“I don’t know,” Statorius replied. “There’s something about him. He’s eager, yes. But there is something more to it than that. I think these sparring sessions could work wonders for him.”
They watched as Vitruvius beat Artorius into submission yet again. This time he did not get up so fast.
“Provided Vitruvius doesn’t kill him first,” Praxus laughed as they turned and walked away.
“Gods have mercy, but that hurt!” Artorius gasped as he lay on his back.
“You’re talking, so you can still breathe,” Vitruvius remarked as he leaned against his training shield and removed his helmet. “You’ve got good aggression, soldier. However, you are far too reckless. You’re too anxious to end your fights quickly. You need to learn a bit of patience. There’s nothing that says the fight has to end with the first blow struck.”
Artorius rolled to his side and winced. He still couldn’t figure out how a big man like Vitruvius could beat him not only with overwhelming power and intensity, but also with the speed and finesse of a cat.
“You end your fights quickly enough,” he remarked as he sat up.
Vitruvius snorted. “That’s only because my opponents usually make it all too easy for me,” he said with his eyebrows raised. He reached down and helped Artorius to his feet. “That’s enough for today. Remember what I told you. Practice on the training stakes, and we’ll see next week what you’ve learned.”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
After he put away his training weapons and stowed his helmet, Artorius headed over to the bathhouse. Though he was covered in dirt and sweat, it seemed like the Sergeant had not exerted himself at all. As he walked towards the bathhouse, Magnus came running over to join him. He couldn’t help but smile when he saw his friend’s sorry state.
“So how was your first sparring session with Vitruvius?” he asked, knowing the answer.
Artorius said nothing. He just grimaced as he walked along with a slight limp.
“That good, huh?” Magnus persisted.
“I swear that man’s not human,” Artorius groused. “I mean, how can a man with so much size and power be that quick? He’s even bigger than I am, so one would think I would have the edge in speed and agility. Ha! It’s not even close!”
“Think you’ll get anything out of working with him?” Magnus asked.
“Besides frustration and a lot of pain?” Artorius retorted.
“Hey, you’re the one who volunteered for this.” Magnus remarked.
Artorius laughed in spite of himself. He still wasn’t sure why he had asked Vitruvius to tutor him one-on-one. He didn’t just want to be the best there was, he was actually curious to see for himself if the Sergeant really was invulnerable.
“I wonder how he learned to be this good,” Artorius said as they walked into the front of the bathhouse.
“A lot of trial and error I suppose,” Magnus replied.
“I doubt there was much error,” Artorius remarked. “I don’t think anyone has ever even scratched him.”
Artorius’ body ached the next day as he, along with approximately twenty soldiers from the century, headed out on road repair detail. It was his first time doing such a task, since they were just barely out of training. They had been allowed to leave their helmets and armor behind, though every soldier carried his sword belt with him. They marched smartly out the gate, with several oxen carts bearing pre-made paving stones, picks, and shovels in the center of their formation. Just ahead of them, two centuries were marching out the gate, fully armored.
“Where are those fellows off to?” Artorius asked aloud.
“They’re from the Eighth Cohort,” Valens replied. “They’re conducting patrols of the area, checking to see if any enemy raiding parties have crossed the river.”
“Is that a common thing for us to be doing?” Magnus asked.
“Not usually,” Valens replied, “especially at this time of year, and since we hold all of the Rhine bridges. However, one can never be too cautious.”
Artorius and Magnus watched with interest as the two centuries maneuvered into a line formation and started sweeping through a grove of trees towards the river.
It was several miles to the point where the repairs would be taking place. Artorius still walked with a slight limp. However, he felt the walk was doing his body some good. After the first couple miles, he felt loosened up, and he no longer ached as much. He knew immediately when they came upon their designated work site. The paving stones had crumbled and washed away, leaving a ragged mess.
“Here we are, men,” Flaccus said. As the tesserarius, it was his responsibility to supervise the work detail. “Alright, all sections fall in online, parallel to the road. Each soldier will take a five-block section. Once the area has been cleared and leveled, we will begin replacing the stones. Any questions?”
As Artorius and the others in his section fell in on their piece, he looked at what would need to be done to fix the road. He had never done this kind of work before, and it wasn’t what he’d expected to be doing as a legionary. He mentioned this to Valens, who happened to be working next to him.
“What, you think all the roads that hold the Empire together just magically appeared?” Valens retorted sarcastically.
“No, I just thought that perhaps we used slave labor,” Artorius replied as he started scraping and clearing away loose rubble with his shovel.
Valens scoffed at that. “Slaves cost money. They are expensive to feed and house. And besides, their workmanship leaves a lot to be desired.”
“That’s no joke,” Carbo piped in. “You let slaves do any kind of construction like this, and you end up redoing it yourself anyway.”
“I know what you mean,” Magnus said. “My father tried using slaves in his textile mill for a while. Thought he would save money on labor. Instead he almost went completely bankrupt.”
“What happened to the slaves?” Artorius asked.
“Most he sold to some gladiator trainer,” Magnus answered, “though a few of the women he kept, saying that we needed extra maidservants. To be truthful, they weren’t much good at housekeeping, either. Come to think of it, the only place I ever did see them go was his bedroom.” Magnus furrowed his brow in thought as some of the legionaries that were listening burst into laughter.
“You’d be surprised at the number of skills required of a legionary that have nothing to do with fighting,” Valens continued. “Leatherworking, metalsmith, stoneworking, surveying, cooking, these are all skills that make the army flourish.”
“And if you excel at any given skill that the army is looking for, there can be incentive pay and special duty in it for you,” Carbo said. “Notice how Praxus and Decimus are conspicuously missing from this detail?”
“Not to mention every other less than desirable detail.” Valens added.
“I had noticed that,” Artorius replied.
“That’s because they are on what is called immune status,” Valens said. “Praxus is an expert at curing and working with leather, so while we get to do details such as this, he gets to work in the leather shop, working on packs, saddles, straps for armor and sandals, that kind of stuff.”
“They get out of all the less desirable duties, plus they get paid more than the rest of us,” Carbo remarked, somewhat annoyed.
Artorius just laughed as they went back to working on the road. By the end of the day their section of the road was repaved and ready for use. As soon as they arrived back at the barracks, Artorius decided to check the duty rosters before heading to the bathhouse. Duties for each individual soldier were posted a month out. He looked down the list, interested in what duties everyone else had drawn. Gavius had been tasked to work in the bakery for the next week, while he and Magnus were tasked with road repair for the next two days, and then rampart repair along with the rest of the section, minus Gavius and those on immune status. Praxus would be in the leather shop, while Decimus would spend three days assigned as the centurion’s aide before spending the rest of the week in the armory. He was surprised to see that all duties ended that next week, on the last day of February. After that, all soldiers were listed as in century on the roster. It could mean only one thing.