Chapter 2

From where he stood, he could easily see the figure of the colossal titan standing menacingly by the wall.

The behemoth swung its arm across the top surface of the walls, easily destroying the fixed cannons that were mounted there.

"Fuck." Liam could only mutter under his breath in frustration. It had barely been a few hours since he woke up and he was already thrusted into one of the dangerous points in the plot.

He watched as steam covered the titan before it immediately disappeared from view. He could only click his teeth as people around him began panicking.

"Run!"

"We have to get out of here!"

"We're going to die!"

The people of Trost didn't waste any time as they fled, hoping to get into the inner walls lest they die in this breach.

"Take only what you need!"

A few members of the Garrison Regiment quickly came to the area in an attempt to safely ensure the evacuation of the citizens.

"Evacuate in an orderly fashion!"-

With the amount of civilians in Trost, it wasn't long before the streets leading into Wall Rose were completely filled with them.

Hiding from the general view, Liam stayed behind while the populace evacuated. Nobody would be dumb enough to not join the evacuation so the Garrison wouldn't be searching for such people.

Call him stupid but he already had a few crazy thoughts in his head, the first being that there was no telling whether the plot would remain the same.

If it remained the same, a large portion of humanity within the walls could perish, him included. If it was different, there was still the chance of it happening. 'I'm not a coward who's going to die because I left my fate to others.' He thought with a small grimace.

The second thing that motivated him to stay was very simple yet also stupid. He was limited in how long and how many times he could enter a dungeon. In a few minutes, the city would be filled with titans.

What better way would there be to level up quickly?

'Status.'

Name - Liam Ross

Level - 16

Race - Human

Hp - 550 [22 per minute]

Mp- 1300 [44 per 30 seconds]

Str - 13

Vit - 11

Dex - 12

Int - 26

Wis- 22

Cha - 21

Points - 75

'Until I am decently powerful, [Ice Magic Mastery] will be a last resort in public. For now I need to focus on my physical stats.' He thought as he went over his plan.

'I'll have to wait until a response team shows up to snag a gear. Operating an ODM gear requires proper body strength which is one of the reasons they train for three years. As much as I'd like to save these points, what good will they be if I'm dead?' He thought as he began assigning points.

Name - Liam Ross

Level - 16

Race - Human

Hp - 1650 [66 per minute]

Mp- 1300 [60 per 30 seconds]

Str - 35

Vit - 33

Dex - 35

Int - 26

Wis- 30

Cha - 21

Points - 0

Int and Cha were the two stats he didn't increase. He needed the perception from Wis to go along with the fast pace that a fight with a Titan required. Str and Dex were increased accordingly along with Vit.

'That should at least save me from dying in one hit. I'd be able to run away and let my Hp regenerate before going back to fight.' He thought in satisfaction.

He felt the ground shaking a bit as Titans were now roaming the city. 'Where are they?' He thought, impatience leaking into his thoughts.

As if responding to his thoughts, he began to hear weird sounds coming in his direction. Mere moments after that, his eyes caught a man in ODM gear zipping past him from above the building.

'Finally.' Liam thought with a smile as the man was followed by others of the same regiment.

Carefully, Liam moved until he was peeking around a corner as two members of the Garrison zipped towards a 4 meter titan.

"Die!" The man screamed as he narrowly dodged a swipe from the titan, aiming his grapple at its arm.

He reeled himself towards it, swinging towards it exposed back as he slashed its nape with the blades, tainting them in blood as the titan fell.

Before it fell, he withdrew the grapple hook, shooting it at a nearby building, zipping away to find more titans.

[ODM Piloting has leveled up!]

[ODM Piloting has leveled up!]

[ODM Piloting has leveled up!]

Liam showed a grin from where he stood. Velvet's [Photographic Memory] semblance was already doing its thing.

'I was worried I'd have to use those EXP cards now. Though, I'll still have to use them soon. These guys aren't as proficient with the gear as the likes of Levi and Mikasa.' He would wait until the skill had gotten to a certain level before using them.

-[Jean]-

"Split up into teams, just as in training! Under the Garrison's command, you will form supply and information routes as you mop up any titans you encounter!"

"The Garrison's intercept Squad will form the vanguard. The Cadets will function as the middle guards under our command! And the Garrison's elite will form the rear guard!"

"According to the information we received, the initial response team has been wiped out! They let the titans break through the defenses and get into the town!"

"In other words, as things stand, the armored titan could show up at any time and destroy the inner wall!"

Jean could barely pay attention to anything the man was saying.

'Why? Why did it have to be today?! I would have left for the interior tomorrow morning!' He complained, his body filled with raw fear.

This wasn't how things were supposed to go.

-[Liam]-

He shouldn't have been surprised. Had everyone with an ODM gear been greatly skilled then titans would barely be a problem and casualties would be greatly reduced.

It hadn't taken long for the titans to wipe out most of the response team that came to kill them.

Liam had spent the whole time quickly moving from place to place in order to observe their use of the ODM gear.

After watching so many uses and deaths of the users, [ODM Piloting] was at level 15 and there was a severe lack of people to observe.

Surprisingly, [Sword Mastery] went up by two levels from watching them. This brought him the realization that the system counted dual wielding under [Sword Mastery] rather than as a different skill.

'I guess it's time.' He thought, taking out the EXP cards. He had a total of 8 in his hands. Without wasting time, he used five of them on [ODM Piloting] and the remaining three on [Sword Mastery].

[ODM Piloting has leveled up!]

[ODM Piloting has leveled up!]

[ODM Piloting has leveled up!]

[Sword Mastery has leveled up!]

[Sword Mastery has leveled up!]

He let out a breath of relief that it was able to level them at all. For all he knew, the amount of 'EXP' in those cards would be so little that it didn't do anything.

Looking around the corner, he was met with the close sight of a 3 meter titan who was also staring back at him.

'Shit!'

Withdrawing his head from sight, he felt the vibrations as the titan got closer to his position. 'I haven't gotten the gear yet!'

He turned the corner once again to see it now running towards him. He grimaced before noticing the dead body some distance behind the titan.

'There's my chance.' He thought before abandoning his attempt to hide, rushing towards the titan as well.

With a brief second, he looked around, not seeing anybody else around him. Focusing on the Titan that was now in front of him, the ground in front of him froze, ice covering the titan's foot, causing it to stumble to the ground from the sudden interruption.

He easily dodged the falling creature, making his way to the corpse of one of the fallen Garrison members. He took a moment once again to be sure no one saw him as he removed the ODM gear from the corpse, grimacing at the specks of blood on it.

Another use of [Freeze] kept the titan rooted to the ground as Liam put on the gear. It didn't take more than a minute to wear it.

Testing the feeling of the hand grips, it seemed more familiar than he thought. 'It feels like I've always known how to use this.' He marveled at the learning capabilities of the system.

With that familiarity, he turned to the Titan who now broke free from the ice at the expense of tearing off its limbs. With a squeeze of the trigger, the grapple shot forward, the hook taking root in the titans shoulder as he pulled himself towards it.

While airborne, he withdrew the hook, the momentum keeping him gliding through the air as he got behind it, aiming another hook at its neck.

Pulling out the blades as he reeled himself towards the titan, violently slashing its nape in the way he recalled them doing.

[You have leveled up!]

The struggles of the titan ceased as it fell to the ground, steaming as its body slowly evaporated.

'That felt…exhilarating.' Titans were far stronger than Zombies so he wasn't shocked when he leveled up.

He quickly dismissed the ice on the floor, watching it shatter into nothingness, leaving no trace other than the brief cold feeling in that area.

[*Ding!*]

[Mission Added]

[Mission Objective: Survive]

[Bonus Objective: Kill 5 Titans]

[Bonus Objective: Kill 10 Titans]

[Bonus Objective: Kill 20 Titans]

[Bonus Objective: Kill 50 Titans]

[Reward: EXP]

[Bonus Reward: EXP, Moderate Health Potion x3]

[Bonus Reward: EXP, EXP card x10, Gacha Token x2]

[Bonus Reward: EXP, 20 stat points, +10 levels in Alchemy]

[Bonus Reward: 70 points, Legendary Gacha Token]

'You just want me dead, don't you?' He thought in exasperation at the illogical expectations the system had for him.

Despite that, a grin showed on his face. 'Bring it on.'