"Character means nothing if he dies in the first week," the Third Elder countered coldly. His fingers still tingled with the residual energy from his attempted attack, frustrated that the Seventh Elder had intervened. "Six months in the Hellfrozen Abyss for a mere Genetic Soldier? We might as well have executed him cleanly. At least that would have been merciful."
The Fifth Elder, mistress of shadow and darkness, floated forward slightly. Her form seemed to flicker between solid and incorporeal. "Perhaps that's the point. If he survives, he'll emerge stronger. If he dies…" She shrugged elegantly. "Then he wasn't worthy of the academy's investment in the first place."
"Cold," the Fourth Elder commented. His voice was like wind through canyons—present everywhere yet impossible to pin down. "But not inaccurate. The Abyss has always been our ultimate testing ground. Those who emerge from it become legends."
