System Training Ground

Bai Yu slowly opened his eyes. A cool breeze swept past, stirring his clothes and his fairly short hair. He stood atop the fifty-meter wall, his eyes slightly narrowed, a trace of laziness still lingering in them, as though he had yet to fully wake up.

He looked down at the familiar town below. Its layout was identical to Shiganshina District's, except that many areas were damaged, and Titans wandered aimlessly through the streets.

The once-bustling streets were deserted, as though the entire world held only Bai Yu and the dozens of roaming Titans.

A set of omni-directional mobility gear was strapped around Bai Yu's waist. No blades had yet been attached to the handles in his hands, and he quietly watched the Titans below with their eerie smiles.

Some were small, only two meters tall, while others stood five or six meters high. The tallest reached around sixteen meters. Their smiles stretched to their ears, their grotesque faces enough to send a chill through anyone.

He swept a handle through the air, producing a sharp whistle, then tapped the equipment at his waist. Everything sounded fine.

The Titans on the ground seemed to have noticed him too. Their eyes locked on Bai Yu atop the wall, and they all lumbered toward him.

But even with their height, the Titans could not scale the fifty-meter wall. They could only stand at its base and crane their heads up at Bai Yu.

With a click, Bai Yu attached one handle to a blade in its sheath and slowly drew it out. With his other hand, he slipped a wireless earbud into his ear, a piece of technology that did not belong to this era and that he had obtained from who knew where. Soft music played in his ear.

It brought him into focus without conscious effort. This was a habit of his, one that gave him a peculiar feeling.

Some kind of psychological suggestion, maybe.

As that thought crossed Bai Yu's mind, his hands never stopped moving. Holding the long blades in a seemingly casual grip, he leaped from the wall under the Titans' ravenous gazes.

The mobility gear at his waist rapidly fired its cables. Gas blasted from the equipment, leaving a long trail of white vapor behind him.

A Titan around fifteen meters tall suddenly sprang up, its gaping maw snapping toward Bai Yu. But Bai Yu was not looking at it alone. His gaze took in all the Titans.

He twisted in midair, propelled by the gas, and the blades in his hands flashed.

Like a meteor, he traced a perfect semicircle across the Titan's neck. A chunk of flesh fell from its nape. Bai Yu planted his feet on its corpse as it fell, crushing two Titans only three or four meters tall beneath it.

Bai Yu shot high into the air. His mobility gear fired its cables again, driving them into a nearby Titan's eye socket. Scalding blood gushed out.

His eyes remained as languid as ever, with a sharpness buried deep within.

Only now had the battle truly begun.

"Hah... hah..."

As the evening sun slowly sank, Bai Yu sat slumped atop the towering wall, gasping for breath. Blood covered his body, steaming as it gradually evaporated. Below lay bones that had not yet fully vanished and enormous corpses with half their flesh still remaining.

A few scattered Titans still roamed, but Bai Yu no longer had the strength or stamina to fight.

He sat on the wall, blood streaming down his body. A chunk was missing from his shoulder, his left arm was mangled, and he had countless abrasions and fractures.

Yet Bai Yu seemed unconcerned. There was only a hint of helplessness on his face.

The blade beside him was badly chipped too. He had exhausted every blade in his sheaths and replaced his gas canisters many times.

Looking at a Titan below, Bai Yu picked up the blade beside him with his right hand. He staggered to his feet and hurled it at the Titan with all his strength.

The blade spun through the air toward a Titan nearly fifteen meters tall, only for a sideways kick to send it flying into the nearby ruins.

The Titan bore a striking resemblance to Bai Yu. There was not a trace of confusion in its eyes, only human intelligence.

Bai Yu had modeled this Titan on his own stamina, reflexes, and intelligence. It was, in effect, an enlarged version of himself, worlds apart from the other Titans.

It quietly stared at Bai Yu atop the wall. It was hardly in better shape itself. Chunks of muscle had been sliced from its body, steam rose from its regenerating joints, and both its hands were missing, though they were slowly growing back.

Bai Yu, meanwhile, looked at its figure with helplessness in his eyes.

I can't beat it...

Even after giving everything he had, making full use of the wall and the town and pushing his mobility gear to its absolute limits, Bai Yu still could not win.

Although Bai Yu knew intelligent Titans could not possibly be this agile or control their bodies as freely as humans, he had given this Titan his full reaction speed anyway, just to be safe.

And so, Bai Yu had lost count of how many times it had killed him. A hundred? A thousand? Or ten thousand?

His weakened body could no longer support him. He collapsed helplessly onto the wall, every part of him screaming in pain as blood slowly trickled down its face.

"It hurts so much."

Bai Yu gazed at the sky and murmured.

Why train so hard? Why put myself through this pain? There are plenty of ways to survive if I just keep my head down, aren't there?

Is it so I can stay alive, just in case I have to fight Titans?

Yeah, probably.

He smiled and raised his hand toward the sky almost unconsciously, spreading his fingers. Through the gaps, he watched white clouds drift past and birds circle overhead.

With his only remaining hand, his right, he turned up the volume of his earbud a little, then wearily closed his eyes.

[Training reset]

After Bai Yu lost consciousness, those words appeared before him. Everything returned to its original state. Titans appeared at random throughout the area, and Bai Yu's body was completely restored.

He got up from the ground and stretched vigorously, as though none of what had happened before had ever occurred.

This time, however, he ignored the Titans in town. A figure appeared before him and assumed a fighting stance.

It was time to practice hand-to-hand combat.

After all, his future enemies would include not only Titans but also humans and weapons like guns. Bai Yu had no intention of neglecting these skills that could save his life.