Rick woke up in his room, his body covered in bandages and glowing with a soft golden light. Sylvia sat next to his bed and moved her hands in complicated patterns while dragon magic healed his wounds and knit his bones back together.
"Urgh..." Rick croaked, "That was embarrassing."
"That was needed," Sylvia said. "Rick, you're not a dragon."
"You will never be able to beat them in a physical fight, but the trial isn't about who wins fights. It's about showing that you can get through it and that you have the will to get back up no matter how many times you fall."
The magic of healing was effective. Rick could feel his broken bones healing and his torn muscles coming back together, but even though the physical damage healed, the pain stayed with him like a phantom pain, reminding him of every blow he'd taken.
"This is what you'll have to deal with for the next six days," Sylvia said in a low voice. "Every day will be different, but the violence will always be the same."
