Glory For Mankind | AOT [book 1]

Ch.14:Training the 104th Cadet Corps

"The 104th Cadet Corps Class entrance ceremony will now begin!" A rather bald and old man shouted as he stood on stage in front of rows of fresh meat, young men and women who believe that have what it takes to be a soldier.

"You pathetic weaklings have the misfortune of having me, Keith Shadis as you Commander!" His voice bellowed, making sure that every single one of them could hear every word.

"But you're fortunate enough to have one of the Scout Regiment's most skilled squad leaders, Ruvik Ritter!"

With the introduction, stepping out from the shadows was the twenty year old himself stepping into view. His cold brown eyes looking down on them.

A few of the rookies couldn't help there surprise, letting out whispers among the crowd.

"No way, it's really him..."

"Holy crap, he's so cool!"

"He's ranked second in being the strongest in the Scouts--not far from Humanity's Strongest."

"Shit man. Are you serious?"

Shadis interrupted them. "We do not welcome you warmly! In your current state, you'd be nothing but food for the titans! Livestock! All of you!"

Ruvik stared out into the sea of twelve year olds--or whatever ages they were.

"Over the next three years, we're going to train you worthless maggots into titan slaying soldiers! Three years from now, when you come face-to-face with the titans, will you be fodder for them?!"

Ruvik listened to his speech to inspire and degrade their hopes and egos. "Will you serve as an honorable barrier that protects the king?! Or will you be the glorious soldier for humanity that drives the titans out? It's up to you to decide!"

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Ruvik found the entrance ceremony very interesting.

"Hey, you!"

"Sir!"

"What's your name?!"

"Armin Arlert, from Shiganshina District!"

As Shadis strolled down the rows, interrogating a few of the new faces. Ruvik walked down another row. His hands folded behind his back as he walked passed them, staring ahead of him, expressionless. He paid no mind to their frightened or excited eyes that were upon him.

They were all the same, he remembers when he was standing in their position, graduating and making it into the top ten rankings, and joining the Scouts right after. And in the end, Erwin asked him to become a Squad Captain.

"The Royal Watchdog..."

Ruvik came to a complete stop at the familiar name, and the little chatter box tensed up. Ruvik looked at him over his shoulder, sending the cadet a cold stare before continuing forward. He hasn't heard that name in a while, ever since Erwin recruited him.

Levi was Humanity's Strongest and he got the Royal Watchdog. He wanted to punch whoever gave him a name like that, but ended up getting use to it since it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

He glanced back over to Shadis, who was now interrogating a girl in a ponytail eating baked potato in her hands.

Ruvik raised a brow, that's new.