Winter Training

The winter wind was bitterly cold. Even thick, padded coats could not keep out the chill.

Amid an expanse of white snow, a small squad trudged forward. Everyone wore heavy padded coats, carried packs, and had thick deerskin boots on their feet. The cadets were taking part in winter training.

Winter training was a long march across snowy mountains held by the Training Corps each winter, covering nearly twenty kilometers. Marching through the mountains in driving wind and snow was extremely dangerous. Even a moment of carelessness could mean dying out there.

For that reason, the instructors did not require every cadet to participate. Anyone injured or ill, physically weak, or simply unwilling to go could request an exemption, though it would affect their grades somewhat.

Since their graduation grades were at stake, most cadets gritted their teeth and joined the training. Only a few who had been injured during earlier training, along with several who feared the snowstorms and already had poor grades, chose to withdraw. The rest shouldered their packs and set off.

The requirements were not particularly demanding. Reaching the destination was enough to pass, and the less time they took, the better their grades would be.

Yago trudged unevenly through the snow, already a short distance behind the squad. Christa and Ymir were ahead of him.

Yago still had not recovered from his weakness. He could have chosen to sit this training out, but he could sense that something was wrong with his body. Something bad might happen if he stayed at camp.

So Yago deliberately fell behind during the winter training, looking for an opportunity.

Before long, it came. A gust of cold wind swept past, followed by countless swirling snowflakes. Heavy snow engulfed the squad of cadets.

Holding an oil lamp aloft, Mark struggled forward against the wind and snow. At the head of the squad, he was responsible for guiding the cadets. The snow grew heavier, and soon visibility dropped to less than ten meters.

"This is bad! It could be a blizzard! Stay close, everyone! Don't fall behind!" Mark shouted.

"Eren, take my hand! We can't get separated." Mikasa held out her hand, but Eren bluntly refused, looking thoroughly resistant. "No! Mikasa, I'm not a little kid! What are you doing?"

Eren and Mikasa stood in front of Armin, shielding his weaker body from some of the wind and snow as they asked, "Where's Yago?"

Armin recalled what Yago had told him and said, "Yago said he'd meet up with Thomas at the back, so we shouldn't worry about him."

"Is that so?" Eren asked.

Armin nodded, and Eren let the matter drop. Everyone had seen what Yago was capable of, so winter training should not pose much of a problem for him.

"Yes. Yago must have his reasons for doing this," Armin said.

Elsewhere, farther up the line, Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt walked together with their packs on their backs. All three kept a short distance from the rest of the squad.

With the noise of the wind and snow covering his voice, Reiner spoke gravely to Annie and Bertholdt. "Another year has passed, but we still haven't made much progress. At this rate, we'll have a hard time completing our mission!"

Even in her thick padded coat, Annie looked small and slight beside the two tall young men. "So, what do you want to do?"

Reiner glanced at Bertholdt, then told Annie, "Next spring, I'd like you to try sneaking into the palace, or perhaps some noble's home, and see if you can find any information."

Annie's tone carried a hint of mockery. "Heh. Why go to all that trouble? Why don't I just seduce a noble instead? You make it sound so easy, Reiner."

Her sarcasm was obvious, yet Reiner answered with unexpected bluntness. "I've considered that plan. But I know you and Yago are close, so you wouldn't want him getting hurt, would you?"

Annie's gaze instantly turned dangerous. She stared coldly at Reiner. "Are you threatening me?"

Seeing the two at each other's throats, Bertholdt nervously tried to ease the tension. "Reiner, you shouldn't say things like that. Annie, calm down. That's not really what Reiner meant."

After a moment of silence, Reiner said, "Annie, you need to understand. For our families' sake, we have to complete this mission. Don't worry. We won't interfere with you and Yago. After all, we share the same blood as the descendants of devils."

Annie turned away without a word and began walking off. "One more time. I'll sneak into the Royal Capital, but whether I find any information or not, there won't be a third time." Her voice reached Reiner and Bertholdt through the wind and snow.

Yago hid quietly behind a tree, watching the squad move farther away until their figures vanished into the storm. He pulled his coat tighter and turned toward the woods flanking the route.

After he had walked some distance, wisps of steam began rising from his entire body.

His body felt as though tiny needles were pricking it, painful and itchy at once. This was different from the pain he had experienced every year before. It was as if the earlier pain had been testing whether he could withstand that immense power, while this time he had passed the test and was finally beginning to receive it in earnest.

Yago could sense that Titan Power was far more than simply the ability to transform into a Titan. There had to be unknown secrets behind it. The girl from that day, the figure in the white lab coat, and that place called Marley were all mysteries he wanted to investigate.

Yago staggered over to a tree, slowly slid down against its trunk, and gradually closed his eyes.

In the storm, a small figure dragged a stretcher, struggling through the snow.

Christa's little face had grown pale from the cold. Ymir followed behind her with a lamp.

The storm steadily intensified, and the wind battered Christa until she could barely walk. Seeing this, Ymir urged her, "Christa, give up! If you keep dragging Daz along like this, we'll all die out here!"

Christa shook her head firmly. "No. I can't abandon a comrade. Ymir, don't worry about me. Go on ahead."

Ymir frowned. She knew that beneath Christa's gentle, sweet exterior lay an extremely stubborn personality. Knowing she could not persuade her, Ymir could only stay beside her as they trudged onward.

Yago sat upright beneath the tree, a layer of frost already coating his eyebrows. Suddenly, a clump of snow struck his face. He opened his bloodshot eyes in confusion and looked up. His dark pupils contracted as a vast mass of snow came thundering down the slope.

"Damn it, an avalanche!" Yago cried out in alarm. The avalanche was moving so fast that there was no time to dodge.

Without hesitation, Yago drove his fingernails deep into his palm. Dazzling yellow lightning enveloped him, and bones emerged from his back. Muscles began growing along the skeleton, followed by blood vessels, nerves, and internal organs. In moments, the seventeen-meter-tall Yago Titan appeared, his solid muscles like those of a bodybuilder, his hair black and his teeth sharp. His scarlet eyes blazed as he let out a furious roar, only to be swallowed by the raging avalanche.

Before the overwhelming might of nature, even a Titan seemed powerless.