Feeling conflicted over the sudden realization that she could not go back the same way she had come in, Scaly could ultimately only throw the problem of finding her way back up to the surface to the back of her mind for now as she focused her attention on keeping herself afloat above the rushing water below.

Although she had managed things smoothly so far and hadn't encountered any attacks from monsters that might be lurking in the water below her, she understood that this was likely due to the fact that she had managed to stay close to the ceiling of the underground river so far. Managing to stay out of the range of the monsters that might be lurking directly below her.

As for fighting the monsters that might be in the water below? She didn't even dare think about doing something like that!

After all, even though she could now swim and had some combat capabilities underwater with the help of her strong water magic, she also understood that her overall strength would be far weaker underwater compared to above water.

Not to mention, she had no idea just how many monsters might be lurking beneath the surface of the violent river rushing below.

Swish~

So, with that in mind, Scaly didn't dare get the slightest bit closer to the surface of the water, as she used her wind magic to keep herself as close to the ceiling of the underground river as possible.

However, she soon ran into a problem…

The underground river… It is leveling out!

And that was the fact that the underground river had started leveling out and wasn't going straight down like she had expected it to continue on doing until she reached wherever the heavenly lake serpents might be hiding.

Even though she had her wind magic to assist her with staying afloat so far, it couldn't compensate for the fact that she was essentially just floating with a few updrafts helping her slow her descent.

Because of this, it didn't take long before Scaly found herself starting to get dangerously close to the surface of the river below.

As for how she knew that she was getting dangerously close…

[Fatty Yellow Cave Fish, lvl 19]

[Fatty Yellow Cave Fish, lvl 26]

[Fatty Yellow Cave Fish, lvl 21]

[Fatty Yellow Cav…]

That was because she saw several familiar looking fish poking their heads up from the water every now and then to keep a close eye on her. Clearly anticipating the moment, she ended up falling into the water and joined them in the strong river water.

Weak as these fish might be compared to her majestic self, she also understood that the sheer number of those fat yellow little fish were far too much for her to deal with. Easily having spotted over fifty different ones surfacing to stare in her direction since she had started getting dangerously close to the surface of the water.

Guess I will have to try and fight my way out of this if I can't find anywhere to land….

Glancing across the wet and slippery rocks on both sides of the underground river and having already attempted to try and cling to it to no avail with her current large body, Scaly could only follow the underground river and try to see if she could spot anywhere to safely land and avoid being attacked by the eager fat yellow fish below her.

Unfortunately, as she looked as far as she could in the dark underground river tunnel, she not only discovered that there was nowhere for her to possibly seek refuge from the fat yellow fish below, but instead discovered that the cave ceiling seemed to be curving downwards.

If it was just that, she wouldn't have minded it that much, as her current loss of height should have made up for the ceiling space above her. However, she discovered that the curve in the ceiling of the cave was extremely drastic and essentially cut off the ceiling almost completely. Only leaving a few centimeters of space between the ceiling and the underground river.

Even if she wanted to stay above water or had a way to keep herself afloat, it was clear that in the face of the ceiling space almost completely disappearing, she would be forced into the water no matter what.

Not just that, but the drastic curve in the ceiling above her would force her into the water far faster than if she had been able to keep floating in her current state without any such obstacles in her path.

Splash~ Splash~ Splash~!

Having also spotted the change in the ceiling up ahead, it seemed like the fat yellow fish below started growing excited as more of them began to surface while eyeing her with greedy expressions plastered all over their faces. Clearly intending to try and defeat her and possibly use the opportunity to evolve in the process.

No way around it… Looks like I will have to get into the water! I can only hope that the place where those annoying oversized snakes hide themselves is somewhere close to here or that there is somewhere for me to get out of the water and on land again!

Filled with a tiny bit of regret over how she had reck- bravely jumped into an underground river tunnel without any real plans outside of trying to hunt down the heavenly lake serpents, Scaly could only shake her small head as she drifted closer to the point where the ceiling sharply bent downwards and almost met the rushing river water below.

Although… Even if I end up in the water, I have no plans of allowing you weak fat yellow fish to kill me!

Narrowing both of her eyes dangerously as she thought about this while staring down towards the greedy-looking fish below, Scaly gathered her mana as a dangerous glint flashed through her eyes-

RUUUUMBLE-!

And before the fish below her had any time to retreat underwater, a lightning strike flashed and hit the surface of the water-

[Gained 452 Exp]

[Gained 417 Exp]

[Gained 582 Exp]

[Gained 3…]

[*Ding* Reached level 23]

Instantly killing off most of the fish at the surface and increasing her level to 23, while also giving her the perfect chance to slip into the water without being attacked while the rest of the fish were in a confused and scared state.

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