"I gotta get me one of these." Mat stared at the giant vehicle up front. It wasn't anything great, being made of metal scraps and all things you'd find in a steampunk junkyard, but it floated. It floated. Up in the ground like some kind of UFO, it lay suspended like a boat on water, but on air. That was all that mattered.

"What do you think?" It whirred a futuristic hum as Kun dropped down from atop the boat and onto ground, landing with a thud and dust swirls.

"It's pretty awesome." Mat ran his fingers over the hull, eyeing each part like he was surveying his own car. There was a burning red crystal underneath, with pipelines and wires and all things mechanical decorating the underside like an engine. An exhaust pipe ran from the bottom of the engine out to the side then top where it stood like a metal pole on the side of the boat puffing out fumes of black smoke.

"How does this all work?"

"Well, you see-"

"That's great and all," Laro pushed himself between the two, interrupting them both. "But I want to get going to Garafeit already. I'm thirty minutes late from my beauty nap, and I don't-"

Flo snatched a leg away from under him, prompting the redhead elf to fall over himself. Laro gave her a leering sneer before turning back to Mat and Kun before he tried to stand. "So are we going or what?"

"Yeah, we're going." Kun let out a smile before he climbed up the ladder barred to the side of the floating boat. He then gestured for the others to follow.

Laro went first, of course, followed by the two human twins. Youmu and Ruan went after, leaving Mat and Flo the last to board the boat.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Mat said, bringing out his hand.

Flo rolled her eyes before climbing the ladder, leaving Mat to the dust.

"Not the friendliest of types, I see." Mat muttered to himself.

. . .

A gust of afternoon wind rushed against Mat's face, invigorating his senses. The boat ran at full speed through the grasslands, whirring a buzzing hum as the plastic canopy above them kept out the blazing sun, flapping against the rushing wind.

It was a refreshing feeling, seeing the scene around them in relative comfort without worrying about the heat getting too much. Nian was asleep at the rear, with Ruan beside to take care of anything she might need.

The boat itself was spacious. The floor area was enough for a large living room, and even with all the wooden crates, metal boxes, and bags, there was still much room to move around. At the back where Nian was were the supplies in the storage area, and up front was an open area where the canopy didn't cover and wind all up on the face.

In the middle part were metal chairs scattered all around, but with the boat hardly ever rocking and wobbling, they didn't need any anchor to hook them in place.

"Mat, Youmu's calling for you." Kun called who was sitting on the wooden floor beside Youmu among a pile of loot. Mat nodded and promptly followed.

"Would this be fine for you?" Youmu gestured to the many loots and items on the wooden floor. There were several materials and essences and items, all ranging from minotaur horns to black essences to others he didn't recognize. "This is your share of loot after the dungeon raid."

Mat called for his green sprite and surveyed the items up front, crouching to his knees. Most of them were a number of black lenses, minotaur horns, and essences, but one thing caught his attention.

Frostfire Skull (E+) [Artifact]

A manifestation of the frostfire lich's magic. When equipped, it floats around the user and spits out frostfire to enemies nearby whenever the user attacks or casts a spell.

"Selling those materials and essences will give you roughly five silvers." Youmu said with a hint of worry. "It's really not that much, but it can last you about two weeks if you eat frugally. If you are in dire need of money you can also sell off that frostfire skull."

Mat immediately picked up the skull. To activate an artifact all he had to do was push out mana towards the item like pulling the trigger to a gun, and the artifact would do the rest itself. He did so promptly, causing the skull's hollowed-out eyes to turn blue. It then jumped to the air and started floating around as if it was alive with its teeth clattering.

"Thank you." Mat knew the frostfire skull was a gift from Youmu, but he didn't bring it up. He was just supposed to take the drops he took from the monsters he killed, but Youmu added on top of that an artifact she got from the lich. Nian did say once that Youmu was pretty nice once you got to know her. She was right.

"Are you sure you aren't dating my sister?" Kun said, immediately shut down with a knuckle to the head from Youmu.

"Don't ask some unnecessary things brother." Youmu rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"You two are siblings?" Mat said. Now that he said it, they did share the same facial features and accent. Though Youmu had a pretty heavier one compared to Kun, Mat did see the resemblance.

"Yeah. I'm the older brother of the great Silver Shield Youmu." Kun rubbed the back of his head, easing the punch earlier from Youmu. "I'm pretty well-known myself, but I don't want to brag too much."

"The only thing you should be bragging about here is how Ruan broke up with you." Youmu said, prompting an awkward look from Kun and Ruan at the rear. She apparently was listening in. "Oh, I shouldn't have."

Wait, hold on.

"You dated Ruan?" Mat said, turning to Kun.

"Yeah, but let's not talk about the past." Kun made sure to end that topic then and there, pointing a look towards Youmu. "Let's talk about the now. Want to play a guessing game Mat?"

Mat didn't know where this was going, but he agreed to go along with it. "Sure."

"Aight." Kun brought out three fingers. "We're playing a game of truth or dare. Three chances."

"Okay, but how do we go about who goes first?"

"Rock, paper, knife."