Lizana paused, her lips curving into a faint smile. She did not turn to face them, but her voice, soft yet clear, reached their ears.
"Ash... you walk with me." She used his alias.
The others froze in place, their gazes snapping between Asher and Lizana, eyes wide with shock and disbelief. To walk side by side with the Arcane Great Sage—especially one of her stature—was a privilege few could even dream of.
It wasn't just an invitation; it was a gesture of equality, of treating him as one of her own, on par with her power and influence.
To the other sorcerers, it felt as though their egos were being intentionally crushed. Their pride, built over years of training in the finest academies, seemed to crumble in the wake of Lizana's gesture.
They had been taught that the hierarchy of power was rigid and unchangeable, that those from Eryx's finest schools were at the top, and outsiders... were just that—outsiders.
