Lucas let his gaze sweep across the chamber, taking in every stunned expression, every widened eye, and every mouth left slightly ajar in disbelief. What he saw on their faces was respect and a quiet profound acknowledgment that something extraordinary had just occurred before their very eyes. Something they might never witness again in their lifetime.
He felt it settle within him, a quiet sense of satisfaction, not born of pride or vanity, but from the knowledge that he had just made his mark. In this moment, surrounded by men who had studied alchemy for decades, some longer than he had even been alive, he had claimed a place none could contest. His name would not be forgotten. It would be spoken and shouted across academies, whispered in council chambers, sects, kingdoms and recorded in scrolls passed down for generations.
He knew what this meant.
