Chapter 3: Mastering

- It's titanium.

- ... Okay, is it a superhero or something? Or a supervillain?

The boy looked at me with eyes as serious and cold as metal in the cold.

- They're monsters that live behind the wall and eat people.

I blinked a few times, remaining silent, trying to comprehend the answer I'd just received, beyond what I'd expected.

- Laaaaaaaaaybe, what kind of walls?

- Just big walls. You managed not to see them somehow!

He opened his eyes wide.

- ... Well, it was cloudy yesterday because of the rain, and I don't remember the events before that.

Eren smiled and got up from his chair.

- I'll show you then.

I touched the wound, which was still uncomfortable to move. It was enough for him to understand the situation, which was surprising, because usually little kids like to insist.

- Let's do it later. By the way, what year is it?

- 838.

A sudden excitement came over me, which turned into the certainty that I was in another world, because the world around me didn't correspond to the years, if you oriented to the native world.

- Hey, why are you frozen?

I was brought out of my thoughts by a child's hand swinging from side to side in front of my face.

- I was just thinking about how nice it would be to have superpowers that would enable me to resist any adversity and make me practically invincible.

- That only happens in fairy tales.

- It does, and you're a smart kid. Are you sure you're 3 years old?

- Three and a half!

- Uh, three and a half. Wow, you're almost an adult.

- Yeah! I can't wait to be big.

His face was shining with childish enthusiasm, although adulthood is not something to be desired at all, but that's just my opinion.

- Since I can't leave the house yet, let's play a couple games. All you need is two pencils and a piece of paper.

Eren took them from the table and put them in front of me. Taking the sheet I drew a 3×3 grid for a game of tic-tac-toe, simple enough, but also easily addictive, at the expense of losing.

- Well, in this game you have to line up 3 of your pieces, either crosses or zeros vertically, horizontally or on a large diagonal.

I have shown all the available combinations to win, to make it easier to learn everything.

- Also, if all the squares are occupied but not lined up in a row, it's a draw. I think that's it, if you have any questions, ask.

- Wow, how do you know about this game?

- Uh, I don't know, it was somewhere in my memory.

- What's "hmm"?

- A shorter form of the word I don't know.

- I see...

Eren's answer made it clear at once that it was not clear, but I don't want to have to chew on the meaning of all the words I use.

- Let's get to the game.

He immediately put an X in the center, which is the best way to start the game, opening up many further moves. I put a zero in the lower right corner while Eren is over the center. Again it was my turn and I had to draw a piece under the center. The boy, almost without thinking, put a cross in the upper right corner, and I took advantage of this and drew the coveted zero in the lower left corner, which completed the winning horizontal.

Eren clutched his hands to his head, cursing himself.

- Man, I'd been too focused on winning and hadn't noticed.

- It's okay, we can still play.

- All right, you go for the crosses.

- Okay, but they're a lot easier to dominate, but if you want to--

He hesitated, but shook his head affirmatively.

- Go ahead.

For the next hour we played only tic-tac-toe, having already drawn three sheets of paper. During this time I managed to win 34 times, Eren 18, although I sometimes gave in, but several times still lost because of inattention. We were interrupted during the next game by the mother of the Jaeger family, who was passing by, but noticed how enthusiastically we were playing.

- What are you doing there?

The duty of answering and further clarification was handed to Eren, due to his closer connection.

- Playing tic-tac-toe, Andrei told me about it. It requires that your pieces are lined up in a row, then you win.

- Wow, that sounds interesting. Andrei, how do you know about this game?

- I don't remember, I just have a memory.

Telling that I'm from another world where people are already able to communicate with each other, being in different countries without paper letters is not a good idea. As the fear of becoming an innovator who will be deemed obsessed and hanged or burned is a bit scary, but that's for now. If everything goes well, in the future you can monetize everything and become a tycoon.

- Okay, can I play with you?

- Sure.

I sent her to battle with Eren, who had already developed a pattern that could make it easy for an opponent to lose if he didn't think things through. Expectedly, the son defeated the mother, who only smiled, but suddenly started the second round.

Apparently her excitement had increased dramatically. Well, that's all right, I'll draw signs for the sea battle.

Instead of a grid, I had to draw three 10×10 squares, where I numbered each row on the left and the letters on top. Besides serving as a good time and bonding activity, I'll also be able to see if they recognize the numbers and letters I wrote.

It took about half an hour before they finally finished playing and that, I had to cough to get their attention. I put the two sheets in front of them.

- This is a different game, in my opinion it's even more interesting due to the larger number of players. The idea is that you have to draw ships in the square area, their size and number I will explain later. After you finish drawing them, in a chain each player will call a coordinate, for example, A1 and if there will be a ship there, the one who was hit announces it and the chain moves on. The task of the game is to destroy all enemy ships.

Mother and son looked at me in silence with wide-eyed stares, remaining silent. Finally, Karda spoke up.

- Andrei, how old are you?

- I don't know, I haven't even seen a full reflection of myself, so I can't say, but probably about four years old.

- Wait, I'll get a mirror.

Carla left while Eren turned his attention to the sheet with the new game. I didn't have to wait long, Grisha's wife brought a small mirror and handed it to me, after which I was finally able to see my beautiful face.

A normal, only a little chubby oval face, black hair and dark brown eyes.

Well, probably really about four years old. Based on the daycare center, where there was a boy almost identical in appearance.

- Four years old.

I'd better make up my mind once and for all so there's no further confusion.

- You don't sound like that. It's like the mind of an adult in the body of a child.

- Let's get back to the game, because we need to explain about the ships themselves.

It was tedious and boring, but I was able to explain it to them, even though it took about 10 minutes.

I'd rather try the game blind, but since it worked, I'll save it for later.

- А1.

- Missed.

I see, so numbers and letters are understandable to them, well, it was obvious since they recognize my speech.

Somehow, miraculously, the game dragged on for a damn hour, and I got out first, so I had to watch the rest of the game. Towards the end Grisha came back, who caught them playing. Since I had nothing to do anyway, I told him about both games and their rules.

- How curious, but even more interesting how you got such knowledge.

- I don't remember, why don't we play tic-tac-toe?

- Oh, all right.

We ended up having a little tournament where I decided to give it my best and managed to beat everyone with a score of 35:26. The second number is the total number of times I've been beaten.

I didn't sit in class for nothing after all.

After the tournament came lunch and the second game of naval combat, but with four of us, which lasted for another hour, which flew by in a flash. And then another game, but again with just the three of us, because Grisha had to go somewhere urgently.

In general, the whole day passed in games. Even Grisha was fascinated by them, while I was already bored after the fourth sea battle, so I went back to bed and went to sleep.

- Get up!

I was shaken by Eren's shoulder with the same smile as before as I tried to come to my senses. Carefully getting up from the bed, I looked at the bandage that was still the same color.

If there was no blood, it would be a good time to walk around and find out more about my surroundings.

- Let's play!!!

- Sure, let's play tour guide.

- Guide? What's that?

- It's simple, I'll ask various questions about the world, the city and all that, and you have to answer them. If you answer correctly, you get one point, if not, nothing. How's that?

- Hmm, sounds a bit boring, but let's give it a go.

While Karla was milling around in the kitchen, Grisha, who was sitting at the table downstairs, noticed us and beckoned us over, holding a notebook in his hands.

- And where are you going?

- To play!

- Haa, let me walk with you.

He got up from the table and walked with us to the front door, still with notebook and pen in hand.

- We're going for a little walk, Carla.

- Yeah, just don't be late for breakfast.

The sameness of the surrounding buildings was a little intimidating, though there were various details that distinguished them. The streets weren't too crowded, but there were still the occasional pedestrians whose appearance was indicative of the 16th or 17th century or so, which resonated oddly, or my knowledge of history was too terrible. But all that paled in comparison to the incredibly huge wall encircling the city.

- Eren, is this the wall you were talking about?

- Yeah, that's Maria's wall, and then Rosa's.

- Rosa?

I turned back to where another huge wall was peering far enough away. Thoughts that the titans were fictional monsters quickly began to dissipate. While I was marveling at the size of the defensive structure, Grisha was writing something down at a distance from us.

- L-okay. So that creature in the drawing looks like a real titan?

- I guess I drew from a picture from the book I found in my father's study.

- I see. They eat people?

- Uh, yeah.

Oh, I don't feel so good. First maniacs, a knife in my side, and now flesh-eating giants. If there's a god, he's definitely messing with me.

- Okay, let's forget about that for a while. What's behind the walls?

- I don't know.

The boy shrugged, staring sharply at the wall that separated the city from the monsters.

- What kind of city is this?

- Shiganshina.

Okay, demanding a child's vast knowledge is not the best option. I should grow up and gradually find out information on my own, and maybe go to the library, if there is one here.

- Well done, Eren, you win. As a reward, I'll show you how to make a firecracker.

Gradually I got used to living in such a place, after all people have a good adaptation to almost any conditions, but my knowledge about this world has not increased, because the local library was to asburd small and mostly filled with all kinds of religion and fairy tales, which also traced the theme of religion, but not useful information about what is and where the so-called titans come from. After two weeks I began to exercise, starting with light jogging and gradually moving to heavier exercises.

The next four years flew by. I'd lost weight and looked fitter, and if I kept up my pace, I might even surpass the results I'd achieved in my home world. Eren had gotten bigger and smarter in the meantime, and it was an interesting fact that he had also started to exercise hard, following my example. I became a big brother to him rather than a friend, teaching him with the knowledge I had. Grisha and Carla also finally got used to me, especially the rapprochement was influenced by joint games. In general, everything was going well.

Now I was again running along the almost deserted street of Shiganshina, while Eren was moving next to me to a drunkard I had met a couple days ago. He was drunk and trying to hug everyone around him, but I didn't care about that, as long as he could give me useful information.

- Hey, Hannes.

On a wooden crate sat a short-haired, light-haired drunkard in a Garrison uniform, enjoying a drink with his friends from the morning. A smile appeared on his reddened face from the high-degree drink as he turned to us.

- Oh, Grisha's kids. What are you doing here?

- I got a question for you, Hannes. What's behind the walls?

Straightforwardness is the best option when communicating with a drunk person, because to explain and bend in any way would be unnecessary for a clouded mind.

- I don't know.

- What? Have you lost your mind? There's a forest outside the walls, and then there's really no way to know.

Another alcoholic joined the conversation, giving at least some answer, which was followed by a conversation between three members of the Garrison.

- Yeah, the Intelligence Corps is still on the fence.

- You're fucking crazy. My brother's in there, would you venture outside the walls yourself, huh?

We silently listened to their accusations in both directions, but I wasn't interested in any further direction, so I kept running toward the house, pulling Eren with me, who apparently wanted to say something to the drunkards, but didn't have time.

- Remember a useful piece of advice. If you're weaker or the drunk has a weapon, it's better not to get into a conflict with him, because there's a chance that you won't come home.

- L-okay.

Apparently that fact scared him a bit, but it's a lot better than getting knocked back by a drunk in an alley.

The days went on again, until at one point I got the idea to improve my combat skills, which I'd forgotten about. It's fun to throw kolkhoz blows, of course, but it's still worth tightening up my technique, especially if I have someone to practice with.

Over the next week, Eren and I started practicing punching techniques, as well as basic combinations, luckily I was able to make a punching bag out of an ordinary sandbag, which Grisha could hardly hang near the house.

In general, during these years I somehow got used to life here, gradually forgetting about the previous experience, returning to it only because of the need for something.

- Eren, say glue.

He distracted himself from beating the pear, staring at me with suspicion. Over the long experience of communication, Eren could recognize some kind of trick, but because of the interest to find out something new, complied.

- Drink a can of snot, ahahahahahahahaha.

While I burst out laughing with my response, Eren only stood there for a couple seconds and continued hitting the punching bag.

- Yeah, that's pretty badass.

Oh yeah, he'd memorized the words I'd used only a couple of times, and now he used them in his speech. I hadn't considered that, but I was trying to keep my wide vocabulary in check.

- You're better off talking nonsense, it makes you seem smarter.

I also started drawing again, because there was no electrical equipment here, but I still had the skills, so I could still draw simple artwork. Once I even drew Eren with the head of a pigeon, but he then made an airplane out of it, which I also taught him, and launched it in an unknown direction. Then I thought it would be funny if it could fly farther than the forest and be discovered by people who might live there.

- Andrei, look.

Eren stopped suddenly during another run, turning toward the alley, where there were muffled thumps and whimpers.

- Who's getting hit or something...

I peeked out from behind the wall, finding three teenagers beating up a boy.

- We have to save him!

- Wait, going into a direct confrontation isn't the best option, because we could get hit. It's better to use our surprise. Now we'll approach them calmly, and after I stab the main one in the liver, you hit the bells of the kid on the left, got it?

- Yeah, what about the chubby one?

- I'll hit him in the bells, because I can hardly penetrate such a layer of natural armor.

We entered the alley with emotionless faces, as if we were the main characters of this world, while the hooligans and the crying kid stared at us. With each step we came closer and closer to them and when the distance was reduced to 10 meters, they walked towards us, leaving the kid behind.

- Who are you guys? Do you want to get some too?

- Let's beat them up too!

- Keep it down, dudes.

The head man calmed them down as they circled us, but it wasn't exciting, considering what I'd been through, bruises and broken bones weren't a big deal, but explaining to Eren's parents how he'd gotten bruises....

- Hello, let's start with a handshake so I can explain why we're here.

I was going to use the most obvious, but also unexpected scheme.

- Holy shit. Go ahead.

He held out his hand with a goofy grin as I shook it and gave him a hard kick to the liver that sent him bending over, but I wasn't going to stop there, so I kicked him in the balls with all my might.

- Aaaaaaaaaaah!!!

A painful scream came out of his mouth that brought the others back to reality, but it was too late. Eren struck the short man's bells with his left and I pudge with my right.

- Aaaaaaaaaaaaah! / Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Two more short shouts were heard, which would surely attract someone else's attention. Without wasting any time, we approached the blond-haired and somewhat frail boy, who was glancing back and forth between us and the hooligans.

- Let's hurry up, we don't need unnecessary attention right now.

The boy with the sore face was still looking at us as time passed inexorably.

- W-Why did you do that?

- Let's answer the question when we leave this place, okay?

We picked him up under his shoulders and slowly carried him out of here, ignoring the hurt and furious looks of the bullies, who would now treat him even worse if nothing was done.

On the way the boy asked the same question again, gradually calming down.

- Why did you do it?

- Beating up the weak for self-aggrandizement is the domain of the weak, who must be punished with harsh punishment. You didn't do anything to them, did you?

- N-no.

- Is it really for fun?

- ...

We finally stopped and put the boy on the bench.

- What's your name?

- A-armin.

- Nice to meet you, I'm Andrei and this is Eren.

- What a strange name.

- I hope you mean Eren. Okay, so why did they beat you up?

- They c-consider me weird, since my parents tried to go outside the walls.

- Yeah, well, the best way to get rid of your detractors is to punch them in the face. I don't think you're physically fit enough to do that, but you can learn anything.

A boy in a dirty long blue sweater with one button, a light-colored shirt, long pants and shoes, looked at us with hope.

Over the next few days, Armin began practicing with us, and we leisurely taught him hitting techniques, gradually increasing the severity of the training. After the first week, we ran into these same hooligans.

- There you go! / You're going to get it! My balls still hurt, you're going to pay for this!

They were clearly not happy for that moment.

- Armin, Eren, it's time to show off, don't hold back, just don't chew their ears off.

Armin was going to have to fight a small bully, and Eren a boar, which he's unlikely to overpower, so I'm going to have to deal with the main sleeper as quickly as possible. My opponent has the height and weight advantage, but I'm not going to fight fair, so I'm going to use a very powerful move, for the sake of which I'll have to take a couple of blows on my back, for I've strengthened it well with the help of a tourniquet, as well as my grip, which plays an important role in the future.

I didn't hesitate long before I lunged at my opponent, and he at me, which signaled the start of a general fight. I dived straight for the sleeper, intending to punch him in the face, which didn't work, but I managed to grab his nipples.

- Э? What the hell are you doing?

I squeezed them as hard as I could and twisted them hard.

- Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

A sharp and deafening scream came out of the poor guy's mouth, but for extra assurance, I slapped him in the balls, dropping him to the ground with a face full of pain and bitterness of defeat. Not dwelling on him, I walked over to the potbellied one who had Eren up against the wall and kicked him in the balls. Then I ran up to Armin, who was knocked down by a small hooligan, and kicked the latter on the bells, from which he flew a couple of meters forward. I reached out my hand to the lying comrade, lifted him up and looked at the hooligans lying on the ground with a smile on my face.

- How's that feel?

- Yes! / Honestly, y-yes.

- That's good. And you assholes know I got a couple more moves that'll make you wish you'd never been born. So I don't want to see you anywhere near Armin again, you understand?!

- Y-yes.

The chief among them, who was now holding his chest with one hand and his balls with the other, made a barely audible reply.

- Then let's go, boys.

___________

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