That night, the starry sky shimmered with the brilliance of the Milky Way, painting the heavens in a cascade of colors as radiant and fluid as a celestial ribbon.
On the vast, rootless land below, only the moonlight poured softly across the silent world. Mindless Titans lingered everywhere—on hillsides, in ravines, and hidden among the tall grass.
But under the night sky, all of them were still.
Boom!
A golden bolt of lightning cracked through the heavens, lighting up the Giant Tree Forest like day. From the sky, a seven-meter Titan came crashing down, its face and hands encased in a hardened shell. Its mouth opened to reveal razor-sharp teeth as it slammed into the ground, scattering dust and gravel.
"This is the Jaw Titan… sharp claws, sharper teeth," Lucien muttered, his tone calm yet filled with curiosity.
From within the nape, Lucien Graves looked at his own Titan hands—now those of the Jaw Titan—and flexed his fingers. His knife-like teeth could easily crush rock or tear through steel.
He glanced around at the towering trees, then leaped upward. His claws dug deep into the bark as he swung between the trunks with startling speed and agility.
After about ten minutes of movement, Lucien stood still inside the Titan's nape. The corpse began to release hot steam as he exited, landing gracefully atop a thick branch.
"This feeling… not bad," he said with a faint smile.
Even after ten minutes of transformation, he hadn't used much stamina.
"Next, the Colossal Titan."
He sliced his palm, letting blood spill. Another golden lightning bolt split the sky as a thunderous roar echoed through the forest. Steam billowed upward in a mushroom cloud as a colossal figure took shape—a sixty-meter Titan towering above everything.
"My perspective really has changed," Lucien murmured.
From the Colossal Titan's eyes, the entire land stretched below him like a fragile map. With a single step, the ground fractured, cracks tearing through the soil. Each movement caused the earth to tremble as though the world itself bowed beneath his feet.
The Titan's massive hand, wreathed in steam, swept across the land like a storm wind. The impact uprooted trees and tore the ground apart as if struck by a typhoon.
Boom!
Scalding steam surged outward, centered around the Colossal Titan. The explosion left nothing behind but scorched earth and glowing embers.
Lucien observed quietly. "Stamina drains quickly. It's powerful and durable but too slow. The heat release is devastating, but it consumes everything in an instant."
After ten minutes, he released the transformation and stepped out of the nape, his breath hot, his body surrounded by steam.
Then, he drew in a deep breath. "Armored Titan—your turn."
Lightning struck again, shaking the forest. As the dust settled, a fifteen-meter Titan stood firm, its entire body encased in hardened armor plates.
"It really does look like armor," Lucien noted, his eyes gleaming.
He moved the massive body with controlled precision. Though slower than the Female or Jaw Titan, its strength and defense were unmatched—perfect for close combat.
Twenty minutes later, Lucien emerged once more, steam hissing off his body. The Armored Titan's advantages were clear, though the armor had to be shed around the joints to perform complex movements.
After transforming into the Female, Jaw, Colossal, and Armored Titans, Lucien now fully understood his potential.
He could merge traits from each form—using the Jaw Titan's claws while in the Female Titan, or summoning the Colossal Titan's steam while armored. Their powers were interconnected, forming a seamless network of abilities.
"The Beast, Cart, War Hammer, Attack, and Founding Titans… I'll need them all."
Lucien's instincts felt that if he could absorb all Nine Titans, he would possess every power they held—a far greater gift than any system could offer.
"But no need to rush. First, I'll master Hardening… then refine my control."
He stretched his limbs, gazing toward the dawn. Daily training was essential—Shave and Geppo could never be neglected.
"If I can still use Shave and Geppo while in Titan form…" Lucien's eyes narrowed. "That would be unstoppable."
The idea had been with him for weeks, and he was confident it was possible. All it required was sweat, endurance, and willpower—things he had in abundance.
Time flowed quickly. Two months passed without notice.
During that time, the Survey Corps remained behind the walls. Their last operation had ended in disaster, and heavy losses had forced them to wait for the 105th and 106th Cadet Corps. New blood was desperately needed.
Those months also gave Eren time to train—to harness his Titan abilities and master Hardening. Only then could they execute the plan to reclaim Wall Maria and uncover the secrets in Eren's basement.
But within the Corps, despair hung heavy. Whether people admitted it or not, Levi and Mikasa were gone. Even Eren, trapped in denial, couldn't ignore the truth.
Two months without news meant only one thing. The search teams had found only fragments of their maneuvering gear and traces of golden lightning near the Giant Tree Forest—a sign of a Titan transformation.
The enemy was still out there, lurking beyond the walls.
Fear took root in every heart. They were trapped, like livestock in a pen, awaiting slaughter.
Only Eren kept training, driven by vengeance. He swore to kill every Titan, to destroy the Female Titan, and to make Reiner suffer for his betrayal.
"...1997, 1998, 2000!"
In the Giant Tree Forest, Lucien hung upside down from a massive branch, wearing only black training shorts. His legs locked tightly as he used his core strength to lift his body again and again. Sweat poured down his toned frame, dripping onto the ground below where several Mindless Titans wandered restlessly.
They looked up with hungry eyes, jaws open, waiting for him to fall—or clawing at the tree in futile desire.
"...Hoo."
Finishing his two-thousandth rep, Lucien flipped upright, standing balanced on the branch. His sweat-drenched hair clung to his forehead as he exhaled slowly.
He hadn't wasted a single day. His regimen of basic drills, Shave, Geppo, and Titan training had honed his body to perfection.
Though one thing had plagued him last month—the sheer discomfort of not being able to relieve himself properly. That kind of frustration was maddening enough to make anyone consider using a steel rod to solve it.
In those two months, he had only drawn two items from the system: a manual razor and a toothpick.
"Useless junk," Lucien muttered, shaking his head.
Still, his strength had grown exponentially.