"Stella, can you please wake up~? I'm getting tired from doing this so much, you know~?" a familiar voice asked as they gently shook me in an attempt to awaken me. "If you don't, at this rate, I'm gonna draw on your face and make sure you look super weird~. ...hmm, if I do that though, I wonder if Vin will let me take a photo of it? ...knowing him, most likely no."

Frowning, I immediately sat up and glared at the silver-eyed blonde sitting near me, who merely grinned and waved his hand at me upon seeing me awake. "...man, you sure are energetic early in the morning," I grumbled out with a sigh. "Anyways, I'm taking it that we need to get going already?"

"Pretty much! Vin was busy cooking so I decided to go wake you up!" Leo exclaimed as I groggily stretched my arms, trying to wake up my body. "Since it took a while to do that though, he's probably done by now."

I took a sniff out of curiosity and managed to smell the delicious aroma of the food from inside the tent. My stomach immediately growled in response, causing me to look away in embarrassment while the male let out an amused laugh. Pouting, I turned my attention back to him to say something but stopped when I saw him get up and walk toward the entrance of the tent.

"Anyways, enough chit-chat! Let's go eat!" he declared with a smile and then glanced back at me, his grin now having a hint of mischievousness behind it. "By the way, don't go back to sleep or you'll have to face the consequences~!"

"Don't worry, I have no intention of sleeping in. We're in a hurry, after all," I answered as I got up from the camping bed, then walked up to the waiting male.

The two of us got out of the tent, Leo being first while I followed behind. The first few things I noticed was that it was barely morning and that Vin was near the two tents, rummaging through his bag for something. If I were to hazard a guess, he's probably looking for equipment that'll help us with traveling in the desert. The pot full of cooked food, the second pot probably full of rice, a strange black box, and the two dishes with utensils, on the other hand, were right near the now extinguished campfire. While the angel eagerly went to check what the archangel cooked, I trailed behind, my body still feeling slightly sleepy.

As I took a seat beside the remains of the campfire and quietly waited for the blonde to finish getting food, I decided to recall what I knew about the kingdom Ignifera. As expected of its name, that kingdom's lands mainly consisted of deserts and volcanic regions. For anyone visiting, it was always important to bring something to deal with the high temperatures there, no matter what part of the year. The only time that visitors or residents will be spared from the agonizing heat was night but unfortunately, it'll become freezing cold instead.

Just like how the Astrum kingdom has unique items that reflect its ties to the Star element, Ignifera too has such items. For example, in the volcanic regions, the land is full of crystals that are almost eternally scorching hot, both on the surface and underground. Though, the ones underground are a lot hotter than the ones on the surface. It can reach the point that you might as well be touching lava with your own bare hands. In the deserts, plants and flowers that grow there are weirdly resistant to fire. In fact, if the flame is weak enough, they just devour it. No one figured out why it does that though, sadly.

Regarding the people and the culture there though, I hardly knew anything. I rarely interacted with anyone in the Academy and most mages there are only concerned about things related to magic, excluding religion and culture. If anything, from the conversations that I've eavesdropped on, it seems those with either the Fire, Earth, or Water affinity are held in high regard there. That said, those with Fire aspects are also viewed with fear because of the destructive nature regarding that aspect. Perhaps there's something else too, especially with how some acolytes are referring themselves as the Fire God's Phoenix.

All of a sudden, I was greeted with a plate full of food so close to my face, causing me to yelp and immediately reel back in surprise. "...couldn't you have chosen a more gentle way to get my attention, Leo...?" I questioned, frowning. "Seriously, you almost gave me a heart attack..."

"Sorry but with how deep in thought you were, I don't think those methods would've worked. I tried calling out to you but no avail," Leo explained, then happily grinned at me. "Besides, it's the perfect solution for me! Not only am I getting your attention, but I'm also getting a good reaction from you!"

With a sigh, I took the plate from him and got one of the utensils nearby. "Honestly, do you like messing with people that much? I'll be honest, you weren't this chaotic when we first met..." I remarked as I got a spoonful of food. "Then again, I guess I should've taken you saying 'but it's more amusing to mess with you though' towards that female secretary in Heaven as a hint."

The blonde let out a lighthearted laugh and nodded his head while I ate. "Yeah, you really should have. Though, if you don't like it, I can stop if you tell me to. Besides, I only do that towards people I'm comfortable with. It's not really something you can do with strangers, you know? I worry they might take it the wrong way."

I gave him a thoughtful hum in response as I continued eating, not wanting to talk while having food in my mouth. Though, Leo didn't continue talking any further and instead decided to finish the remaining food he has left on his plate. It remained quiet between the two of us until we were done eating and drinking water from the water bottles we brought with us.

"You know, speaking of Heaven, you mentioned how those eyes of yours brought you there, right?" Leo asked and I nodded my head. "Well, I assume that golden eye was used since your other eye was covered but what about that red one? Does that bring you to the Underworld or something similar if only that one is visible?"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Before I could answer his question, Vin immediately spoke up. "Correct and I doubt we'll be going there any time soon. It's too risky to go to that kind of place, anyways," he answered, and both Leo and I looked at him in surprise as he walked towards us, holding some kind of garments. "Besides, Rex said it's a place to avoid unless the situation demands us going there. It's a no man's land, according to him, and large-scale fights happen there almost all the time. As to why, he has no idea. Some of the denizens there don't know either but as long as they can cause havoc and fight, they couldn't care any less."

...well, that's ominous and worrying. I thought with a frown. Then I'll have to make sure I never accidentally activate that one. I don't want to suddenly hurl myself into a war zone with battle-crazed fighters. ...though, from what Vin said, it sounds like Rex personally experienced that place himself. It makes me wonder why he went there of all places if it was that dangerous... Before I could think any further though, the archangel continued talking.

"Anyways, take these cloaks, you two. You'll need them when we're in the desert," Vin said as he hands the black clothes to us. "They're enchanted in a way to let the wearers deal with the dry heat and hot temperatures over there. People usually going to Ignifera typically use these so it'd be weird if we didn't use them."

I silently took one and Leo did the same, except he seemed a lot more excited than me as the angel happily took it. How cute. He's almost like a dog, wagging its tail back and forth excitedly. Though, I didn't say that out loud because he might take that as an invitation to retort back. As Leo stood up and tried on the garment, I glanced down at the dirty dishes nearby and then at the black box nearby.

"Judging from the fact that this box is nearby, is this perhaps that magical mobile dishwasher I've heard of? Did they manage to solve that certain issue and released it to the public? Last I've heard, they've yet to figure out how to make both the device and the contents inside shrink together, rather than just the device itself."

"Yeah and no. I found it in Rex's base when we were there and it seems to be heavily modified, which might've been Rex's doing." Vin answered as he crossed his arms over his chest. "There was a memo near it so I didn't need to risk examining the device thankfully. It seems he solved their problem but kept it to himself. As to why, it involves the Void aspect and I'm sure you know how the Academy would react to that, right?"

It would either be rejected downright or he'll get into deep trouble. I thought with a frown. As to why the latter might be an option, it sounds like something that we're not taught in the Academy. After all, they wrote off the Void element as one that consumes the other elements and left it at that, which seemed weird when compared to how in-depth the professors went with the other affinities. But still, if that element solved it, does that mean it's capable of spatial distortion...?

Curious, I quietly took the box and opened it with my free hand. The inside looked pretty normal, only containing a hole that probably acts like a sink drain leading to the bottom compartment, custom utensil holders, and custom plate holders so they'll be safe in transit. There was currently one used dish and a spoon in it so far. That said, it looks normal but it also has spells embedded into this. That's how it usually is with mages. After putting on the cloak, I took the dirty dishes and utensils, then put them inside. Once I was done, I closed the box and glanced at the now-cloaked archangel, who was silently watching me.

"It only runs on Void energy so only you can activate it. Just direct magical energy to it and then give me the device. It's less likely to be moved around in the bag during a battle if it's with me."

With a nod, I put my hand on it and did as I was told. Almost immediately, it came to life, quietly humming away as it shrunk down into a palm-sized variation of itself. When I tried opening it again though, the lid refused to budge. Go figure. Probably can't open it so nothing goes wrong. With a dejected sigh, I gently got the box and gave it to Vin. As he took it and put the device away into the backpack on him, I heard footsteps getting closer and turned to look to see who it was.

Leo was walking towards us, who seems to have gotten his bag and was currently holding mine by hand. The tents behind him also seemed to have been put away. Guess he decided to go clean up while I messed around with the portable dishwasher, huh? I extended my hand to him to get my backpack and he handed it to me once he was close enough. As I put it on, I heard someone snap their fingers. I'll assume that's Vin dismissing the barrier and his familiars. Once I was done, I checked on the others and noticed that they all look ready to go. Everything was retrieved, save for the remains of the extinguished campfire.

"Time to go then. Can't afford to stick around here any further," the blue-haired male announced. "I'm sure all this running is a pain but I don't want to leave a trace of magical energy for people to trace to us. Sorry but bear with it, alright? That said, it is disappointing that we haven't discovered anything suspicious along the way."

I let out a sigh while Leo just laughs, saying that he was alright with it. Without further ado, the three of us ran off toward our destination. It'd be nice if we find someone traveling to the Ignifera kingdom with faster means of traveling... I didn't say that out loud though and continued keeping pace with everyone else.