Combat Training

The sun slowly rose in the sky. Since autumn had already arrived, its light was nowhere near as dazzling or scorching as in the height of summer. Plenty of white clouds filled the sky, occasionally blocking out some of the sunlight.

Bai Yu wore his Omni-Directional Mobility Gear as he stood with Ming, Xiate, and Kali atop the wall, dozens of meters high, gazing calmly down below.

Below them, Titans clawed desperately at the wall, but it did not budge an inch.

Titans also wandered the distant grasslands. The smiles on their faces reminded Kali of the moment her parents had died: a massive rock falling from the sky, her mother shoving her away with all her strength at the very last moment.

Flames gradually began to burn within her, but just then, Bai Yu placed a hand on her head and gently patted it.

His eyes seemed to have seen straight through the thoughts in Kali's heart.

"Want revenge? Before the Armored Titan shows up, though, you should practice on these guys in front of you."

As he spoke, he took her hand, instantly shifting her attention to the fact that Bai Yu was holding it.

The four of them strolled leisurely along the wall. Occasionally, soldiers from the Garrison Regiment greeted them as they passed. Commander Pixis had long since granted Bai Yu's Support Squad access to the Garrison Regiment's positions on Wall Rose.

Besides, Bai Yu often brought Ming and Xiate down from the wall to fight Titans.

They reached a spot along the edge of the wall. Looking down from here, they could see a large stretch of woodland less than ten meters from the wall. The trees were not particularly tall; even the tallest were only a dozen meters or so.

He took down the gas canisters he carried on his back again. These were upgraded canisters, though they looked little different from ordinary ones. Their model of Omni-Directional Mobility Gear could also use the old gas canisters.

He counted the gas canisters on his back. Mm, that should be enough.

Bai Yu looked at the three Titans below-seven-meter, six-meter, and ten-meter classes-and smiled. Not too many. I'll leave two for Kali.

"Ming, take out the Titan on the right!"

"Understood."

Ming leaped straight off the wall. Bai Yu turned to Kali.

"There. The remaining two are yours."

By the time Kali looked down, Ming had already flown back up and landed on the wall, sliding his twin blades back into their sheaths.

"Done."

Hadn't it only been a few seconds?

Kali could not help feeling surprised as she looked at the Titan that had already fallen below. Bai Yu patted her shoulder.

"Kali, you're up!"

At Bai Yu's words, her gaze gradually grew resolute. She locked the blades into the grips in her hands, then drew both swords with a metallic clang.

"Here I go!"

With that, she leaped down, and Bai Yu immediately followed close behind her. He had no intention of intervening, but he was worried that Kali might accidentally get eaten. If she needed Bai Yu to deal with even these two Titans, she might not make the cut.

In midair, Kali watched the Titan open its enormous mouth toward her. Cables shot from her waist and anchored in its shoulders as the gas behind her maintained a steady thrust.

The Titan beside it suddenly leaped up, opening its mouth to bite Kali.

But Bai Yu's instruction had already given her muscle memory. Instinctively, she increased the gas output with the controls in her hands and twisted her body, brushing past the Titan in an instant as their eyes met.

The next moment, Kali slashed with both blades, sending blood gushing out. As she swept past, the blinded Titan clawed wildly at its surroundings, even grabbing the other, six-meter Titan. Kali seized the opportunity while still airborne, firing her cables again and anchoring them in the nearby wall. Taking advantage of the opening the temporarily blinded Titan had created, she sliced through the six-meter Titan's heel, and both Titans crashed to the ground.

A cold glint flashed in Kali's eyes. She anchored her cables in a Titan's nape and opened the gas output to full power. Before the curved trail of gas behind her had even dissipated, the light faded from one Titan's eyes, and it collapsed onto the other.

Just as the other Titan turned over and tried to crawl out from beneath the one on top of it, Kali descended from above. Her cables anchored beside its nape, and she slashed hard with both blades. Blood gushed out, and a chunk of nape flesh flew into the air before landing on the ground, where it began dissolving into steam.

Kali stood on the Titan, panting slightly. Perhaps because this was her first time killing Titans, she had exerted herself too much and failed to control her body properly. Although she was not as calm as Ming and Xiate had been at first, she had still done quite well.

Bai Yu landed beside Kali and reached out to pat her somewhat disheveled hair, offering his praise without hesitation.

"Your movements weren't particularly pretty or clean, but you still did quite well."

Did that really count as praise?

Seeing Titans running toward them from the distance, Bai Yu warned her.

"Hurry back up. Titans are coming."

Kali nodded and followed Bai Yu back up onto the wall.

She sat straight down on the wall, a little excited, and looked at her hands.

"I can do it. I can definitely kill that Armored Titan!"

Her voice trembled slightly.

Bai Yu said nothing in response. Instead, he pointed the blade in his hand at the Titans gathering below.

"Today's training is to kill as many Titans as there are! Kali, give it everything you've got, and don't die!"

"Understood!"

Evening...

With Kali on his back, Bai Yu walked down the street alongside Ming and Xiate, slowly heading toward the Garrison Regiment. They were in no hurry, anyway.

Kali lay weakly against Bai Yu's shoulders, her hands and feet trembling uncontrollably. She had clearly overexerted herself.

Looking at her trembling hands, Bai Yu could not help speaking up.

"You did really well today. At first, I thought killing eight Titans would be about your limit. I didn't expect you to take down ten."

Since there were quite a few Titans, Bai Yu had Ming and Xiate draw some away while he followed Kali. He watched her enter the woods and spend the entire day picking off the Titans below one by one, returning to the wall to replenish her gas whenever she ran low.

Granted, Bai Yu had intervened several times. Otherwise, she would have nearly lost her life.

Fortunately, Bai Yu had planned ahead. During their midday break, a wagon had arrived carrying a huge pile of gas canisters. Before setting out, he had asked the supply squad to help deliver them at that time.