In Master Mercer's office, light coalesced into an image.
It was a humanoid figure made of energy, bound and pierced by countless fine Rune chains. With every pulse, mottled, multi-colored specks of light were stripped away by the chains, until only a pure, ethereal blue remained.
"The essence of soul processing is not creation, but selection and trimming."
Mercer's voice was devoid of inflection.
"What you must do is eliminate the useless 'impurities' in the soul, such as emotions, memories, and self-awareness, leaving only the core 'functional modules': combat instinct, the capacity to learn, and absolute obedience to commands."
"This is a process as precise as surgery. Trim too much, and it will become sluggish; trim too little, and the original self-will might remain, leading to a backlash."
Allen and Victor listened with rapt attention; this was precisely the problem they faced in the process of creating Golems.
