Ted sat in the darkness, doing his best to ignore how uncomfortable the ground beneath him was. Not too long ago, he had been lying down, eyes closed, thinking. The path beyond the threshold was right in front of him—all he had to do was grab it.

He was almost there. He could feel it. Then again, he had been feeling it ever since Fjord had interrupted him at the inn at the border town.

Frowning, he adjusted where he was sitting. His ass was beginning to hurt. For all the flexibility he had since coming to Nastild, his legs were beginning to hurt too from the monk-like sitting position he was adopting.

Yet, beyond the vestiges of pain and discomfort, he could feel something. It was there, staring at him with countless eyes, waiting, expecting. For the past few days, it had been frustrating. Like trying to plug in a USB stick without looking at the place you were plugging it into. Those who plugged it successfully on the first try were serial killers. At least, that's what one of his friends in school always liked to say.

The problem, however, was that he had been trying to plug the USB stick in for days now and he wasn't allowed to look at where he was plugging it into. He didn't even know if he was plugging the stick in right side up or not.

And the discomfort in his legs was killing him.

A grumble rumbled in his throat but didn't leave his lips. Ted wasn't a quitter. He was stubborn like that. Aiden's choice of introverted nature growing up had been acceptable because he was extroverted enough for the both of them. Ted didn't know when, but at some point, he had done so many things growing up that failure had become something that was not an option. If he failed, it was only because he could fight no more. It was only because he had given his best and his best was not good enough.

So, here he sat, giving his best.

Then something clicked. It was a familiar feeling, like turning around and locking eyes with someone that was watching you.

Opening his eyes, Ted saw things differently. The world around him was dark, but there was more to the darkness. It was like realizing you've been looking at the world through glass lenses and someone had just taken it off.

It reminded him of how the mana in the air had shifted when he'd seen the massive [Basiliker] crawling around back at the town with the [Cannibal]s. When he had tried to use his unique class skill [Reverse Summon], the mana had lit up dark with stains of blue. It had granted him insight into how to summon the creature.

That was how he'd learnt to summon the creature. The unique skill granted him the ability to learn how to summon a familiar that he used it on.

Ted's interface appeared in front of him before he could fully decipher what exactly he was looking at.

[Congratulations!]

[You have earned a Manifesting Skill!]

[You have earned Manifesting Skill Gates of Hell]

Ted paused, staring at the notification. A tremor went up his shoulders and he could've sworn that his heart skipped an actual beat—and he was not speaking metaphorically.

"[Gates of Hell]," he muttered to himself. I don't think there's anything more ominous than this.

He pressed his lips into a thin line, wondering how he was going to deal with this. There was more to the notification in front of him, but he didn't bother to read further. Not yet. And how could he? His long-sought-after manifesting skill was called the [Gates of Hell].

Aida's definitely not going to like this.

The moment the thought came to mind, Ted chuckled lightly. He just got an ominous piece of information and the first thing he thought about was how Aiden wasn't going to like it.

I guess I'm still running around to make sure he doesn't hate me.

It was slightly laughable. He hadn't really been bothered about how Aiden saw him growing up. In fact, they'd had a few brawls as children. When they were older, Ted loved his brother but couldn't care to be liked by him.

Then Tasha had happened.

Aiden hadn't cared much for him, but after Tasha, Ted had often seen the hate in his brother's eyes. When he'd told their father about it, their father hadn't had much to offer.

"You will have to talk about it with your brother," their father had said. "I want to say that it will pass, but your brother is often lost in his own mind. Your mother and I understand him as much as we do not. But don't let it fester too long, Ted. We would intercede and try to sort this, but the two of you are at an age where problems like this have to be sorted between the two of you alone."

But Aiden had never cared to listen, and Ted had never liked the look of hate in his brother's eyes.

Ultimately, he had let it fester. It festered for half a year, and he had started thinking he would be one of those men who grew up estranged from their brother because of a misunderstanding around a woman.

Then they had been summoned to Nastild and there was no hate in Aiden's eyes. There was no anger. Aiden looked at him differently, like a brother would—slightly exasperated, annoyed, and with a little 'throttle you in your sleep' tendency.

But there was also love there. Care.

For the first time in over five months, Aiden looked at him and Ted didn't see hate.

He stared at the interface in front of him—at [Gates of Hell].

Will he hate me now?

Ted frowned as an answer came to mind. Aiden couldn't hate him if he didn't have a reason to hate him. The interface was a personal thing. All he had to do was keep what his manifesting skill was a secret.

There was also the luck on his side that he was not in the palace any more. He could only imagine what would happen if they found out the name of his manifesting skill.

It would be pure madne—

"Hold the fuck up," he muttered to himself, ignoring the darkness as it grew around him, swallowing even the night.

We are no longer in the palace, he thought, realization dawning on him.

A Time Mage no one knew about. A demon that felt very familiar. Déjà vu. Aiden being more than eager to abandon the palace with him.

At one point he had thought Aiden was just unwilling to run alone. There were often times when Aiden didn't want to do questionable things alone while they were growing up. But now that Ted thought about it, Aiden had been very insistent that they both leave.

Ted's frown deepened.

He knew.

"Asshole looked me in the eye and lied to me."

Ted felt the darkness darken. Something licked his shoulder and he shrugged it off. "Not now, Elkan."

Wait, who the fuck is Elkan?

He looked over his shoulder and found a wolf as tall as him standing behind him. It was only the silhouette of the thing. It had one red eye that pierced through the darkness. Where the second eye was supposed to be was a protruding horn, straight as a unicorn's.

The déjà vu effect was working again. In whatever timeline he'd been sent back from, he had probably named the creature. He remembered the creature's name just the way he had remembered the king's Paige's favorite food back at the palace.

Déjà vu, however, was not strong enough to take his mind from the anger he was currently feeling towards what Aiden had done.

How could he? Ted wondered. How could his own brother look him in the eye and lie to him?

The times that Tasha had made advances at him, he had said nothing, but that was arguably different from looking someone in the eye and lying to them. Wasn't it?

"He should've told me." Ted's anger rose like a flame fanned by the bellows of a smithy. "He should've said something."

There was no other explanation for why Aiden had been more than eager to take him away from the palace. No better explanation for why they were practically on the run.

The world grew darker and Ted saw whispers of dark blue mana lighting up like sparks of deep blue.

"He looked me in the face and lied."

Ted clenched his teeth in anger, returned his attention to the notification in front of him.

[Congratulations!]

[You have earned a Manifesting Skill!]

[You have earned Manifesting Skill Gates of Hell]

…

[Congratulations! You have Leveled Up!]

[Level 49 --> 50]

[You are now Level 50]

…

[Gates of Hell(Mastery 05.05%]

Demonic mana is not a thing of scorn, yet it is a thing to be feared. You wield it naturally, like a necessary organ. You have proven yourself worthy, accessing the depths of the demonic realm. You have earned the right to lead, but not to rule.

[Effect: +3 to all stats in the absence of daylight]

[Effect: 100% mana stat active duration.]

[Effect: +32 summoned creatures upon activation]

[Effect: All summoned creatures are of the same level as summoner]

[Effect: 50% increase in demonic mana affinity]

[Activation requirement: 60% of mana stat]

[Active Duration: 00:05:00]

[Upon termination of skill Summoner will be left with 30% mana stat]

Ted finished reading it with a frown. It seemed like a powerful skill but came with drawbacks. He would need to have at least sixty percent of his mana available to use the skill. But once his five minutes were up, he would only be left with thirty percent of mana.

Then again, that was five minutes of complete mana. He wondered if it meant that his mana would be unlimited for the duration or if he would simply be given his full mana back to use for that period.

Something in him knew the answer to the question. He would have a hundred percent mana that would not be reduced no matter what he did. He knew it as surely as he knew the names of his mother and father.

It was a nice feeling to finally be rid of the thing that had stressed him for days. Sadly, he could not shake off the anger he felt.

Picking himself up from the ground, Ted picked his sword up and held it out to the side.

"Hold this for me," he said.

The words had barely left his mouth when a clawed hand stretched from out of the darkness and accepted the weapon. It retracted itself, disappearing into the darkness along with the weapon.

It felt so natural, so comfortable. A touch of worry slithered up Ted's spine. Just how bad had he been in the future that was no more?

Ted shook his head. It wasn't important, not right now. In the darkness, the world was brighter. But everything dulled in the face of his anger.

He had to pull himself together, but not yet. For now, he needed answers. Answers that Aiden was keeping from him.

And if there was one thing in the entire world that he knew made Aiden well and truly uncomfortable, it was an angry older brother.

Ted turned and walked towards the small spark of fire light in the distance. He would find his brother there.

And he would punish him and push him beyond the threshold while he was at it.

…

Aiden watched Ted with worry.

"Stand firm, brother," Ted said, "And take your punishment like a man."

Then he raised his hand and gestured simply. The gesture said it all. He had given his command. Go forth, it seemed to say.

And everything in the darkness obeyed.

Aiden obeyed, too.

As the darkness moved, monsters erupting from within it, Aiden moved. He did not bother with stances or postures. He did not bother with anything fanciful. He simply stepped forward and [Dash] carried him all the way.

In the blink of an eye, he had crossed a distance, taken the heads off eight monsters, and was standing in the same place he had started at.

[Congratulations Prisoner #234502385739!]

[You have used a Flow from the Order Sword Technique.]

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

[You have used the first Flow of the First Order.]

[You have learnt Moving Abyss]

…

[Error! Error! Error!]

[Error detected!]

[Prisoner #234502385739 does not meet the requirement to learn this Technique]

[You have not learnt Moving Abyss]

Aiden didn't bother to check his stamina. The moment he returned to his position, he was moving again.

He remembered Ted's skill. How it worked. When it worked.

The Order had studied as much of it as they could, and Aiden had learnt as much of it as he could from what the Order had learnt.

The first and most important part of what he knew of the skill when Ted was the [Demon King] was that the monsters never really died as long as the skill was active. When you cut one down, it eventually came back.

Aiden vanished into the midst of the monsters and they turned on him.

Ted had no intentions of killing him so he had some leeway in the battle. He could kill the monsters but they could not kill him. It didn't mean that they could not maim him, though.

Aiden slipped his leg out of the way as a sharp stinger that dripped yellow with poison struck. It missed him by barely an inch, digging a hole in the ground.

Turning on his pivot foot, Aiden swung his sword, severing the stinger from the monster it belonged to. As black blood sprayed into the air, he threw himself to the ground. He rolled, ignoring the dirt that clung to his cloak and came with the tip of his sword sheathing itself neatly into the neck of a monster that looked like a gorilla.

In his periphery he saw the shadow coalescing into the shape of another monster. He ignored it, taking stock of where Ted was. His brother stood at the back of the group, eyes fixed on him, face still twisted in anger.

Aiden wanted to call out to him, to say something. But too many monsters shrieked into the night as they attacked him and he was forced to hold his tongue. Paying attention to more important things, Aiden parried a claw that came for his face. Sparks ignited in the air with the sound of steel clashing. He turned the clawed hand away and stepped into the creature.

The floor erupted in an explosion of dirt where he had been standing as something slammed into it.

Ignoring the attack he had just survived, Aiden threw his body into that of the clawed creature. He wasn't exactly sure of what the creature was, but it was tall and wide enough to shield him completely.

He didn't tackle the thing, instead, he rolled off its body, sword shooting out in an arc. He felt the resistance as his blade bit into flesh. In the same moment, he looked to his left and found only a monster waiting for him.

To his right was another monster. And one fell from above. He was cornered, tossed into the middle of the monsters.

It was just as he had planned.

He ducked low, sword raised over his head to take the blow from the monster coming. A sharp tail whizzed past his head with terrifying speed and enough force that he felt the air it parted ruffle his hair.

The monster falling from above dropped with a terrifying force so great that Aiden's knees buckled beneath him. They hit the ground hard as he bore the brunt of the creature's weight.

"Fuck!" he yelled as pain erupted in his thigh.

With the weight of the monster above bearing down on him, Aiden turned his blade to the side, letting the creature's—blade?—slide down to the ground. He couldn't focus on the confusion of a monster with a sword for a hand, since he currently had a set of fangs in his leg.

[You have used Class skill Walking Canvas]

Aiden flung his scabbard to the sky and his hands came together, but he knew he would not have enough time to weave something useful with [Enchanted Weave], so he used a skill he didn't use often.

[You have used Class skill Broken Weave]

The skill was a weaker version of the [Enchanted Weave] skill. It gave him the same enchantments, weaving them at half the speed but producing around half the fire power. But it was enough.

After all, he knew what kinds of monsters Ted had summoned.

[You have used Weave of Lesser Lightning]

[Dimensional mana detected]

[Weave of Lesser Lightning is now Weave of Lesser Void Lightning]

Aiden felt the charge run through him. It stemmed from his heart, charging him, filling him with unbridled energy. Then it burst out of him, a physical thing. It was as black as the night around him. It danced through the air, reaching out in search of prey.

The creature with its teeth in his thigh was the first one to suffer its effect. It balked and twitched and let out a pained howl as it abandoned his thigh in a hurry.

More squeals filled the air. More monsters fell under the weight of the skill. Aiden took his opportunity and moved. His leg hurt, slowing him down. Still, with [Lesser Void Speed] and [Lesser Void Lightning] coursing through him, he was fast.

He weaved his way out of the chaos of monsters that had surrounded him, weaving a new sign with [Enchanted Weave]. In a moment, his interface lit up.

[You have used Weave of Lesser Endurance]

[Dimensional mana detected]

[Weave of Lesser Endurance is now Weave of Lesser Void Endurance]

He felt the pain in his leg lighten. Slipping his now free hand into his coat, he pulled out three enchanted items and flung them into the crowd of monsters. They scattered like seeds thrown by an overenthusiastic farmer.

Enchantments went off in colorful domes, scattered all over the place.

[You have used Enchantment of Lesser Madness]

It was followed by multiple shrieks and monsters dropping to the ground.

[You used use Enchantment of Lesser Flame]

Creatures shrieked as the night lit up in a blaze of fire, consuming whatever it could within its vicinity. Aiden smelled something putrid and his nose wrinkled involuntarily.

He turned a diving mouth—open with serrated teeth ready to take his head off—away with a slap to the monster's face. It was an attack done on reflex. Aiden hadn't thought of it, his hand had just moved on its own.

[You have used Enchantment of Lesser Force]

In another corner of the forest, monsters were sent flying by the enchantment. Some slammed into trees, others went flying into other monsters.

Ted didn't flinch as one of the monsters was sent flying towards him. A hand slipped from the darkness and batted the creature aside.

Aiden frowned. Ted was too comfortable where he stood, too regal.

Had he truly become the [Demon King]? Had he failed even in his return?

I didn't come back to simply stop him from becoming the [Demon King], Aiden reminded himself.

Stopping Ted was only option one.

You should've still stopped him. At least, told him. He's in charge of his life, too.

Aiden turned, ducked past a swinging claw and took the creature's hand with a flash of his sword. He drove the blade into the creature's gaping mouth, then pulled the sword up, shattering the beast's skull. Brain matter filled the air with skull fragments that then turned to black mist. Making sure that Ted did not become a monster was option two.

It was time to end this bullshit.

Aiden stepped forward [Dash] carried him across—

He ducked to the side at the last second as something flashed past him. If he had canceled [Dash] a fraction of a second later, the attack would've taken his head.

What the hell?

At the heart of the monsters he had tried to distance himself from stood a single monster that was different from the rest. This one looked like a boulder with only feet. Crystals of green poked out from all over it with one massive one at the center of its back. It was pointed to the sky and crackled with black lightning.

Aiden looked at Ted and found his brother unmoved, unbothered.

You know what? Fuck it!

He drew a finger along the blade of his sword.

[You have used Class skill Unarmed Engrave]

…

[You have used Enchantment of Lesser Endurance]

His hands came together and he wove a new enchantment. Stepping to the side as he weaved it, he dodged another blast of black lightning, anticipating it from the bright crackle of the monster's crystal.

[You have used Class skill Enchanted Weave]

…

[You have used Weave of Lesser Strength]

…

[You have used Weave of Lesser Perception]

…

[You have used Weave of Lesser Silence]

…

[Dimensional mana detected]

…

[Weave of Lesser Strength is now Weave of Lesser Void Strength]

…

[Weave of Lesser Perception is now Weave of Lesser Void Perception]

…

[Weave of Lesser Silence is now Weave of Lesser Void Silence]

…

[You have used Weave of Lesser—

A sharp pain shot into Aiden's chest, screaming from his left arm. He knew what had happened before his interface even told him.

[Error! Error! Error!]

[Anomalous trait detected Spatial Crack]

[Anomalous trait effect detected]

…

[Spatial Crack (Lvl 49)]

An anomalous disruption in reality. You have gone through space and have been corrupted by its touch. You have ventured where none should and survived.

[Effect: Spatial affinity]

[Effect: Skill pending…]

…

[Pending effect unlocked]

[Effect Skill Pending is now Spatial Touch]

…

[Spatial Touch]

A spatial crack has the ability to touch the fabric of reality. Should you be able to, the secrets of the universe can be unraveled at a touch.

…

[Due to the existence of Trait skill Spatial Touch class skill Enchanted Weave does not take effect]

Not now! Aiden snarled in annoyance.

His red hand was a deep crimson now. It looked as if he had dipped it in blood. He frowned at it in anger.

He felt something in the air in the blink of an eye. It came at him like a fired bullet. He didn't flinch, but his reddened hand shot out, snatching the creature from the air. Aiden held something that looked like a mutated cross between a fish and a snake by the neck.

Above its head was the word [Prey].

Aiden didn't care. He was no longer interested in talking. He twisted his hand one way and the creature's neck broke.

"I've had enough of this."

To his surprise, the monsters in front of him took a few steps back. They seemed… scared. Aiden had never seen any of Ted's summoned creatures display fear before.

He looked to his brother and spoke to him.

"What happens now, Ted?" His voice sounded odd in his own ears, ominous somehow. He frowned, unable to pick out what exactly was different.

It must've been obvious because for the first time since siccing his summoned monsters on Aiden, Ted had a reaction. His brows furrowed. As for his monsters, they shrunk back as if away from his voice.

A newer addition was the indicator hovering over each of them in amber. It simply read [Prey].

As for Ted, his only response was a deep breath which he let out as if Aiden was wasting his time. The moment he was done, the monsters forgot their fears and charged Aiden.

They rushed forward but the world seemed to slow down around Aiden. It was an odd sensation but not a new one.

Even as the world seemed to slow, the monsters did not. Aiden had not become inhumanely fast, he simply perceived the world around him better. He watched the monsters and understood.

He ducked under the first monster, his body moving seamlessly. It was humanoid and he severed one of its legs at the knee in a simple swing of his sword. He stepped to the side, frowning as he took in what was really happening, avoiding a claw that was thrust forward at his chest.

The creature in front of him was a grotesque thing with three eyes. Aiden saw something in all three eyes, a flash, a whisper of… something.

His red hand took the creature's head from its shoulder with a vicious slap. The head shattered on impact and the creature fell to the ground, evaporating into black smoke.

The other monsters hesitated but did not stop their attack. Aiden did not stop his onslaught. He was not invincible as he stepped into the midst of the monsters, but they were no longer as fast and powerful. They seemed hesitant with each attack.

They seemed... weaker.

Aiden took blows. His coat softened a few, stopped fewer from piercing its fabric to injure him. But it didn't stop enough.

Before long, Aiden moved covered in blood stains. His coat had tears that were stained crimson. But he had evaded well enough. For all his injuries, he had taken nothing fatal.

He didn't know how long he had danced with the monsters. He had lost track of how many limbs he had severed, necks he had broken, heads he had shattered with his reddened hand.

A [Basiliker] leapt into his waiting red hand. Before he crushed its neck, he saw the flash of something in its eyes again. He saw it clearly.

"I understand it now," he muttered to himself before breaking its neck.

He looked to Ted once more.

"You cannot win, brother."

His voice was calm, his tone empty.

His sword flashed out beside him, slaying another monster before it could even move. How long had he been here? How long was Ted's skill going to last?

Eyes moving in their sockets, he took note of the creatures still spilling from the darkness. Every monster he had slain continued to come back, crawling from the darkness as Ted's command.

It was the difficulty of Ted's manifesting skill. As long as it was still active, the summoned monsters you killed would always come back. It was an infinite army limited only by the number that could be present at any given time.

Aiden dismissed his thoughts, pulling himself to the present. He looked at the monsters in front of him, instead. His awareness was sharp. He knew where everything was—where everyone was.

He could feel Ted's annoyance, see it on his face. But something about it was off. It was as if Ted was annoyed with himself, not Aiden.

Aiden wasn't sure he understood what exactly was happening anymore, but he knew one thing: Ted had not become the [Demon King] yet. He was not the [Demon King] in this moment. He was too weak, his level arguably too low.

The [Demon King] did not stand in front of him, an angry older brother did.

He understood it now.

Crossing the threshold had helped Ted realize something. Whatever that realization had been, it had brought Ted here with suspicions of Aiden's lie about knowing what he had become. Aiden's reaction to his brother's accusation had told Ted all he needed to know.

Once again, Aiden's poor acting skill and decision making were the reasons for the mess that he was in. Ted had not become the [Demon King] in his past life until two years in, maybe three. Aiden had thought he'd had more than enough time. So, he had debated, told himself that maybe he could lead Ted away from the path without having to tell him about it. Three years was a long time after all.

Why did things have to go wrong so soon?

This was his fault. He had stalled too long, kept a secret that he should've shared earlier. He was responsible for this.

But hindsight was always perfect.

It was time he told Ted everything. It was time Ted played an active part in deciding what future he wanted.

But before they could have that talk, Aiden needed his brother to be capable of listening. To do that, he had to achieve a feat he had never achieved in this life or the one before.

He had to win his first fight against Ted.

Aiden watched the monsters return from the darkness around. The things he had been seeing in their eyes now flickered in and out of existence above their heads.

He saw them, knew them for what they were.

His fight with Ted was forcing his manifesting skill. He was crossing the threshold. But something about this crossing felt very different, off. This wasn't how it had felt in his past life. This wasn't how it was supposed to feel.

This was also not the type of Manifesting skill he wanted.

[Increase in Dimensional Mana affinity detected!]

Aiden frowned, dismissing the notification. He had more important worries than that. Majorly, why did Ted have a blurry symbol hovering over his head, too?

Find the answer later.

Raising his foot from the ground, Aiden stepped forward. The moment his foot touched the ground again, he activated [Dash]. He burst through the monsters in front of him and slammed his reddened hand against the chest of the one at the farthest end. It was one of the few monsters coming out of the darkness. It was the monster with the clearest symbol hovering over its head.

Aiden knew what the symbols were now. They were enchantments, and he could see them if they were clear enough. This monster's symbol was clear enough to see, the clearest of all the monsters. And if he could see it, then he could read it.

And if he could read it…

I can enchant it.

The monster stared into Aiden's eyes, and he stared back. The symbol above its head reflected in its eyes.

The finger of his reddened arm flickered across the monster's chest as he drew the symbol on its chest. It was like scratching a chalkboard with his fingernails—irritating but not painful. In a moment, he had engraved the exact enchantment in the creature's eyes on its chest.

[You have used skill Enchant]

The enchantment was clear on the creature's chest and it glowed red in the darkness. Then the creature erupted in a blaze of black flames. It squealed and shrieked and howled and cried out in pain.

Aiden turned away from the blaze. Something about the black flame with hues of deep blue seemed blindingly bright, and he shielded his face from it. Then the monster crumbled to ash on the floor.

[Increase in Dimensional Mana affinity detected]

In the wake of what had just happened, there was nothing but silence. Nothing moved. Nothing seemed willing to dare.

Even the monsters spilling from the darkness froze half-way in Nastild and whatever world they were being pulled from.

Aiden's interface flashed in front of him.

[Congratulations Prisoner #234502385739!]

[Trait Spatial Crack has leveled up!]

[Level 49 -> 50]

[Spatial Crack is now Level 50]

[Trait Spatial Crack is now Dimensional Crack]

…

[Congratulations Prisoner #234502385739!]

[You have earned a Dimensional Skill!]

[You have earned Dimensional Skill Reverse Summoning]

…

[Reverse Summoning(Mastery 0.00%)]

You have gained the natural ability to reach through the nature of reality.

What does not belong can always be returned. Be careful lest you doom it to the void.

This was not a manifesting skill. But Aiden had a feeling he knew what it was, and he wasn't sure he liked it.

Ted and the monsters still present stared at the ash on the forest grass and knew one simple truth. The monster Aiden had just killed was not going to be turning into black smoke.

Whatever he had done to it, the monster was not coming back.

Aiden had just done the impossible. He didn't have to wait Ted out anymore. He could end this.

He was going to end it.

He turned and faced the monsters.

A single word left his lips, and there was iron in his voice.

"Next."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.