Training Corps

Once again, there was a desert. Yago walked through its vast white expanse, beneath what seemed to be a brilliant, luminous blue night sky. He had no sense of direction and no idea where he was going. He walked and walked, for a long, long, long time.

Suddenly, Yago spotted a pillar of light shooting into the sky. It seemed to draw him closer, and he found himself walking toward it. Yet no matter how far he walked, it remained just as distant. Frustrated by his slow pace, Yago broke into a run, then a full sprint.

After sprinting tirelessly, he finally reached the pillar of light.

Within it, eight figures of light converged from the top, flickering in and out of view.

Yago instinctively reached out. Bang! An invisible barrier seemed to stand between him and the pillar.

A faint human silhouette emerged within the light. Yago desperately pounded on the invisible barrier, trying to reach that figure.

With a whoosh, the scene changed. In a pitch-black room, Yago was bound to a chair, a chain wrapped tightly around his arms and legs.

Yago struggled desperately, but it was no use. With a creak, the chamber door opened, letting in a blinding light that nearly forced his eyes shut. Through the haze, a tall figure stood before him.

"You're different! You're special! Save him! Don't surrender to fate!"

"Save him! Save him! Save him!..."

The nightmarish voice echoed endlessly inside Yago's head.

The buzzing would not stop. In his daze, a hideous, strange, centipede-like creature twisted its body as it crawled toward him.

"Don't accept it! My child!"

"Aah!"

Yago abruptly sat up and opened his eyes. Cold sweat dampened his back, and his heart was still pounding.

"Phew... another weird dream. That was so creepy. Who am I supposed to save?" Yago briskly pulled on his clothes.

It was the year 848. Three years had passed since Wall Maria was breached.

Children grew quickly over three years. Now thirteen, the once-small Yago had shot up to nearly 170 centimeters tall, making him quite tall for his age.

Yago hurried downstairs and found that he was the last one up. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were already sitting at the dining table, while Carla and Lucia were busy serving breakfast.

Thinking about their current circumstances still left Yago somewhat downhearted. Dr. Grisha had been out on an emergency house call when Shiganshina fell, luckily escaping the disaster. He later came to Trost District to reunite with his family. A year ago, Eren had gone out with Dr. Grisha, and neither had been heard from for several days. Then Hannes had returned with a bewildered Eren.

As for Dr. Grisha, he had most likely already...

Eren blamed himself for his father's disappearance. He could not remember anything, apart from a few very strange memories in his head. In those memories, his father had told him that he had to return to the basement inside Wall Maria, where the truth lay. Eren had also come to hate the Titans even more. If not for them, his family might still have been living happily together.

Carla's leg had been badly injured back then, so Yago discussed things with his mother, Lucia (the adoption paperwork had already been officially completed, so Lucia was now Yago's mother). The two families moved in together so they could look after one another.

As for Armin, his grandfather had been his only remaining relative. Last year, the Royal Government had launched the Wall Maria Reclamation Battle, though everyone knew perfectly well that its main purpose was to ease the strain of having too many people and too little food.

Most of the land inside Wall Maria had been farmland. With its loss, humanity within the walls had lost nearly half its living space. The immense population pressure had left food reserves severely depleted.

To ease that pressure, the government had forcibly conscripted 250,000 civilians for the Wall Maria Reclamation Battle. Sadly, fewer than two hundred survived. Armin's grandfather had been among those sent, and after losing him, Armin had fallen into a daze.

So Yago and the others had taken Armin in to live with them.

Perhaps spurred on by the loss of his grandfather, the once-timid Armin had resolved to join the Training Corps alongside Eren and the others. Today was enrollment day!

Eren was visibly impatient. After a few bites of breakfast, he lost all interest in eating and kept urging Yago to hurry, since Yago was the slowest eater.

The moment Yago swallowed his last bite, Eren grabbed him and pulled him outside.

"Come on, Eren! At least let me have some water first!"

"There's no time! Mikasa, Armin, hurry up!"

Watching the children leave, Carla's eyes grew damp, her reluctance to part with them plain to see. Lucia comforted her. "The children have grown up. We shouldn't hold them back. Let them spread their wings!"

"I know," Carla said. "But Eren is still too young. I just can't stop worrying."

The four arrived in Trost District. The marketplace was crowded, but there were also plenty of gaunt, sallow-faced refugees. The population pressure was still far too great.

Yago's and Eren's families were doing reasonably well. One was the family of a fallen soldier's widow and received government assistance; the other had once been a middle-class household. At least food and clothing were not a problem.

The sight of those refugees left Yago feeling somewhat distressed.

Before long, the four reached the Training Corps enrollment office.

There really were a lot of applicants. Relying on brute strength, Yago forced a path through the packed crowd, picked up several application forms, and handed them out to Eren and the others.

"Wow, Yago, that was amazing! You actually managed to squeeze through!" Armin exclaimed. Yago's strength was absurd, and he had also learned some hand-to-hand combat from Mikasa over the years. In short, he was really strong.

"Nothing to it, nothing to it!" Yago rubbed his nose smugly. Strength was not all he had gained over the years. He had also made excuses to go out and conducted many Titan transformation experiments. He had kept them strictly secret, telling no one, not even his mother. By now, Yago could just barely manage a complete Titan transformation.

This power was meant to protect his loved ones. If possible, Yago hoped he would never have to use it.

A chill ran down Yago's back, and he quickly turned around. But there were people everywhere behind him, and he could not make anything out.

Since mastering his Titan transformation, Yago had gained quite a few unusual abilities. His strength had increased enormously, for instance, and he had also developed the sense he had just experienced: whenever someone watched him secretly, he felt a powerful warning.

Unable to spot anyone, Yago could only let it go. Just then, the instructor at the enrollment office called their names, and Yago hurried over with Eren and the others.

"Name? Age?"

"Yago Norman! Thirteen!"

The interview ended quickly. As expected, all of them successfully joined the Training Corps. Even Armin, who was the weakest physically, was accepted.

They received their Training Corps uniforms. Unlike the insignia of the other three branches, the Training Corps emblem featured two sharp swords crossed over one another.

There was still one day before they had to assemble, giving the recruits a day to prepare. After that, they would officially enter the Training Corps and begin training.

Eren and the others headed home excitedly with their uniforms.

A pale blue light flashed through the crowd.