(03) Aftermath

[Through extremely strenuous physical activity and the limits of your bloodline being pushed, you've gained experience!(x5)]

[Ackerman bloodline has leveled up!(x2)]

[Ackerman bloodline has reached level 4!]

[You've displayed an impressive feat by surviving the fall of Shiganshina without any preparation! +3 BP]

Strauss opened his eyes groggily as he finally woke up from what felt like the longest nap ever. He looked at the windows in front of him without much thought and simply swiped them away. He was still in a state of confusion and had a splitting headache.

"You're finally up", hearing a voice beckon to him, Strauss turned his head to see his sister look at him slightly worried.

The haziness cleared up a bit as Strauss finally realised where he was. He was on a moving boat, full of people. He could only deduce that they made it to one of the evacuation ships.

It was dark out and almost everyone was asleep, including Eren who was sat down next to him. "You should get some sleep now", Strauss told Mikasa, gaining a nod from her.

Strauss simply sat in silence for a few minutes, his brain still struggling to comprehend that transpired. His face suddenly darkened though and his eyes filled with rage. Rage at the world for being so messed up. Rage at the titans for being so cruel. But more so his rage was directed towards those he knew were responsible for creating this living hell called Paradis Island.

'I'll purge them all from this world like the plague that they are. Every single monster responsible for creating this hell hole'. Amongst the sorrow and despair that filled the air, there was a spark of fury. A promise was made and a revenge was going to be fullfilled.

-----

(A few days later)

"I'm going to join the military", Eren announced seriously, looking at his three friends. Armin and Mikasa seemed a bit shocked at the news and wanted to express their concerns before another voice chimed in.

"Yeah, me too.", Strauss added, surprising Armin and Mikasa again. Eren was one thing, he always talked about how he wanted to join the Survey Corps, so him signing up now was somewhat expected. But as far as they knew Strauss never showed any interest in the military before.

"Do you guys not realise that the military is dangerous! Especially if you two plan on joining the Survey Corps, the death rate is too high!", Armin openly voiced his concerns, not wanting his two friends to go down such a dangerous path.

"I know it's not gonna be easy. But I won't stop until every last one of them is dead Armin. I won't rest till' the day titans are annihilated!". There was evident anger in Eren's voice as he addressed his friend's worries.

"I'll join the military as well.", Mikasa spoke up. If her brother and Eren were going then she would go too. Who else would protect them otherwise?

"Mikasa!-", Armin started, not expecting Mikasa to go along with all this, but stopped when he looked at the faces of his friends. All three of them had looks of pure determination. No amount of persuasion or convincing would change their minds and he realised that now. "Why are you guys so stubborn! Have it your way then, I guess I'm joining too!".

"Wait Armin just cause we're joining doesn't mean-", Eren was cut short as Armin seemed to have a new found aggression in him.

"No! I'm joining and that's that!", he said angrily, ready to stand his ground.

"I- Alright then", Eren conceded and gave up on trying to dissuade Armin.

"Well, if that's that, I'm gonna start training, you guys can come along if you want", Strauss spoke up, seeing the arguement reach its conclusion.

Eren, Mikasa and Armin looked at him and confused not quite sure what he meant. "What do you mean, training? Training how?", Eren asked on behalf of all three of them.

"Well think about it, in the military we'll probably be pushed to our physical limits everyday. Especially so if we then go on to joim the Survey Corps, I'm pretty sure that using the manuever gear that the soldiers use is insanely tiring on the muscles, so if we start training now, we'll have a head start". Their eyes widened listening to Strauss' explanation. They never thought of it that way, and they also never realised that Strauss was quite knowledgeable about the military.

"That makes sense", Armin said, eliciting nods of agreement from Eren and Mikasa.

"Where do you wanna train anyway?", Eren asked confused. They were currently refugees who were living in labour camps made for them. They couldn't exactly train in a cramped labour camp full of people.

Strauss comtemplated for a few moments, Eren had brought up a good question. "Well I guess I'd prefer an open area where it would be easy to run around. But if I need to I'll just run laps around the city.", Strauss answered.

"If that's the case I'm pretty sure I saw an open field area far off to the left when we first got here. I can try take us to it", Mikasa explained.

The three boys nodded and followed Mikasa to their destination. The walk took a while as she wasn't sure of the exact path there but knew the general direction and Strauss took this chance to take a look at the rewards he previously got.

'Status' 

[STATUS- Strauss Ackerman

Condition: Healthy

Power level: 8

Potential: ?

BP(Bloodline Points): 3

Active Bloodlines:

Ackerman (LVL 4/10(EXP: 39/600(+))- A bloodline of warriors that once protected the King. Their immunity to the Founding Titan's powers however caused the King to fear them and betray them, leading their clan to near extinction. You are stronner than most people your age and during moments of need, all your physical stats are boosted and you become much stronger than the average person! (This bloodline can be strengthened by physical activity and/or continous use).

Extra abilities:

Observe- Level 2

You can gain an overview of the abilities and(or) recent thoughts of any one person/item. How much information you are able to see scales off of the level of the skill and in the case of people, how well you know that person.] 

Strauss observed the changes in his status windows and there were a couple of things he noticed. One of them was his increased power level, it looked like he was stronger than before. He wasn't exactly sure how power levels worked with his system, but they reminded him of the power levels shown in a popular show in his past life called 'Dragon Ball Z' if they scaled the same way, then he could guess what the power levels showed him. The other thing he noticed was a visible 'plus' symbol next to the Ackerman bloodline. Curious as to what it meant, he pressed it, and watched a few numbers change on his Status window. One of his BP was now gone and the Ackerman bloodline reached level 5. Without hesitation he used his other two points to increase it further to level 7, this time he also watched his power level go up by one, reaching 9.

'I see. The power levels are based off of raw physical ability and strength. By increasing the level of my Ackerman bloodline, my physical attributes and abilities were increased, which in turn also increased my power level', Strauss came to a conclusion just as they had reached their destination, walking past a gate and revealing a huge grassy field.

"Perfect", Strauss said aloud as he made his way forwards. This was exactly what he imagined for a training area. "May as well start now then. You guys try to keep up!", Strauss said to his friends before breaking into a sprint without any further explanation. Mikasa and Eren, while confused, reacted quickly and decided not to question it and began running too. Armin was simply left there, standing awkwardly by himself.

"W-Wait for me!"

------

(2 years later)

"We now begin the enlistment ceremony for the 104th Trainee Corps! I am Keith Shadis and I had the misfortune of being assigned to train you sorry bastards. And I am not here to welcome you one bit! As you are now you're barely better than cattle, fit tor nothiny but being titan food! No... You're less than cattle! In three years, we'll take you worthless pieces of shit and train you! Giving you the means to fight the titans. In three years when you stand before the titans, will you still be food? Or will you be a noble wall that shields the king? Ot perhaps will you be one of humanity's glorious soldiere that kill the damn titans? You will decide!"

----

A/N: boom, training corps arc begins. I skimmed very quickly over the childhood arc just like in the original show simply cause there wouldn't be that much to write about anyway.