Hours of traveling Imuru's journey came to an end with Collon. The trio and the three Fernum elves parted from Collon, with Imuru wanting the anticlimactic arrival to his home town, he planned to just sneak around to his house instead of the village.
Moving through a thick, detouring stretch of the forest that made Yosho shoot him a look of silent perplexity, they broke through the final line of trees after a few minutes, and Imuru's lodge came to few, standing in the clearing, silent and empty. Overcome with joy Imuru's legs gave out, and he fell to the earth, this marking the end of his journey.
"Ahh~... I could stay like this for a while," Imuru thought petting the ground, gently.
Forcent went to lay down, curling up and heading off to sleep.
"Lord Imuru, before your rest, I must inquire upon where the Transportation Platform must be built," The lead Fernum craftsman elf said.
"Ow. Right, of course," Imuru said, getting up right, crossing his legs. He glanced around, thinking briefly. "Should have it built here, or… In the village," He pondered.
Imuru got up to his feet, knowing the obvious answer. "Village it is. Follow me please."
They followed behind Imuru to the side to a path out to the forest area Imuru's lodge was nestled in. The moment they stepped out they could see Imuru's village in sight.
Looking across there were a few oddities that caught his eyes; holes. Many of them, in fact, stretch across the land from both sides.
Imuru sighed deeply. "What the heck have they been up to?" Imuru thought, deeply concerned.
Coming up from one of these holes, a Dark Devider spotted Imuru, his face lighting up like the sunrise promptly. "Lord Imuru?" He said underneath his breath.
"What was that?" The Dark Devider below inquired.
"Lord Imuru has returned!" The Dark Devider from above shouted. "Hurry! Let's go!"
It took only a moment, a single sharp-eyed Dark Devider standing watch at the village's read to spot the familiar figure of Imuru and Yosho, and from that spark, news crackled through the quiet village like magical wildfire, so that within breaths, every villager, from the blacksmith mid-hammer to the baker dusted in flour, halted their tasks, the communal heartbeat of the place swelling into a tide of warm bodies and brighter faces as they spilled into the winding streets, drawn by a single, shared impulse to greet their leader.
Leaving the dirt path to enter the village Imuru was greeted with the presence and cheers of the Dark Deviders welcoming him back.
Roll bolted in front of them, bowing. "It's a pleasure to have you back Lord Imuru."
Imuru gave a anxious smile, propping his hands up on his hips. "Well… I suppose I can accept this," He thought. Imuru glanced around at the group of Deviders a certain person missing. "Where's Arken?"
"Sir Arken is currently helping with exploring the underground cave Lord Imuru," Roll replied.
"Underground cave? That explains the holes," Imuru mumbled. "Remember, one thing at a time…"
Imuru turned to the elves. "If you three would be so kind as to explain to Roll the purpose of your presence, he'll be the one to show where to build the transportation platform."
"Sorry for throwing this onto your Roll, your sacrifice is duly noted," Imuru thought, feeling almost sorry for him.
Even though this was sudden, Roll didn't hesitate to step up to the task, accepting the hand of the head elf craftsman, and inquiring about the transportation platforms. Already forced to leave this little meetup to work.
"Great Imuru." Yosho bent her upper body, to whisper into his ear. "Should we tell them?"
Imuru cocked his head, smiled a little, his shoulders drooping. "I would like you not to Yosho," He calmly requested.
Yosho straightened herself, as this was all she needed to hear to promptly drop the issue, without question.
Another familiar Dark Devider, Yot, stepped out from the crowd. "MiLord," She bowed. "I'd like to invite you to the Best Tavern in town."
"U~u…"
"Huh?!"
"Hey!!!"
"Excuse you!"
"That's not fair!"
Rose from the Dark Deviders at the unexpected commotion, but it died just as swiftly when Imuru's glance swept over them; misinterpreting it for a silent, cold command.
"It's The Best Because It's The Only One In The Village!" Yot retorted at the top of her lungs.
"Then Prove It," Another female Dark Devider, Titani stepped up, cracking her knuckles. "You sneaky little snake trying to gain favour with Lord Imuru. I HATE snakes."
Yot gritted her teeth, clenching her fists. "Snake?..." She mumbled, trying to not lose her cool. "Being jealous that Lord Imuru appreciates me more is so pitiful."
Imuru blinked. "I never sa—"
"The thing I hate more than snakes is anyone who tries to smear Lord Imuru's name!" Titani exclaimed.
Imuru slipped in-between the pair promptly before Titani could lunge at Yot, raising his arms at them both.
"First rule of our settlement?" Imuru mumbled, his head low, a dark shadow over his face.
Frightened by the sudden shift in their lord's mood, the two girls sank to the earth in unison, pressing their foreheads to the cool stone floor in a deep, trembling bow as a torrent of frantic apologies spilled from their lips, their voices a desperate, overlapping of "Our apologies!" and "Forgive us!"
Standing tall, hands on his hips, Imuru gave a slow disapproving shake. "Stand up, I have something to say. All of you listen closely," He ordered. "I know it's very much in your nature to solve everything with violence… But that is something I cannot accept. Though, I can make an expectation."
"Rule number one is there should be no fighting in the village, sure. Though, if you were to build an area for your disagreements, then I could let it pass… With the addition of having to talk it over afterwards, so does that sound?"
"Yes!!! Lord Imuru!" They said in unison, this unexpected answer, filling them with joy.
Yot slid to Imuru's side, shyly, her arms held behind her, as she twisted and turned. "You're not upset with me are you?"
"I never was," Imuru replied.
This comforted Yot, her stiff shoulders relaxing when she let out a deep breath. "Thank goodness."
The uplifting feel in the atmosphere was cut abruptly, from a shock that was throughout the village.
"What was that?" Imuru wearily inquired.
"There's no need to worry Lord Imuru, it's our underground exploration team," Titani replied.
"That's right, they're dipping holes underneath this place," Imuru reflected. "Would you mind taking me there?"
In a few short minutes Imuru was shown the location of the primary cave system, hidden along with one of the many holes around on the left, he saw on his return walk to the village.
Stooping down, he peered down into the darkness. Resting his head in his palm for a moment, Imuru couldn't help but be annoyed. He allowed himself to fall face forward over, flipping around, and landing down below on the ground.
"Arken…"
Disinterested, and slouched over, he dragged his feet across the ground, following the sound of constant chipping of stone. Yosho, Titani and Got caught up to him, hurryingly a second later.
Coming to a steep drop off, they could see Arken along with three others below. Two of the Dark Deviders were going around chipping off rocks, and the other was constantly punching at a dark entrance, seemingly protected by a barrier.
The Mighty Dark Devider Arken stood confidently, arms crossed across his chest, and one foot planted atop a rock… Observing, the other Devider punching away at the barrier.
Imuru didn't waste much time standing back, taking a single leap down, landing a few meters behind Arken. His presence didn't go unnoticed by the three Deviders, but Arken kept his head forward, promptly instructing the Dark Deviders back to work.
Despite Arken's orders, Imuru was the overruling power here, so the Dark Deviders looked forward to Imuru's order.
"Need not worry, you all may take a break," Imuru said, to the gratefulness of the Dark Deviders, thankful for Imuru's leniency.
With that out of the way, Imuru subtly shifted to Arken's side. Looking up at him, with an impish smile. "Didn't you miss me?" He inquired teasingly.
Imuru tried to get Arken's attention, trying his best to get into his field of vision. This would've been easier, if there wasn't such a height discrepancy. To put a simple stop, Imuru's little game, Arken merely held his head a little higher.
Unwilling to give up, he pointed at the passageway. "Why couldn't you just break it? That's embarrassing, for the Mighty Dark Devider."
"I—"
Arken was barely able to say a word, as Imuru rushed in and hugged him, more than to take the triggering of a reaction from him a win. "Awe, I miss you too Arken."
Calmly Arken gave in, stepping back from Imuru the moment he was released from his grasp. He cleared his throat. "No one missed you… Now since you have returned to my village, make yourself useful and bring down this barrier."
"Umm… Sir, Arken," The Dark Devider that was forced to punch at the barrier spoke up. "I was thinking… This may require a team effort sir."
"Hmph. Why should I raise my hand at something so below me," Arken remarked.
"Clearly I've been gone too long." Imuru approached the passageway, reaching out to touch the barrier. The swelling pressure of heat, raised off his hand, as the force of Belzora was unleashed, catching them off guard and thrashing everyone off their feet.
After almost a minute of the relentless force of Belzora, Imuru halted to check the damage.
"Huh?!"
The barrier remained unbroken to the shock of not only Imuru, but to all present. It gave a reaction, glowing intensely, even the area around them a few hundred meters out.
"This was intentionally reinforced," Yosho said, her eyes darting around, as the glow subsided.
"You're right there, Yosho," Titani said in agreement. "Someone definitely wanted to keep everyone out, or maybe something in?" Titani assessed.
"Should I be concerned?..." Imuru blinked and shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe I'm just exhausted. I'll get back to this some other time," He said, walking off.
"Lord Imuru, will you stop by at the tavern sometime?" Yot inquired.
"Certainly… Just got a lot of stuff to get to," Imuru replied.
Yot nodded, this reply being more than enough, valuing Imuru's words.