The next day, all the cadets gathered on the training grounds.
Several pieces of equipment had been set up there, and everyone was wondering what they were for.
Keith, the head instructor, explained that today's training would determine whether they could properly use Omni-Directional Mobility Gear in the future.
Anyone who could not even maintain their balance had no chance of becoming a soldier.
After going over the instructions, Keith shouted,
"Now, everyone line up and come get your belts!"
Each cadet registered with Keith in turn, received a suitable belt, and put it on under his guidance.
"The balance adaptability test will now begin. We'll start with the first group, one person at a time." Once everyone had their belts on, Keith announced the start of the test.
The instructors patrolling the perimeter were assessing this year's cadets. An older instructor spotted Mikasa hanging perfectly still in midair and remarked, "Now that's talent. Look at her-she isn't even swaying."
"Yes, and she isn't the only one." A younger instructor pointed in another direction.
Following his gesture, the older instructor spotted Arthur, who was just as motionless and looked equally at ease.
"Haha! Looks like this year's cadets have plenty of surprises in store for me." The older instructor laughed heartily.
"Sir, look over there. Seems some of them aren't quite so gifted." The younger instructor spoke through a suppressed laugh, as though he had spotted something hilarious.
"Hm?" The older instructor looked again and found the cadet in question hanging upside down, completely unable to straighten himself.
That cadet was Eren.
"I suppose that's a kind of talent, too." The older instructor merely smiled, as though he had seen it all before.
"What are you doing, Eren Yeager?! Straighten yourself up!" Keith Shadis roared, his face dark as he stared at the upside-down Eren.
Hearing the laughter around him, Eren's expression grew ugly. He was desperately trying to straighten himself, but nothing worked.
"What's going on?!" Eren could not understand it. Seeing that even Christa and Armin had passed the test left him deeply doubting himself.
Arthur and Mikasa had already gotten down from the balance-testing equipment, and they froze at the sight of Eren hanging upside down.
"That shouldn't be happening. No matter how weak Eren is, he should at least be able to straighten himself." Arthur watched Eren in confusion.
"Eren Yeager, can you do this or not?!" Keith bellowed.
"Instructor, I..." Eren was sinking into despair. He had begun to question whether he had what it took to become a soldier.
"Instructor Keith, sir! I request permission to swap belts with Eren!" Arthur wanted to see whether the belt was the problem, so he asked Keith.
"What?!" For some reason, Keith looked flustered when he heard Arthur wanted to swap belts with Eren.
Arthur caught every bit of his reaction and began to suspect Keith had tampered with Eren's belt.
"I request permission to swap belts with Eren," Arthur repeated.
"Hmm..." Keith stared at Arthur, inwardly panicking. He seriously wondered whether Arthur had discovered his little trick.
"All right. Eren Yeager, exchange belts with Arthur Ackerman." After a moment's thought, Keith agreed. He sighed, knowing his tampering was about to be exposed.
"Yes, sir." Eren nodded and got down from the equipment, then exchanged belts with Arthur under everyone's puzzled gazes.
Arthur put on Eren's belt and tested it, but felt nothing wrong. He went over to the equipment, attached the ropes to the belt, and signaled for the attendant beside him to start lifting.
The attendant glanced at Keith for permission, then began hoisting Arthur once Keith gave his approval.
Arthur slowly rose into the air. At first, he felt his body sway slightly, but he quickly steadied himself by adjusting his center of gravity.
"Looks like the belt isn't the problem."
"So it really is Eren's fault. Look, Arthur's doing just fine."
"Haha! That idiot was going on yesterday about driving out every last Titan. Turns out he can't even keep his balance."
Seeing Arthur hanging steadily, the cadets began talking over one another, and quite a few looked at Eren with undisguised glee.
"How could this happen?" Seeing Arthur use his belt without any trouble left Eren completely dumbfounded. The biting mockery around him made his heart ache.
How could this happen? How did he do it?! Unlike everyone else, Keith was utterly stunned. He stared at Arthur in disbelief, as though witnessing an impossible miracle.
He knew perfectly well that he had damaged the belt's balancing component. Normally, no one should have been able to stay steady, yet Arthur had done it.
Was I imagining things? Is this really just a problem with Eren's aptitude? Arthur was slowly lowered to the ground, where he removed the belt and carefully felt it over. Suddenly, he discovered something. His expression changed, and he shot Keith an angry look.
Then he hurried over, took his own belt from Eren, and compared the two.
The people around him could not understand why Arthur had suddenly become so agitated.
Just as I thought. Eren's belt really was tampered with, and Instructor Keith is the most likely culprit. Keith, why would you do this? Arthur gave Keith a grim look.
"Eren, try again with my belt!" Arthur patted the utterly dejected Eren.
"Arthur..." Eren froze when Arthur told him to try using his belt, but he did not move. By now, his self-doubt ran deep.
"Don't you want to drive out every last Titan? Don't tell me you're giving up over one little setback!" Arthur urged him on.
Arthur's words rekindled Eren's fighting spirit. He clenched his fists, and a fierce fire seemed to blaze in his eyes.
"I'll never give up!" Eren took Arthur's belt, put it on, and approached the equipment with unwavering resolve.
"Instructor, please give me one last chance! I'll definitely succeed this time!" Eren called to Keith in a firm voice.
"..." Keith paused at the determination in Eren's eyes. For a moment, he seemed to see a trace of his old friend Grisha in him. He nodded his approval.
"Haha, that idiot wants to embarrass himself again."
"I bet tonight's bread he'll end up upside down again."
"I'll bet two nights' worth."
As Eren attempted the balance training again, many cadets who had no faith in him began making snide remarks.
"I'll bet a month's worth that he succeeds!" Arthur swept an icy gaze over the cadets who could do nothing but gloat and sneer, then stared coldly at them.
"I'll bet three months' worth." Mikasa also gave them a cold look. She could not stand their behavior either and added her wager.
Faced with Arthur and Mikasa's icy stares, the mocking cadets wisely shut their mouths. Those two clearly were not people to mess with, especially since they had achieved perfect scores on the adaptability test.
Eren was slowly hoisted into the air, hanging suspended under everyone's watchful eyes.
Unlike before, when he had failed to last even a second, Eren now swayed only slightly before settling into a steady position in midair.
"Ten seconds... thirty seconds... one minute..." A full five minutes passed, and Eren remained perfectly still.
"All right, lower him." Keith sighed, as though finally letting something go.
Once Eren was lowered, he looked at Keith with excitement and anticipation.
"Eren Yeager has passed the balance adaptability test!"
"Oh, yeah!" Eren cheered, overjoyed!
As though swept up in Eren's excitement, many of the cadets raised their hands and cheered too.
"Arthur, Mikasa, Armin, I did it! I can finally become a soldier!" Eren rushed over to the three of them in excitement.
"Congratulations, Eren." Arthur smiled and patted his shoulder.
Mikasa also gave a small smile, showing how happy she was.
"Why did Eren succeed when he used Arthur's belt?" Armin asked in confusion.
"Right, I was wondering that too." Eren was just as curious. Nothing he had tried worked, but once he used Arthur's belt, he had managed it.
"Because a component in Eren's belt was damaged. We should have Instructor Keith take a look at that, shouldn't we, Instructor?" Arthur narrowed his eyes as he demanded an explanation.
Keith gave a bitter smile. He had been found out after all. Still, he silently took the belt and made a show of inspecting it.
"Grisha, perhaps this child really can carry on your will." Keith glanced at Eren with a sigh.
Then he turned to address all the cadets.
"I've just inspected Eren Yeager's belt, and one of its components was indeed damaged. This should never have happened. It seems we'll have to add another maintenance check to the list."
Keith's words sent the crowd into an uproar.
They had not expected that Eren's problem was his belt rather than a lack of talent. Then they remembered that Arthur had used that same belt and remained perfectly still, and their chatter turned to astonishment.
"If I remember right, Arthur kept his balance with the damaged belt just now, didn't he?"
"Yeah, he didn't move at all."
"He actually managed to control a damaged belt."
"That's incredible. How did he do it?"
Everyone stared at Arthur in amazement. Some of the outstanding cadets, including Jean, Reiner, and Bertolt, refused to believe it and wanted to try for themselves.
Yet none of them lasted even a second before failing.
That only raised Arthur further in everyone's estimation. He now seemed like a god in the eyes of all the cadets.
"Arthur, how did you do it?" Eren asked.
"Just keep your center of gravity steady and let your body relax." Arthur demonstrated once more with Eren's belt, leaving everyone repeatedly gasping in surprise.
"Arthur is amazing. I wish I could be as good as him." Christa spoke admiringly to Ymir beside her in the crowd.
"Tch, what's so hard about that? That guy just got lucky," Ymir said dismissively.
"Why don't you try, then?" Christa suggested, displeased.
"Haha, I'll pass." Ymir laughed it off. She was only talking; she knew she was not as good as Arthur. She was simply a little jealous of how much Christa admired him.
"Mikasa, Arthur really is incredible. He can handle even a damaged belt with ease." Standing beside Mikasa, Armin praised Arthur as he watched the crowd pack around him like he was a celebrity.
"Of course he can." Hearing Armin's praise and seeing Arthur surrounded by admirers, Mikasa spoke with pride. She looked just like a wife hearing others praise her husband's abilities.
That evening, unable to endure everyone's relentless questions any longer, Arthur hurried through dinner and left the mess hall.
He still had something to do: confront Keith and find out why he had targeted Eren by giving him a damaged belt.
Arthur believed it was no coincidence. Keith had done it himself.
Arriving at Keith's office, Arthur still knocked politely. After all, Keith was his instructor, and he had often helped them out a few years earlier.
"Come in!" Once he had permission, Arthur pushed the door open and entered.
Inside, Arthur found Keith sitting at his desk, working.
Two cups of black tea sat on the desk, as though Keith had somehow foreseen that Arthur would definitely come.
"You're here. Have a seat." Seeing that it was Arthur, Keith actually smiled, then pointed to a chair for him to sit down.
Arthur sat without hesitation.
"You want to know why I deliberately targeted Eren, correct?" Keith went straight to the point.
"Yes." Arthur nodded.
"Well, here's the thing..." Keith nodded and began explaining.
Half an hour later, Arthur left Keith's office.
The anger that had brought him there to confront Keith had given way to a sense of helplessness.
He had never expected that Keith simply wanted to preserve Grisha's bloodline rather than let it die out.
As a former commander of the Survey Corps, Keith knew all too well the dangers beyond the walls. He also knew Eren wanted to join the Survey Corps.
To make Eren abandon that idea, he had sabotaged his training. But after seeing Eren's unwavering determination, he had let go and promised never to stand in his way again.
With Keith's explanation, Arthur let the matter rest.