Mountain test

"How complicated it is to understand women's minds, well that doesn't go with Sasha." Takashi muttered as he thought about all he had gone through for a simple topic of conversation. Lost in thought, Takashi didn't move until Thomas spoke to him. After frying up a plate of grated potatoes, rice and a plate of scrambled eggs with some spices he found in the kitchen, in the dining room Takashi and Thomas waited until the food wasn't too hot to eat it.

Takashi knew how amazing he had cooked today, not all meals in the training corps have rice paddies, many times it's bread and oatmeal soup.

Takashi looked at Eren and the others who had come for lunch and motioned for them to come over and taste the food he prepared. 　　

"Takashi! I heard you had cooked together with some more classmates earlier, what did you prepare for me?" Sasha rushed into the dining room with an intense look on her face.

"Well, this meal I had never prepared before since I didn't have the proper materials, now I can say that it came out pretty much the same as the idea in my imagination." Takashi held a plate up for Sasha to taste.

Mikasa, Eren and Armin watched this scene with an amused smile.

"The person I least thought of cooking food was you Takashi, very strange." Eren and the others were intrigued to eat the dishes Takashi had made.

"Humph!" Thomas snorted sadly and looked at Takashi as he passed out the dishes that should have originally been his.

At the sight of the food, Eren and Armin were speechless, what was this called? Eren had only heard that a while ago Takashi had prepared some food, but it wasn't as flashy as it was now.

Mikasa's voice was cold and sweet, "It's good to talk about food, just food."

Takashi smiled as he shrugged, taking Mikasa's words as an uncomfortable hiss in his ears. While Eren had even been glad of the incident provoked by Takashi's questions, it wasn't the same for him who bore Mikasa's cold stare.

"I think it would be better to talk about how to cross the snow mountain, sharing information is useful to help each other." Takashi changed the subject.

"Armin has already planned it, do you want to join us?" Eren asked.

Takashi smiled and said, "I made a team with Jean, Thomas and Marco, everything will be fine."

"If the weather is normal, there shouldn't be any accidents." Armin analyzed with a thoughtful expression.

Could it be true that no accidents would happen in this test? Takashi suddenly felt bad, he didn't know much about the future.

Takashi only remembered the first animated part of this world, and would very possibly never remember what would happen next. Even in this test he had no recollection of seeing it develop, so he could only take the test and take care of himself.　

Just after lunch at noon, Instructor Keith told everyone to gather in the general courtyard.

A group of soldiers from the training corps lined up in a neat square in the general yard, this time no one had any intention of talking. It has been a while and these teenagers already seemed to be fully accustomed to the military.

Instructor Keith wore a gray-green military uniform and a cap and stood in front of everyone.

With his hands behind his back, he walked a few more steps into the crowd and said, "All right, you little bastards, you're finally behaving a little decently. Today I'll talk about the snow mountain test."

Instructor Keith moistened his throat and shouted, "The time has been decided, the day after tomorrow the mountain test will begin. The total distance of the test is almost 25 kilometers, including 20 kilometers on flat terrain and 5 kilometers on the snowy mountain. It will start early in the morning, and the earlier you arrive, the higher the score you will get on your record!"

"Remember, the results of this test are very important and will be included in the final evaluation. Tomorrow you will have a full day to prepare your equipment and materials. Winter clothing has been distributed and oil lamps can be picked up at the warehouse. remember! Don't deviate from the route and do what you can to arrive on time before dark. If you think you can't make it, I recommend that you give up this test. If you fall or get carelessly lost in a place like that, it may be too late when the instructors come to your aid."

Takashi knew that a test in the snow is no joke, let alone to be irresponsible. As it gets darker, the weather gets colder and the proportion of physical wear and tear increases, going over the hill in the snow they have to make it to a camp at the foot of the mountain. However, all this remains a major challenge.

"Remember you can form teams of no more than five members, you can move quickly and steadily that way." Keith pointed out with a discerning look.

After Instructor Keith finished speaking, he pointed to a young instructor with a book in his hands and said, "Now, if you wish to participate and believe you have the skills, you can go to my office to sign up today. Spread out!"

Keith took the book immediately, and those who wanted to participate followed him naturally.

Takahashi did not hesitate, along with Eren and Connie followed him directly. Although he had no intention of participating in the exams, he knew it was a good training experience.

However, there are also people who hesitate to participate or stay where they are, not many are ready to participate. After all, the only people who can join the military police corps are the top ten in the final score, which considering their capabilities is impossible.

A young and somewhat small training corps soldier seemed to struggle, stood there for a long time and finally walked into Instructor Keith's office.

Some people are unremarkable, Liam and Daniel are two clear examples. They underperform in training and this time it was not about willpower to finish the test. However, the two of them were determined that with hard work they could finish in the top ten and be able to join the military police, wanting to prove themselves in this very important test.

However, neither Liam nor Daniel realized that they did not have the fitness and ability to pass the snow mountain test. Their lack of willpower and determination, would be what would cause them the most trouble going up the mountain.

"Do you think we could participate in the same group, it's me Liam and my friend Daniel." Liam said as he looked at Takashi.

"Sorry but I already have a group, good luck." Takashi said as he refused to go along with those two young men.

"I understand, thanks anyway." Liam nodded and left.

Takashi watched the young man leave with a disappointed look, he himself knew that this test would be difficult so he thought that they would give up on the test if he didn't decide to go with them.

...

In the evening, Instructor Keith looked at the list in his hand, the total number of people was 257 and the number of applicants was 121, which was more than he thought, at first he thought there would not be even half of them in this test.

He looked closer and found some guys that made him frown. He didn't know the level of all the soldiers, but he still knew which ones were excellent and which ones were the worst.

"Forget it, people should be responsible for their own choices, if this test doesn't kill them they will learn what it's like to make a choice when facing a titan!" Instructor Keith said to himself.

He has no right to make decisions for others, he can only wish them good luck and give them some advice that will serve them well in the future.

...

The next day, Takashi, Marco, Jean and Thomas prepared dry food, water bags, glass oil lamps and other equipment. No one dared to say that they would be able to reach the camp at the foot of the distant hill before nightfall. After all, in the present weather it would be getting dark before evening. Now the snow is more than ten centimeters thick, and 25 kilometers is nowhere near, including 5 kilometers of mountain roads. This is also the reason why almost a hundred people gave up directly long before the start.

As soon as the day of the event dawned at 7:00 a.m., more than 100 people who participated in this event set off.

The schedule is based on seven o'clock in the morning. You can't leave early. Of course, you can also leave later. Nobody cares about that after all.

Jean, who was wearing a grayish-white military uniform, complained, "What the hell is Takashi doing? Eren and the others have left, why hasn't he come yet?"

Thomas looked a little embarrassed, "Takashi had said to move forward first, let's get going."

"What the hell, he didn't take it seriously again!" Jean was very dissatisfied.

Marco said, "Then let's go first, Takashi will be fine, we don't have to worry about him at all."

"Hmph, forget it this time, let's go first."

Thomas was a little helpless. In the morning, he asked Takashi to go out, but Takashi actually told him not to rush him and let him sleep for a while.

When everyone had already left, Takashi put on a grayish-white cotton quilted jacket and set off with his luggage on his back. Following behind the crowd, whoever stayed behind would give him a hand, so that no one would have any trouble.

He had told himself that he would make a change, he should not fluctuate at his words and take care of everyone as the best soldier of this group.

Thus, Takashi slowly departed. As for qualifications, that is not important. He will not join the Military Police Corps. As long as he graduates successfully and is not afraid of death, he can join the Scout Corps.

Scout Corps Commander: We welcome recruits who are not afraid of death to join us.

At 8 o'clock in the morning, when Takashi departed, he met Instructor Keith who had not left the starting point of the test route. Of course, Instructor Keith did not need to participate in the mountain test. He had already prepared several other instructors in the camp at the foot of the mountain waiting for the soldiers who would participate.

Keith looked calm, as if Takashi, who seemed to be on a trip and sightseeing, passed in front of his house.

"Won't you be worried about the final evaluation results in a few years?" Keith asked casually.

Takashi smiled slightly, "No sir, for someone like me, it doesn't make much sense to try very hard in the tests and always finish first. Successful graduation from the training corps doesn't require outstanding grades, this is a reality that Eren hasn't seen."

To go to the scouting corps, Instructor Keith, who seemed interested in Eren's results, also knew this.

Instructor Keith showed a rare smile, "Then why do you have to participate in the test? This test is not difficult for you."

"It's not hard for me, but not necessarily for some people I appreciate, there are always some people who can't recognize their own abilities and it's up to you to help them in the process." Takashi expressed his thoughts.

"Oh? Then I'll leave it to you!" Keith said and headed back to the base.

Takashi shrugged his shoulders in a disinterested manner. Just now, he could notice Keith's worried expression when he mentioned Eren's name.

Takashi walked leisurely to the end of all the groups. The first part of the test was fine, it was nothing new. After all, most of the people who came to participate were in good shape.

The real test is in getting over that snow hill.

Exhaling a puff of white breath, Takashi found that the sky was getting gloomy, the wind was getting stronger and stronger, and snowflakes were floating thicker and thicker in the air.

It's snowing again, it's 2 o'clock in the afternoon and the people across the street are climbing the snowy mountain right now.

The sky was not clear at all, but you can still see some morning sunshine, but now it is snowing, maybe someone has some problems, but Takashi didn't know who yet.

Takashi is slowly climbing the mountain, and sometimes the path on the mountain can be tricky. If you accidentally slide down some ravine, you will end up severely injured. Therefore, Takashi was very cautious. Although he has a lot of self-confidence, he can get hurt and does not want to make use of his wonderful hidden card.

The routes gradually increased. There was more than one path at the foot of the mountain. There were tracks on both paths. Takashi chose one at random and did not insist on increasing speed.

When the sky darkened, Takashi lit the glass-covered oil lamp. Finally, Takashi found a soldier sitting on the ground under a steep slope in front of him.

Takashi trotted over and discovered that it was a boy, his face was pale, his whole body was shaking, he was bumping his right leg and his expression was a bit painful.

"Are you okay?" Takashi asked.

The boy looked at Tajkashi, a little surprised: "Takashi, why are you behind everyone?"

"Tell me what happened to you first?" Only until now did he discover that this corporal was Liam, the one who asked him to be part of his team along with a close friend of his.

"It all went wrong, a rock came loose from the mountain and I fell into a ravine, Daniel possibly fell somewhere else on this mountain as well." Liam was more worried about his friend Daniel than his own safety.

"At first I wanted to walk, but it's impossible for me to move."

"Who were the members of your group? Takashi handed him the glass lamp and then took off his backpack as he helped Liam up. 　　

"Me, Daniel, Christa and Ymir." Liam said, "Wait, this won't work, you better go to camp and let some instructor come get me."

"One man doesn't leave another behind! It's getting dark, it's possible no instructor can find you until then, do you want to freeze to death?" Takashi put down his backpack and carried Liam at a steady pace forward.

"But you won't be able to hold on like this!" shouted Liam who was on his back.

"We are almost at the top of the mountain, and at this point it's not possible to go down the mountain either. Don't worry, I'm stronger than you think." Takashi smiled at being able to save someone in danger. Now, he can only pray that Ymir, Chista and Daniel are okay.

"Okay, put me down if you can't anymore, by the way, thank you very much." Liam couldn't refuse, he felt relief to see someone coming to his aid. Even when he tried to tell Takashi that it was okay if he waited, he was dying of fear inside.

It's a relief that Takashi's physical performance is one of the best in the training corps, otherwise Liam would hesitate in his words.