Septimus lay on a wooden chair while doing calculations with a Roman abacus and writing Arabic numerals that were difficult for the middle-aged Greek slave standing beside him to understand.
Septimus set the abacus aside and frowned, rubbing his temple. After confirming that he was not dreaming, he let out a sigh.
It was the second week after his transmigration. Previously, he had been a 37-year-old history teacher. After going on vacation to Italy and visiting some ancient tourist hot springs, he unexpectedly died after tripping and hitting his head, transmigrating into the body of a 16-year-old young man named Septimus Novius.
He was a Roman citizen with a small bakery in ancient Rome. He currently had a father named Publios who spent all day in brothels or taverns.
Septimus was terribly confused about his future in this era. As a history teacher, he knew how turbulent the Roman Republican period was.
The bakery managed by his family in Capua had 3 slaves and an income between 150 and 200 denarii, with 105 denarii in monthly expenses, barely surviving.
On the other hand, Septimus also thought about his father, a chronic drunk who only appeared to ask for money.
Fortunately, Septimus transmigrated with an ability, which he planned to test after this long week.
Septimus gathered the 3 slaves of the bakery and ordered them to go to sleep early.
His father's bakery functioned both as a bakery and as the family house.
The slaves found the change in personality of their young master during this week strange. In ancient Rome, the slaves of citizens were very close to their owners, and it was common for them to be considered part of the family, unlike the slaves of elites or nobles.
Previously, although the young Septimus was introverted, the slaves had seen him grow up and knew his personality. Now this young master was very different, like a stranger in their eyes, which caused some panic among the three slaves.
If this young master did not look exactly like the one they remembered, they would think he was another person.
Septimus locked himself in his small room and began to remove his clothes. He had a vague feeling about his ability. If it was only part of his imagination, he would lose nothing by trying, but deep inside he wanted to believe that he truly had an ability that could help him survive in this chaotic era.
After removing his clothes, Septimus felt that part of him separated in a state of soul that was difficult to understand. He could see himself in third person and, with a thought, touch every part of his body.
While Septimus was in that state, he realized that only by feeling his face could he make changes. He began trying to shape a face similar to the one from his previous life.
After 30 minutes, feeling satisfied, Septimus, increasingly tired, left that state of lethargy and fell into a deep sleep.
When he woke up the next day, Septimus felt different, finding the other Septimus who had shaped his face beside him.
This was definitely his ability. Just like mitosis, whenever his body gathers enough cellular mass, it can generate a person identical to himself, with the advantage of being able to change his clone's face.
"hahaha with this ability the sky is the limit."
Septimus said with a smile as he looked at his other self.
He could feel, observe, and think through his other clone.
They were one.
"I can accumulate enough cellular mass each week, now I only need to experiment if I can accelerate the accumulation by eating more food."
Septimus' clone stood up and began to move. He could feel that they shared a close bond that was difficult to explain.
Everything the clone felt, he could feel it. They shared the same mind and the same thoughts.
"From now on I will take the identity of a freedman named Gaius. I need to get rid of the slaves before they start to suspect."
Septimus did not consider himself a saint. Although the slaves were close to the owner of his former body, they had nothing to do with him. If he had transmigrated to the medieval era, it is likely they would have burned him alive for the Inquisition.
Now Septimus needed to maintain total control of the bakery.
"Fortunately, this body's drunken father does not spend much time managing the business."
Another week passed.
During this week, Septimus was somewhat frustrated. He discovered that his cloning ability could not be accelerated by eating. At first, he experimented with different types of food, from fruits, meat, cereals, fish, insects, etc.
Septimus sighed.
"It doesn't matter. As long as I have this cloning ability, I can increase my survival in this era."
Following the same steps as the previous week, Septimus and his clone Gaius undressed and shaped the faces of the two clones.
It was necessary. It would be very strange and difficult to explain if the clones had his same face.
Although Septimus discovered that he could not accelerate cellular accumulation, he also discovered that his clones could replicate as well and that he could use them to gain knowledge and shared experiences.
While Septimus watched as a 16-year-old person separated from him and his clone, he could not help but laugh.
"hahaha with this almost divine ability in this era they would consider me a monster or a god hahaha."
Previously, he had been somewhat fearful. Although Rome is considered one of the greatest civilizations of antiquity, it is still full of barbarism.
The era in which he transmigrated is the year 87 BC, where Cinna and Marius were consuls. Within a year, Marius would die, and within four years, Cinna would begin a purge against all relatives, elites, or nobles who supported Sulla.
As a consequence, Sulla would unleash a purge of revenge against the followers of Cinna and Marius after taking control of Rome.
Septimus was not ambitious. His goal was to make wealth with his knowledge, control a piece of land, and be surrounded by beautiful slave women from different parts of the world.
While Septimus contemplated his ambitions after receiving his two new clones, he thought about the slaves.
"Originally I thought about killing them or selling them to avoid suspicion, but in this era without human rights, the words of slaves are worth little."
Septimus also drifted toward another idea. Although he thought about killing them, his transmigrated soul from the future still resisted the idea of taking someone's life. He needed to temper his will.
"The best way to temper one's will is through experience. I can use the clones to gain experience in fighting with bladed weapons."
While Septimus thought about his next steps, the clones under his control began to dress and leave the room.
Now what Septimus needed was to control the bakery by replacing the slaves with his own clones, using the bakery as a safe place.
At first, the slaves did not pay much attention to the freedman named Gaius doing his usual work, but with the addition of two new freedmen, perhaps sensing that their young master planned to get rid of them, they worked with little enthusiasm.
Although this young man was very different in personality from the introverted youth they once knew, after so many years they considered the bakery their home.