Two weeks passed.
Septimus had a slight headache. Originally, he planned to transfer two clones to the ludus each week, but he underestimated his replication ability; if Septimus kept generating more clones, in one year he could have thousands of clones, a large group of people that could hardly go unnoticed for a small bakery.
In two weeks, Septimus had already accumulated 39 clones in total, including the clones from the ludus; his small house was overcrowded.
"I need to speed up the training process in the ludus," Septimus said to himself.
That afternoon, Septimus headed with 30 clones to Gaius' ludus.
The guards, upon seeing from a distance so many people, became alert and gripped the hilts of their short swords.
"Stop right there, what do you want?" one of the guards shouted at the crowd of clones.
"I am Septimus, I have come to deliver volunteers to be gladiators," Septimus said with a smile.
The guards felt relieved; although the ludus was located near the garrison of Capua, it was better to avoid problems.
While the guards informed Gaius, he approached with two slaves. Upon seeing the number of people, he was a bit surprised; it was rare to see so many foreigners in Rome willing to serve as volunteers to be gladiators.
At first, he did not think much about the deal with Septimus, nor did he give it much importance; in the end, it was just a small profit. But upon seeing so many people willing to train and fight as gladiators, Gaius' interest increased.
"Hahaha, young Septimus, the agreed deal was two gladiators per week," Gaius said with a smile.
"That was the deal, but inconveniences arose; I have come to bring you the remaining 23 volunteers in advance, I hope it is not a nuisance," Septimus said with a smile.
"Alright, young Septimus, I am only curious to know what your gain is within the deal?" Gaius asked with a smile.
At first, Gaius did not give much importance to the deal with Septimus, believing he was just a naive young man who did not value his money, offering a few slaves at his door. But upon seeing that he had fulfilled the agreed deal, he became somewhat interested; no matter how much Gaius thought about it, he did not see the gain in making this kind of transaction. The volunteers Septimus offered were also not very skilled in combat and lacked talent for fighting.
"I am doing a favor for a friend," Septimus said indifferently, giving a superficial excuse.
Gaius asked no more questions, accepting the 23 volunteers out of the 30 clones that Septimus brought, along with 230 denarii for maintenance.
Septimus looked with reluctance at the money lost; he had to think of new ways to make money. On this occasion, besides delivering volunteers, Septimus also brought 7 clones with the intention of seeking opportunities to make money.
Expenses were pressuring Septimus; he had to spend 300 denarii monthly for maintenance and pay 30 denarii in taxes, he had to find ways to make money.
Septimus felt somewhat frustrated; although he was a transmigrator, his only ability was self-cloning through mitosis and his knowledge of the future. Every step he took had to be premeditated within this corrupt society, or he would be incriminated or looted without knowing who his enemy was.
Putting aside his thoughts, Septimus, together with his clones, took a walk through Capua. Being a typical Roman city, Capua could be considered disorganized and very diverse, with Romans, slaves, and people of different ethnicities.
After walking for a while, Septimus heard shouting from a remote area; as he approached, the strong smell of blood and sweat mixed with the screams of the crowd made him frown.
Inside the place, Septimus could see that it was an area of clandestine fights; unlike the arena, in this place all kinds of dirty tricks were allowed among the fighters, as long as only one person remained standing.
Septimus watched as a burly man with bruises on his face inserted his fingers into his opponent's eye until he blinded him, and the people around shouted in frenzy with madness upon seeing the man groan in pain and the blood come out of his eye socket.
These fights are brutal and without rules, Septimus thought to himself.
While watching the spectacle, Septimus had a sudden idea; currently, he had to limit the number of his clones due to lack of space, where to place them, but if he could send them to this place, even if they died, they would gain combat experience.
Septimus watched as they removed the corpse of the man with crushed eyes and frowned again; although it did not matter if the clones died, the shared connection meant that every form of painful death the clones suffered, he would also feel.
Septimus thought about the idea of having his eyes burst, or dying in different painful ways countless times, and began to hesitate; making the determination to suffer that kind of torment was not easy for a modern person, Septimus was not a masochist.
As the next fight began, watching the two men fight fiercely, Septimus gradually steeled his determination; the ability of replication determined that Septimus' destiny was greatness.
Septimus' future would be marked by fame and glory, and fear of pain was a mark of very humiliating cowardice.
Septimus approached the manager of the underground arena with determination.
"Sir, I would like to ask about the requirements necessary to fight inside the underground arena," Septimus said to the man with smallpox scars in charge of the clandestine fights.
"Young man, as long as you are willing and pay 2 denarii as a fee so they remove your corpse, you can fight," the man with smallpox scars replied without taking his eyes off the bloody combat in the arena.
"Thank you, I will take it into consideration," Septimus replied to the man, heading toward the exit with his clones.
Seeing him leave, the man with smallpox scars paid no attention.
Septimus returned to his residence with his clones; although he had not found ways to make money, he found a way to improve his combat skill. During the previous two weeks, Septimus discovered another trick of his ability: before replicating, he could change the age of the clone, although it was only limited to a range of years.
Septimus could create clones of a minimum of 16 years and a maximum of 40 years, and he also discovered that in this way he could achieve immortality; it did not matter if his original body died, as long as he had a living clone, he could replicate indefinitely.
Having made a decision, Septimus currently had 39 clones in total: 30 in the ludus and 9 distributed between the blacksmith and the bakery. Septimus' plans were summarized in using 10 clones for weekly replication in clandestine fights and, as a result, achieving an acceleration of the training of the clones within Gaius' ludus, with the purpose of being able to quickly complete the formation of the clones as gladiators.
Septimus would leave his original body taking the role of leader, without the need to undress each week to replicate, using exclusively 10 clones for that function.
In this way, Septimus could improve his combat skill and it would no longer be necessary to spend 300 denarii monthly as maintenance for the 30 clones in their training within Gaius' ludus.
Septimus felt somewhat regretful of his hasty decision to deliver clones as volunteers to Gaius' ludus; at first, he only thought of formal gladiator training, avoiding the cruelty of the time, but as time passed, Septimus realized how naive he had been. To improve his combat abilities quickly, he had to be cruel to himself.
With a defined objective, Septimus decided to take advantage of the 30 clones in the ludus and strive in training; although they had only been in the ludus for a month and a half, one should not underestimate the effort of 30 clones learning and sharing experiences. Although the time was short, the improvement in the use of various weapons and techniques was notable.
Septimus concluded that at the current pace, in another two months, he would be an expert gladiator with great possibilities of becoming a champion or a legend; it was only a matter of time and the number of clones that Septimus dedicated to sacrifice in the underground arena to achieve the objective.