While following the skeleton I am suddenly assaulted by a strange feeling. It starts a tickle on the roof of my mouth and develops into an unbearable itch. I reflexively take a deep breath, then the itch explodes as I rapidly expel the air I just breathed in.
Did I just sneeze? Do snakes sneeze? Do monster snakes sneeze? Why would I sneeze in the first place? Is someone talking about me?
"Are you alright, miss Jade?"
The armored skeleton has stopped and turned around to see if I am alright. The itchy feeling has subsided so I tell him everything is alright and we move on.
We enter a hall with a large circle on the floor and a statue in the middle. The statue depicts a man with two faces. Both faces have their eyes closed but as we approach one of them opens its eyes and speaks.
"Where to?"
"19th colosseum. Two passengers."
"Understood please stay where you are."
The circle lights up and I feel the air around me become hard and unmovable. The light recedes but the scenery hasn't changed a bit.
"You have arrived at your destination, 19th colosseum."
The statues open eyes close and the skeleton leaves the circle. We walk the same way as we did before but in reverse and arrive at an empty balcony. Beyond the balcony lies a giant arena.
Unlike the arena below the balcony where I had met Vespasian that had only been 200 meters in diameter this one was massive.
Down below I can see a large area with hills and grassy pastures. Thousands of small white tents dot the green surface with wooden walls surrounding them and dividing them into camps.
Next to the balcony, a stairway leads down to the arena guarded by a group of skeletons in armor. As we approach the stairs the skeleton with me salutes and the guards snap to attention.
"Twenty-third centurion of the first undead legion. I am accompanied by miss Jade who will temporarily join the auxiliary unit by imperator Vespasian's command."
"Understood, you may pass. Glory to the first undead legion!"
"Glory to the first undead legion!"
We are let through by the guards and proceed down the stairs and towards one of the camps. We will be walking for a while so I try to strike up a conversation.
"Hey, you... I don't think I heard your name."
"I do not have a name, miss Jade."
"You don't? Then how do should I call you?"
"I am the twenty-third centurion of the first undead legion. Since my presence is easily replaceable a name would be wasted on me."
"Then is it fine if I just call you twenty-three?"
"That is acceptable."
"Then tell me, why do you call Vespasian imperator? I was told he is an Emperor."
"It is the same word. Though imperator also has the secondary meaning of general so it is more respectful to call him that. He is widely known as emperor since that title is more known amongst the masses."
"Ah. Next, what is this auxiliary unit I will be joining?"
"I am not informed of the auxiliary unit's exact purpose as I'm with the legion. I'm sure they can tell you more in camp."
We arrive at one of the camps and enter. There are no guards to stop us at the entrance and we aren't hindered as we enter the large tent in the middle of the camp.
"Is this one of the imperator's new experiments? Seems a little weak."
As we enter a low, husky voice greets us. The one who spoke is a peculiar human with eyes all over him.
"I am the twenty-third centurion of the first undead legion. I am accompanied by miss Jade who will temporarily join the auxiliary unit by imperator Vespasian's command."
"I understand, you may leave."
The skeleton salutes and leaves the tent. Now that I'm alone with the eye-man I start to get uncomfortable. All his eyes are looking at me!
"Apologies if I make you feel uncomfortable. You will quickly grow accustomed to the feeling of being watched. I am Argus, the legate of the auxiliary unit. And who might you be?"
"I'm Jade, a sanguine snake. I'm here to train my blood magic and help you fight."
"That phrasing... are you perhaps one of those humans turned monster?"
"I am."
"Delightful, I have never met one of you before!"
"Can we return to what is important? What is this auxiliary unit and when can I go fight?"
"I see you are the impatient type. As you might have noticed the battlefield on our side is fashioned after the ancient Romans. The undead legion makes up the main fighting force but mythological creatures and such don't fit into that. Therefore the auxiliary unit was created to house all the beings that don't for into the legion.
"During combat, we act as an independent unit that strikes enemy weak points or launches surprise attacks. Meanwhile, the legions stationed here take care of the brunt of the advances.
"As to your question of when we fight, we are currently resting but I was thinking about sending a small force to strike one of the enemy camps. Would you be interested?"
"What are we up against?"
"Nothing too drastic, scale a wall defended by elven archers, cross a field of resting troops and destroy a supply convoy that just arrived."
"Everyday business, I'm sure."
"Look, you came at a bad time. Imperator Vespasian has been purposely stalling reinforcements to entice the intruders and prepare for a massive push all the way to the 15th colosseum. To make it look real we have to take some desperate-looking actions."
"I can respawn if I die so sign me up."
"Great, you leave in five minutes. Make sure to get along with the others."
I can't decide whether or not I like this guy. He seems like a prick but I don't feel like I have to keep up appearances around him.