“Is that it?” August silently asked, searching the fire-lit cave as he quietly awaited Asura’s response.
“I can feel it, the strongest beast core is coming from the brown Wyvern with the bone-shaped décor.” Asura answered, directing August’s gaze to the center of the cave, where a rather diverse mishmash of beasts all gathered.
The illusionary forest was like a never-ending treasure chest for weaker cultivators. Spirit rocks multiplied faster than they could be taken away while medicinal herbs treated the word abundant like a tasteless joke. Demon beasts were probably even more common than the first two combined, though because of that, nearby towns had to pay small fees to the three sects to ensure their safety. Be it resources or demon beasts, it was no wonder the three eastern sects managed to share the forest for so long without any equality issues.
For the past four months, August and Asura spent their time hunting demon beasts for their cores and Void Sect disciples for their martial arts books. Over this time, August learned a decent amount about his newfound abilities, especially what rules he had to follow:
In the act of absorbing a beast core or martial art with beast essence, he could then transform into said beast for however long he wishes. While transformed, though he can talk, he must abide by the fashion in which these beasts naturally live. For example: as a Sky Wolf, August gains the strong desire for independence, as normal Sky Wolves don’t tend to interact with others aside from procreation. Additionally, if August were to let Asura absorb a beast core of a beast he already has control over, it makes the beast in question stronger by a set amount. If enough are eaten, then that beast has a chance of evolving, something that the two recently experienced with the Sky Wolf, funnily enough.
August was right to think of it as a royal wolf, with its white fur and crimson eyes. After evolving and taking his new beast form out for a test drive, he encountered a group of honestly terrifying people for his strength: elders of the Void Sect, all at the 1st stage sky realm or higher. Though they didn’t waste time with such a weak demon beast, one of the elders who had a strange symbol-like scar expressed surprise at August’s appearance, referring to him as a “Sky Wolf Noble.” The current form wasn’t much different compared to its pre-evolved form, it was a tad bit larger than before and had a strange black marking on its forehead. Outward appearances aside, August could make use of far more power and was much nimbler compared to before. Though the Sky Wolf was the only one to undergo a considerable change, he and Asura managed to collect a few good beasts during their hunts through the southern illusionary forest:
Water Poison Serpent: A greenish-blue colored, amphibious demon beast that carries a very potent poison in a gland near its mouth. This poison is capable of killing a 2nd stage Spirit Realm cultivator instantly with August’s current power.
Da Zhao: Small humanoid beasts that resemble lycanthropes; though unlike their large ancestors, these creatures tote around very large, retractable claws on their hands and feet. Capable of climbing with extreme finesse and ending fights rather quickly with their sharp appendages.
Tengwan Ape: A rather vicious plant type demon beast that takes the shape of a large ape. These creatures can use their vines to attack its foes from almost any part of its body, as well as avoid damage by removing its vines from the area being attacked. Despite only being a plant type beast taking the shape of an ape, these creatures have strength that matches that of a real six-eyed ape.
Lastly, the Demonic Qi Sword: As strange as it sounds, yes, the Demonic Qi Sword seemingly counts as a demon beast, as it drops a beast core after being destroyed. Though controlling the sword is still considerably difficult for August, it holds a special property compared to the other demon beast he’s absorbed: He can transform into other beasts while using the Demonic Qi Sword, transform into one himself, and most importantly, use them while human. This power resonated with August very easily, as it allowed him to pass it off as his martial art or artifact while dealing with other cultivators.
Currently, August and Asura caught wind of the strongest demon beast race in the illusionary forest, the Wyvern, being spotted near an open cave holding an outstanding amount of spirit rocks and other resources. Though he was certainly going to hunt the dragon-descended beast sooner or later, he moved that plan upwards immediately because of one reason: food, good food to be precise.
“I can taste it now… pineapple slathered ham with a side of rice… green tea with just a cube of sugar cane… hehehehehe…” The society depraved August couldn’t stop himself from drooling as he happily thought of all the foods he could now eat with his freedom.
“Do not go crazy on me now, Auddi.” Asura jokingly warned.
“Don’t try to food shame me damnit, who’s the one stuffing her nonexistent face with beast cores right now?” He shot back, remembering that demon beast cores were like a sort of food that helped replenish Asura’s spirit.
“Hey! I am eating these delicious—erm, disgusting cores for our sake, mind you!” She refuted, though with her muffled voice, as if she had stuffed her cheeks full of food, it was hard for August to even remotely take her seriously.
In terms of battle power, August’s Sky Wolf plus four Demonic Qi Swords was his absolute strongest force, which allowed him to stand up to peak level Spirit Realm cultivators easily; using his Da Zhou form with the Qi swords was much more deadly short-term, so he opted to use that combination more often. However, though the Wyvern was a fairly dangerous opponent, August decided that using only his human form with the max five Qi swords was the best idea. Contrary to his initial belief, he became accustomed to most of his beast forms rather quickly, which left little room for use concerning his human form. If he wanted to get accepted into the Void Sect, August needed to make sure that his human form could keep up with the others using the passive abilities granted to him from hundreds of consumed beast cores.
The beast-like boy jumped down from the tree he scanned the cave from while taking ahold of one of the Demonic Qi Swords. The blade answered to his will and immediately retracted, revealing it to be a whip blade he could only use while directly holding it due to his inexperience with controlling them. The four other blades flew behind him menacingly as he stepped into the view of the brown Wyvern, who turned its attention away from the pile of spirit rocks to feel where the strange strong pressure originated from. The other beasts stepped back instead of joining the Wyvern’s side as it glared at August, as if they were mice watching a fight between two lions, they stayed back and gave the two space to fight one another.
The pitch-black eyes of the Wyvern stared daggers into August as it let out something like a soft warning roar, a roar that seemed to say “You’re strong, so I won’t bother with you.”
A shame for it, August had every intention of bothering the brown beast.
With a flicker, two of the four Qi swords shot past August and towards the brown Wyvern with no mercy in their stride. The beast swiftly dodged one as it made a Qi-formed ball that shot the second one down almost immediately. With an angry roar that shook its sharp scales violently, the beast took to the skies and rushed past August outside, where it could fly unabated. The boy dashed outside where he found the brown Wyvern high above, staring down at him like a human stares at a mere bug.
“Oh, that’s how it’s gonna be huh?” August chuckled bitterly.
“That cheating prick, he wants to stall you out!” Asura angrily yelled, using some of the newer words August taught her. “Show this featherless bird what we are made of!”
The mark that ran up August’s arm began to emit an abyssal glow, “Already on it!” He agreed, watching the black glow run to his left eye, where he felt the passive ability of the Tengwan Ape surface in his mind. With a thought, August whipped his arm in the direction of the largest tree he could find, watching the black, tangible vine that surfaced from his hand wrap itself around the very top. He pulled it back with as much force as he could muster without accidentally tearing the tree from the ground and, as if the tree were playing a game of tug of war, bounced itself upright with extreme force, shooting the boy towards the Wyvern at breakneck speeds. The blurry figure collided with his flying adversary and shot far past the cave, even closer to the Void Sect entrance than they already were. With a crash, the two blew past multiple poor trees and tore the ground apart in their landing.
August jumped up immediately, full of vigor even with the bruises he endured after the fall. “Wooo! Let’s go!” He feverishly screamed, clearly hyped up on energy from the combined desire of spirit rocks for real food and being able to turn into a Wyvern after consuming its beast core.
The beast in question was in worse shape, one of its wings was partially torn after being impaled by a large tree joint, not to mention the countless nicks and scratches that littered its scaly body. As it turned and faced August once more, the fuming glare from the proud aerial beast refused to dissipate as it let out an ear-screeching roar, like it was preparing itself while also letting out all of its frustrations at once. Its skin gained a light red coating while its eyes turned a bright golden shade, along with its scales that shot up like those on a hedgehog.
“This is bad.” Asura warned, “As much as I would like to let you accustom yourself to your passive abilities, that Wyvern’s roar likely alerted nearby cultivators. If we don’t hurry, our loot may be stolen!”
“Not my ham!” August joked, though he knew the real weight of the situation. He could feel the faintly growing presence of figures nearing his location. What’s simply a bout with a demon beast now could easily turn into a full on brawl with multiple cultivators if they saw both the injured Wyvern and its stash of spirit rocks and other resources in the cave. To avoid such an irritating situation, August decided he would’ve waste time any longer, though he did opt to stay in a human form in case others made it to him.
Two Qi swords formed in place of the two that were destroyed by the raging Wyvern, who rushed the boy the moment it saw the blades float closely to his side. As swift as the winds themselves, August took the Qi whip in his hand and lashed out towards the beast with scary precision. Even with a torn wing, the Wyvern managed to find its way through the small openings in his attacks with finesse. The two clashed in a series of strikes that would result in a quick fatality should either of them slip up even a little, yet neither gave their foe an opening as they threw out tooth and blade that could kill a normal 5th stage Spirit Realm cultivator ten times over. The red-tinted Wyvern dashed backward to gain space from its unwavering opponent, clear on the fact that a head-on approach would be almost impossible to win.
The livid beast released its pressure of a peak level Spirit Realm beast without restraint, its many fangs baring themselves at August unabatedly. Its gaping mouth collected a scary amount of Qi as it formed a wyvern’s breath that could probably kill a 1st stage Earth Realm cultivator if they weren’t careful. Within such a close proximity, August wouldn’t dare attempt to simply dodge the attack. He took three of the blades and formed a six-pointed shield that centered itself in front of him at all times. The release of the ball of Qi in its mouth made a whistling sound as its very presence burned through trees and scorched the ground ruthlessly. The loud clang of colliding metal filled the air the moment the ball met August’s Qi swords, followed by the even louder noise of the resulting explosion, one that tore everything that was within twenty feet of it asunder.
“A Wyvern!?” A nearby cultivator exclaimed as his head snapped in the direction of the explosion. He could recognize the familiar pressure of the wyvern’s breath from just about anywhere, but finding the beasts without letting them escape to the skies was borderline impossible. Who was the aerial beast fighting, and how strong must they be to push it so far?
The cultivator shook his head and began moving to the sight of the explosion. If there really was a fellow cultivator fighting a Wyvern, they were bound to struggle with it. He clearly recalled the time he fought one of the beast a mere year ago, and barely escaped with his life. The beast he fought became enraged when he managed to tear one of its wings off to prevent it from escaping, like a lion trapped in a cage. Just like with August, its scales turned a light red and its eyes gained a terrifying golden shade while its strength and speed more than doubled. He was no match for it at that point, and could only swallow his pride and run to keep his life.
Now was different though, his cultivation finally hit the 2nd stage of the Spirit Realm after three months in seclusion. With his 9th grade spirit staff, which allowed him to even contend with 8th stage Spirit Realm experts, he was more than prepared to handle a Wyvern on his own. The young cultivator vowed to lend his aid to the powerful expert going toe to toe with the king of the southern forest, if not, his name wasn’t Zhu Duan!
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“Well if it ain’t little Zhu!” Zhu Duan turned around mid-dash to find himself washing in disdain. The man behind him was a 7th stage Spirit Realm cultivator that made his very skin crawl. His tan skin couldn’t hide the bags under his eyes, or the pea-sized pupils that seemed to be full of nothing but malice. This man was Xiao Eyi, who often abused his father’s position as an elder to deal with those he didn’t like in the cruelest fashion possible. Now he had his sights on Zhu Duan, patiently waiting for the moment he could goad the young cultivator into a situation he couldn’t escape from. “Are you also heading towards the sight of that explosion?” He asked, that hoarse voice that forced its way out of his lips could probably make a cat’s ears bleed.
“Keep your hands off of whoever’s fighting up there, as well as whatever treasure they gained from it.” Zhu Duan unhesitatingly warned. He knew someone as sly as Xiao Eyi would take the chance to retrieve the spoils of war for himself. Even if he tried, Zhu knew that he wouldn’t risk a fight with him over some measly resources.
“Hey now, I’m simply interested in what caused such a large explosion in the first place.” He answered, secretly cursing under his breath. What bad luck he had to get told off by the justice-loving Zhu Duan before he even got to see the treasures! He swore, the moment he got the chance, he would slit Zhu’s throat without mercy. While he greatly enjoyed savoring the pain of others, he could tell the fool would only become a growing pain in his neck if he let him get any stronger.
The two continued through the forest and reached the sight along with a few others whose intrigue brought them over. Along with the others, the faces of Zhu Duan and Xiao Eyi were filled with a mixture of disbelief, confusion, and pure shock.
The boy in front of them couldn’t be older than 17 judging by his face. He was shirtless, with a jade necklace that hung over his neck and baggy jet black pants that hugged just below his knees. His left arm was covered with an ominous black marking matching his hair that ran up to his left eye. Those same blue eyes were beaming with pure joy, as if he won the lottery or gained the favor of a woman beautiful beyond words, despite the many bruises and cuts that littered his scarily well-built yet slim body. Why was his smile so wide? Well, it likely had to do with the lifeless corpse of the Wyvern Zhu Duan was so adamant to help him kill at his feet.
The many cultivators could only stare in awe at the sight before them. He wasn’t some popular core disciple, an inner disciple, probably not even an outer disciple, yet he was able to fight a Wyvern, the king of the southern forest, with no help. No matter how one saw it, his raw capability was terrifying. Not to mention the fact that he couldn’t sense the boy’s cultivation for the life of him, Zhu Duan felt like he was staring at a bottomless pit… a black hole who, even if he could tell his cultivation, went farther beyond anything he could hope to imagine.
As August gradually came back to reality from his happy place, he realized the many gazes of cultivators focused on him and the corpse, likely because they knew he couldn’t be a disciple of the Void Sect. He scanned the crowd and came across the two strongest cultivators he could feel from the group. One was simply oozing malicious intent and was clearly debating whether he should attack or not, while the other was far more tranquil. Though the boy with the blonde hair was a bit weaker than the malicious tanned boy, his Qi was far thicker, not to mention the spirit weapon in his possession. While he wanted to spark a conversation with the blonde haired boy, a burning desire within August kept him from doing so right away.
The sly killing intent the tanned boy unknowingly emitted was enough to spark August’s powerful lust for battle. His gaze met with that of Xiao Eyi’s, and without reservation, he released a battle intent that shocked him and Zhu Duan greatly.
“This pressure obviously belongs to one at the 6th stage Spirit Realm, yet why is it so domineering!?” Xiao Eyi thought, any ideas he had of attacking the mysterious boy immediately disappeared and were replaced with a cold sweat, much to his disappointment.
“Oh boo…” August silently pouted, his gaze immediately moved over to Zhu Duan who, despite being wary, didn’t waver as his eyes met with the boy. August clasped his hands together the moment he was within range of the two cultivators, “Fellow cultivators, my name is August. I was hunting in the illusionary forest in preparation to sign up as an outer disciple of the Void Sect. If I may be so bold, would one of you kindly help me in the process?”
The two were shocked, not just by the sudden shift of his attitude, but also by the idea that he thought he was merely worthy of being an outer disciple. If one of the elders witnessed this boy and his mysterious strength, neither of the boys would skim over the fact that August may be immediately accepted as a core disciple!
“Brother August, my name is Zhu Duan. Originally I traveled here to help brother take care of the Wyvern, but it seems I was unneeded after all. As for your request, I would be more than happy to oblige! Take it as a declaration of friendship between us.” Though just as thoroughly shocked as Xiao Eyi was, Zhu Duan managed to rebound and answer August’s question before he moved on to someone else.
August let out a slight chuckle, knowing that his inference was basically on the nose. He could tell that Zhu Duan hadn’t told a single lie in what he said, not to mention he recalled the boy’s name from a few months ago, with the three fools that planned to cripple him. August already felt a sense of kindship between him and Zhu Duan, which made it all the easier for him to accept his offer.
“I greatly appreciate it, brother Zhu!” August said, turning back to the crowd of cultivators, “Fellow brothers and sisters, I’ve already taken the beast core from the slain Wyvern, as such, I have no need for its corpse. Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves who gets to keep it!”
He turned back to Zhu Duan and pat him on the shoulder before dashing into the forest, “Follow me.”
Zhu Duan nodded as glanced towards Xiao Eyi, who had already taken advantage of the scene and began pushing others around for the Wyvern corpse, before shaking his head as he followed closely behind August.
“Are you ok with leaving it behind, brother August? Dragon blood is a precious item no matter how diluted it is, especially considering the Land of the Dragons’ rule on entry.” Zhu Duan warned, he was worried that the mysterious boy didn’t know the true value of a Wyvern’s corpse, but he was more reluctant to let someone like Xiao Eyi take such a precious item for himself.
“Such poor quality dragon blood means nothing to me, letting that fish-eyed fox take priority over the corpse was a better choice anyway.” August honestly answered, “Worry not, brother Zhu, we’ll have much better items to split between one another.”
Zhu Duan felt worried seeing August’s mischievous smile, but he had no time to regret his choice. As the two neared the open cave the black marked boy guided him towards, Zhu Duan could practically smell the abundant amount of treasure that seemed to permeate the word “Rich!!”
Well over 2,000 spirit realm rocks, 20 wolf beast cores, 20 Da Zhao cores, 10 Demonic Qi Sword cores, 2 Wyvern cores, 2 tier 7 artifacts, an entire set of alchemist clothes, and well over 5 grade 8 martial arts books! Half of these items were things only core disciples could even hope to obtain, not to mention the set of alchemist clothes which were almost impossible to obtain! No matter how one saw it, August and Zhu Duan were practically swimming in money, and from the loot of the Wyvern he killed, no less.
“The spoils of war will always follow the victor! Haha!” August jovially laughed, unbelievably ecstatic that the demon beasts he and the Wyvern left in the cave didn’t attempt to make off with the riches. To them, they likely knew that one or the other would return for the spoils, and with the many cultivators that began showing up as well, decided not to push their luck. August practically jumped into the pile of spirit rocks as his joyful gaze met Zhu Duan once again, “See brother Zhu? That pea-eyed fool is breaking his neck over a mere Wyvern corpse while we reveled in the real spoils of fortune!” He laughed, “I’ll be taking the spirit rocks and the Wyvern cores, and the rest is all yours!”
“But what about the artifacts Auddi?” Asura pouted, if she had a face, she would likely be making puppy-dog-eyes at him right about now.
“Don’t worry Asura, we’ll be getting our own artifacts soon enough.” He consoled, August recalled that the newly inner and core disciples from each of the three eastern sects were allowed to choose a single artifact of any tier from the Shenqi Vault at the center of the illusionary forest, so long as they successfully resonated with it.
Zhu Duan couldn’t help but revel in the sheer amount that August left for him, it wasn’t even half, he likely left him more than 60% of the spoils! Despite viciously wanting to simply accept his kindness, Zhu’s guilty conscious couldn’t help but ask the question, “Brother August, though I’m grateful for the offer, but are you sure you want to leave so much to me? Even if you don’t want the martial arts books or alchemist robe, simply selling them would garner much more spirit rocks than what is in that pile. I urge brother to think this through again!”
“Yeah, they’re all yours.” August lazily ensured, “Couldn’t care less for the martial arts or remaining cores, and that robe means jack-shit to me. It would simply go to waste in my hands brother Zhu, take them!”
Zhu Duan could tell that August was exaggerating somewhat in his explanation, though his words were truer than Zhu expected. He clasped his hands together and lowered his head, to show the upmost gratitude to August. He only bows to his parents and his lover, heavens be damned! To those that show kindness to him, he pays back tenfold! “Brother August! As long as I draw breath, I, Zhu Duan, will always recognize you as my junior brother! If anyone dares cause trouble for you in the Void Sect, a simple call will send me flying to you!”
August let a smile form on his face at Zhu Duan’s words. To someone who too often dealt with powerful, arrogant fools blinded by greed and pleasure, he couldn’t help but grow fond of Zhu Duan and his character. To someone who so earnestly showed his gratitude and treated his fellow brothers with respect, August had no qualms sharing his spoils with him.
“I appreciate it, brother Zhu.” He picked himself up and turned back to the pile of spirit rocks that shone brilliantly beside him, “Now, how am I going to take all of these with me…?”
Zhu Duan’s sudden appearance beside him startled August a bit, though he didn’t show it on his face. The eager boy pulled a purple bag from his waist and pointed it towards August, “Use this! It’s a spirit bag, it makes use of spatial Qi to create a large space that can carry virtually anything. So long as you know what you’re putting and pulling out, this bag makes carrying multiple pills or spirit rocks simple.” Zhu Duan explained, he quickly grabbed August’s hand and placed the bag in his palm, not letting the boy refuse the offer in any way, “Take it, please, it’s the least I can do for you. The items inside aren’t worth a third of what you left me, and I have an extra bag in my house.”
The blonde boy’s eyes lit up intensely, as if he were hit by the most shocking revelation in existence, “My house! Fei Mei is waiting, oh damn!” He hurriedly stuffed the pills, cores, herbs, and alchemist outfit in a large back before throwing it over his shoulder. Despite his intense rush out of the cave, he turned back to August with a wide smile on his face, “Come visit my house after you take the outer disciple test, with your abilities, it shouldn’t take long at all! It’s residence number 9 near the top of the Gaokong Mountain behind the Sect, once you reach your own residence you shouldn’t miss it. Don’t be late, Fei Mei’s food is best served hot!”
August watched as Zhu Duan dashed away towards the mountain he was likely referring to, a large, lush mountain with structures that could be seen from where he stood. A content sigh could be heard leaving his mouth as he thought about the ball of joy and goodwill that was Zhu Duan, thinking it over, he truly was lucky to meet with such an honest fellow.
“Aww, look at you! You’ve already made a friend.” Asura teased, though with her absorbing the 3 Wyvern cores in August’s possession, she sounded more like she talking while being drowned.
August used the very convenient spirit bag to collect the remaining spirit realm rocks and dashed in the direction opposite of Zhu Duan, he was heading towards the Void Sect entrance, where multiple people could be seen watching the entrance matches that lasted all day.
If the Moonlight Sect disciples could be seen as portable jailors, the Void Sect disciples could be seen as ruthless warriors. The Sect leader Wuqing Zhandouji reveled in the rules of the strong that governed the Cloud Continent, and those same rules were doubled, maybe even tripled down on in his image. Elders were chosen between those that could take 10 hits from him, regardless of their cultivation, disciple advancement tests were almost always mock battles between them and a disciple of a higher rank, even deep animosity between cultivators, be them elders or disciples, were determined through life-and-death battles. Where the people of the Moonlight Sect found their power in one’s background and through more indiscreet methods, the Void Sect allowed for much more direct approaches to just about everything.
Just on the surface, August ascertained that moving around in the Void Sect would be much easier compared to the other two sects. Not just that, but the fact that he could easily battle anyone he wanted made a fire burn passionately within the boy. That all started at the entrance, where he could see an examiner mercilessly beating down a young boy, likely younger than August.
The autumn-haired boy was at the peak of the Refinement Realm, just barely enough to qualify for the entrance test according to the wooden sign sitting on a skinny tree. He threw out everything he had at the bald examiner, but the absolutely surfeit space between the two in terms of experience, not to mention the large gap in cultivation, made the match nothing more than a one sided beating. The bald examiner used what seemed to be a mere tier 5 martial art on the boy, but it was more than enough to suppress his constant advances that only served to tired him out faster. Each blow was easily nulled by the Qi that surged in a circular motion on the examiner’s hands, who returned those blows with double the force. The onlookers could do little more than cringe in a mixed feeling of both expectance and understanding; if their reactions were anything to go by, a scene like this was common, even with the weaker examinees.
“Come on, brat! One hit, one hit is all you need to take the outer disciple spot! If you keep this up, the remaining 5 spots for today will be taken.” The bald examiner coldly spat, it was easy to tell that he only saw the match as a waste of his time. No matter what examiner the boy got for the mock battle, the chances of a Refinement Realm cultivator hitting an expert Spirit Realm cultivator was the same as him surviving on the surface of Evon: virtually zero. The onlookers began preparing themselves as they fully accepted the autumn-haired boy’s loss before it even ended.
“Well, this fight is over.”
“Good thing I didn’t place any bets this round, it was simply sad.”
“Haha, brother Gu, do you dare place a bet for next round?”
“Do I dare? I am no coward! These 50 spirit rocks will go in favor of the next examinee, with an extra 100 to challenge and hit senior brother Gong three times!”
The examiner named Gong too decided that his match with the autumn-haired boy was over. With an even thicker surge of Qi in his right palm, he rushed towards the exhausted boy with no hesitation, his palm raced towards the chest of the boy, but its sudden halt startled the entire crowd considerably. A young boy, barely older than the autumn-haired examinee held senior Gong’s hand still with seemingly little effort. No one had even seen him walk up, let alone rush in to stop the examiner’s hand. The more the onlookers thought about it, they couldn’t feel his cultivation either, yet the mere fact that he could stop the examiner so easily spoke volumes of his strength. The strangely jovial boy glanced at the autumn-haired examinee before turning back to senior Gong.
“My apologies… brother Gong, is it? Let me have a word with this boy before you continue.”