Episode 107 - Dark Speculation 3 ‘Run. Running. More running.’

.

.

Training Field

Sun radiated directly onto a young teenage boy as he hopped happily to his newly discovered group of destined friends. With every step this boy took, sparkly hearts and stars sprouted and flashed out from this teen’s body.

Eugene felt her lips stiffen at the sight of a bald Aren running towards her in slow motion. “......”

“Good morning everyone!” Aren appeared in front of the Paladins and said with an ecstatic voice.

Ron, Louis, Ramon, Eugene, Euria, Aernest, Aedelak, and Aeselak nodded, “Hello/Good morning!” and politely greeted in reply.

With sparkly eyes staring at the Paladins, he happily asked,“Do you happen to know what training we will take part in today?” afraid head shone even more as he finished asking.

“Haa…” A sigh could be heard from a far, as another teen walked towards the Paladins and Aren.

“You’ve been asking this since yesterday… Aren..” in an ‘i-give-up’ tone, the teen walked towards Aren and slapped Aren on his back. The teen was Argen, the pretty twin brother of Aren.

After Aren met Duke Rodriguez and Duke Marleigh for the first time yesterday, this problem began. As if it was love at first sight, after coming home from training yesterday, Aren did nothing but admire the two Dukes. Dea, Con, Arie, and Argen had no choice but to listen to the bald teen constantly chatter about how strong the Dukes looked and questioned what types of training the two dukes did.

Arie sighed as he walked out from behind Aren and Argen, “He’s been repeating this question since yesterday!” in a tearful voice, he complained.

Argen nodded, “Can anyone please take him away? Please take him back to Xenperia! I don’t want to be his twin brother anymore!” in a voice full of honesty, he cried. His face was full of desperation as he looked at the Paladin!

Aren pouted in displeasure but ignored his blood brothers' opinions and looked at the Paladins excitedly.

Dea laughed as he walked over, “Arie, Argen. Learn to be nice to your brother.” he said in a light voice.

Though he said that, he and the rest were used to Argen saying these things. In fact, Argen, like his twin brother Aren, would repeat things when he becomes excited too! Just that they don’t know their habits themselves.

Argen looked away in displeasure, “Che..”

Eugene and the rest watching this mini-skit closed their mouths in silence. In unison, they all thought of one thing, and that was that their new friends sure got comfortable with them fast. It was as if they’ve known each other since childhood and that there were no social barriers between the two groups.

Aren’s big eyes pitifully blinked at Eugene before moving his pitiful eyes to Ron.

“......” with a puffed out mouth, Ron sighed. “I don’t know what Duke Rodriguez or Duke Marleigh have in mind for today’s training.” he shrugged as he answered.

“It’s been too long since I last trained with the Dukes.” his eyes didn’t dare look at Aren as he spoke.

Aren gasped in shock as he stepped back, “You… You don’t train with Duke Rodriguez and Duke Marleigh?” his voice was full of utter devastation as he questioned.

Ron glanced at his feet, guilty, “I, Louis, and Ramon train together. Miss Aedelak, Miss Aeselak, Aernest, Eugeneia, and Euria trains with Duke Rodriguez and Duke Marleigh.” he replied.

Aren titled his head.

Seeing his questioning looks, Ron replied, “It’s complicated…”

Aren's eyes glimmered in sadness as he turned to Aedelak. With an ‘it’s-only-miss-who-knows-’ look, he stared at Aedelak heartbreakingly.

“Running,” she replied curtly. Her face, rid of all emotions.

Aren blinked.

‘Ru.. running?’ Aeselak and Aernest jolted as soon as the ‘R’ character in running left Aedelak’s mouth. With a pale face, the two trembled as they turned to face Aedelak in a slow motion.

In a voice full of disbelief, Aren repeated, “Running?”

Just the left side of Aedelak’s lips curled up, “Run. Running. A lot of running. And more running.” she answered in an automatic voice lifeless voice.

Her soulless voice brought a frown to everybody's face, but they were able to ask and question her dead eyes, the two Dukes appeared behind the group.

“Good morning children!” in a cheerful voice that didn’t match his macho-like appearance, Duke Rodriguez greeted them.

Instinctively Aedelak, Aeselak, Eugene, Aernest, and Euria raised their hands and saluted.

“GOOD MORNING TEACHER!” They shouted, scaring everyone into stepping back.

Duke Rodriguez and Duke Marliegh nodded before turning to those who didn’t greet them.

With shock still visible in their eyes, the rest stuttered to greet, “Good… Good morning.”

Eugene laughed silently in her mind. ‘Everyone’s body will most probably react instinctively to Duke Rodriguez and Duke Marleigh by the end of today’s training too.’ she shook her head as she prayed for everyone in silence.

‘Is Sir Ario and the Great Musician not coming today?’ she wondered secretly as she looked around for the two.

Just as she thought of that, Duke Rodriguez answered the question.

“Sir Ario and Commander Kal are at the Royal Palace to catch up with work. They will not be able to attend today’s training.”

‘Hmm..’ she hummed silently.

Duke Rodriguez smiled at the children with an exciting look however if one were to see his tightly clenched fists tucked under his pocket, they would immediately realize that he was putting up a front.

‘Haa..’ he sighed inwardly as he frowned at the two messages he received 15 minutes earlier. One letter came from his troops who were secretly investigating Zene, and the other letter came from the Royal Palace of Zene.

-

Military message.

-

-Riots outside the west side of the capital. Armed civilians acting out against a tribal community. Zene’s knights are heading to relieve the situation. The Royal Palace has sent additional knights to the training area.

-

Royal Palace message.

-

Dear, Esteemed Dukes.

The capital is facing some problems. Sir Ario and Commander Kal are called back to the Royal Palace and will not be able to attend today’s joint training.

-Royal Palace.

-

The message from the Royal Palace was exasperatingly short with no details, but he has since sent a message back to his soldiers to keep an eye on the situation in the capital city and to continue reporting on the matter.

“Haa…” he sighed as he shook his head. Just then, he caught sight of a shiny bald teen who was staring at him in eagerness.

“.....” he gulped.

Aren smiled widely.

Duke Rodriguez coughed, “... You sure look like a curious fellow.” he nodded in acknowledgment as he chuckled lightly.

His look of acknowledging him caused Aren to sparkly like crazy. He was bright enough to take over the sun’s position in the sky!

“.....” Eugene stared blankly.

Duke Rodriguez gulped his dry throat as he turned to Duke Marleigh, “Duke Marleigh. Please explain today’s schedule.” he said with a slight tremble in his voice.

Duke Marleigh blinked at Duke Rodriguez before he turned to the children.

“Running, Fitness circuit, running, and more running,” he replied in a bland voice.

“.......” Aren, Argen, Arie, Dea, Con, Louis, Ramon, Ron, Eugene, Euria, Aernest, Aedelak, and Aeselak blanked out at the well explained schedule.

Eugene’s lips twitch slightly. Aedelak’s soul had long left her body. The blood of Aeselak, Aernest, and Euria evaporated from their bodies completely, leaving them with a ghastly pale complexion.

The rest… well… thought that the schedule was relatively easy.

“.....” Duke Rodriguez sighed at Duke Marleigh’s explanation and took over to elaborate.

“Running is good for building your core strength. Although knights run in moderation, I find it to be lacking severely. Only by running can you build your base strength! Hence why we will run a lot today. Unfortunately, because we’re not in Xenperia, we are unable to do certain training like obstacle runs or target shooting..” he shrugged as he explained.

Aren's eye’s sparkled as soon as he heard the word target shooting! What else could it be than shooting with guns?!

Duke Rodriguez continued, “So although it is a pity, we will have to make do with fitness circuits and running ‘normal’.”

Arie whispered, “Target shooting? Are those the rumored machinery?” Guns? Aren’t those...”

Aren’s ears twitched and quickly answered for Duke Rodriguez! “YES! Magic machinery that shoots targets with bamboo pipes! They pierce through and will hit any target instantaneously!” his voice was full of excitement as he turned to Duke Rodriguez. His eyes shone at Duke Rodriguez for confirmation!

Duke Rodriguez nodded awkwardly, “... Yes.. technically.” as known by the public.

“.....” Eugene rolled her eyes in her mind. She shook her head at the only information available to the public. ‘Bamboo’s are too old fashioned!’ Until she officially began training, she too believed that guns were made from bamboo in this world!

Duke Rodriguez shook his head and continued to explain, "To begin our morning training today, we're going to start with running with weights. With logs tied to your waist, you have 80 minutes to complete this training. If you fail, you must run again. An extra 10 minutes will be added to the time limit every time you fail so there are no excuses to give up. Even if you must run 20 times, you can not give up!" His eyes went over to Aeselak as he said this as if this message were particularly for her.

“.....” Aeselak gulped. ‘I… I will die!!’ her eyes widened as she cried for her future self.

Duke Rodriguez shook his head lightly and turned away, “Those who pass will get one hour break. After your break, we will continue training with circuit fitness. After that, we will run some more and that will complete today’s schedule!”

Dea, Con, Arie, Aren, Argen, Louis, Ramon, and Ron nodded. Unlike those who've officially trained with Duke Rodriguez, they weren’t nervous or scared. To them, running was as easy as breathing!

Eugene inhaled loudly, ‘I will survive!’

Euria and Aeselak stared at each other in horror, ‘We... will die.’ The two were the worst runners in the group. They were the weakest! Dying is their fate!

Duke Rodriguez smiled widely and in a ‘you-can-do-this-’ tone, he said, “Well then! Let’s head on over to our 10km course!”

Eugene’s lips twitched twice as her eyes slightly blurred. “...... wha..?” she murmured speechlessly.

“!!!!” Euria, Aeselak, Aedelak, and Aernest saw god descending from heaven.

“!!!!” Arie, Aren, Argen, Dea, Con, Louis, Ramon, and Ron stared blankly.

Whatever is life? Whatever is death? If you know that you will die before the sun reaches its peak, will you willingly still face that obstacle? What if you had no choice? What if death is the only choice you must face?

Running...

Running will be the death of them.

-

The 13 teens and children stared at the long white dash indicating the start and finish line blankly. Those who didn’t understand why Aedelak, Aeselak, Aernest, and Euria looked lifeless and dead could now understand why the two had such reactions.

Everyone sighed, ‘10 kilometers in 80 minutes’ Just when they thought their fates felt hopeless, Aedelak crushed their souls completely with her next words,

“Most soldiers run 10 kilometers in 30 minutes. With 1 or 2 trees tied to them.”

“.....” Everyone pursed their lips. Not only could they not complain about running 10km in 80 minutes, it felt like they had to succeed no matter what!

Eugene blinked as she pulled onto her log, ‘Aedelak. You forgot to mention how buff the soldiers are..’ she thought quietly.

Though the logs aren’t heavy, as time passes by, the log will feel as if they are being dragged down to hell.

“Ready?” Duke Rodriguez asked.

“YES SIR!” Everyone replied in unison.

“On your marks! Get set!

“GO!”

At ‘go’, everyone’s feet moved forward! Those who were most confident ran in front, and those who weren’t confident ran in the middle. The ones who felt neutral choose to run at the back of the group.

The pairs who are most confident are ‘Louis and Dea’, ‘Ron and Arie’. The pairs who are least confident are ‘Euria, Aernest and Aeselak’, ‘Aren and Argen’. And those who were neutral to running and will run at their pace are ‘Con and Eugene’, ’Ramon and Aedelak’.

Argen stared at Aren in anger! “Why am I with you again!?!” he shouted. He wanted to pair up with his beloved Con, not AREN!

“.....” Aren rolled his eyes and continued running.

“CHEEE!” Argen pouted! However, he soon felt better at the thought of Con running behind him.

Arie slapped Ron on his back! “We’re together again best friend!” he laughed happily!

Ron laughed, “We can talk about all our adventures!” in response to Arie, Ron slung his arms over Arie’s shoulders. Though he was happy now, he will come to regret this moment later in the run.

Aeselak huffed, “I’m… I’m.. already dying Young miss!” she said in a deadly tone.

Everyone who heard her blinked, ‘It’s only been 5 minutes…’ they thought in unison.

Since losing her panda weight, Euria has been running 5 km every morning. That's why when she heard Aeselak, she couldn't help but breathe out in relief! 'So I'm not the worst!' she cheered in her mind happily but patted Aeselak on her back silently.

Dea glanced at Louis and said, “Let’s save our breaths.”

Louis nodded.

Aedelak turned to Ramon and questioned, “Why is Young master not running in front?” she couldn’t help but wonder.

“Hmm?” Ramon turned to Aedelak and replied, “Well, I want to be able to catch Euria or Aernest if they ever faint.”

Aedelak blinked, “Is that so..”

“.....” Eugene and Con remained silent.

They both greeted each other with a nod before they started running so there was no need to say anything unnecessary. The more you talk, the less energy you have. The two mutually understood this and have been conserving energy ever since tying the log to their waists.

-

Finally, after 10 minutes of running, they reached hectares of the field waiting for them to step on. The thick summer grass was wet with morning dew. Above-ankle-deep, as if they were rummaging through a soft fluffy duvet.

Because of the sight in front of them, everyone forgot about their tired physical body for a while as they ran towards their destination. The sun swept through their hairs and body, making them sparkle with every step they took. The way the grass felt, was as if they were surfing in the sea on a warm day in July. Though their muscles ache with every step, the joy and happiness of their efforts could be felt in their hearts.

This image of them running together with their comrades through the beautiful grass bed will forever stick with them whenever they encounter a dangerous situation. Although they didn’t know why this sight was especially impressionable, impressionable enough for them to remember, this image will be what motivates them to get through whatever deathly situation they get stuck in.

To come back to their destined friends, and to again run towards their goal.

Everyone ran forward to which they thought would never end, only to see a fence and sign that says they have completed 5km and to turn back! No one complained as they were happy to run through the fields again.

However, it was Aeselak who felt reality hitting hard as she read the sign!

‘5… Only 5KM!?!’ she shouted in her head!

What she thought was 10km turned out to be a mere 5km? ‘What nonsensical horror is this?!’ She gritted her teeth as she slowed down to run behind Ramon and Aedelak.

‘What beautiful sight? There is a weighted tail behind my back and it’s dragging me to hell!’ She grumbled and complained in her head.

-

Soon after everyone exited the beautiful field, they belatedly felt the reality Aeselak felt 30 minutes ago! Exhaustion immediately hit them as they started to scatter around! Many forgot about their pains inside the beautiful field and started chatting with one another and or started running faster than their usual pace.

Right now, they regretted doing that so much!

Enough to want to cough out blood!