Chapter 8

- [Liam] -

Stepping out of the bathroom in clean clothes, Liam let out a breath of satisfaction. They didn't have normal casual clothes so he was given one of the cadet uniforms except that it had the 'Wings of freedom' insignia in the required places.

The bathroom had a mirror so it was also the first time he had seen his own face. He had acquired a new fear of the Cha stats. If he thought his features before were good, they were currently out of this world.

Short messy black hair that hung in front of his face but yet didn't obstruct his vision. His eyes were hazel colored and his pale skin smooth like porcelain and without blemish.

'I guess that's what a whooping 90 points in Cha will do to you.' He thought, repressing a shiver as he came face to face with a slightly flustered but still calm Rico.

"Y-you look…different."

Liam was covered in blood and dirt the first time they met so seeing his unique appearance without all of that in the way rightfully stunned her.

"I apologize for my unsightly attire earlier. It was all I had to work with." He apologized as he pulled on the material of the jacket.

"That's not a problem. More importantly, since you decided to join the scouts, we will be going to meet them now." She said, turning to the exit only for Liam to stop her.

"Is it possible for me to get a pair of glasses? My eyesight is rather atrocious." He revealed as the woman spun quickly to face him.

"Glasses? You mean you fought all day while barely being able to see?!" She questioned in shock as Liam nodded his head. "You're crazy!" She said as she shook her head.

"Wait here." With that, she left, going into one of the rooms.

As she left, Liam opened the system, going through the notifications that were silenced during the heat of the battle earlier.

There were a lot of normal and skill level up notifications but one particular notification caught his attention.

[You've reached level 40! Choose a Profession:]

[Baker]

[Chef]

[Actor]

[Writer]

[Teacher]

[Singer]

[Mixologist]

…

The list went further. It was a rather extensive list. Scrolling through it, he was still surprised about this feature of the system. He paused as he saw [Engineer] among the list.

'Wasn't [Engineer] also in the list for production skills?' He thought, recalling when he was picking his skills.

He continued scrolling, looking for any other one that could catch his interest. There were a few of them but none of them could compare to the advantage that [Engineer] would bring.

[Profession Gained]

[Engineer](Lvl 1/70)

[Skill Gained]

[Create device]

Creates basic devices, requires materials.

[Skill Gained]

[Create Machine]

Creates machines to serve you, requires materials.

[Skill Gained]

[Disassemble Machine]

Provides an integral understanding on how a machine works.

As a load of information pushed itself into his head, he smiled in satisfaction. Paradis Island was severely underdeveloped, something that he would have to change bit by bit.

He would lead the Island out of the literal Stone Age they were stuck in. After all, when he was done dealing with Marley, he wanted to return to the comfort of somewhat modern technology.

At that moment, Rico returned with a pair of round glasses in her hand. "Will this do?" She asked as Liam took it from her, placing it over his eyes.

He was pleasantly surprised when the blurry edge to his vision disappeared. 'So glasses can temporarily fix it. It was only a theory but it seems I was right.' He was also surprised that the lens prescription was right, there was a 50/50 chance that it would be wrong.

"Where did you get these?" He asked curiously. They were in a house not a store so he was honestly wondering where she got it.

"It seems we use the same prescription. Those are mine, you can keep it. Let's go." She said as they made their way to the exit.

"Yours?" He muttered as he realized something. "Is this your house?" He asked as the woman froze for a moment, a slightly flustered look appearing on her face.

"C-commander Pyxis said to get you tidied up. It was the first thing that came to mind." She defended, Liam raising a brow.

'Your first choice was to bring me to your home?' He thought but didn't vocalize his thoughts but the raised brow conveyed his question.

"Shut up. Let's get going." Rico said with mild frustration as they left the house.

- [Erwin] -

After his conversation with Liam and Pyxis, he had done some digging behind the scenes. The boy seemed to be telling the truth.

His father was known to have odd tendencies, doing or saying odd things while dragging his son along. Everything lined up with what the boy said and yet he couldn't help but feel like he was missing something.

The boy still seemed mysterious despite all the information he had gathered about him. The worst thing was that despite the mystery surrounding him, it didn't feel like it would be a bad thing for humanity.

Erwin had always followed his instincts and said instincts told him that the boy would be a great asset to humanity in the walls.

Seeing the boy whose mystery occupied his thoughts walking towards him with a flustered Rico, he was a bit confused. That wasn't something he saw often from the usually serious woman.

The boy looked different but it was still easy to recognize him even with the new pair of spectacles, though he did look quite different.

- [Liam] -

"Commander." He greeted the man as Rico left for wherever it was that she had to go. The man nodded in acknowledgement before speaking.

"Let's get down to business. Levi." Erwin called out loudly as a short man walked out from behind him.

Liam had noticed him from the moment he entered the room. They were in a different building not too far from Rico's that he had left.

Liam took a moment to scrutinize the man who was claimed to be humanity's strongest soldier. Said man was currently giving him a stern look.

"This is him? I'm not impressed." Levi said bluntly, causing Liam to raise a brow.

"Isn't that my line? You're shorter than I anticipated." Liam shot back as both dark haired individuals stared at each other with narrowed eyes.

"Due to the value you represent, on the occasion that we leave the walls, you will be assigned to Levi's squad." Erwin said before either of them could continue. "Though you are skilled, we can't afford to take any chances."

The two dark haired individuals sized each other up before Liam nodded in agreement.

"Along with the items you requested, we've also prepared a few ingredients to get started." Erwin added, surprising Liam.

'It's only been a few hours since we last spoke and he's already gotten me what I need. I guess it goes to show how truly desperate humanity is.' Liam thought while outwardly nodding with a surprised expression. "That was fast."

"This is a matter of utmost priority. We cannot afford to take it lightly. When can you start?" Erwin asked.

"If you have a place for me to start working, I can begin right away." The boy answered, recovering from his 'surprise'.

"You can use this place. Pyxis was kind enough to let us have it. Everything you need is already set in one of the rooms." Erwin said as he turned to the exit. "Unfortunately we cannot stay long. Until we come back, I'd advise you to stay indoors."

To Liam it made sense when he thought about it from their point of view. Though not many were aware of his identity or of his miraculous feat, the best course of action would be to lay low until they were able to leave.

"I understand. I get to work." Liam said lightly as Erwin and Levi took their leave, the latter narrowing his eyes at Liam, a gesture that was returned.

Locking the door as they left, the first thing Liam did was search the small house. Though the chances were low, he didn't rule out the chance of someone hiding inside to spy on him or otherwise.

After a quick search revealed that he was alone, he moved back to the room where he had found the ingredients and materials.

There were many herbs and leaves on the table along with a small mortar and pestle. There were even a few fruits. Looking at them, a plan was already brewing in his head.

'Let's get this started shall we?' He thought as he brought out the EXP cards from his inventory.

- [Later] -

- [Annie] -

They had found it.

Though she was a bit surprised at who it was, they had found the possible wielder of the founding titan, Eren Yeager.

The founding titan was in the hands of a person she believed to be the worst possible person to have it. Though she felt a bit of guilt about what she would soon have to do, she had no choice.

The cadets and a few Garrison soldiers were in the HQ within Wall Rose for the moment. It had been almost two days since the battle of Trost and yet nothing had happened.

They were currently in the mess hall having lunch, the usual bland crap that passed for a meal in Paradis.

In the corner of her eyes, she saw someone creeping up to her from behind. Had she not recognized them, it wouldn't have been a pretty sight. "What do you want, Reiner?" She asked, annoyed.

"We need to talk in private. Follow me." He said, quiet enough for only her to hear.

"What do you want? Get the hell away from me." She was about to get to her feet and walk away when his next words froze her.

"War Chief Zeke sent a message." Reiner whispered before walking away.

'What?! When did he even get in here?' Annie thought in confusion before looking around her. Due to seating in the back corner of the hall, nobody noticed the interactions between them.

She quietly and quickly followed him out of the hall and into the deserted compound. Other than the soldiers just outside the gate, there was nobody else in sight.

"How did he even get here? How did he contact you?" Annie asked as they moved a bit, now out of view of the soldiers at the gate.

"He sent Pieck to deliver it to us. She's already on her way back. He answers before continuing.

"Marley has developed a serum to permanently increase the power of our titans. It also has the possibility of giving us new abilities but it's slim." Reiner said in a quiet tone despite them being alone.

Her eyes widened in shock. Was that even possible? Marley had been weaponizing and exploiting the titans in their possession for as long as she could remember.

For them to be able to come up with this…

He pulled out a corked vial containing a yellow liquid from his pocket, quickly handing it over to her. "Bertholdt and I have already taken it. You'll feel weak for a minute or so before it kicks in."

She stared at the vial in her hand for a few moments. This item in her hand was possibly the key to help them finish this mission quickly.

She would finally be able to go home. Sterling herself, she took off the cork as she remembered Reiner's words. 'It'll only be for a minute…' she thought before quickly downing it in one go.

As soon as she finished it, she felt strength leaving her body, a wave of fatigue slamming into her. It was worse than she thought but she reminded herself that it wouldn't last as she leaned on the wall to stabilize herself.

The now empty vial slipped from her hand only to be snatched before it hit the ground by Reiner. She was relieved, aware that the sound of the fragile glass breaking could have attracted some attention.

"That was quite dangerous Annie. Do you want us to get caught?" She felt her heart freeze as the voice she heard wasn't that of Reiner.

She looked at Reiner who had a smirk on his face. To her shock, Reiner's features began to change as he grew shorter, his facial features and hair quickly changing as well.

In a few moments, she found herself standing in front of a familiar face. "Y-you-! What is going on?" She muttered in shock and a tinge of fear.

He was the one who cleared the path for them to be able to refill their gas during the battle of Trost. The only difference was that he was now in clean clothes, looking more presentable as he pulled out a pair of glasses from somewhere.

- [Liam] -

Putting on the glasses, he found himself somewhat amused at Annie's helpless look. With the ingredients delivered to him, he was able to start his plan earlier.

The first few potions he made were to get a feel for using [Alchemy]. It was after his third potion that he got comfortable and made the first potion that he would utilize in his plans.

A Lethargy potion to keep the victim in a state of complete exhaustion for 20 minutes which would be more than enough for him.

The next potion he made was one that was inspired from the Harry Potter series. A poor imitation of the Polyjuice potion. This one required the drinker to visualize the individual they wanted to transform into while drinking it.

Nobody would be able to remember the exact details of anyone else so it was a useless potion…fortunately, he had [Semblance - Photographic Memory] to circumvent that hurdle.

It didn't take him more than a few glances to get the older boy's full image memorized by heart. The actual Reiner and Bertholdt were pleasantly dozing off in one of the rooms in the HQ due to a Sleeping Potion he snuck into their food while disguised as the man who distributed the food.

There was the risk of Erwin or someone from the survey corps going to check on him while he was out but he had taken measures for that.

While taking a bath in Rico's home, he spent a short amount of time creating a new skill.

[Ice Clone](Lvl 7/10)

Creates a clone that shatters in ice when enough damage is taken.

Cost: 250 MP

His first attempt at creating the skill gave him an [Ice Soldier] but he didn't give up until he got it. After that, he simply used four EXP cards to take it to level 7 where it no longer looked like an ice statue and instead looked human.

The clone was currently back in the building where Erwin left him. He used the rest of the EXP cards on [Stealth] to make his way here unnoticed.

'Everything is coming along smoothly so far.' He thought before focusing on Annie who was still in a state of shock and moved to bite her finger.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said in an amused tone. "I'm pretty sure you guys need a certain level of stamina to transform. In that state, you'd only be injuring yourself for nothing."

The look of fear and shock that she had begun recovering from came back at full speed at his in-depth knowledge about her and possibly Reiner and Bertholdt.

Satisfied with the amount of fear he had put in her, Liam put away the bottle in his pocket, discreetly sending it to his inventory. "Now then, Annie…let's have a chat, shall we?"