"I… can't… lift this."
Elric's arms trembled as he futilely tried to lift the bar up from just above his chest. His face was flared red as he took a moment to try and recuperate before pushing again.
What he'd thought might be a manageable workout quickly changed as Match and his sidekick increased the weight on the barbell repeatedly, until now the weights stacked on it were a couple of kilograms over Elric's personal record.
Elric took another deep breath as he felt his arms starting to weaken, then pushed up with all of his strength. The bar moved up toward the hook, but just as Elric got it high enough, his arms started to fail him.
Just before the bar started swaying back away from the hooks, a sturdy hand grabbed it and guided it to its resting place.
"Nice! A new personal best for you!"
Elric accepted the sidekick's fist bump before wiping the sweat off his brow.
