Levi crossed one leg over the other as he shifted in his seat, studying his fingers with a bored expression before answering the suggestion given to him just moments before in a cold voice. "No."

"Levi, I really think-"

The corporal's eyes snapped up to give Erwin a sharp stare, before interrupting him with "I don't need an apprentice."

Erwin gave just as sharp a stare as he tried again. "No, you don't. But the army does. You're the only person that knows certain fighting techniques, and if you were to die, those would be lost forever. And with the world we live in, any of us could die at any time, including you. You refuse to teach the entire branch, so pick one soldier and teach them. This is not just a suggestion or request, Levi."

"No."

"You don't have a say in this."

"I am pretty sure I do, as I'm the one that has to agree to teach." Levi countered.

"I wouldn't make you do this, but it isn't my decision, so you have to." Erwin told him.

"Ugh." Levi pressed a hand against his forehead, willing the throbbing headache away. "Fine. Who do I have to teach?"

"It's your choice, actually. I thought you might choose Jaeger, since-"

For the second time, Levi cut him off. "No. I will not be teaching that brat my techniques. They're not even his style of fighting, so he'd never use them anyway. The same goes for the rest of his friends, actually."

"Alright, there's a new group of trainees coming in tomorrow. You can choose one of them." Erwin said.

"Fine."

Levi stared at the group of newly graduated soldiers standing in front of him, each held themselves with pride and determination, their arms held up in the army's well-known salute, and their gazes fixed ahead.

"They look as though they've been trained well. We'll have to see how well they fare against Titans." Levi noted absently. Erwin only nodded slightly in agreement.

The corporal walked along in front of them, giving each face a moment's examination. He stopped at an average looking brunet male that seemed about 16 years old and turned to him. "What's your name?" The recruit nearly jumped out of his skin when spoken to, though he kept his stare focused forward. "Desmond Jones, sir."

Levi only hummed slightly to show he'd heard the quiet answer before moving on. He faced a redheaded girl with very long hair who looked like she was 17 and repeated his question. "Talia Moore, sir." She answered confidently, though she turned to look at him when she had, instead of keeping her stance. Levi moved on, picking random recruits for their names. There was a very tall guy that looked about 22 with choppy black hair that introduced himself as Edward Gray, a girl of average height that looked 15 with blond hair cut in a bob who introduced herself as Clara Woods, another male that seemed 16 with short black hair that introduced himself as Jason Hunter, and a pair of male twins that looked 19 with long-ish brown hair that introduced themselves as David and Martin Burns.

Levi inwardly sighed. None of these people seemed like they could handle or appreciate what he was supposed to teach. He was about to turn and leave when he spotted one soldier he'd missed. She was next to Edward, who was the tallest person in the entire group, while she was even shorter than Levi himself, so it wasn't surprising he hadn't even seen her at all.

The corporal walked over to her, repeating his question yet again while he looked her over. She stood with a perfect salute and didn't even blink when he spoke to her. Her hair was shaved as short as Connie's in the back, while her long bangs were pushed out of her face to where they covered the right hand side of it, though they were in the process of falling back into her eye. Though what was really interesting was how her hair was white, except for a few large black streaks in her bangs, and her eyes were different colors. One was a blue color that was almost dark enough to be black, and the other was a silvery color that was just barely tinted with gold. The side of her face with the blue eye and the bangs was covered in long scars.

She answered him in an even voice, not overly confident and not skittish. "Colette Saoirse, sir." Levi paused at the fact that she was the first new recruit without an overly common name. "Do you know who I am?" He asked while staring down at her with a deadly, terrifying look.

Her bi-colored eyes snapped to focus on his face as she answered, and her expression was calm and devoid of any fear, but very intense. "You're Corporal Levi Rivaille, a leading soldier of the Survey Corps, leader of the Special Operations Squad, and hold the title as Humanity's Strongest Soldier." She said surely. She blinked, for the first time Levi had seen, and added "Sir."

Levi was impressed at her lack of fear, the look he gave her could send even stubborn little Eren running away as quickly as possible, but she just stared back at him with a slightly defiant look instead. "Why are you here?"

She answered without missing a beat, and again, not blinking. "I want to be useful instead of hiding behind walls my entire life while others die instead. I want to protect others and try to help end these monsters so humans can live without fear again. I know it's likely I'll die on my first mission, but I want to try."

He stared at her intense multicolored gaze for a few more moments while he thought carefully, and she still didn't blink. The corporal narrowed his eyes slightly before turning toward where Erwin was standing and nodding at him. The commander nodded back before walking up to stand beside Levi, and they both stared down at the incredibly short recruit.

"It's a good thing Levi doesn't scare you, because you're going to be around him a lot." Erwin informed her.

"Welcome to the Special Ops squad." Levi said. "Apprentice." He added, nearly smirking.

Colette's eyes widened, before she blinked for only the second time and fixed her expression back into her slightly defiant one. "Thank you sir, I look forward to working with you."