the Steeply–Poutrincourt colloquy: oven-toughened
Therefore the terrible pressure here. They are being tempered. Oven-toughened.
Context
The regimen's cruelty reframed as metallurgy. The pressure at E.T.A. isn't incidental; it's the process — "they are being tempered. Oven-toughened." You deliberately stress the young body-and-will now, in the controlled heat of the academy, so it won't shatter later when the real fear comes on tour. The pain is the point: a player is a thing you harden by burning.