Volmar stood before the massive boulder, going through a stretching routine to get ready. Nadrina wasn’t sure if he wanted to warm up or if he just wanted to flex some more, but thankfully, he finished quickly. Spitting in both hands before rubbing them together, Volmar opened his arms wide as he gave the boulder a brawny bear hug.

His body glowed as he exerted his magic, and with a bellow of effort, hoisted the boulder just high enough to clear the ground. His class picked up their cheering again as Volmar waddled forward, every muscle in his back and arms spasming from the effort. Nadrina couldn’t help but be impressed. She’d seen some of the practice Alek had been working on, but never a display like this.

She wished she’d brought her notebook, but Professor Aldric had said she’d need to focus. He’d then confiscated it when she’d tried to sneak it past him.

Volmar continued his laborious trek to the end of the field, clearly putting in effort but never losing his confident grin the whole trip. When he finally arrived after several minutes, he simply dropped the boulder where he stood, the earth shaking slightly as he did so. He turned and bowed dramatically to his cheering class, throwing in a few flexes and poses for good measure.

“Enforcers,” Codrin muttered bitterly from his place on the ground. “Bunch of overgrown meatheads.”

“Try not to sound too jealous, Caffaret,” Alek chuckled.

“Very well done, Mr. Merton. Judges, the time was one minute and twenty-four seconds. Your class is up next, Al-... Professor Aldric.”

Nadrina wondered why the headmaster kept stumbling over the professor’s name, but Alek’s sigh interrupted her. “Do I really have to do this?” he asked Professor Aldric with a put-upon expression.

“Yep. Get your butt out there.” the professor replied simply. “The more you whine, the longer this takes.”

Just barely restraining an eye roll, Alek walked towards the middle of the arena, where another boulder had already been erected. He didn’t even seem to notice as the others cheered him on, staring at the boulder before him as if it was personally responsible for his suffering.

Nadrina had noticed over the last few months that Alek seemed to have a very low work ethic, and was the exact opposite of Codrin. He didn’t strike her as overconfident or arrogant, he just seemed to view most tasks as boring and not worth doing. Every assignment he was given was done to the barest of minimums, and he complained every chance he got. Nadrina wondered why he was even here, if all of this was just a bother to him.

“Mr Carlisle, you may begin when ready. Time starts when you touch the boulder,” the headmaster instructed, and the spectators hushed as they all focused on Alek. He simply stared at the boulder, probably thinking of ways to get out of doing this.