Kashi and the Maggots slowly set down their skycars on the skyboat's deck. The daeben helped Lunette off and then disembarked. The daeben then followed Otto, who climbed to the ship using the 'stairs' he mentioned earlier.

Otto proceeded to give the group a comprehensive tour of the skyship. The skyship comprised of four main sections. There was the top deck, which travelers could climb up to during a flight to bask in the breeze. Otto pointed to a crystal construct at the center of the deck. The crystal powered an array which was responsible for creating a forcefield just above the deck, but beneath the sails.

The forcefield blocked and then transformed incoming winds into a slight breeze, such that no matter how fast the ship was traveling, passengers could always stand on deck to enjoy the view.

The second section was the captain's quarters, which was connected to the deck on a raised platform. The door to the captain's quarters was a heavy iron door, opened by a specially crafted key. Otto explained that this was for security, to reduce the chances of a hijacking mid-flight.

Otto opened the door, leading the group into a small divided into two sections by a demarcating wall. The first, which Kashi saw upon entry housed a giant steering wheel, as well as some tall levers. A few Rinks were hung from the roof above the steering, allowing the captain to send a call to different portions of the ship at once.

The second portion housed two small beds and a dining table for the times when the captain needed to rest. The skyboat would have two pilots on board at all times, allowing the captains to switch out when either was tired or came down with an illness.

The two pilot system was especially important because the ship currently had a maximum cruising speed of about 150 km/h. At its current pace, a flight from Merriheim to Ederwood could take anywhere from 12-15 hours. That was a long time for a single pilot to keep vigilant.

However, Leila noticed a problem and asked, "How does the pilot see where they're going?" They were currently in a room with no window, which begged the question of how the pilots were supposed to navigate through the clouds.

"Jade-dono is currently working on that," Otto replied with a confident grin. "She said it should be finished by today or tomorrow."

"Oh, alright," Lunette muttered as she sent Kashi a questioning glance. 'Who is Jade, really?'

Kashi responded to her question with a shrug. He was just as clueless as she was. Initially, he thought he had an inkling of Jade's intelligence when she helped Suzuki design the skyboats and trains, but this was on a whole other level.

With the captain's cabin tour complete, Otto escorted the Maggots out of the room and then opened a trapdoor on the skyboat's deck. The trapdoor opened to a small, spiral staircase which Otto and the Maggots descended.

"Oh my," Lunette softly exclaimed as she admired the lavish lounge that occupied the skyboat's second floor. Guests could procure expensive drinks from a mini bar to the right, and then take a seat on beautiful couches and chairs, most of which could recline into a makeshift bed. Bookshelves with various novels and literature strategically placed around the room, and breathtaking paintings on the walls completed the feel-good atmosphere.

"This is the Premium Lounge," Otto explained with a bright smile. "Miote-san personally asked for this, and we decided to include it after Jade-dono's agreement." He then went on to explain that the Premium Lounge would belong to passengers who were willing to pay absurd amounts of money for pleasure.

Kashi's brows slightly furrowed. He had indeed given Jade full authority on the skyboat's construction, but he had also specifically said he wanted the passengers to be comfortable during the flight. He feared that in pursuit of profit, Miote might have squished the regular paying customers together like real life airlines.

However, luckily, a trip beyond the lounge revealed his fears to be false. Kashi walked through a door at the end of the lounge, to a small area with another spiral staircase, cabinets on the walls and a door to the right. Kashi took inspiration from modern airplanes and designed this location to house the inflight meals. The door served as the primary entrance into the skyboat. After docking, workers at the docks would push a gangplank up to the doorway to let passengers off and in.

Past this area, the rest of the floor's seating arrangements were more familiar to the Maggots. Just like on an airplane, the floor consisted of a row of chairs on long columns. However, unlike modern planes, the chairs were moderately spaced out, preventing a situation where passengers would fight over an armrest. Furthermore, the leg room was akin to what one would find in a business class wing.

Kashi took a quick count and found there were five chairs on each row and forty columns in total, bringing the total count to 200 passengers. Kashi could up the capacity by increasing the number of chairs, but, perhaps because it was a fantasy world, the daeben wanted the passengers to be comfortable and happy while flying.

"The last two areas are the cargo hold directly below us and the engine room," Otto explained. "The cargo hold can be entered through a trapdoor at the back of the ship, and there's a hidden door in the hold which then leads to the engine room, but for safety reasons, we don't let anyone go in there who aren't qualified."

"Lots of delicate equipment there I suppose," Kashi said, and then softly whistled as he looked around. "Still can't believe you actually succeeded."

"We succeeded Kashi-dono," Otto affirmed with a pleasant grin. "This skyboat would have never seen the light of day if you had not first thought of it."

"I suppose you are right," Kashi conceded, and then added after a slight pause. "Still, I cannot thank you enough for bringing this dream of mine to life."

Otto shook his head as he said, "It was our honor, Kashi-dono." The dwarf looked around at the ship with warm eyes. "Every dwarf lives to craft something that will go down in history. Being a part of the team who built the first functioning skyboat is a legacy that I can proudly pass on to future generations."

"Don't get too complacent Otto-san," Kashi prompted with a wide grin. "This is only the beginning. There's still so much we can accomplish together if you're willing."

Otto nodded and held out his hand. "It would be my honor to join your company when it's set up."

"That's what I wanted to hear," Kashi laughed as he grasped Otto's hand in a firm handshake. Otto Knutsen was the best craftsman among the dwarfs, and thus, having him on the Maggots' side was better than a thousand dwarfs. Kashi, pleased by Otto's agreement, decided to move on to his next agenda. He released Otto's hand and then asked, "Where's Jade by the way?"

Otto brows furrowed as he said, "She's been holed up in her lab with a couple of daeben working on an important project."

Kashi's brows rose in interest, "Any idea what?"

Otto shook his head. "She did try to explain, but I could not understand most of what she was saying." The dwarf scratched his beard, eyes lighting up as a memory resurfaced. "However, I do recall something about moving pictures."

"Moving Pictures!?" Kashi repeated in shock, eyes wide as he tightly grasped Otto's shoulders. "Did she really say 'moving pictures?'"

Otto nodded, stunned at first, but then his eyes began to shine as he smelled another great invention. "Is this something great?"

"Perhaps," Kashi confirmed as he pulled away. The daeben softly murmured to himself, "Did she finally figure it out?" From reverse-engineering the rinks, Kashi was able to create sound crystals. These sound crystals could be used to store, and playback sounds in the vicinity.

At the time, Kashi had also wanted to make video crystals, but failed and eventually gave up. But it seemed Jade had found a breakthrough, which was why she had called in the daeben who were skilled in runic manipulation to help her through the final phase.

Kashi was overwhelmed by curiosity. His eyes flashed as he glared at Otto and excitedly requested, "Let's go see her right now!"

Otto shared the daeben's excitement, but a part of his reasoning remained. He looked over Kashi's shoulder at the Maggots and asked, "Your friends?"

Kashi impatiently glanced at the Maggots and then said, "I'm gonna go check out something cool. Keep up if you can. I'll be back shortly."

Before anyone could question where he was going, Kashi bent down, tossed a stunned Otto over his shoulder, and then dashed up the spiral staircase.

Shocked, the Maggots chased after him to the deck, only to see Kashi jump off the ship without a care in the world.

"Now, this I've got to see," Syèl laughingly exclaimed as a pair of wings sprouted out of his back. He ran over to the edge, turned around, winked at Shokō, and then called as he jumped over, "Catch up if you can."

Shokō snorted and then dashed to, and jumped over the edge.

Something flashed in Leila's eyes as she saw the trio jump over the boat's edge. The competitive spirit that generally lay dormant in her suddenly flared up. She walked over to the side, but unlike the trio, her sense of responsibility as a Vice-Guildmaster remained. With that in mind, she shot an arrow with a spool of rope attached to it toward the shore. She then stabbed another arrow onto the boat and securely tied the other end of the line until it was taut, forming a zip line.

Leila, however, did not utilize the zip line, but rather, also jumped off the edge of the boat. If Kashi could do it, why couldn't she?

Shadow looked at his sister and said, "I'm going." With those words, he jumped onto and then ran down the zip line.

"That's not how you use a zip line," Lunette playfully reprimanded, but she pulled out a violin's bow as she ran over to the zip line. She jumped over and then used the bow to slide down the line to the shore.

Seeing everyone rushing over, Larsial made up her mind and also ran along the rope, chasing after the far away figures.

Meanwhile, Absalon looked over at Brock and then said with a self-deprecating chuckle. "Children."

"Mm," Brock nodded with a knowing smile as he held out his right hand. Absalon's eyes went wide as Onyx slid off Brock's writ and grew into a ten meter long, two meters tall stone serpent. Brock then walked into Onyx's open mouth and sat down. A moment later, he looked at Absalon and called "Coming?"

"Ha! Of course," Absalon conceded, giving in to his inner child as he walked over and sat beside Brock.

Moments later, Onyx shut its mouth, and then flew off the boat, slithering through the air to the exit.

Meanwhile, a dwarf returning from his lunch break had this to see as he approached the shore.

First, a daeben jumped off the skyboat with his boss. The daeben 'kicked' the air, releasing explosions that blasted him forward until he landed on the shore. Once on the shore, he blasted past the dwarf, releasing a gale that almost sent the dwarf reeling.

Before the dwarf could relax, hot on the daeben's heels was a halben with giant bat-like wings who breezed past him with a silly grin on his face.

Following the halben, a cerulean woman 'jumped' through the air until she too landed on the shore and gave chase.

A few moments passed, and just when the dwarf was about to regain his faculties, a giant arrow suddenly stabbed into the ground half a meter away from him. The dwarf cursed out loud as he immediately backed up. For a split second, his entire life flashed before his eyes.

The dwarf looked up at the ship and saw a wisben 'jump' down clusters of silver petals that magically appeared beneath her feet with each step. The wisben dropped to the ground, gave him an apologetic nod, then chased after the others.

No, wait. That wasn't entirely chasing. The wisben was elegantly walking, but somehow, every step seemed to move Leila a couple of meters ahead of where she should be.

If Kashi saw that, he would have complained about how Leila wasted time learning useless stuff to keep her 'elegant' image.

"Move."

"Lord Aygor!" The dwarf screamed at the top of his lungs and jumped to the side, just in time to see a short, white-haired assassin run past him. How, and where the hell did he even come from!?

Before the dwarf could figure out an answer, a beautiful cry drew his attention back to the ship, where he spotted a beautiful, blue-haired, Masonian girl hurtling towards him.

The dwarf stepped out of the way, his heartwarming as the girl flashed him a sweet smile and then chased after the assassin. That warmth quickly died down when another daeben slid down the zip line and ran past. It took all he could to not attempt a light tap on her head with his hammer.

The dwarf took a deep breath and patted his chest to settle his rollercoaster of emotions. It was this point, that a giant snake suddenly flew over his head, beady grey eyes glancing at him for a split second.

Plonk!

The dwarf's hammer dropped to the ground, and he fell to the ground, unconscious, as his soul took a formal leave of his body.

Meanwhile, unaware of the trauma they'd caused to a poor dwarf, Kashi and the Maggots continued to spread the good feeling as they raced through the forge at breakneck speed, dodging collisions at the last second.

At the head of the group, Otto struggled to contain his nausea as he roared out directions, "Do you see a cauldron pouring molten iron into a cast?"

"You mean the giant one ahead of us?" Kashi excitedly called back as he looked at the giant cauldron ahead of him, which was in the process of pouring melted iron into casts placed below.

Otto looked over Kashi's shoulder, his eyes watering from the opposing wind. "Yes, that one! Jade-dono's office is just beyond that cauldron. Go around it, and you will see the door by the wall."

Kashi nodded. "Got ya."

After a few brief moments, Otto's brows furrowed as he realized they were still going dead-on straight. "Kashi-dono? You have to go around the cauldron."

Unfortunately for the poor dwarf's sanity, Kashi replied with, "Why? I think straight through's the better option."

"Wait! What!? No! Kashi-dono no, Kashi-sama, Great Lord Kashi, please stop!" Otto quickly rattled off platitudes at the speed of a machine gun, but that did nothing to deter the daeben as he fearlessly charged into the fiery waterfall. "Kashi! NOOOOOO!"

Otto shut his eyes and grimaced as he awaited his pain.

Whoosh!

Moments later, Otto opened his eyes. He looked around, shocked to realize that not only was he unharmed, but they had passed through the molten iron unscathed. He looked above and understood why when he saw a dragon's ki image surrounding himself and the daeben.

Kashi meanwhile was pleased to find that just as Otto said, a single door lay on the wall behind the cauldron. However, rather than go straight through, he turned around, curious as to whether the others would pick the challenge.

Vwoom!

Kashi was not disappointed as moments later, the molten waterfall 'split apart' as if controlled by a hidden hand.

Syèl flew through the opening with a massive shit-eating grin and then landed in front of the daeben. "No entrance can beat that," he challenged as the wings folded, and then disappeared behind him.

Kashi laughed and pointed, "It's not over yet."

Boom!

No sooner had Kashi said that, did the waterfall explode outward as a sword cleaved through the center, forcefully opening a hole. Shokō slid burst through the tight opening and landed in front of Kashi and Syèl with a smug grin. "I get points for mortal danger bonus right?"

Kashi and Syèl looked at each other. Indeed, in either of their cases, getting hit by the molten iron was an inconvenience, not a danger. This was not the case for Shokō and the others.

"Sure," Kashi agreed.

"But you lose points for messiness," Syèl finished as he pointed at the puddles of molten iron on the ground.

"Tch." Shokō clucked her tongue as she stood by their side. "So, who's in the lead now?"

"Style and precision," Syèl answered as he pointed at himself.

Shokō looked at Kashi for confirmation. The daeben smiled and shrugged, showing he agreed with Syèl's decision. Miffed, Shokō snorted and said, "Just wait, someone will definitely beat you."

Syèl laughed as he rubbed his nose. "Impossi— What the?"

An arrow shot through the lava, giving Syel pause. The arrow left a pea-sized hole in its wake, but then a cluster of petals suddenly blossomed along the edges of that hole, and slowly expanded until it grew to the size of a human-sized tunnel.

Syèl swallowed in despair as Leila elegantly stepped through the tunnel and then appeared in front of him. The wisben looked up at Syèl and said as she tucked her hair behind her head. "...You were saying?"

"HAHAHAHA!" Shokō burst out laughing as she took in Syèl's mortified expression. "Now That is Style."

"I concur."

"What the actual fuck!" Syèl cursed out loud as he jumped and spun around, glaring at the white-haired assassin. "How did you even do that!? We were all watching the cauldron. You could not have gone through."

Shadow blinked, stared at Syèl like he was the biggest idiot in the world, and then answered, "I went around."

"Pffft... Hahahahahaha!" Shokō could not hold it in any longer and bent over, clutching her stomach and wiping her tears as she laughed her mind off.

Even Kashi and Leila had to turn their heads to hide their amusement at Syèl's reddening face.

Meanwhile, Larsial and Lunette eventually joined the group after going around the cauldron, while wondering what the fuss was. When they heard about the competition, they looked at each other, and then Lunette tentatively said, "I don't think any of you stand a chance."

Leila, whose victory was all but in the bag, blinked as she asked, "What do you mean?"

Gururururu!

A strange sound suddenly came from the cauldron, and Lunette looked over as she pointed and said, "That."

The Maggots stared, wide-eyed in shock as a giant snakehead slowly and creepily slithered through the molten waterfall. The 2000 degrees metal slush harmlessly slid across the snake's rough skin as its beady eyes regarded the Maggots.

Onyx's nose released steam as it slowly opened its mouth, shrouding the figures of two men as they descended from it. The smoke slowly cleared, revealing Absalon and Brock as Onyx reared its head high above them.

Brock raised his arm, and Onyx slid through the waterfall, reducing in size as he rotated in the air a few times. The snake slowly descended onto Brock's arm, growing even smaller until it took the form of a stone bracelet clasped around his wrist.

Brock lowered his hand and then looked curiously at the Maggots who were giving him weird looks. "Is something the matter?"

"He won, right?" Shokō absent-mindedly muttered.

"No one can beat that," Leila confirmed with a stiff nod.

"Damn it." Syèl inwardly cursed.

Kashi meanwhile, turned around and headed to the door while muttering under his breath, "As expected, nothing beats a giant snake." The daeben cleared his mind as he reached out and opened the door.

Before the daeben could even register the room, Jade's extremely loud, excited exclamation struck him in the face, "Fuck Yeah! Get in there, Bitches!"