"Welcome to the sixtieth cohort, Ronin. Oh, and here I'm not your Captain, I'm your Centurion. Understood?"
I gulped, looking at all the Devourers, "Understood."
"Understood what?"
"Understood, Centurion."
"That's good." Alessandra nodded, a glint in her eye. "Hey, runts! We have a new optio for all of you. Be tough on her."
With those words, she closed the doors behind me. The Devourers were still staring at me before erupting into a cheer.
"YEAAAHHH!!"
"FINALLY!"
"LET'S BEAT HER ASS!"
"KEITH, SHUT THE HELL UP!"
"YOU SHUT UP, VANESSA!"
My head whirled around, and I got my spear close to my chest. What the hell was wrong with these people? Then I noticed something - like ninety percent of these people were bald. Yup, I was in a cult. No other way to see this.
A bald guy who looked to be in his mid-twenties walked over to me, his intent starting to roll off him. His black eyes looked at me intently, waves of power permeating through the barracks, making it shake. That seemed to shut the rest of them up.
"Welcome, Ronin. I'm your other Centurion. As this is your first day, we welcome you to the LX cohort. You will be sleeping with the other women on the left side of the cohort, understand?"
I nodded along, trying not to look as overwhelmed as I felt.
"Good. For your initiation, I'll pick two of our legionnaires to show you around the training grounds. Vanessa, Keith! Come out!"
Again, two bald people came out. Vanessa had hazel eyes, while Keith had dark green ones.
"Sir, why?" they asked in unison.
"You spoke out the loudest before," the Centurion replied, his tone brooking no argument.
They both slumped their shoulders. Seriously, were these people bipolar?
"Do you have any equipment aside from your spear?" the Centurion asked me.
I shook my head. "No, sir. Just me and my trusty stabby stick."
He raised an eyebrow at my attempt at humor but didn't comment. "Good. Then go on the tour now. This is your free day; tomorrow, you'll start like everyone else."
I was shown out by both Keith and Vanessa. As we began walking across the camp, I couldn't help but ask, "Why are most of you bald?"
Keith quickly perked up at my words. "Simple. You see, if you're bald, that means people can't grab you by your hair, so you're better in a fight."
I looked back at my ponytail, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. "Uhmm, we don't all have to do that, right?"
Vanessa jumped in, "Of course not, it's completely out of our free will. In fact, most legionnaires in legions 2, 5, and 7 have hair. They say that helmets are enough."
"They aren't," Keith interrupted, running a hand over his smooth dome.
"However, you still have the option. Don't worry, you won't be looked down on by any of us for not doing it. Well, maybe you will by this dumbass." Vanessa said, slapping Keith's bald head, which sounded super satisfying.
As we walked, the vastness of the underground complex became even more apparent. "This place is huge," I muttered, trying to take it all in.
"Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet," Keith grinned. "Let's start with the basics. See that big, fancy building over there?" He pointed to an imposing structure that looked like a cross between a villa and a military command center.
"That's the Praetorium," Vanessa explained. "It's where the Legion's high command operates from. Centurion Alessandra spends a lot of time there when she's not torturing us- I mean, training us."
"Right," I nodded, filing that information away. "And what's that over there?" I pointed to a massive hall that seemed to be bustling with activity.
"Ah, that's the Great Hall," Keith said proudly. "It's where we eat, gather for announcements, and do other stuff that doesn't have to do with training"
We approached the hall, and the smell of food, of beast meat wafted out, making my stomach growl embarrassingly loud.
"Someone's hungry," Vanessa laughed. "Don't worry, you'll get your fill soon enough."
"Not soon enough, why can we only eat three times a day," Keith grumbled.
"That's more than enough, Keith besides it's a way to get used to our hunger!" Vanessa protested.
"I want more beast meat."
As they bickered, I took the opportunity to ask another question. "Can I ask something else? How do all these things work? Like, I get the legions, but why is there another system in place for the police, and why is Centurion Alessandra in both?"
Vanessa paused her argument with Keith to answer. "Think of it like this: one is for war, another is for civilians. Though most Devourers don't enter both, especially at the lower levels, some positions are given to the top performers here to keep them occupied in places of power and control during peacetime. That way, when war comes, they still know how to organize their troops well."
"Okay, I get that," I nodded. "And why were you all acting so out of control when I came in?"
Vanessa seemed downcast at the thought. "Well, you see, dear Ronin, sadly we don't get many optio nowadays. I think there are less than a hundred optio in the entire military. So when we get a new one, we get excited. Sadly, this jerk over here is a muscle-head and said something inappropriate."
"Hey, it's important to test their skills!" Keith protested.
"Okay, but you can't say that you will beat their ass!"
"Why not?"
"Because you can't!"
"Why!"
"You just can't."
As I continued to watch them bicker, a small thought appeared in my head. "Koff, are you perchance boyfriend and girlfriend?" As I said that, I brought my hand up to my mouth, feigning innocence.
Keith immediately got as red as a tomato. "M-me with h-her? Ha-a, do-on't make me lau-ugh."
Hit the nail on the head, Felice. You rock, I thought to myself.
I turned to look at Vanessa, and she was calm and collected, though seeing the continuous tapping of her index finger on her thigh, my confidence in catching romance only grew. Ha, how's that for not being antisocial after spending all my time with my grandpa in a mountain?
Trying to change the subject, Keith cleared his throat. "Anyway, let's head to the best part of the tour - the monster pens!"
We made our way to the far end of the camp, where massive cages loomed. As we got closer, I could hear roars, screeches, and other sounds that definitely didn't come from anything human.
"Whoa," I breathed, taking in the sight of creatures that looked like they'd stepped right out of a nightmare. "What are these for?"
"Energy, mostly," Vanessa explained. "But when they seem to be running low, we then use them for beast meat."
Keith nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, we even train with a few every once in while to get us accustomed to different beasts."
I said remembering the feral rank monster that had been powering the truck. "What rank are they?"
"Savage mostly," Vanessa said. "But don't worry, the syphoning powers the cage to hold the monster that is inside it, by using it's energy so they won't get out."
"Unless Centurion Alessandra is in a really bad mood," Keith added, earning him another slap from Vanessa.
We kept on walking, across the camp which with our speed we were making quick work of, I was shown the other cohorts (most were still bald) and even some fields were giant groups of different devourers were practicing what looked like formations.
We kept on walking, across the camp which with our speed we were making quick work of. I was shown the other cohorts (most were still bald) and even some fields where giant groups of different Devourers were practicing what looked like formations.
"Fields of Devouring," Keith's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "A beauty, aren't they? Definitely my favorite place in the entire training ground. It's the sole place we can prove our training."
I straightened up, looking thoroughly at the formations, making me realize something. "They are for human warfare, aren't they?" The thought made my stomach churn. Grandpa had always said that fighting other humans was a last resort, something to be avoided at all costs.
Vanessa laughed, but it sounded forced. "The formations? Yeah, obviously. But don't worry, it's just practice. After all, it's been about two decades since we went into war with Elysium and even more since we fought any other city, right Keith?"
"Yeah, 16 years, if I remember correctly," Keith confirmed, his usual enthusiasm dampened.
War. Grandpa always said war was the worst humanity could do. Where we lower ourselves to even less than beasts, when killing our kin becomes second nature.
But seeing the trained formations these Devourers were going through, I started doubting if what Gramps said was true. Would these people, who looked to be trained as best as they could, throw it all away at the sight of war? Would they stick to their formations or fall to the hunger?