Some would consider Zoran cruel to throw a monster at the newcomers, but weren't they already Keepers?
If a youth found the Ascension Rune and didn't have the bravery to deal with a simple Tarnished monster, then he was just lucky in the Astral Dimension with the starting conditions.
The Ascension Rune wasn't an indicator of strength. It only showed that a Tainted found his Codex and became an Awakened.
Nothing more or less.
What mattered in reality was the path Tainted went through to his Ascension Rune.
Step.
Kain stood in front of the Grim Seeker, who, like an obedient hound, waited for a command from the man beside him.
"How do you make him fight?" Kain asked. "It doesn't look like you tame it."
Zoran waved his hand. "I don't need to keep him on a leash for it. Fear is enough. Killing the weakest is his way to survive, and you're the weakest."
"One minute, right?"
"Yeah." Zoran shrugged as he began the countdown.
