Shortly after receiving the orders from the ruler, Eros and Keya along with Meira’s group set out for the mission to scout the opposing power.

Being only a mage, Eros felt anxious that he will perish if he gets caught in a fight between two grand wizards. Because of his experience from traveling with Fryr and Hagu, he was now aware that he is like an ant compared to those grand wizards who could kill hundreds at a wave of their hands.

Noticing Eros’ worried expression, Meira said while walking in front of the group, with Eros on her side, “Don’t worry, as long as I’m at your side, you will go home without a scratch.”

Eros then thought of something and cleared his throat before saying, “I’m not really worried much about my safety.” Then he lowered his pace, to walk beside Keya. “However, Keya over here is just a mage like myself. If a wizard, or worst, a grand wizard assaults us, her life might be in danger. And being from a known family, I think you should offer her more protection.”

Eros eyes then glowed with heroism, and overflowing with a gentlemen’s vibe, he said. “Oh virtuous students of Lady Meira, I think all of you are strong enough to create a shield to protect Keya as we journey along towards the Ruins of Kivel. This will ensure her safety and ease the worry of her family.”

The five men were a bit startled with Eros’ proposal. As a man, they also thought of giving Keya extra protection; that was why they positioned themselves around her, in what they believed to be the safest formation. However, without their master’s approval, creating a shield is not option. So with complicated face’s, they looked at their master’s direction.

Meira smiled wryly and her lips twitched as she thought. “This boy is trying to use that girl as added protection. I think he doesn’t even trust me much.”

Without a word, Meira looked away and waved her hand expressing indifference on Eros’ plan.

Knowing that their master does not care, the five students of Meira looked at each other, and decided to create a spell to protect Keya. However, Eros did not budge from his spot beside Keya. Actually, he even kept his distance closer in an attempt to include himself in the shield. Eros then gave everyone the same heroic gaze and said. “I think it would be better if I stick close to lady Keya, if an enemy appeared and everyone gets into a fight and the shield breaks, she has still me as her last line of defense.”

The five gave Eros a nod of approval then started chanting a spell which quickly materialized a shield which Eros believed to be strong enough to stand a single blow from a grand wizard.

With the shield up, Eros felt safer. Keya also smiled and looked at Eros with a smile from the heart. “Is he really treating me better now?” She thought while stealing an affectionate glance at Eros.

Nobody was able to fully read Eros’ plan except Meira who was now leading the group with a frown. “This is odd….” She then murmured some spell, causing shadows to appear on the ground. Its energy was dark; close to that of the energy from darkness of the night.

“Darkness element… A dark Elf?” Eros blurted.

Meira raised a brow when she heard Eros’ remark then said. “Hah.. Indeed I can be classified as a dark elf, but dark elves won’t consider me as one of them. My dark element is simply based on the darkness of the night, and simply supplemented by the dark desires of the heart. It is far from the magic the dark elves uses, which originates from the netherworld.”

Turning her attention back at her summons, Meira said. “Summons from the night, I order you to spread out, reveal what’s ahead, and uncover the traps they have laid.”

The shadows then quickly spread out, and vanished in everyone’s sight. The five men surrounding Eros and Keya also became more vigilant; their eyes glancing around and dense but compressed energy in their body lightly seeps out.

“So they all use the same darkness element, but it seems like lady Meira’s element is much concrete and stable. It feels like she understands the element from its core.” Eros thought as he carefully observed from his position.

Keya on the other hand already knew what element Meira uses, and also knew why Meira hates females.

Eros noticed that Keya knew about Meira’s magic, so he asked in a low tone, avoiding Meira to hear his question. “Do you know why she hates you?”

Keya’s tone didn’t even waver as she answered Eros question in a calm manner. “It is because her darkness elements births from dark mortal desires, and is more inclined in male lust. Battling a male would tremendously increase her chance of winning; however, a female will be always her bane.”

“So that’s why..” Eros said a bit enlightened.

Meira didn’t bother with them though; she was busy scouting the place to ensure their safety. “There are no recently laid traps, but there are traces of different monsters passing by the area. This is odd for a forest just beside the ruins of Kivel which boast its strong repellence to any intruders.”

“You’re right master. There is something going on here. I believe this confirms that there are really enemies who operate in the ruins.” One of Meira’s students said.

“Alright, we are only hundreds of meters away from the ruins of Kivel. Here our mission will start, so let me give out the plan. Eros, Keya and Janos you will come with me. The rest split up into two groups and scout around. Avoid any traps and any fights. We will remain hidden until the mission ends. Information is all we need and nothing more.” Meira said, as the other five nodded. Then the four spread out in a flash, not leaving a trace behind.

Meira with his student Janos, lead Eros and Keya to the ruins. It was vast; seemingly remains of a previously flourishing kingdom. Crumbled walls, which in the past obviously spanned high met their eye. Architecture from different era gave Eros a glimpse of the quondam opulent kingdom which reflected how the wizards have lived on that period of time.

Quickly, they hid themselves on a dilapidated structure, while both Janos and Meira scanned the area. They were careful of every movement, which made Eros realize that the place is riddled with traps that could easily end their lives.

“Eros, don’t stray far from me. Even with the shield placed on you, your life can still be at danger.” Meira said seriously. Her face was now without a trace of her former titillating expression.

Eros nodded and thought to himself. “She doesn’t really care a bit about Keya, even if she’s from the renowned family of Para.”

Time flew by fast, and they switched from one structure to another trying their best to avoid any danger. At a certain area, while carefully hiding their tracks, they were suddenly caught in a mysterious trap -an ancient spell formation which trapped their souls and corrodes it with an unknown force. Even Meira was shocked as worry flashed her face, but luckily they were able to break free. However, the process left Janos injured, forcing him to stay behind to recover and not hinder the progress of the mission.

The three proceeded along, leaving only Meira to protect them. When they reached a castle, they noticed tracks from wizards and even mages. It was now a fact that there really is an odd movement in the ruins of Kivel from some unknown power.

“Eros, things will be harder from here. Please conceal both of your presence to avoid being detected. I will also assist you on doing it. Also, do not do anything unnecessary, and simply observe. Try to remember anything familiar relating to your mission on the mountain of Tulk.”

Meira then paused and looked at Eros deeply, before continuing. “I will now tell you why you were requested to join such dangerous mission…. We found out that the spell formation at the mountain of Tulk was set up by a grand wizard. So after the accident in your mission, we decided to do a thorough check around the kingdom, and found around twenty similar spells at different parts of the Kingdom of Sheles.

“Those similar spells gave off the same type of magical presence, but it was obviously not set up the by a single person, which means, the number of grand wizard from the enemy side could be more than twenty, and having such a large force means we are up against a powerful enemy that could rival the kingdom.

“After inspecting all twenty spell, we realized that there is a will in it. And it quickly disappeared once a grand wizard dispelled the spell. Even though we have this information, only your group was able to face the dangerous trap laid on the spell and probably had an encounter with a will. So if you could feel any similarity from the will and the entities inside this castle, please tell me. It will prove that they are the same enemy.”

Eros expression remained the same, but he was a bit hesitant now to proceed further. More than twenty grand wizards is no simple group, and obviously their leader would be of great power.

After Meira ordered them to conceal their aura and explained about their importance in the mission, Eros and Keya immediately did as they were told. Slowly, their energy became barely discernable, and mage’s of equal level as them might even think that they weren’t even there. But for Meira, she can still detect them without trouble. So with a wave of her hand, a form of dark energy covered both Keya and Eros hiding their presence even more.

The presence of the three was now minimal, so with a satisfied smile, Meira led the group deeper into the suspected den of the enemy.

As Meira was slowly leading the group, Meira was suddenly startled. Her breathing stopped and her eyes widened. Then she hurriedly looked back, while almost shouting. “Eros! Where are you?”

But when her eyes met what was behind her, she saw Eros just standing there, looking at her puzzled and started. “Why?” Eros asked.

“Eh?” Meira said. Then again, with more effort she tried to feel Eros’ presence, but she could feel nothing.

Her brows furrowed and murmured. “How… Did he understand natural element to such an extent and fully merged his presence with the air and earth?”

Meira probed more, but her shock simply grew more, since she really could not feel Eros anymore. He was standing in front of her, but it felt that he was completely not there.

“What’s the problem?” Keya asked, but Meira ignored her and asked. “Eros, where did you learn that?”

“Learn what?” Eros simply answered with a question as his face showed signs of confusion.

“I can’t feel a bit of your presence.”

Eros was now enlightened; he never thought that someone like Meira who is at the early stages of being a grand wizard would not be able to feel his presence. “Uhh.. I learned it myself. This similar concept on how I climbed the False Tree of Life. But this time, I merged my energy with the air and land in the area.”

“So the rumors are really true. His understanding towards the elements is deeper than everyone in the kingdom. Such gift…” Keya thought. Her eyes brimmed with eagerness towards recruiting Eros as her apprentice.

Feeling the weird vibe from Meira, he insisted. “Uhh, I think we should proceed now. It’s probably not safe to tarry here.”

With that, they proceeded again until they came to halt at what seemed to be a temple for worship. Different statues of beasts decorated the place. Each one of them is extremely fierce, giving and oppressing feeling to the place.

At the altar of worship, there is a large statue sitting crossed legged. Its shape closely resembled a human, but its tounge is out of its lips - in the shape of a snake. A vertical slit represented its pupils, making the statue feel like it’s a snake on a form of a man. His face looked solemn, but there was something off which Eros could not discern.

In front of the large statue, there were hundreds of stone carved in the form of worshippers. They all kowtowed, with their forehead touching the floor, expressing veneration at the statue at on the center of the temple.

Only a single worshipper was standing, but his head still bowed and his hands raised up high seemingly giving an item as an offering, but there was nothing there, only crumbled earth at the worshipper’s feet, as if the offering was already destroyed by the passage of time.

After some time of observation, Eros’ group heard faint steps walking towards the statue. “Quick, hide.” Meira quickly swept the two and hid at an inconspicuous pillar on at balcony nearby.

Ten entities walked towards the statues wearing black robes with cowl, making their face undiscernibly from afar. Without a word, they all stopped their steps in front of the worship altar and kowtowed to the large statue.

Meira’s and Keya’s eyes were fixed at them, but Eros instinctively glanced at the large statue, and what he saw made his eyes wide. The solemn face of the large statue suddenly twisted and turned extremely mad and vile, to the point that could collapse one’s mind.

Eros suddenly lost focus and his control over the elements became nonexistent. His presence slowly became noticeable which made Meira startled as she quickly transmitted a message to Eros using magic, and tried her best to conceal him more. “Eros whats happening? Our cover will be blown!”

With Meira’s words, Eros woke up from his unexplainable state, and quickly reformed his concealment. Luckily, those below did not seem to notice what happened which made Meira sigh in relief.

“What was that?” Eros thought deeply. He did not bother telling Meira what he saw since it might be just his imagination and it might not even be helpful in the mission.

“Sorry.” Eros said.

“Focus kid. You’ll get us killed.” Meira replied with a heavy tone.

“So kids. Do you find any of their auras familiar?” Meira said after a while.

Keya quickly shook her head and said. “No.” and Eros simultaneously said the same.

“So they’re not…” As Meira was talking, one of the black robed entities stood up in front of statue of the only worshipper giving an offering, and pulled out something from his robe. A transparent orb at the size a fist was held by the man, then after muttering some spell, he released it in the air.

The orb floated in place, and suddenly changed color into faint red, illuminating the space. “It’s not enough, we need more. Beasts won’t do anymore.” The man said while looking at the other nine. “Hasten the plan.”

“We obey!” The nine said their voice in synch as if they were one in body and spirit.

“For the Lord!” The man said, as the nine followed with resoluteness. “For the Lord!!”

Meira was watching everything from afar, not wanting to miss any detail she have seen and found so far. Eros’ brows on the other hand were now completely furrowed as he thought to himself, “So there is a connection! His aura might be different but I’m sure his voice resembled the will on the spell at the mountain of Tulk.”

When they thought that they can come home safely, a defensive formation suddenly activated, filling the whole area with red semi spherical shield, and the black robed entity who was holding the robe suddenly shouted. “Intruders!”

Meira’s eyes went wide, she gritted her teeth and was about to let her energy burst out, when the black robed entity turned his head opposite to them and said. “Capture them!”

At the location where the man pointed, two elves leapt out and quickly fled. They were obviously two of Meira’s students who were tasked to gather information on their own.

“Those idiots!” Meira said, but she quickly regained composure and pulled both Keya and Eros to find an escape route away from those black robed figure. “Don’t get caught.” Meira murmured.

As they were fleeing, they noticed more black robed entities suddenly appearing everywhere. “Dammit!” Meira said as she again changed route.

But this time, they were not so lucky as a voice descended from afar. “You can’t run away!” It was the same voice of the entity at the worship temple.

A flash of light suddenly came hitting them from behind, but Meira blocked it with a quick movement of her hand.

Boom!

Dust flew out everywhere, while Eros and Keya barely gained a proper footing. “Sorry kids. This mission got out of hand.”

“Skotia achlus.” Miera said; her alluring face now completely serious.

Dark mist suddenly covered the place which sometimes twisted and contorted obviously attacking the black robed entity.

“This won’t stop me!” A voice come from the twisting mist, where energy was slowly building up to completely dissipate the mist covering him entirely.

“Dammit! He’s also a Khalkos grand wizard!” Meira said as she quickly tried to flee.

In an instant, she covered a large distance even while carrying Eros and Keya along. Even Eros was amazed that she was actually very powerful and strong.

Boom!

Another attack in a form of scorching flames of terrifying heat came from the same black robed entity. In a span of few breaths he caught up, and without a trace of injury.

“It’s futile! You will not be able to escape with those two slowing you down.”

Meira gritted her teeth since she knew that what the man said was true; escaping an enemy of equal power while carrying two mage was beyond her capability.

Their chase and exchange of attacks attracted more attention, and two more black robed entities came to view, flying towards their location.

“Two more.. Luckily, theyre just wizards.” Meira said as she chanted, “Skotia Lonke!”

Tens of extremely dense dark spears appeared, quickly piercing the air towards the two wizards that just recently arrived.

Peng!

The black spears were blocked by the two wizards by combined effort, but as a result they were still pushed back several meters away with their face pale. And after a while, they continued the chase led by the grand wizard who could completely block Meira’s attack.

As she fled, Meira had no choice but to go deeper into the ruins of Kivel where dangers and mysteries were more prominent. Even the three who were tailing them was now slightly reluctant to go further.

When Meira reached a certain ruin with hundreds of white stone pillars, the black robed entities suddenly halted, obviously afraid of what’s ahead. Unfortunately, Meira noticed this too late, as she bumped into an invisible space distortion created by two pillars facing each other, seemingly creating a barely noticeable spell formation!

Bang!

Her body was violently flung away several meters and she rolled in the ground and almost lost consciousness. “Urgg…. Kids, are you alright?”

When she looked back, both Eros and Keya was nowhere to be found! She darted her vision on several direction, but there was nowhere there.

Then suddenly, her face turned grim, and a hint of worry flash her eyes as she glance at the two pillars now inconspicuous of any magic or spell. “Seems like only mages are able to enter that space.”

Boom!

Another flame magic hit Meira’s defenses which incinerated the floor around her. “Worry about your life. They’re good as dead.” The black robed entity said with a sneer.

Meira’s expression worsened, since she knew that her enemy obviously knew about the space and seems like they have already experimented on it.

….

A drop of water made Eros open his eyes slowly. As faint light entered his vision, he saw Keya lying on the floor unconscious. But not long after, she also groaned, and her eyes opened.

Curious, Eros swept his vision and looked for the source of the dripping water. It was from a tree only several meters away. One of its branches carried a small scoop of liquid as if it was intentionally dripping it to make it sound dramatic.

As Eros observes the tree, he started to frown. It had no leaves, but it felt alive. It stood there tall as if blocking the only entrance and exit of the cave they were in.

Seeing Keya got up, he asked. “Are you alright?”

Keya nodded and also instinctively observed the tree. “Where are we? Is that an exit behind that tree?”

“I think so. But that tree seems odd.” Eros replied.

When Eros said those words, the tree started to tremble. A laughter still being suppressed echoed from the place. And a voice said along with the laughter echoed in the cave, “You found me too early.”

“Who are you?” Eros quickly stood up, and could only suspect the tree as the source of the voice.

The trunk of the tree then rotated and a face revealed itself. “I am the mighty Oakensoul!”

“The tree spoke!” Keya said in surprise. Even as an elf, it was her first time seeing a tree that could use speech.

“Hahaha! Elves these days lack knowledge. Of course I can speak.” Then it gave off an arrogant grin before saying, “Not only that, I’m even smarter than your ancestors.”

Seeing that Eros and Keya were frowning more, he said. “Oh… How rude of me. Since you are my visitors, I will truthfully answer a single question from each of you.”

Eros and Keya glanced at each other, then Keya stepped forward and asked. “How do we get out of this place?”

“That question again…” The tree said in disdain. “Alright, alright.. The exit is just behind me. Touch it and you’ll be free.”

Eros then pondered for a while before asking. “What is your purpose in this place?”

The tree then smiled and started laughing. “You’re the first one to ask that.” When he settled down, he began explaining. “I am but a simple gatekeeper to a treasure left by someone.”

“A gatekeeper…. So it means we’re not allowed to enter that gate behind you.” Eros said.

The tree smiled and did not answer, obviously not willing to give information further. “I’ve been here for a long, long time. And I’ve been bored.. very very bored. So how about one of you stay here to play with me, and I’ll let the other one pass through the gate. It’s up to you to choose who.”

This time, Eros’ face turned serious. He understood what Oakensoul is trying to do - sparking discord between the two.

Eros then glanced at Keya and said. “Don’t listen to him. He’s probably lying.”

Even though Eros said this, he knew that Keya somehow thought of the possibility of Oakensoul’s words to be true. So unknowingly, the shadow of distrust started to loom between the two.

Time passed by, and Eros already inspected the place without leaving even a small crack unchecked. The only place he has yet to study is the area around the tree. But he never walked near Oakensoul, knowing that the aura it emits was somehow very strong. On Eros’ estimate, it might be at the wizard realm.

At the tenth day, Eros noticed that the natural energy in the place is extremely scarce, slowly draining their strength as time passed.

“Eros, we can’t last longer if this continues. We will go hungry in a month without natural energy supplementing our body. And in the end we will die of hunger just like an ordinary man.” Keya said with worry.

“I know, but if we agree to him, one needs to be left here.”

As they were discussing, Oakensoul yawned and asked. “Made your decision yet? It’s not too bad to stay here with me. I can supplement you with natural energy until you die of old age. You can even offer your soul to me when you get extremely bored to be reborn just like the elemental fruit growing on my branch.

“When this fruit ripened, it will fall off and possibly become another tree with life like me. Even better is that since it is elemental, which will be derived from your elemental affinity, you can be an elemental plant creature. You will also be able to keep your memory. Isn’t that fantastic?”

Eros did not say a word on Oakensoul’s offer. He just sat there and closed his eyes to meditate.

After another three days, Eros opened his eyes. This time, he was full of decisiveness as he pulled out the wizard memory gem on his pocket.

“What are you trying to do?” Keya asked hurriedly. “Don’t tell me you will try to break through the wizard realm right now?”

Eros simply nodded, face still filled with decisiveness.

“Are you insane? With the conditions in this place, it’s simply impossible. You will just waste that wizard memory gem or even worst, cripple yourself.”

“This is the only way I can think of for now. This is better than dying here without doing anything. If I can breakthrough, I might have a chance to fight him.” Eros answered, then without saying anything further, he crushed the wizard memory gem on his hands, and a bright glow appeared on his eyes.

Keya’s could only stare dumfounded at Eros. He knew that he was decisive, but not to this extent.

“Ohh…. This is entertaining.” Oakensoul said, grinning as if he doesn’t care if Eros succeeds.

Bzzt..

Sounds emanated from Eros’ body as the light in his eyes increased in intensity. Time passed, and he remained in that state without anyone willing to disturb him, even with a simple touch.

“I hope you get something out of this.” Keya clenched her fist, seemingly guilty for being useless.

…

Inside Eros’ consciousness, he saw a man preparing for a breakthrough, but then another image covered it. It was a memory of the man when he was a boy, then after it, another one came. Images not connected to his breakthrough.

“Why are there random occurrences in his life flashing?” Eros thought. “They said that breaking through is different from every person, and that these memory wizard gem would let you have a feel on breaking though to give one a hint on how they should proceed. But I don’t find these things helpful.”

He continued to watch the scenes in the wizard memory gem and after two days, the light in Eros’ eyes dimmed and he panted heavily, after which he coughed out a mouthful of blood. “He broke through by forcefully imbuing ice element into his soul at a very precise amount based on his years of accumulated knowledge and study of his own body and element. At the end, his soul became part elemental and was freed from worldly shackles…. So that’s one process on how to ascend. In the end, it’s all about breaking free from the worldly shackles.”

“Souls… elements..” He murmured.

Eros went silent for a moment at sighed before saying, “I will not be able to breakthrough in such a way. My soul has a curse and is very different. I need to go back to the False Tree of life. It is the only place where I feel that I could force my way on the wizard realm!”

“So it won’t work as I thought.” Keya said, “But it’s good enough that you did not suffer any sever backlash. So what do you plan to do now?”

Eros ignored her, and closed his eyes to arrange the knowledge he gained. Again, days passed and Oakensoul kept muttering, “Yohooo.. You guys still interested in going out? You’ll go hungry and die at this rate.”

At the twenty-fifth day, Oakensoul kept pestering them. “Hey, hey. I know you’re starting to feel hungry. Wanna trade some natural energy with me?”

Keya gritted her teeth and looked at Eros who was still focused on his meditation. So she chose to ignore Oakensoul and also closed her eyes.

On the thirtieth day they were in the cave, Keya showed signs of weakening, and her stomach started groaning from hunger. Even Eros could not escape this from happening, and he also started to lose focus from meditating.

Another three days passed, this time Keya was at the verge of collapse. It was obvious that she was extremely dehydrated and the only thing that’s keeping her conscious is her unmovable will.

“Oh come on kids, don’t be like this. I’m willing to exchange natural energy for some of your memory. It’s really boring here, so getting some fresh memory from the outside world would be good.”

“Memory?” This time Eros spoke while his eyes still closed, and when it opened, a new form of confidence and wisdom could be seen within.

“Oh! Now I got your attention! Yes! Memory!” Oakensoul said, extremely happy.

“If you get a piece of our memory, what happens to us?” Eros asked.

“Nothing much, you simply lose those memories.”

Eros and Keya frowned; losing a memory was not a simple thing, especially if the memory is an important occasion of one’s life. It could even affect one’s advancement towards being a wizard.

“So how much natural energy would I get for a day’s worth of memory?” Eros continued to ask.

“Hahaha! One day’s worth won’t even give you a speck of natural energy!” Oakensoul then paused and looked extremely vile “Ten years! One of you should give me Ten years worth of life memory and I shall bestow you both with all your missing natural energy.”

Keya’s eyes widened when she heard the amount Oakensoul was asking. She was only Fifteen years of age, so losing ten years would truly be a big blow on her life as a whole, so even she was not willing to do it unless she was truly on the verge of dying.

Eros on the other hand remained calm and asked. “Are we free to choose what memory to give?”

“Hahaha! You’re pretty specific kid. Of course as long as it’s ten years worth, I’ve got no qualms about it.”

“Alright then.” Eros pulled out a scroll from his pocket and opened it. After which he said. “I, Eros Libera, pledge to give Oakensoul five years worth of life memory of my choosing, in exchange for a full amount of natural energy our body and soul can hold without causing harm on Keya and me. If I do not abide by my word, let my body and soul disappear from this world!”

He then tossed the scroll to Oakensoul, after which Oakensoul did his own pledge with a mocking grin. “I, Oakensoul pledge to give both Eros and Keya full amount of natural energy they can carry, without harming their soul and body in exchange for five years worth of life memory from Eros Libera! If I do not abide by this contract, let my body and soul crumble until I am no more!”

The scroll then crumbled and turned into a barely visible thread which connected Eros and Oakensoul’s body and soul together. “So it’s done.” Oakensoul said with glee.

“Indeed. Now let us quickly proceed with it.” Eros casually said.

“I like you kid. You might have a very bad memory, for you to be very willing to give it to me.”

“No. I just really don’t like to die.” Eros replied as he stepped forward in front of Oakensoul.

Oakensoul then reached a branch as far as he could, but he could not reach Eros. Even so, it was still enough for him to get Eros’ memory and give him enough natural energy.

Oakensoul quickly started the process. He started to absorb Eros' memory which made Keya extremely guilty. On the other hand, Oakensoul grin turned into an evil smile, extremely mischievous and vile.

“Eros.. I’m sorry.” She knew that losing memory is worst than dying. It is the very thing that makes a person who he is.

However, only after a short while when Oakensoul started absorbing Eros’ memory, his evil smile suddenly turned into anger then his eyes burned with fury!

“What is this nonsense!!” He shouted!