THE CHESS GAME

10: ADDED WEIGHT

I AM LYING on my bed when suddenly I heard three knocks on my door. "Come in," I called. The door creaked open and there, Veah came into my sight.

"Are you okay?" she asked while slowly sat beside me. I just nodded my head in reply.

I'm fine. Seems like I am now awake with the reality because of Wawa's words. Lori is just a victim of cards. She's being fed with many opportunities in life; living her life comfortably, she's good at everything, beautiful, and holds the Queen role.

She already has it all. She's holding all the valuable cards. Maybe in her mind right now that since she has still those cards in her hands, she will better use them to the fullest. So for now, I cannot blame her for why she has that kind of attitude. Maybe, time will only be the one to dictate her fate sooner. Karma is real. Oops!

"Josh wanted to follow you right after you walked out but Ms. Paz said that it is better to just leave you alone for the meantime," she said and I wasn't shocked anymore.

"I'm fine. I am sorry about what I did a while ago." I responded. I sat from lying on the bed and lean my back at the headboard.

She seriously looked at me. "Only if you saw Josh a while ago, for sure you will also be bothered."

My brows furrowed soon after I heard what she said. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"He yelled Lori in anger. His voice right then was very scary to the point that even Ms. Paz did not try to meddle," she said, feeling amazed. I cannot believe what she was saying. He did that?

"Seriously?" I blurted out and she just smiles, nodding. "W-What was Lori's reaction?"

"Girl, she was speechless. She's like a puppy back then that cannot able to move or even say a word."

I just heaved a sigh after what I heard.

I can't believe it. Josh... what did you just do? Honestly, there's no need for him to did that. That might only worsen the situation between Lori and me. Surely, she will be more aggressive in bullying or belittling us. Tsk.

"What else did you do at the class?" I diverted the topic and just shook my head.

"Uhm, nothing except for the thing that Ms. Paz told us---it is the Pawn Promotion. Then after that, Ms. Alyssa came," she replied while getting one pillow and hugged it. I just nod my head.

I have no interest in knowing what is Pawn Promotion all about. In fact, that must not be important in the upcoming chess game.

"And by the way... Ms. Alyssa said something interesting in the class earlier. It is about Wilhelm Dacua," she added that caught my whole attention.

I stare at her. "Who is he?" I asked. I did not hear that name before.

"Wilhelm Dacua, according to Ms. Alyssa, was the former leader of our city many years ago. But only a few people from this generation knew it because that was forbidden to be told. However, Ms. Alyssa said to us that we should need to know that because that was still part of the history." she replied that made me confuse.

"But why?" I asked. Why they hid it from us?

"Because Master Herod did not want the generations to know," she answered.

"Why? What is something on Wilhelm?" I am still confused. I did not get it.

"Ms. Alyssa said that during Wilhelm's time, way back 50 years ago, the Shah City is very peaceful. The White and Black communities shared equal opportunities. There was even no chess game---the now traditional game--that happened." she went on. "But when he died, he was then replaced by Master Herod. The people did not expect the sudden changes happened right after he reigned. He implemented the rule that became part of the tradition. The tradition that has changed the lives of the people in this city."

Right after Veah shared that, I fell on my deep thoughts. Wilhelm may be a good leader yet he died. Whatever the reason behind his death, I am sure that Herod did contribute to it. Maybe he killed Wilhelm for him to grab the title. Knowing him, he's heartless.

"Alright, let us go. We shall be going to eat and by the way, tomorrow is the start of our training," she said and I just give her a nod.

♨♨♨

"THESE ARE your weapons."

We all looked at the long rectangular table in front of us where there are varieties of weapons on top of it. There are different weapons like Kris sword, Katana, Axe, and anything that I couldn't determine the names. I even saw something like a fish catcher.

We are here in a wide room. There are no other things that can be seen here except for the very wide space, the long table in front, and the 16 doors on the sides. This should be our practice area.

"As you can see, all your weapons are not applicable for long-range attacks like guns or a bow and arrow. All of these require physical strength and body coordination," said Sir Jessie Cuenca, our instructor for our training. "And so, you all should have a lighter body that is enough for all of you to lift yourselves as easy as possible especially when the game starts. You should be physically fit and good." he continued while walking in front of us. His hands are inside his pockets.

He then looked at his wristwatch and afterward, he picked something under the long table. It is a small, gray ring-like circle yet I sensed it was heavy.

"This weighs 5 kilograms. Attached this to your waist," he said while handed the said thing to us. It is as big as a crown.

What the?! We will attach that heavy 5-kilo thing on our waist? Seriously? This is insane!

We don't have any choice but to do what he said. Right after I attached it, feels like I cannot able to stand straight because of the added weight. Damn, this is very heavy.

"That will help you to make your body lighter than usual." Sir Jessie said right after we are all done attaching that heavy ring-likes on our waist.

I heard groans coming from the girls while the boys only acted as if nothing happened. This will help us to make our body feels lighter? Oww, we felt otherwise. Tsk.

"Now, your first task is to jog around inside this whole, wide room. This is part of your training. I hope you all understood." he said firmly and after that, we just let out deep, long sighs. "Alright, move!"

We immediately start moving as he walked towards the long table. He looks very strict, it is obvious with his face and voice so we better follow him. We started jogging around inside this wide room, carrying the heavy ring-like on our waist that is very hard on my part.

"Ouch!" I suddenly fell off the floor when someone hit me from the back.

"Oops... sorry!" Lori uttered. She even covers her mouth, acting like she did not mean to do it and after that, she continued to jog. I even heard her laughing mockingly.

I can hardly stand up because of the heaviness that I felt on my body. I even felt tired already even though I just took one round. Suddenly, someone helps me lift myself to stand. He is no other than Josh.

"Thank you..." I said to him as soon as I stood up and give him a smile.

"Let's go? Just jog slowly. I will go with you." he said, smiling. Sweats are visible on his face and his long hair started to get wet. I just nod at him.

Lori suddenly looked in our direction and glared at me. She's on the other side of us. I just ignored her and just continue to jog with Josh beside me. I even saw the faces of the others showing their smiles full of tease.

I looked at Josh who's currently smiling. His loose hair repeatedly swayed. I just shook my head and ignored their reactions. In fact, they did not know that we have a past relationship that is why they are having that kind of stares, or just as I thought.

After how many rounds, we are all now gathering in front of the long table. We are all breathing hard and panting in tiredness. If only we don't have the 5-kilo thing on our waist, that task was supposedly just very easy and we should not be as tired as we are now.

We all just sit silently on the floor, waiting for Sir Jessie to say something. He is now busy keeping all the weapons below the long table.

"Uhm, Josh, can you put it under my back? Please..." Lori suddenly said gently, handed her handkerchief to Josh while giving the latter puppy eyes.

I am somehow amazed by Lori's attitude. Based on what Veah said yesterday about how Josh scolded Lori, the latter has still that same urge to approach Josh.

Josh looked at me for a quiet while and then he did what Lori just asked him to do. I then saw a wide smile escaped from her lips.

"Okay..." Sir Jessie suddenly said while leaning his back to the table. "This is just your warm-up. This is just the start of your training." he went on while looking at each and every one of us. "What is attached to your waist is just five kilos, and you should all expect that another weight will be added to the next days."

I heard protests. Another weight will be added? Five kilos is already hard for me to move, how much more if another kilo will be added.

"Okay, you may rest at your dorms. Be back at 2 p.m. for you have a history class. You have many hours to rest." he said. "You may go."

"Uhm, sir," Lori suddenly spoke, raising her hand. Sir Jessie acknowledged her. "You forgot to remove this..." she smiled while pointing the 5-kilo thing on her waist.

Oh, right. We cannot able to remove this thing because it is being locked around our whole waist. It needs a key for it to be removed and only Sir Jessie holds the keys.

"Oh, thank you for reminding me." Sir Jessie said but he did not make a single move. He remains leaning his back to the long table. "But I will not remove it for now."

"What?!" We exclaimed in chorus because of shock. Did we hear it right?!

"Yes. You will walk with that thing, eat with that thing, going to C.R with that thing, taking a bath with that thing, and sleep with that thing until you will all get to use with the added weight on your body," he said that left our mouth gaped open. We became speechless. "And take note, more weight will be added to that in the next days."

Seems like there is a big lump in my throat that hinders me to give any reactions. So this is the training, huh?

♨THE CHESS GAME♨