The bone-cold water of the river soaked his body, and Orlan fell to the bottom of the waterfall and encountered a raging undercurrent, a powerful suction that led him into a dark cave underwater.

The cavern leads to another underground waterplain, and as the current calms down, Orlan must head upstream to find the surface and air. There was also a slight accident in the process, and the predators in the water seemed to be interested in Oran. At first, when he saw the long strips of shadows in the water, Orlan thought he had encountered snakes again.

However, upon closer inspection, it was found that this creature was about the size of a forest python, and its form and movement trajectory were completely different from those of snakes. It seems to be driven by the swing of the fins at the lower end of the tail to push the water flow. Occasionally, almost vestigial fins on the back and abdomen can be seen.

Closer to it was a further indication that it was not a snake, and its head was somewhat flattened, with two fist-sized eyeballs on either side of the head, and two short fins a little further back, but which did little to help it swim.

The entire body is smooth and free of scales, and the fin-like tail, which is nearly a quarter of its overall length, seems to flow back and forth with this layer of bright light. It stands out in the dark water.

These traits were compared to those of eels recorded in the Imperial Biopedia, and Oran found them to be surprisingly similar in appearance. However, according to records, most of them live in the warm rainforests and ponds of the southern part of the empire, and there seems to be a presence in coastal and deep-sea areas.

The glowing tail seems to be related to the thunder eel in the eel, and although there is no record in the books that the lightning strike phenomenon of the thunder eel in the water can be directly observed, Oran is now facing a giant variant of the thunder eel. The reason why this eel is called a thunder eel is that it has almost the same effect as the lightning strike spell used by the mage.

A curious mage once experimented with a spell called "Palm Thunder" in the water, and the striking lightning strike disappeared, but he still managed to bring himself to the ground. Later, he thought that the difference between air and water must have caused the effect of the spell to change, so he took out the thunder eel and exposed it to the air.

He was hell-bent on getting the Thunder Eel to "cast" the Lightning Strike spell. However, he did not succeed because he did not find a thunder eel that was strong enough to release a powerful lightning strike. But he didn't give up, so much so that he kept vat after tank of eels in the laboratory, and others called him a thunder eel scholar.

Later, in an accident, during the test, he accidentally fell into the breeding tank and was paralyzed to death by more than a dozen invisible lightning strikes, well, or drowned. But it's too humiliating for a mage to drown, at least he's dedicated to the study of spells, isn't it?

Of course, this was only what Orlan had seen from a dusty "anecdote on spells", and the scholars of the Great Imperial Library would not have compiled such interesting things.

Having said all that, Orlan just had the idea in his head.

The giant thunder eel didn't seem to want him to leave, and Oran felt the tingling sensation in the water wash over his body over and over again. But the power was too small for Orlan, and this stimulation could only make his muscles burst with more strength. Seeing that the prey actually jumped out of the water, the thunder eel seemed to be angry.

A pale blue light emerged from the water and struck the short sword in Orlan's back. Orlan flew to shore as if he had been struck by a medium-sized lightning spell, and the metal attached to his leather armor even splashed sparks, and the scabbard on his back seemed to be scorched.

The most unbearable thing is that Oran's long, silky silver hair has been transformed into a fluffy "tumbleweed" under the effect of lightning strikes, like a ball of hay tumbling in the wind on the meadows at the foot of the mountain in late autumn and early winter.

The thunder eel in the water also seemed to be confused, never thinking that there was still prey that it could withstand its full force, and it ran away.

In fact, it wasn't Orlan who was knocked away by the thunder eel's attack just now, and ordinary lightning spells don't have this ability. It's just that after his body was stimulated by this strong stimulation, the power of the muscle conditioning of his whole body made him pop out of the water.

Oran lay on the shore, smoking like a salted fish. The whole body is still in a state of paralysis, and there is only a slight stinging pain in the internal organs, so it should not be too damaged, but it will take some time to fully recover the body's mobility. It seemed that the giant thunder eel would not go ashore, and Orlan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, now he was a wild wolf that couldn't be defeated.

…… Well, Orlan shouldn't have thought so, his ears on the ground had already heard a bipedal walking creature approaching. Based on the rhythm and weight of his footsteps, Orlan believed that the creature was eighty percent human.

He really couldn't think of any kind-hearted humans he would encounter when he was so close to the enemy's lair. The worst plan now is to regain his mobility before the enemy kills him completely.

The bipedal creature, which was supposed to be human, creaked as the sand on the ground creaked with neat steps, and Oran could even sense by hearing the approximate area of the man's footsteps touching the sand, the thickness of the heels of the man's boots. If Orlan could look at the footprints, he could even gauge the man's height, weight, and even gender and occupation.

But if the other party wants to give him this time, he will need a few more minutes to act.

The man stopped next to his body and then crouched down. Oran has done his best to stop breathing and reduce the intensity and frequency of his heartbeat and pulse.

Immediately afterwards, the whole body was turned over, and during this time, Oran could even smell the faint fragrance of bellflower flowers and plants emanating from this person's body. Usually this plant can be used to make some antidotes, anti-poisons, especially to some poisonous miasma smoke inhaled through the mouth and nose.

In addition, Oran also discerned a trace of the smell of the human being itself from the fragrance of the bellflower flowers, which is difficult to replace the description with other "scents", but it is undoubtedly certain that it is not annoying instinctively, but there is a trace of inexplicable desire for people to "identify" carefully.

Judging by Oran's sense of touch and smell as he was flipped, it was only certain that it was a female human.

Immediately afterwards, Oran could feel that the other party seemed to have stripped off the tattered leather armor on his body, and then he was close to his chest to listen to his heartbeat, and it seemed that the scattered hair made Oran's jaw itch a little. A slightly cold and delicate palm was attached to the neck, could it be that he was measuring his pulse?

The other party didn't seem to intend to stab him first, and then the man actually opened Oran's chin with one hand, and put the other hand into his mouth, as if rummaging for something. Orlan resisted the urge to suck a sip of the softness and tenderness in his mouth, probably because he hadn't drunk water for a long time, after all, the water here was so salty