Finally, they had arrived at the base camp which was fully guided by military men. Armin had voluntarily stepped up and was starred as the leader of the new guild.
The base camp was more or less a park. Some third years were present, actively playing their parts in keeping tabs on the gate while some others were forced into impromptu training.
While the other members awaited the group leader who had marched into the instructor's tent to get briefed on what would be going on, Ace took that grace into looking around.
The cloud was extremely gloomy in the base camp, a sharp contrast to what the weather in the city was. The clouds were black and puffy, allowing thunderbolts to escape freely as they loomed.
The energy around the base camp was entirely different from what he had ever felt before. Mana seemed to have disappeared from existence and all there was was dark untamed energy.
The gate, two ghouly giant stone slabs that stretched into the sky endlessly, was the centerpiece of the base camp. Its entrance was dark and grim, swirling and shifting with untamed dark energy that could consume them all.
After a while, Armin returned with some news and directives.
"We are to pass the night in one of the tents here." He announced, dropping a bag which he had received on behalf of the guild members.
"And after tonight?" Nia asked.
"Our journey pretty much begins after going through the gate."
Luci let out an exhausting sigh, placing her hands on her hips as she said.
"Figures, our guild holds one of the most important aspects of this mission after all."
Armin gave a small nod at her response. "Here," he continued, pulling out some tags from the bag. "These are tracking tags— just so we don't get lost in other dimensions."
He handed a tag to each member respectively which they collected and wore on their necks.
After distributing the tracking tags, Armin crouched on a knee, opening the bag to all so they could see what was left in it.
"Supplies?"
"Yes, limited supplies, but unfortunately, we have to make our own meals for ourselves." Armin replied.
"The academy could just fix a team into the welfare board and have this taken care of," Nia shrugged. "Why bother us to make exhausting meals for ourselves?"
"It's just ramen." Ace taunted with a scoff, forcing Nia to pull away as she drowned in first hand embarrassment.
The other members tried to hide their laughter as they plodded away hastily towards their tent.
"Heard you used to work at a ramen shop." Dawn said, walking at Ace's pace as they headed towards their tent.
Ace gave her a slight nod as a response, his hands casually tucked in his pockets while his mind was far away reading the energy seeping out of the hell's gate.
"Why don't you treat us tonight?"
"Eh?"
"I-I may not be of much help since I've never cooked a meal before, but I can… um…clean up as you go!"
"Take a princess rest instead." Ace said, turning her offer down.
He noticed Dawn stop in her tracks as he said those words to her. She was probably pissed he was refusing her, but that was the least of his concerns at that moment— at least.
Suddenly, she overtook him, standing defiantly in front of him without budging. He glared at her unamusingly, his eyes greatly devoid of a spark of emotion.
As they stood that way, the clear tension in the air began to revolt around them, and for some reason, Dawn was subject to the pressure.
She felt greatly overwhelmed with Ace having all his attention on her and she tried to hide her cheeks that were threatening to force a puff.
"I-I can make a n-nice assistant. Just tell me what to do."
Ace couldn't wrap his head around what had suddenly come over Dawn. The once royal breed that exuded an untamed aura of a royal seedling was suddenly acting clingy around him, disregarding his societal status despite the wide difference in their status in the hierarchy balance scale.
"Alright." Ace finally agreed, striking a cue for a smile to bloom on her face.
***
While Ace prepped the ingredients for their dinner, Armin and Luki were tasked with making their sleep nests, but Armin eventually did all the work.
Luki was still fully immersed in the game he had been playing since their journey to the base camp started as he was utilizing every single second to play as it might be his last moment with his phone.
Nia and Luci also joined in the meal preparation with obvious reasons— to stay close to Ace.
"Girls." Armin had shook his head disgustingly as they sashayed out of the tent with the food supplies.
After about an hour, their dinner was ready; ramen finely prepared by Ace accompanied with some side dishes that came with the supply bag which they all wolfed down as it landed.
And when night fall came, Ace pulled out of the tent towards the far end of the base camp. When he got there, he wasted no time as he sat in a lotus position after examining the whole perimeter.
With his eyes closed, he began to feel the energy present in the base camp, slowly allowing it to graze his mana core which glistened within him.
He could feel a double in his strength and life force as a faint blue light began to pulse around him, swirling and shifting with the wind before coating him fully like an orb.
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as raw energy that was hissing against the hell's gate mixed with his mana flow.
A thunderbolt rammed through the dark night cloud, causing a swirl to appear at the center of hell's gate.
The soldier guarding the gate took notice of this change, forcing himself to let out a shout before the words got stuck in his throat.
"T-the gate is opening!"