable of. All of that in combination with the nature of the person beside her…

Try as she might, Mukuro couldn't avoid reminiscing about a certain light brown-haired boy who was small in stature, yet paradoxically of immense bravery…while at the same time, a churn of guilt formed in her stomach.

I might be gifted physically…but I have always lacked the type of strength that mattered the most.

"By the way…" The look on his face told her that he was about to say something important, but rather than that, Armin shook his head and returned to his usual sheepish self "…Um, a-anyways, the class is still going on, yeah? We shouldn't get too distracted, otherwise the teacher might get mad at us"

That was true, the teacher might have spared the class a few minutes to discuss and fully understand the material he had just imparted, but it was a matter of time before he resumed the lesson. With such a good point, Mukuro could only give Armin a nod in agreement before turning her attention once again to their instructor. If that something he omitted was that urgent, he would tell her later.

…

…

…

…She couldn't say he was the best example of soldier material, but his smarts, and that inner fire hidden within him in combination with how respectful he had been so far, made a corner of her mind that she could barely register…to hope for this person she couldn't even say was an acquaintance to survive the three years that are just beginning.

Just the same, Mukuro can only hope that wherever he was, Fujisaki's story didn't end up in tragedy.

As classes finished with their instructor dismissing them, and Mukuro and the other cadets changed into their uniforms, they traveled towards the east training grounds. Unlike the west and central areas, this one far from the dry and barren sight she was used for most of the training corps' territory, was full of life with green scenery and trees tall enough that you had to lift your head a full degree to caught sight of their crowns and branches large and thick enough to stand on them without a problem.

In summary, it was the perfect environment for the proper use of the 3DMG.

Once she and the rest arrived at their destination, they were greeted by the sight of their head instructor Shadis along with multiple other instructors she didn't know the name of, with some of them having in their hands what Mukuro assumed were clipboards where they will assess their performance for the incoming test. All of them just behind an ocean of trees large enough to not see the other end of the forest.

"So, how did your lesson with instructor Huber went? It was enlightening, wasn't it? Knowing a Titan's weak spot and how does the maneuveringgear help in that regard…you all now know how to defeat a Titan and are ready to fight them, right?" Before Eren could humiliate himself with a loud affirmation everyone knew he was about to shout, Shadis beat him to it "WRONG! You know nothing, am I clear dipshits!? Theory and practice are two different businesses! After all, if reading a goddamn book would actually defeat Titans, humanity wouldn't have been in the shitty situation is in!"

That was enough to erase the last remaining bit of slackening anyone could had from the previous class.

"Listen up, and listen well maggots, because I'm not going to repeat this no matter how many of you shitheads beg for it!" Satisfied enough to not reprimand the recruits…at least not for more than usual, the head instructor continued "For the past month, you all have been trained in the use of the maneuvering gear. From how to stand balance to the functions of all its mechanisms…but all of that has been nothing but learning to crawl in comparison to the real deal. Now it is time to stand on your feet and begin to walk! Because of that, today's exercise, while a step further into your training, will be of the simplest kind that even a bunch of useless vermin like the ones I'm looking at could accomplish"

"I'm beginning to think this guy has a thing for calling us all kinds of small animals" Mukuro was very tempted to elbow the other freckled girl. She was sure it would have been better than whatever their instructor would have done instead if he were to hear her anyways.

Much to Ymir's fortune, instructor Shadis continued without missing a beat "The exercise will be the following: Your objective is to travel from point A to point B, with this case point A being the very forest standing before me while point B being its other end. That is all"

There were some murmurs of confusion among the training corps, no doubt questioning such a short explanation. Mukuro instead hummed in understanding.

I see, everything points out towards indeed being a basic test to measure our proper understanding and skills of the maneuvering gear…although with how brief he was about it, I do not doubt that there will be some surprises along the way.

"Sounds easy, right? Well, that's because it fucking is! Even a toddler with his eyes covered up could do it without a hitch!" Instructor Shadis declared, with his seemingly eternal scowl turning into what Mukuro could notice had the barest signs of being a smile…Huh, he must be pretty excited about this if he is willing to be that expressive…and was it her imagination, or were those whimpers what she just heard? "Of course, it goes without saying that this will be the last mercy you worms will receive from me. After this, the true hell will begin! Every new lesson will be harder than the previous one, following this song and dance week after week for three years! I couldn't give less of a shit if some of you die on the way to your graduation!" This time she was sure someone threw a whimper "Nevertheless, that is amusement for me to enjoy until later on, for now…When your name gets called out, step forward and proceed according to the following instructions given to you, meanwhile, I will be waiting for you all pieces of shit on the other side, understood!?"

"Yes, sir!"

Instructor Shadis didn't bother to acknowledge the salute as he and the majority of the superiors used their own gear to propel up and disappear through the forest.

After more or less ten minutes of waiting, one of the superiors still with them cleared his throat, gathering everyone's attention, before starting the mentioning of names "Mina Carolina, step forward!"

"H-Here!" Said girl giving a quick yelp before doing as instructed.

And thus, marking the beginning of the exercise.

Pair of minutes turned into half an hour, those thirty minutes advanced into an hour, and that hour eventually turned into hours. The fresh morning made way for the sun to stand in all its glory and if it weren't for the blockade of trees before her, Mukuro was sure she would be sweating like a pig.

Despite that, she persevered without a complaint. It helped that she knew her turn was near, if only because Ymir already went a while ago and Krista was called out just a few minutes ago…well that, and because she was the only cadet left to have its turn, so the process of elimination didn't allowed any other conclusions.

"Mukuro Ikusaba"

Without wasting a second, she did so as her predecessors and approached her instructor until having a proper distance between the two, then she gave him the reglementary salute "Here, sir!"

Strangely enough, her instructor took some seconds to give her a look, though before Mukuro could decipher what it meant, he shook his head and proceeded as usual "Right…you have already seen your peers go through this, so please prepare as they have done and wait for my signal"

With nothing more than a nod, Mukuro glanced up at one of the trees with her nerves steeled. It wasn't mentioned at any moment, but she knew that the test had already begun.

While instructor Shadis implied that they were going to be scored based on how well they did moving through the forest, there were others aspects to take into consideration.

Like the way how one does hook up to a platform, or a tree, in this case, to begin with.

She had seen a few cadets already failing at this point, with some of them crashing into a tree, failing to properly land while also ending hanging upside down, and a few others even failing to hook the wires on the first try.

So, not wanting to waste neither her or the instructor's time, she quickly fired the wires onto the largest trunk at her close disposal and propelled toward it. Using just the barest amount of gas necessary, releasing nothing but a tiny burst, she allowed the cables to do the rest of the job until she swiftly landed on a branch. Looking back at her superior, she noted him writing on one of those clipboards. Once done with that, he took from his hip a flare of sorts, making her shift her eyes back to the forest while readying her legs.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

A deafening bang that scared some birds was all the signal Mukuro required to let herself fall, and the moment her body was ninety degrees down, rather than beginning to propel herself through the use of the maneuvering gear, she launched herself from the branch with the strength of her legs alone and ignoring to cracking sound of the wood platform, she began the course with a thunderous boom.

That alone allowed her to travel a few dozen of meters without even beginning to use any gas, as she knew it was something the superiors were going to qualify for, even if it wasn't mentioned. It was a simple conclusion to reach, after all, the main advantage humanity had against the Titans through the maneuvering gear was mobility...but said mobility only lasted as long as the gas reserves do, thus, making sense to see the management of such resource as an aspect to asses.

Leaving those thoughts aside, after the initial momentum gave her everything it could and she began to fall down, she waited for a few extra moments. Just as she was about to crash into the ground, Mukuro quickly fired once again the wires that hit a bullseye on a solid enough branch before setting free another short but sufficient enough burst of gas, and with physics doing its job, she swung herself, gaining altitude until she deemed it enough to unhook the wires, launching herself with the maximum speed at the least cost of gas possible.

She repeated the process a few more times, dodging the stray branch here and there, using different altitudes, sometimes firing herself from higher places and then from lower ones on others as she took the environment into consideration and calculated the most effective angle possible. On some occasions she allowed herself to only use a single hook, either to move towards either the left or the right and on a few occasions to save even more gas.

Of course, simulation or not, just this was nowhere near close to what the real thing was. Mukuro knew, and she eventually confirmed her superiors were all too aware of it as well.

The first signal of it was when she saw a pair of individuals from her peripherical vision. Honestly speaking, she had already seen a few others during the course of the exercise, but for those she recognized them as the instructors that accompanied the head instructor into the forest, so they were most likely there to take notes about her performance. This was different though, as rather than making gestures of writing something or having anything of the sort with them, she observed as they began to pull a rope from a mechanism of sorts.

It didn't took her long to notice its function.

With a creaking sound, enormous wooden figures emerged from behind the trees. One on the right, and a bit further ahead, a second one on the left. Each of them simulating a Titan no doubt. Even at this distance, she noticed that on the giant dummy there was a square bulb on the nape area, to represent a Titan's weak spot, Mukuro assumed. Seeing that neither she nor any of the other cadets were given blades for this test, it was safe to believe combat wasn't part of it. As their head superior pointed out at the beginning, this was only to learn the basics among the basics.

That didn't stop her from keeping a straight line though.

She continued at it regardless of how closer she was getting at it, not unaware of the concerning looks she was receiving from the personnel ahead.

When they were about to give her some warning shouts, Mukuro fired her left hook on the Titan's nape from the right side, and as she had already become accustomed to, fired a quick burst of gas, allowing her to swiftly dodge the dummy until the very last second. Once she surpassed the first obstacle, Mukuro released the hook before swirling midair to readjust herself and then fired the right hook on the left Titan, repeating the move from just a moment ago.

With that inconvenience out of the way, Mukuro continued on her way without a hitch.

For about ten seconds.

The new challenge just a few dozen of meters away from her consisted of a crossroad of sorts. While in front of her there was a narrow full of branches, making it practically impossible to use the maneuvering gear how it was intended, on the sides there were two clearer routes…the problem was though, that she would require to surround the perimeter on each of them.

It was riskier and might seem more costly at first glance, but if her assumption was correct, the first alternative was the shortest route and would require the least amount of gas in the long run.

…

…I guess sometimes it is okay to go with the simplest of choices…

Following the fraction of a second used for planning a course of action, Mukuro bulldozed towards the obstructed path, where the moment she was about to get inside the single opening within the hazard of branches, she adjusted into a horizontal position while making use of the momentum to force on her a whirling maneuver, turning her into a living and spinning spear as she used her right foot as the tip of it.

While the gas used wasn't at the same potency as those outbursts she used previously, its constant usage allowed her enough velocity to break through leaves and branches, no matter how wide and thick they were. Mukuro could've sworn there were some small trees here and there along the way.

Whatever dared get in her way was getting neutralized without putting resistance.

After she stopped feeling her boots kicking through any more hindrances and the air began to feel less oppressive, Mukuro asserted that the coast was finally clear. She also stopped the release of gas and fired both hooks at just the correct angle to stop her self-imposed whirling, and without wasting a breath she continued ahead.

Mukuro knew she basically brute forced her way through that obstacle, but either way, she couldn't find herself feeling bad about it. After all, what was the point of having the talent and capacity for it at her disposal if she wasn't going to use it?

She was going up against man-eating monsters, so every tactic she could learn and have at her disposal, dirty or not, was welcomed.

"Lenz, dismissed!"

"Yes, sir!" The blue-eyed girl declared before going into formation with the rest of the scouts.

Keith Shadis gave her a look a second longer than necessary before turning to his notes.

Krista Lenz.

Completion Period: Nine Minutes, Forty-Five Seconds.

Gas Usage: Around Eighty Percent.

His sight shifted once again, only this time to look at the recruits in general. The scowl used to keep the brats on line hardening the slightest bit as his gaze went through those who still had leaves and branches on their heads which he instructed to be left untouched 'Hope it pummels into their skulls about what they need to improve…' and even those injured, so long as it wasn't anything serious…like the fool who tried to go through one of the shortest but most convoluted paths, paid the price with a twig on his eye, and was now on the nursery, with one less orb on his head most likely.

To think we would lose one here of all exercises…

Shadis internally shook his head and refused his urge for a sigh as he focused once again on the notes for the small girl and began to write on them.

Uninjured. Reflexes are good for a first practice. Needs to improve on speed and how much gas she uses.

Regardless of that note, he can see she was among the above average. He couldn't say he was precisely surprised by this. Besides the anti-human simulations, her grades in general have been decent. Far from top ten material, but…decent.

Even if it didn't make any sense considering the times, he couldn't help but wonder if that was part of her since the very beginning or if she had any involvement in it.

She…Mukuro Ikusaba, the talk of instructors and cadets alike.

Keith admittedly thought she was going to be a lone wolf through and through…and while he couldn't say she was a social butterfly; it was a surprise nonetheless to find she had peers to spend her free time with.

And if how most of the trainees look at her was anything to go by, it was also an unexpected development on its own that there were people willing to give her a chance.

It wasn't like he wished her first assumption was the case, of course not. People like her, while…talented, sin heavily of being terrible team workers, and for all good you can be on your own, he couldn't even begin to count the number of people he had seen perish because they bite more than they can chew, grimly ironic as that may sound. Quite the opposite, it was a point in her favor that she was capable of interacting with other people.

So long as she doesn't get too attached to them…

With all this musing about her, he wondered how she well was going to do here. He was all too tempted to already guess she would be the top performer on this one too, but playing favorites wasn't going to do anyone a favor. Besides, the Ackerman girl wasn't going to put it easy, seeing she already broke this test's record of best performance in human history, with a completion period of two minutes and thirteen seconds, and a gas usage of only―

What was that?

His thoughts were disrupted as the sound of branches abruptly breaking and falling could be heard on the distance.

"Hm? What's that?" Keith was apparently not the only one aware of the noises. The cadets were also hearing it "W-Wait, there aren't any bears around here, are they!?"

That last commentary put most cadets on edge 'And work as a reminder to punish Springer…again'. Meanwhile, Blouse made some strange sniffing sounds before shaking her head "No, it's not that! It smells…Mrrgh, it's not an animal, but…"

Whatever it was, the sound intensified, with even the occasional thud that he easily recognized belonged to a trunk falling down.

If he didn't know any better, Keith would have mistaken it for the work of a Titan of all things, but even as ridiculous as it might sound, at least one of the instructors inside the forest would had already warned him of such a nightmarish scenario. With that discarded, the other possibility was…no, it wasn't possible, it had been just about a minute since the flare was fired, and there was no way―

A pair of hooks latched on the ground and not so long after a figure emerged from the forest.

Cadet Ikusaba.

With the swiftness of someone who had already done it a million times over, she landed no worse for wear. Then she began to look at the perimeter, and when her eyes landed on him, she began to approach him, not too slow and neither too fast, just at a respectful pace. At one meter close to him, she stopped herself and gave a salute, clean of any mistakes in its form "Sir!"

Keith blinked owlishly for a few moments, with the whispers and murmurs from the trainees behind bringing him out of his stupor. Sending them a glare that silenced them without any resistance, he turned again to the cadet "Your containers, give them to me"

As if she already expected that request, she didn't wasted his time with a confused look as most had done and removed the gas cylinders before presenting them to him.

Giving her a nod, he picked up each of them and…

…

…

…

…What the…?

It was only his years of experience alone that allowed him to not show his surprise at the trainee in front of him as he felt the weight of the containers, and to open up each of them to liberate their gas.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Four seconds.

Five seconds.

Six seconds.

Seven seconds.

…Eight seconds.

…Nine.

Nine seconds.

That's the amount of time the remaining gas from Ikusaba's containers took to get out in its entirety.

…

"…That would be all. You are dismissed, cadet" Was all he said while he began to write down her notes.

As expected of her, the violet-eyed girl gave the proper 'To not call it flawless…' salute and joined ranks without wasting a breath.

While doing so, it didn't took much time for him to finish writing her report. Although, when he was finally done, he couldn't help giving it a long stare at what he himself wrote.

Mukuro Ikusaba.

Completion Period: One Minute, Six Seconds.

Gas Usage: Less Than Ten Percent.

Notes: Performed twice as well as the previous humanity's record. Improvement…?

…

…

…

He will confirm it with the other instructors. Impossible chances as they were, he had to confirm she hadn't cheated in any kind or form. Besides, it was still left to be seen how well she does on combat simulations, team exercises, and a whole other set of tests that will truly determine the potential of a soldier.

…

Still…

As he looked back at the last trainee in completing the exercise and saw how she already was with the rest of the cadets while forcing herself to keep a straight face as her predecessor on the test began to fill her with praises, then drifting his eyes towards the forest, reminiscing of what just had possibly happened in there…a thought nagged him at the corner of his mind.

Ikusaba, just…who are you?

A/N: Hey, it's been a while, huh?

Can't really say it has been a reason in particular, I just simply put more focus on the other fics rather than this one.

I actually had planned to publish this chapter on Saturday (After the first delay…) to celebrate Mukuro's birthday, but…eh, what can I say. Night's Eve, Christmas, and Family were a terrible combination to fulfill my objective on that.

Whops.

Anyhow, I finally got this chapter done, and (Hopefully) the next one won't take as long. With that being said, happy post-Mukuro's birthday, post-Night's Eve, post-Christmas, and…uh, I guess post-everything?

Until next time!