Within the Forest

Crunch, crunch. The sound of boots snapping dry branches echoed through the forest, startling quite a few small animals.

Yago wore his cadet uniform. Today was a day off, a rare holiday. Of course, it wasn't that he had nothing else to wear; wearing this uniform simply saved him a lot of trouble. The forest he was in, for instance, was no longer open to everyone because of population pressures. Only a small number of hunters and soldiers were allowed inside.

But those strict rules were only for show. The Garrison soldiers guarding the forest didn't care who you were-as long as you paid, you could pass. Yago's status as a cadet did make them restrain themselves a little. Who knew how far these recruits might go in the future? They weren't about to make trouble for themselves.

They let Yago into the forest with barely a check. He had a clear purpose and headed straight into its deepest reaches, a place even experienced hunters wouldn't venture into lightly.

He looked up at the towering trees reaching toward the clouds, then carefully sensed his surroundings to make sure no humans were nearby.

He took off his jacket and set it on a rock with his backpack, then rolled up his sleeves as he walked toward a more open patch of ground.

A faint smile curled Yago's lips. He raised his right hand and looked at his palm. "Then let's do this!"

As he spoke, the fingernails on his right hand suddenly lengthened, gleaming like metal in the sunlight.

Then Yago clenched his right hand hard. The nails of his four fingers pierced his palm with ease, and blood trickled down, but his expression didn't change. With a crackling hiss, yellow electrical arcs flickered around the wounds in his palm, which kept giving off steam.

In an instant, Yago's eyes turned blood-red. Violent yellow arcs engulfed him, unleashing a savage shock wave that snapped several nearby trees.

Within the electrical arcs, white bones emerged one after another. Muscles threaded with crimson blood vessels followed, wrapping around the bones as billowing white steam poured from them.

The chest, the arms, the legs, and then the head took shape. A scarlet gaze appeared beneath black hair, above a mouth full of sharp teeth. A towering fifteen-meter Titan materialized out of thin air. "ROAR!!" His deafening roar shook countless leaves from the surrounding trees.

With solid, bulging muscles covering his massive frame, he looked terrifying from every angle. But his scarlet eyes weren't dull and vacant like those of ordinary Titans. This was the Titan Yago had become.

Yago felt as though he were soaking in a hot spring. He shared the Titan's vision and controlled his body, and he was clearly aware that he himself was inside the nape of the Titan's neck.

The Yago Titan raised both hands. "I can really feel it this time. Everything's smoother after transforming!" Controlling the Titan, Yago struck several poses: a horse stance, fists drawn back, then a lunging leg stretch. For some inexplicable reason, he even copied an embarrassing pose from his memories. The Titan lifted both hands high, then brought them over his head, actually making a heart???

If anyone saw this, it would probably shock a whole crowd of people.

Yago tried a few jumps next. Every time his enormous body landed, the ground trembled. He punched clean through a giant tree that would take more than a dozen people to encircle, and he could snap several thinner trees with a single kick.

Finally, after wrecking a large swath of trees, the Yago Titan collapsed to the ground. Something writhed at the nape of his neck.

With a wet tearing sound, the Titan's nape split open, revealing Yago. He looked rather bedraggled as he emerged, with several strands of muscle still wrapped around him and a few marks beneath his eyes. These were all places where he had been connected to the Titan after transforming.

Titan blood and disgusting membranes also coated Yago, though they would soon evaporate. For some unknown reason, a Titan's body always turned eerily into steam and vanished after death. The Titan he had left behind was no different. The massive body quickly shriveled, and even its bones slowly broke down.

Yago lay on the ground, utterly drained. "Looks like I can barely last two hours after turning into a Titan. If I'm fighting, it'll probably be even less."

After he had lain there for a while, all the blood and membranes on him had evaporated. "Saves me having to wash, at least." Yago dusted off his shirt, put his uniform back on, and took a piece of bread from his backpack, eating as he left.

Suddenly, Yago stopped. His extraordinary hearing had picked up several sounds that seemed out of place. An idea struck him, and he slipped into the bushes to his left.

A while later, the rumble of wheels approached. A carriage slowly rolled into the clearing, and its elderly driver jumped down. His face was thick with brutish flesh. Staring at the fallen giant trees and scattered rubble, he stood dumbfounded.

"Juke, come look! What the hell happened here?" A red-haired young man climbed down from the back of the carriage, looking impatient.

"What is it, you old bastard? Always making a fuss." Then he too saw the place, which looked as though a Titan had ravaged it, and his face filled with shock.

"Hey, old man. Titans haven't breached Wall Rose, have they?" the red-haired young man asked, swallowing hard.

Cold sweat ran down the driver's face. "I don't think so... Forget it. This is where our employer told us to go, anyway. Just hurry up and bury those muskets and that Omni-Directional Mobility Gear. The rest's none of our business."

Hidden in the bushes, Yago's interest stirred. Omni-Directional Mobility Gear?

The driver and the red-haired young man took two iron shovels from the carriage and began digging, huffing and puffing.

After digging for a long time, they finally made a sizable pit. Both were thoroughly exhausted.

The driver wiped away his sweat and called to the red-haired young man, "Hurry up. Let's bury the muskets." They went to the rear of the carriage and opened its doors. Several long wooden crates were stacked inside. The driver frowned. "Why does it feel like something's missing?"

The hiss of high-pressure gas suddenly came from overhead. Both men's expressions changed, and the young man snapped in alarm, "What's going on? Did the Military Police catch up with us?"

In a fluster, the driver pulled a short-barreled firearm from his waist. But the instant he drew it, a cold gleam flashed past. "AAH!!" The driver screamed as his hand fell to the ground along with the gun.

The red-haired young man went pale. Two sharp blades rested against his neck. "The roses that guard the walls... the Garrison Regiment?" Trembling, he stared at the soldiers before him, all wearing Garrison Regiment uniforms.

"Squad leader, that kid was telling the truth. There really are smugglers here." A freckled Garrison soldier lifted a wooden lid and looked excitedly at the rows of brand-new muskets.

The squad leader, a mature-looking Garrison soldier, nodded. His voice was calm, but he couldn't hide the delight in his eyes. "Good. Catching smugglers may be the Military Police Brigade's job, but this is still a considerable achievement for us in the Garrison."

"So we should thank that kid properly?" "Yes. If you see that child again, don't charge him. And if he's carrying anything, just turn a blind eye." "Understood!"

Yago watched the Garrison soldiers escort away the driver, who was still howling in pain, and the dejected red-haired young man.

Yago rubbed his hands together and looked at the wooden crate beside his feet, a flicker of excitement in his eyes. "Heh heh. Omni-Directional Mobility Gear."