Chapter 45 - More training (1)

(MC's POV)

"Today, I will take your training up a step further. With the recent addition of Historia, all three of you have now met the minimum requirement for becoming stronger."

It's been more than 6 months since the Historia's incident, and in just 3 days, a year would have passed since we have joined the Cadet.

After the end of each day, I would open up the time chamber to let the girls in. Mikasa and Annie would only train for 24 hours before stopping. After that, they will study the physics behind their power to make the most use of them.

Historia had also joined in with the training. She was already more than 3 years behind the progress of Annie and Mikasa, but with my help, she trained thrice as hard as the other girls. I have also given her the power of the Founding Titan and unlocking her titan's power in normal form.

Unlike Mikasa and Annie, she is much less talented, but she makes it up by practicing diligently. Fortunately, she has the royal blood in her vein, which made her compatibility with the titan's power unrivaled.

In other words, for each day she trains, she would yield 3 times the result of Mikasa, but that is if you only account for her energy manipulation. Her fighting talent was actually just above average. And so her training regimen for the past 6 months was:

1 day of training of energy manipulation and control.

1.5 days of physical training to make a sturdy body.

And lastly, half a day of theory.

-

And in these past 6 months, she had made incredible progress. The total energy reservoir within her body is now almost half of that of Mikasa's and Annie's. Her physical strength, though, is commendable, is still a long way from being as strong as Mikasa and Annie now, and worse, the gap is not closing but widening instead. The same goes for her fighting talent and instinct, which is still only above average.

But that's alright. She is currently much, much strong than an average human. Heck, in her human state, she can already effortlessly beat up a titan shifter. In fact, in that small body, she can lift something weights up to 5000 tons, which is about a third of how strong Mikasa is.

"As you all know. The reason for why you are strong is due to the fact that your strength came from the titan. As for the titan's power, it came someone else named Ymir Fritz, who is also known as the first titan. She... also got her power from something else, a parasite to be exact."

"So, without the titan's power, Mikasa, you would only be able to lift 10 tons at most. Annie, you would be 9.5. And Historia, you would only be at 2 tons."

"Then, what does this mean? Well, basically, all this entire time, you have been borrowing energy from that parasite. That thing is the real source of your titan's power. In a way, it's actually quite beneficial. It's like a beginner course where there are simplified instructions. You are gaining a lot of necessary experiences by taking this course, but at the same time, it limits how far you can go."

"Like, think it like this. What if it decided that it won't supply you energy anymore? That's not good, isn't it? There's also a limit to the speed at which you can regenerate your energy supply, and that's slowing down your growth."

"The next thing we're going to do is very crucial for your future. You're going to be transitioning to a new power. One that is much more pure and powerful. One that you won't have to borrow from anyone... Mana..."

"Mana exists everywhere... and in every living being. It can make you into a powerful magician or a peerless warrior. You can do ANYTHING with mana. In fact, the titan's power is just an inferior form of mana. But first... we need to pick a path for you three to take. So take your time..."

It took all three girls, precisely 2 hours, to make up their decision.

For Mikasa, she wanted to become a sword user, but something akin to a fighter/assassin. It's a path of extreme strength and speed, allowing her to kill her enemies quickly. Even if she couldn't kill them in a swift strike, her strength grants her unrivaled endurance and might on the battlefield. There are still weaknesses, though, which is that she would be vulnerable to mind and illusion attack.

Annie wants to pursue the path of a pure fighter. This is an arduous trail to tread on. She would have to perfect her martial art abilities while also improving her physical strength. This will give her an unparalleled physical strength. Even if she meets a stronger opponent than her, she can overpower them with her flexibility of martial art. She would have the same weakness as Mikasa. But not only would her mind be vulnerable, but she would also be weak at long-range attacks.

But unlike these two battle maniacs, Historia wanted to become a mage/ healer. This fits her image perfectly. She is the type of person who doesn't like to fight unless she has to. This pathway would enable her to be able to support the team without getting too close. She can use magic to get rid of enemies further away or in masses. And if her teammates are injured, she can also heal them. The biggest weakness for her would be close combat and ȧssassination. While she would be very physically strong, fighting with enemies specialized in killing mage is like a death sentence.

But if these three girls work together, they will be unstoppable.

Mikasa would attack the enemies from behind, or she can act as the front liner. Annie can be both a front liner and the guardian for the mage. And Historia would be able to support from the back, basically eliminating any weaknesses for Mikasa and Annie.

I can already foresee how this will play out.

Invincible.

But it's not enough.

I need them to be stronger—much more than now. Ever since I have discovered the existence of the omniverse, god knows how strong the enemies can be. What if one day they invade this universe and I wasn't there? I need them to be strong enough so they can protect themselves... and our family.

I won't let that happen, though. Nothing can.

I would also need to become stronger. There's also the unlikely chance of a being that is stronger than me. I don't want to take an unnecessary risk by being complacent. I need a world where it can help me understand the law of physics. Only then would I become stronger.

We might have to travel soon...