Ash hurried toward the room labeled "Chief," feeling uncomfortable with the flirtatious behavior of the woman, whom he now knew was named Sherina after hearing someone seated nearby call her by that name.
He knocked on the door, and a man's voice from inside responded, "Come in."
Ash opened the door and entered the room. Like the rest of the Headquarters, the Chief's office had a rustic wooden theme. Inside, there was only a simple wooden desk, a chair, and a plain wooden cabinet.
A bald man, wearing a singlet, khaki pants, and boots, was sitting there with his legs crossed on top of the desk.
"New member?" he asked while exhaling a puff of smoke. Fortunately, the large office window behind him was wide open.
It was the first time Ash had seen someone smoking inside the world of Finding Objects. He found the smoke slightly bothersome.
"Yes," Ash said as he approached the desk and placed the form on it.
The Chief picked up the form and read it. After a moment, he said, "Hmm, so you can summon?"
He then lowered both his feet from the desk and asked, "What can you summon?"
"I can summon several creatures like a giant spider, a minotaur, and a centurion. And I have a jaguar, but it's not a summon," Ash replied.
"Hmm, okay," the Chief said. "Can you summon them now?"
Ash glanced around the room and replied, "I am sorry, Sir. They are too large to be able to summon for this room."
The Chief furrowed his brows before standing up and heading outside. "Let's try in the training field," he said.
Confused, Ash followed him out, once again attracting the stares of everyone in the room.
Sherina, noticing him walking out with the Chief, gave him a playful wink, which Ash politely responded to with a slight bow.
They returned to the training area, and everyone either bowed or nodded in respect to the Chief, including Steven and The Bull.
Noticing Ash walking behind the Chief, The Bull asked him, "What's with this kid, Chief? He passed earlier when I tested him."
The Chief patted The Bull on the shoulder and said, "He'll be tested on something different."
The Bull turned to look at Ash and then at the Chief, who walked to the center of the field, asking those training there to step aside and move to the edges of the field.
Ash gave a slight bow to The Bull and quickly made his way to the center of the field.
The Chief immediately signaled him to begin, and Ash focused intently, summoning creatures stored within his Supreme Magus Grimoire.
A glowing blue circle appeared on his forehead, and moments later, Spidy, a Minotaur, and Centaurion materialized in the middle of the field.
Everyone watching was stunned, especially by Spidy's enormous size—so massive that it covered almost half of the field.
The Chief also stared, slightly open-mouthed, but quickly regained his composure and said to Ash, "Alright. Please recall your summons."
Ash nodded, and within seconds, Spidy and the others vanished. He intentionally summoned only one Minotaur and one Centaurion, not wanting the Drogo people to learn the full extent of his powers.
Since he was certain he would be staying here for a while as part of his infiltration, he had no choice but to reveal a small fraction of what he could do.
"Now, where's your Jaguar?" asked the Chief after the creatures had disappeared.
"He seems to be sleeping, doesn't want to come out," Ash half-lied, as the view he had from Jagu, who was still asleep, was indeed dark.
"B-but he usually follows me everywhere. It's just the past two days he's been sleeping non-stop," he quickly added.
"Hmm. Okay," the Chief replied without suspicion. "Alright, now let's head back to headquarters and discuss which team you'll be assigned to and under whose command."
Ash nodded, and they returned to headquarters. There, the Chief decided that Ash would be under the command of Milo.
Now, Ash was standing in front of a door marked "MILO" at the headquarters. He knocked on the door twice, and a woman's voice came from inside.
"A woman's voice?" Ash thought, finding it a bit odd. He opened the door and saw a woman in her late twenties standing by the window.
The woman was wearing tight black shorts and a black tank top. Her short hair was a bluish-black color, and her hazel eyes stood out strikingly.
She examined Ash, who stood in the doorway for a moment, then said, "New recruit? Come in."
Ash stepped inside, replying, "Yes, ma'am."
"Close the door," the woman ordered.
"Please, have a seat," she said again, gesturing toward the chair in front of the desk.
Ash sat down, but the woman remained standing by the window.
They stayed silent for a while, and Ash began to feel uneasy, especially because of the woman's outfit, which clearly emphasized her figure.
Not to mention her face—not exactly beautiful, but undeniably sensual.
Finally, the woman returned to her seat and said, "Hi. My name is Milo. In a moment, my team members will come upstairs and join us. We'll start introductions once they arrive."
Before long, the entire team had gathered in Milo's office. There were seven members in total, including Milo—two women and five men.
They each introduced themselves and warmly welcomed Ash.
The women's names were Mia, and the men's names were Xion, Luca, Dwayne, Hank, and Paulo.
From their introductions, Ash learned that all of them were at the advanced level, with the lowest level being twenty-seven.
Milo's team was one of the strongest in The Unveilers, second only to Vanthe's team, making them an Elite-ranked team. And all the other teams were ranked below theirs.
"I saw earlier that he summoned creatures with the Chief. And the creatures he owns are all Elite level," Xion said.
"Yes, that's absolutely correct. You are added in our team because of what Xion said earlier," Milo added, responding to Ash's confusion about why he was placed in the Elite team. "And tomorrow, we will head out on a mission."