Codrin started muttering something about unreasonable professors and arrogant girls, but looked too tired to keep trying to stand and instead just laid there. Nadrina noticed that despite the win, Cira looked wholly unsatisfied with the outcome. She frowned at Codrin and the judges before stalking off towards her class’s bleachers in a huff, ignoring their congratulations.

“Our next contest will be between our enforcer representatives,” the headmaster declared, bringing silence to the arena once again. “Professor Rainer, if you would?”

Professor Rainer had a smug grin planted on his face as he pointed to another student. “Volmar Merton, finish this quickly, please. One more win and we can end this farce.”

Nadrina’s eyes bugged out as she stared in awe at the student that stepped forward. She’d thought he was just one of the standby staff members, but she now saw his yellow robes of a student enforcer.

The age range for most students in the academy varied from sixteen to eighteen, depending on their year. This student looked to be in his early twenties and stood almost a foot taller than his own professor. The most noteworthy aspect of him, however, was his ridiculous build. Nadrina suspected a bear had to be somewhere in his ancestry. He had a huge barrel chest and rippling muscles that strained his robes to near bursting. His handsome smile and sandy blonde hair reminded her of Codrin, but without the pompous attitude.

“With pleasure!” the man... student named Volmar declared, his voice deep and carrying across the field. “I’m always up for a friendly contest.” Nadrina had to admit, he looked genuinely excited to be a part of this competition. For someone so imposing, there wasn’t an ounce of hostility to him, just good-hearted cheer and competitiveness.

Volmar made his way to the center of the field as his class started cheering for him, which only got louder when he took off his shirt and began flexing and posing in front of them. Nadrina wasn’t sure why he felt the need to do that. Maybe because of how ill-fitting his clothes were?

“If you’re quite done, Mr. Merton, we can get started,” Headmaster Kedrin sighed, pointing to one of the staff nearby, a conjurer from the looks of him. A murmured spell later, and a large boulder, even bigger than Volmar, simply rose out of the ground as the earth shook. When the spell was complete, the headmaster turned to address the contestants again.

“The object of this challenge is to transport this boulder from here to the other end of the field. You may do so in whatever fashion you deem best, but you will be graded for both technique and time taken to do so. Your time starts when you touch the boulder. You may begin when ready.”