Entering his room at the inn, he shook his head when he saw his jaguar still sleeping. He woke him up by tickling Jagu's belly, which made him lazily open his eyes.
"You lazy sleeper," Ash grumbled, only to be met with Jagu licking his own face, completely ignoring his master.
"Hey, tomorrow we're going on a mission. You have to come along," he said while opening his shirt. Jagu responded by climbing up on Ash and licking his master's face, prompting him to push his head away.
"Come on, that's gross," Ash grumbled as he got up and headed to take a bath.
After finished, he took out The Captain's Map and discovered that the Lerna River was not too far from Drogo Castle.
Milo and the others hadn't told him what object they were supposed to retrieve on this mission, but the Map itself could provide him with some clues.
He read the description of the object he might find at the river: "Dewdrop Elixir."
"What kind of item is that? And what are the creatures guarding it?" he wondered to himself. Feeling a bit disappointed by the lack of further information, he returned the Map to his Inventory.
***
And so, the two of them left early in the morning for headquarters, where Milo's entire team had already gathered at the nearest restaurant, enjoying breakfast together.
Seeing Ash arrive with his jaguar, the team immediately greeted him and praised Jagu, who warmly welcomed their pats on his head.
Milo, still seated, greeted him, "Hi, Ash. Nice pet."
He smiled politely to her and replied, "Thank you, ma'am. Good morning to you."
"Good morning to you too. Just call me Milo, not ma'am," she chuckled.
A little embarrassed, he rubbed the back of his head, and responded, "Okay, ma'—Milo."
Chuckling, she said to him, "Your jaguar isn't an ordinary creature. What can it do?"
He was slightly surprised that she knew about it, then replied, "It's actually a large statue. But for some reason, it started following me around."
She nodded thoughtfully and, while sipping her coffee without looking at him, asked again, "Does it have something to do with The Heart of The Jaguar?"
He glanced at her discreetly, then replied cautiously, "Yes. It was the guardian of that item. How do you know?"
Milo placed her coffee cup down and smiled. "A few years ago, several teams from Drogo, at different times, went on missions to retrieve The Heart of The Jaguar. But only one person ever returned—by chance, because he was injured and waiting at the entrance."
"According to his account, when the door opened, he saw a huge black jaguar statue. But after the rest of his team entered, the door closed again, and all his teammates were killed," she continued.
She turned to him and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "You're really lucky to have obtained that Rare Item. No wonder, for almost a year now, there haven't been any more requests to retrieve The Heart of The Jaguar."
"Hehe, I was just lucky," he responded awkwardly to Milo's words.
She laughed, "Humble boy, huh? Alright, eat your breakfast first, then we'll leave," she said.
He nodded and ordered breakfast for himself then ate quickly.
When he was almost finished, Mia sat next to him while stroked Jagu, who was following her, and asked, "Does your jaguar not eat anything?"
"Yes, he doesn't eat," he replied while glancing at the big black cat.
Mia just nodded and happily stroked Jagu again, as it her own pet. She was about twenty-two years old, with light brown hair styled in two braids, and deep green eyes. She wasn't very tall, and her face was adorable.
Her outfit was similar to Milo's—a pair of tight shorts and a tank top. The difference was that Mia wore armor on her shoulders, and on her back, there was a quiver for holding arrows.
The other team members—Xion, Luca, Dwayne, Hank, and Ash himself—all wore black khaki pants and sleeveless shirts, making them look like they were in uniform.
Xion wielded a bastard sword, Luca carried two odachi, Dwayne used a greatsword and shield, while Hank used a bow and arrows, just like Mia.
As for Milo, she used a whip made of spiked chains, with a sharp, spear-like tip. Ash had never seen a weapon like this before, and he was eager to see what she could do with it.
***
Finally, they set off in two jeeps heading to Lerna River, exiting through the castle's back gate.
Ash, who had just arrived and hadn't had the chance to explore the entire castle, was left speechless by the sheer size of it.
It made him wonder why a place this large had to destroy everything in Sassi. They also didn't occupy the small town led by his uncle.
Everyone was so kind to him, too. He closed his eyes in confusion and pretended to sleep, leaving it to Jagu to share his view for him.
***
The journey to Lerna River took three days. The entire team often spent time chatting and joking around, frequently inviting Ash to join in their fun.
And throughout the trip, there were no significant disturbances, as the area was frequently traversed by members of The Unveilers.
However, certain parts of Lerna River were left untouched. One of it was because the guardians of those areas were the Naiads.
Naiads were Nymphs who lived in habitats such as rivers, springs, or lakes. Ash had read before that Nymphs were depicted as young, beautiful women.
They were dangerous to humans because they could seduce and lure people into the water to drown or control the water to create strong currents or whirlpools.
The Naiads were also creatures with unpredictable moods; they could be delightful at times and furious at others.
Recalling all the descriptions of the Naiads, Ash let out a long sigh.
'Damn it. Why is it that almost every mission here is never easy?' he thought to himself, hopeful that they could be his summoned creatures.