"Speaking of numbers, how many candidates do you think will actually make it through the elimination rounds?"
"Hard to say. If they're really expanding recruitment, maybe they'll be more lenient with the initial cuts. But if the Emperor is pushing for quantity over quality..." Arthur trailed off as his expression darkened. Then he sighed,
"Traditional attrition rates suggest maybe half will survive the preliminary trials. However, since that will not be the case this time, I'd say the death toll might be quite staggering. So if we start with, say, two hundred candidates, we might number ten to maybe below twenty new Templars at the end."
Jacob let out a low whistle. "Those are brutal numbers."
The conversation continued in this vein as they rode, also including noble house politics, and the general state of the Empire. Nero absorbed it all silently, learning more about the broader situation than he had ever learned before.
