As a result of the expansion of the underground cave network, Imuru and Yosho went around with Roll as his guide, expressing their great progress.
"You wouldn't believe the ores and precious metals we've found down here my Lord. It's a dwarven's heaven," Roll commented. "Section 1 Part A is a lost cause at the moment, since you've yet to find a way past the barrier, but S:1 P:B You've located iron and even gold, with no sign of hostiles so far."
Imuru just took this all in mouth partially open. "Very impressive. Keep up the good work," Was all the words he really had that came to mind, for him to say… It was at least a compliment, simple, certain and effective. This was great news after all, was it not?
"The best part is that everyone's safe… For the time being," Imuru thought, his eyes darting around.
Bringing them further in, they came across a narrow passageway. Just enough for the average human to squeeze through, but with a bit of determination someone a bit larger could get through also… For as long as they could ignore their body scraping against the walls.
"This here will be S:2 P:1," Roll showcased. "We have yet to venture beyond this point, so we aren't certain what's behind there…" Roll stepped back a little. "Also I would like to have it be a bit more spacious." He gestured with his hand.
Imuru narrowed his eyes, tilting his head a little, trying to get his vision further in. "It doesn't hurt… I'm here already."
"I'll head in and check it out," Imuru said, turning to Roll.
"If you so wish, Lord Imuru," Roll replied.
Returning a soft nod, Imuru marched forward in, Yosho slowly tailing behind him. Passing through for someone of Imuru's stature was barely an inconvenience as he slipped through… Yosho on the other hand, was finding herself to be in a bit of trouble.
Imuru was already a few meters ahead, turning left around a sharp corner.
"Uh~... Great Imuru~~."
He heard a squirming and embarrassed voice called out. Imuru glanced back behind him, side eyeing the situation, before backpedalling to where he found the stuck Yosho.
"Yosho…" Imuru approached her. "Just take a deep breath, alright. Calm yourself…"
"Besides it's not like this place is gonna close in on us," He exclaimed sarcastically. Receiving a pretty mild reaction from Yosho.
"Okay. Not a great moment."
After a few seconds Yosho managed to get her breathing under control, inhaling as much as possible, while slowly shifting herself where she eventually got out of her predicament, rather smoothly.
Yosho exhaled a deep breath of relief. "Thank you."
A resolution coming to this minor issue, the pair moved forward, coming out on the other side to find an underground stream of water pouring out from the wall just on their right, running off in a vertical descent formed by water erosion. Luckily, the cave carried on its unique property of being bright enough for natural eye perception.
This was ignored, Imuru's attention on the other side just past this little distraction. The pair leapt over the descent, to continue on their way.
Imuru had his eyes everywhere he could, on the look out for danger. From the stalactites above, something dripped from the set of formations, square on Imuru's forehead.
"AHH!!!"
"NO! NO!"
Panicking and reacting swiftly, Imuru wiped his face off repeatedly.
"Great Imuru!" Yosho exclaimed. "Are you alright?" She glanced at the ceiling, scanning it for anything out of the ordinary.
"I'm fine. I'm fine…" Imuru reassured, coming to a pause at the slimy substance on his hand. "... Hm?"
"Slimy…" staring at this substance in his hand, a worrying thought came to mind.
"Sneaky?..." Imuru smirked. "Might as well test the theory."
Imuru snapped his arm upwards.
"LIGHT IT UP, BELZORA!!!"
The raging flames roared forward, and all-consuming wave of blue-ish purple that billowed upwards with terrifying speed, colliding with the ceiling above in record time. He thought he'd held back, letting out a quick burst, but this was more than enough to collapse the ceiling, sending large rocks crashing down.
Yosho and Imuru swiftly retreated further in, to escape the collapse that halted as soon as it started.
"Oops… Well, we at least climb over," Imuru thought optimistically. "But, I just didn't make Rolls' job any easier." He deflated.
"Great Imuru." Yosho beckoned Imuru to come over.
Walking over, Imuru saw the leg of a badly scorched creature sticking out from the rubble, confirming his suspicion.
Resting his hands on his hips, Imuru smiled subtly. "There it is. So it gets hostile from here on out? Uh, it wasn't hostile… Yet. I'm certain it would've been."
"Very keen instincts, Great Imuru," Yosho complimented.
"Thank you," Imuru smiled tentatively. "Let's get moving, and keep an eye out for even the slightest movements."
The pair headed in deeper determined to not have their exploration thwarted by the unsuspecting creatures of the cave.
Looking forward the pair could see the brightly illuminating area ahead. As they got closer, they turned into a corner that had opened up to glowing crystallized rocks in a chamber.
"Wow," Yosho exclaimed gleefully, her eyes glittering with amazement. "Perivállon Crystallization! This area must have a rich present presence of Perivállon."
A lightbulb popped up in Imuru's head. "The Perivállon didn't properly integrate into the environment," Imuru said, his book knowledge coming in handy.
"Yes. Exactly. For this to happen naturally is very rare. Even if there is an overwhelming proportion of Perivállon it is still usually stored in the environment… We could still feel it then, but we'd actually have to try…" Yosho stepped in, feeling a heavy pressure in the air promptly. "With this phenomenon, we don't have to."
Imuru scanned the area, the raw Perivállon in the air visible to the named eye, swapping colours at random intervals. He followed in with caution, feeling the thickness in the air as he did so.
"Feels so weird…" Imuru repeatedly opened and closed his hand, the energy squeezing through his hand each time he clenched his hand.
This section was filled with pillars, formed from years of stalactites and stalagmites growing until they meet and fuse together, all on the brink of being fully crystallized.
"Gorgeous." Before Imuru had the chance to get lost in the overwhelming sensual awareness, he heard the sound of wings flapping rapidly.
Yosho got on guard, and Imuru rested a hand on the handle of his sword. The creature zipped behind pillar after pillar, sneaking closer.
Slipping behind the one nearest to the pair. There were no signs of movement for a few quiet seconds. A pair of slender, segmented feelers, poked out from around the pillar, tasting the air.
The creature rushed out, nearly struck by the waiting Yosho, as it leapt on to Imuru—It was a Bee… A very large Bee, 100 centimeters or 1 meter length wise.
Despite having the large creature gripping on to him, Imuru relaxed, releasing his grip from the handle of his blade. The bee gently tapped around to Imuru's back, poking its head around to lick the corners of Imuru's mouth with its proboscis.
"Awe… Dear me, Isn't that quite adorable," Yosho teased Imuru and the bee, making quite a pleasing sight to the eye.
"Okay, wow." Imuru brushed the proboscis off his face. "That's for Forcent only… If he ever wants to do it."
"It must be attracted to the residue from this morning's breakfast." Yosho chuckled. "Suppose it's a good idea to wipe your mouth properly when entering mysterious locations."
"Yeah." Imuru directed his palm to his mouth, using Belzora very lightly to burn the residue from his face. "I'll remember to do that… Next time."
He glanced over his shoulder at the bee. "Is there something you still want?"
"Maybe it likes you?" Yosho chirped. "I mean, like it." She approached the bee aiming to caress it. "See… Just a gentle little guy."
Imuru shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Harmless enough," he thought. It doesn't cause trouble, so why not leave it until it flies off.
Tracking on forward with a new companion attached to Imuru's back, they continued their exploration of this section.
They came to an area that opened up even further, stopping at the edge of a cliff, as they glanced downwards. It was a series of tiered cliffs, like a giant's staircase carved out into the earth, with the pillars continuing to stretch far and beyond.
"1."
....
"2."
....
"3."
And Imuru continued on this way four more times, counting as he leapt down each cliff. A minute later the pair reached the bottom, Imuru falling behind in his jumps, as the bee was furiously flapping its wings instinctively, slowing his descent.
Once he reached the bottom he designated the name of the order this area will fall into. "Section 2 Part B."
"And it goes on," Yosho commented, gazing out at the expanse that laid in front of them.
"Better get exploring," Imuru recommended. Yosho nodded in agreement, as they stepped off.