They started pulling. Most had decent form, though a few struggled from the start. Charles knocked out repetitions with mechanical precision, his face barely showing strain.
"Twenty for Franklin!" Garrett called at the one-minute mark.
Charles kept going, finishing with thirty-two total. The next highest was twenty-five.
My group was called third. I stepped up to the bar alongside three other Obsidian students I didn't know well. Blair watched from the sidelines, her eyes locked on me.
"Ready... begin!"
I gripped the bar and pulled. My body rose smoothly, chin clearing the bar with ease. Down, up. Down, up. The movement felt natural, almost effortless compared to three weeks ago when I'd struggled to do five.
""Fifteen for Monroe!" Garrett's voice cut through my focus.
I kept pulling. Steady rhythm. My shoulders started burning somewhere around twenty, but it wasn't the screaming agony I'd felt three weeks ago. Just discomfort I could work through.
"Thirty seconds!"
