When it came to Erwin's orders, Levi often followed them without problems. Although, he did give his suggestions every now and then when asked.

However, the request Erwin gave him this time perplexed him.

While waiting in the meeting room of the Special Operations team, he looked over the reports that Erwin left with him. As he flipped through the papers, there were some recurring descriptions he saw.

"Black hoods… strange weapons… no 3D Maneuver Gear," he continued breezing through them. "Killing titans without 3D Maneuver Gear. High athletic ability… disappear into thin air… Where did these people come from?"

According to the reports, there were five black hoods that appeared at the borders of Wall Rose. When Abberant Titans would approach the walls and the Garrisons didn't move quick enough, these black hoods would appear and shred the titans. While a part of him wanted to believe it was an understatement, the description had added that nothing remained of the titans except a mass of scarred tissue. After that, they would leave as if nothing had happened.

"How in the world do they cover that distance?" Levi pursed his lips and continued glancing through the reports. "They would need something to help them get up there. But there's no mention of that here whatsoever…"

Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door.

"Permission to enter?" A female voice asked outside the door.

"Granted." Levi placed the report on the table next to him.

Once the door opened, he saw the members of the Special Operations Team enter the room. They were the Legion's best; Petra Rall, the small brunette who scored the highest amount of over-all kills, Oluo, a tall, cravat-wearing male scored the highest amount of solo kills in the team, Gunther, a stout and stumpy dark haired male with the highest amount of assists and then there was Eld, blonde and stocky with the second highest amount of assists.

"Good, you're all here." Levi beckoned all of them to sit down, noticing that one was missing. "Where's Eren?"

"Bathroom, sir." Gunther leaned against his interlocked fingers. "He said he'll be here shortly."

"Tell him to get here. We need him for this."

Eld raised an eyebrow. "Captain, if you don't mind me asking, where are we going?"

Levi nodded. "Erwin wants us to investigate a forest down south near Wall Maria."

Suddenly, the door opened with Eren coming in. "Sorry for being late, heichou."

"It's fine, we just started. Take a seat." Levi pulled out a rolled up paper before laying out, revealing a map. "Erwin wants us to travel here," he pointed to a large area.

"That's a large area to scout, heichou." Petra looked at the area. "Isn't that also the forest with ridiculously large trees?"

"Exactly. We're planning to train there. Erwin wants our team in top shape before he executes the expedition next week."

"Wouldn't it be better if we had more people though?"

"We would but Erwin gave us a specific role: to protect Eren. And the best way we can do that, is to figure out the landscape."

Gunther nodded. "When do we leave?"

Captain Levi looked at the members of his squad. All hand-picked for one role: keeping Eren in check. After all, the last time Eren lost control, things don't look pretty. He still could see the marks on their thumbs. It was something they all shared after Eren had mistakenly used his power to pick up a spoon. But even he had to admit, Eren had gotten better. Not good enough for team runs but at least good enough to punch a thing or two. Levi then rolled up the map.

"We leave now."

All members of the Special Operations team set out on their horses. Levi led the charge and glanced every now and then at the members who followed behind him. He pursed his lips for a moment, wondering what Erwin wanted him to do. He had specifically chosen their team, personally delivered the request, and even gave him the files. However, he also specifically told him not to tell his team what was going on and just go in under the guise of a training exercise.

Erwin, what are you up to?

Levi spurred his horse on as they made their way to the forest. Eren stayed in the middle of the formation, adjusting his horse's speed as he saw fit. Eld, Gunther, Petra, and Oluo formed a diamond around him with him leading point and Eld being right behind him.

"Sir, permission to speak?" Eld rode up next to Levi.

Levi nodded.

"When did Commander Erwin give you the request?"

"Last night."

"Must be important for him to suddenly give it to you without telling anyone else."

"Definitely."

"Did he explain it to you though, sir?"

"Not much. He just told me the same thing I told you: bring Eren to the forests to train tomorrow."

Eld raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't have Commander Hange be interested in Eren's progress as well? Why wasn't she included?"

Levi shrugged. But he knew that Eld had begun to catch on that this was no ordinary training exercise. After all, Eld was one of the next in line to become commander. He had been upgraded also as captain and was being prepared to lead his own squad. Good thing I managed to get him before he decided on a roster, Levi thought.

"We're here!" He heard Gunther call out.

Levi looked up to see the forest coming up close. Once he saw the ridiculously large trees, he spurred his horse on forward. His horse whinnied and lunged forward with the rest of the team following behind him.

"Stay close and whatever you do, don't do anything stupid." Levi glanced back at them. "Got it?"

The whole team nodded. "Yes captain!"

Levi nodded stiffly and turned back to where he was going. Suddenly, he heard loud footsteps. He quickly jerked the reins of his horse and forced it to stop, causing the rest of the team to forcibly stop behind him. The other horses began to whinny and throw their heads, staggering back. He could hear their worried whinnies and the panicked stomps of their hooves. He searched the vicinity, looking up and down for any titan. I could have sworn I heard footsteps, Levi's eyes rolled left and right.

"Captain!" He heard Petra's panicked scream.

He looked forward to see a titan rushing towards him on all four limbs. He quickly pulled out his blades and fired out his hook, simultaneously spurring his horse to move away. The team soon followed suit with their hooks firing onto the trees and pulling themselves away with their horses scattering. The titan crashed down on the spot with its gaping mouth, staring at them with glee.

Crap, Levi berated himself. He quickly launched himself to tear through the titan but someone beat him to it. He saw exactly what the files had described: a black hood with a sword. In one smooth and swift motion, the black hood tore off the titan's nape. The titan groaned before the black hood swung back and sprung off the titan's back before jamming its blade into head. The titan roared in pain as the black hood pulled out his sword and sprung off the titan. The titan fell down onto a crumpled heap as blood poured from its nape and head.

"C-Captain?" Petra trembled. "What was that?"

Levi didn't grace her with an answer. Instead, he began searching for the black hood. Where did he go? His eyes darted around. Suddenly, he heard a branch crack.

"Special Operations Team, change in objective: track down a figure in a black hood. Once you find it, engage and disarm. But do not kill!" Levi launched himself off the branch. "I'll corner it!"

"Yes, Captain!"

Levi launched himself off the branch and towards where he heard the sound. Soon, he found the black hood weaving through the branches. Once he got a closer look, he saw that the sword was twice his size. It was large and the black hood was only using one hand! He blinked in surprise and then shook off his astonishment before continuing his pursuit. He dove after the figure before throwing a hook up ahead to swing back. He then landed a kick on the black hood who managed to block it with his sword.

"Who are you?" Levi glared. "And where are you from?"

The black hood didn't say anything and lowered his sword. "Isn't it rude to kick and demand the name of the person who saved your team's ass?"

"That depends on who I'm thanking."

"Well, a thank you regardless would be appreciated!"

Suddenly, they heard something slam on the tree trunk. They quickly jumped out to see that it was Eld who had slammed into the wall.

"Eld!?" Levi blinked in surprise.

He looked up to see another black hood standing on another branch a few meters away from Gunther. Shit, they're two of them!? He also saw that the other black hood looked bigger than the one he pursued and had two of the same blades that his pursuit had.

What are they!? He thought and heard something hum behind him. He quickly spun around and let the blade slam into his. Levi's knees nearly buckled from the weight of the blow and he visibly saw a crack appear on his blade. His eyes widened; he had enough strength to crack the blade!? He also saw the sleeves of the black hood slightly roll up only to see a thin, lean, pale arm stick out.

Levi backed off and landed on another branch. "Where in the world is he getting the strength to swing that sword?"

The black hood lunged at him again with the large sword suddenly whistling and whipping. Levi quickly leaped back as he watched the blade come down. He twisted his body last minute to avoid the incoming blade. He gawked. How did the black hood make such a large blade whip like a snake? It didn't make that much sense to him! However, he didn't have much time to think as he leaped away from another attack.

I hope the others are faring better, Levi looked back. His eyes widened when suddenly three more black hoods appeared from above the trees. There were a short one and two medium-sized ones. The tallest black hood chased after Gunther and Eld. Petra had one of the medium-sized ones chase after her. Same with Oluo. The smallest one chased after Eren. Levi bristled and looked back towards the black hood that had been chasing him.

"There's five of you." Levi glared. "That would explain a lot."

The black hood chuckled. "We've been doing this for years. Who are you morons supposed to be?"

"That's what we're hoping to ask you. I can't even see your face."

"Well, that's the point. We don't want to be known. We don't know who you're with."

Levi bit his lip. "Call off your friends."

"What makes you think I'm the leader?"

"I've got a good hunch."

"You're either that damn good at guessing or I'm that obvious. Either way, it makes me look bad."

Levi raised an eyebrow. "So, are you going to call them off or not?"

The black hood shrugged. "Why don't we watch them for a bit? It's been a while since a bunch of humans showed up in our forest with the intent to kill."

Levi bristled at the black hood's words. He then turned towards the branches where he saw Eld and Gunther trying to take down the biggest black hood. The biggest one stood tall at a good six feet based on what he could eyeball. His eyes widened when the black hood caught both Eld's and Gunther's blades with his bare hands. Their eyes visibly widened and the big black hood didn't even show signs of struggling no matter how hard they pushed their blades. Once the black hood caught both blades, he crushed them in his hands. The two oldest members of the Special Operations squad stumbled back and the black hood threw away the crushed debris of the blade before whirling around and kicking them into the tree trunk with a loud thud.

He glanced at Petra who struggled against another black hood. He looked approximately the same height as his opponent but he appeared to be faster. He weaved and dodged her attacks before Levi saw a flash knock away Petra's blade. The female yelped and leaped away from the branch, pulling out another set of blades from her holder. However, the black hood quickly kicked both blades and revealed a blade shooting out from his sleeve. She yelped as she was backed into a tree trunk with the blade inches away from her throat.

Levi glanced towards Eren who had the smallest black hood but wielded the same sword as the others. He didn't notice his movements become more erratic as he suddenly reappeared right under Eren's chin and bludgeoned him with the butt end of the hilt. Eren stumbled back when the smallest hood closed in on him again and kicked him in the stomach. As Eren stumbled back, the smallest one pinned him to the ground with the tip of his blade inches away from Eren's throat.

Who are these people? Levi glanced back at his opponent who hadn't moved but instead continued to watch his allies.

Oluo seemed to be the unluckiest one out of all of them. His opponent although wielding the same sword as his other companions chased him relentlessly. Sometimes, Levi would see two black hoods appear at the same time, making it as if Oluo were fighting two people instead of one. Is that how fast he is? Levi shook his head. That kind of speed was inhuman! Oluo suddenly got clobbered with a mean right hook as he slammed into the tree trunk, staggering back. Levi even saw that the black hood had drawn blood from Oluo.

"We've seen enough." Levi glared at the black hood before pointing his blade towards his opponent's neck. "Call them—"

Before he could finish his statement, the four black hoods suddenly appeared near him with their swords pointed at him. Their edges were posted at different parts of his body. The shortest one had his blade by his legs, two had their blades at his neck, and the biggest one looked like he was going to cleave him in half. Levi's eyes darted when his own team gawked and froze in horror.

"I think they've had enough. Back down." His opponent chuckled and pulled off his hood. "They've seen enough."

Levi blinked when the other hoods lowered their swords. One by one, they also began to lower their hoods. Each of them had looked so different that he never had seen people like them.

The smallest figure's most prominent feature was his nose. He had a long nose with a high bridge. He had short, dark violet hair that had been ruffled upwards while wearing goggles to hold his hair up. A part of him was glad however that this member was shorter than him. But based on what he saw when he observed his match up with Eren, he moved as if he had no bones! He could contort himself in all sorts of directions as if he didn't have a single bone in his body.

Next to the smallest member was the tallest one. The tallest one had a stocky build; wide shoulders and all. He had a square jaw and golden blonde hair with bright blue eyes. Reminds me of Erwin, he thought. But the black shroud he wore draped from his shoulders even seemed to short for him, revealing some boots underneath.

The one next to him was slightly shorter than him. He had thistle colored hair almost borderline silver. He had storm grey eyes with a cocky smirk on his face. So this is the guy who slugged Oluo, Levi noted when he saw a bit of blood smeared on the young man's knuckles. He stood slightly smaller than the blonde, also having a strong build.

The last one was smaller than him but stood at the same height and body build as his opponent. He had two colors for hair: silver blue and black. But he had piercing blood-red eyes and fair skin. However, the more he stared into the blood-red eyes, the more he felt his soul being shredded to pieces. He shuddered slightly as a knot twisted around his stomach.

Finally, he saw the leader. The leader – his opponent – had bright red hair as if he had dyed it in tomato juice. He had piercing ice-blue eyes and cream white skin. Levi blinked. Where did this kind of human come from? Did he not go under the sun? What place in the world could barely be touched by the sun? There were so many questions but he had no idea where to start.

"Whoa!" Eren gawked. "Are you even human!?"

Levi resisted the urge to facepalm. Of all the questions Eren had to ask, he asked that one!?

"Yeah we are." The red-headed male chuckled. "What brings you guys all the way here to the forest?"

"The better question is who are you and why are you here?" Oluo pointed his blade at the red-headed male. "What are you?"

When Oluo pointed his blade at the red-headed male, the thistle haired one suddenly appeared behind Oluo with his own blade inches away from his throat. Levi's eyes widened when he saw the gap between him and Oluo. How on earth did he cover that distance so quickly, he thought. He looked around the forest for any form of assistance but none. It was as if he just flew over in an instant.

"We get you have a lot of questions but you can't just bombard us because you want to." The red-headed male shook his head and waved his hand. "You can put your sword down now. If he does something stupid, I know what to do."

The thistle haired male bristled at Oluo and stepped back. "He tries again: his head comes off."

Levi, seeing that the thistle haired one looked far less restrained than the others, immediately stepped forward. "We're soldiers from the city sent out to kill Titans."

"See? Now that wasn't so hard now was it?" The red-headed male chuckled and folded his arms. "Since you kindly introduced yourselves, we'll introduce ourselves. We're Russians."

Eren blinked. "Russians?"

"More like four and a half Russians." The thistle haired male sniggered.

The two-toned haired male scoffed. "I don't think they even know what Russians are."

"Forget it." Levi shook his head and glowered at the red-headed male. "I'm looking for names."

Seeing the other soldier glare at him amused him. Tala glanced at the other soldiers and then looked at their weapons. Their weapons don't look like much, he pursed his lips. He then watched the expression of each soldier. When he looked at them, their expressions were good enough for Tala to realize: they absolutely had no idea what a Russian person was. However, he did a good headcount and reflected on what the other soldier had said: they were sent out to kill titans. A small team meaning an elite team, he mused to himself. And when he took a good look in their eyes, he already knew.

"The name's Tala." He bowed lightly with a smirk. "These guys" – he pointed to his teammates – "are my brothers. I am the captain of the Blitzkrieg team."

Bryan scoffed. "Since when?"

Tala pouted. "Since now."

"Suuure but you know that Spencer handles most of your paperwork."

"But you know I hate paperwork!"

Spencer, the tall blonde, chuckled. "Well, he does it when he wants to."

Tala turned to Kai. "Help me here!"

Kai, the two-toned haired male, rolled his eyes. "Face it, Red. The last time we left you with paperwork, we nearly incurred penalties and nearly got caught for tax evasion because of you."

"Kai! Not helping!"

"Was I supposed to?"

Tala frowned. Just when he needed his brothers to support him, they decided to be snarky. He scowled before turning to the leader of the squad who had a ghost of a smirk curved up his lips.

The smaller soldier nodded. "Levi."

The red-headed male blinked. Levi? He glanced at his brothers who nodded. He remembered hearing that name once or twice. What kind of person though names their kids after a brand of jeans? He pursed his lips and then looked at Levi. Despite Levi being a head shorter than him, he saw the scars and wrinkles on his hands. He looked straight into Levi's eyes and saw the kind of eyes he had seen all his life: the eyes of a killer. Kind of reminds me of Kai too, he thought.

"Huh, I've heard that name. Levi, Humanity's Strongest Soldier."

"How'd you know that?"

"Heard it around the wall."

Levi narrowed his eyes. "So, you've seen the city."

"A bit but not really. So, what are you here for?"

"We're here on patrol."

"Patrol? Wouldn't you need a bigger team?"

"That depends. We were sent to kill out some stragglers."

Tala nodded. "And if it's a team this small, I'm assuming you guys are an elite team." He looked over to see the other members of Levi's team. "So, these are your members."

Levi nodded. "The best. Likewise, with yours. That begs the question: what are you?"

Tala nodded and folded his arms. "Well, we're a little more complicated than you think." He waved his hand, causing the other members to back off. "We're wondering what you guys are also."

Before Levi could continue, they heard loud thumps echoing through the forest. Tala's ears perked up as he looked up to sniff the air. His hairs stood on ends and he saw the looks on his brothers' faces. He glowered. Titans are coming, he thought. He looked at the members of Levi's team, seeing each of their builds. Three experienced ones, he thought. He looked at the female member. She's probably known for how flexible she is in a situation. She's small, fast, and can probably squeeze in corners the guys can't, he thought. However, he could tell that the wide-eyed, black-haired boy who stood behind the female member was new. His weapons barely had scratches and his stance looked awful.

"On the second thought, let's discuss things upstairs." Tala beckoned Levi and his team to follow him. "We have a couple of hostiles incoming."