Alex stepped into the chamber with a quiet calm, the heavy stone door behind him shutting with a low, echoing thud.
His expression was unreadable, his eyes holding no emotion, only certainty.
No one here posed a threat to him, and they all felt it.
There was nothing they could do to shake him, nothing that could make him flinch.
That truth settled like a weight across the room, draping over the figures standing in tense silence.
Every person here, no matter how proud, how influential, or how dangerous, could feel it in their bones.
The one standing before them, wasn't a human anymore.
No matter how hard they tried to rationalize it, no matter how much they tried to remind themselves of his origins, their instincts told them otherwise.
He wasn't like them.
Still, amid the tension, someone chuckled.
The sound was light, almost amused.
It came from a man who stepped forward without fear, his hands casually tucked in his pockets.
