Destiny of Paradise

Combat Preparations

Sam

It was finally time to actually train to kill Titans. We had been training our ODM skills for about a month now, and it was getting quite tedious. We had also done some hand-to-hand combat and just some straight-up jogs, but those were few and far between. It was clear the main goal was to get everyone to master the gear as quick as they possibly could.

It was incredible what Mikasa and Ryan were doing. Mikasa was a better fighter in general, but Ryan was a natural with the ODM gear. Mikasa was great at it, sure, but he was even beyond her. I knew I couldn't reach their skill, so I had to develop some techniques of my own. I had made one last night that would be great for quickly eliminating enormous groups of Titans, and I was eager to try it out.

This was the first day that we were going up against mock Titans. Like before, we were to go into the forest in groups. I was put with the exact same group as before. Reiner, Bertholdt, Connie, Potato Girl, and Armin. However, we got a new addition with Annie, so that was kinda cool. I knew she'd be competing with me. She had been doing that with Ryan and I the entire time. I normally came in last, which was quite annoying, but those two were beyond insane at almost everything for some reason. In that moment, I was wondering if there was some secret exercise that everyone around me did that made them basically superhuman. That thought was quickly removed as I was slapped on the back on my head.

"Already spacing out?" Annie asked with her arms crossed, the triggers sticking out of the gear. "Can't stay focused for two seconds."

"No need to be snappy, Annie." I chuckled.

"You ready, Sam?" Armin asked as he came over.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I answered. I then remembered that I hadn't introduced Armin and Annie. "Oh, Armin, this is Annie. Annie, Armin."

"Nice t-to meet you." Armin chuckled as he held out his hand. Welp, looks like he's got a crush on Annie too, I chuckled in my head. Annie just glared at the blond boy, not reciprocating the handshake.

"Don't take it personally, Armin." I told him. "She's very stubborn." I had noticed that Reiner and Bertholdt had been steering clear of me for most of the training. They were avoiding Annie too. Maybe it had something to do with them trying to avoid contact with us in case of suspicion on any of us. Kinda sucked that they never really talked to us, but they were becoming friends with Eren and Armin, so it's kind of a plus.

"I get it." Armin rubbed the back of his head, a light pink dusting his cheeks.

"Get ready!" Shadis screamed at us. I grabbed the triggers and locked in two blades, prepared to take on the wooden Titans. Go for the cushion on the nape, I told myself. "Start!" We all quickly fires into the woods. Everyone went in their own direction. It was a large, open area to work with, so there were Titans in every direction. I made the snap decision of trying to stay as far away from the others as possible, so I turned left. It wasn't very far from Connie and Potato Girl, but it was far enough.

I was quite a happy camper when I came across my first group of mock Titans. A duo. One small, one large. I quickly dispatched them with no interruptions. It was slightly sloppy, but that is to be expected for just starting.

Over the next ten minutes, I flew around, looking for any mock Titans. I had lost count, but I knew I was over ten. We would hear a cannon when the exercise was over.

I had hit the jackpot with a group of five standing together. This was the perfect time to pull out my special. I felt kinda stupid having a "secret move," but I had to have one to compete with those two freaks of nature.

I fired my left wire into a tree to the left of the group and shot towards it. I fired the right wire to a tree to my right, and I shot towards the tree, keeping the left wire in the previous tree. I quickly shot around in a circle. That's when I noticed Reiner and Annie approaching the group at breakneck speed. I then pulled the left trigger and shot towards the beginning of the wire. I spun around the Titans and was able to cut off each of their napes in less than a second.