Of all the mundane matters, bathing was one of Shan's personal favourites, however, he didn't feel as refreshed bathing as he assumed. He liked cold baths, in particular, but he's currently a reptile; his own blood was cold itself. There was not much he could do about it, or about the river he was swimming in.

The water in the river was not particularly fresh either. Shan couldn't point out what was wrong, but there was something odd about it. Well, he had no intention of finding out what was wrong, what he wanted was . . .

His thoughts trailed off as a question appeared in his head. What exactly does he want? It was a question he had no answer to.

After his master's banishment into the abyssal prison, which was, of course, a sure death sentence, all Shan ever wanted was vengeance. He had never wanted something so badly. All his life, he had done everything half-hearted. He took the shortcut when he could've taken the highway. He worded it as 'Smart Choices', rather than just working hard dumbly, but a part of him knew he could have done better. Hell, he could've done a lot better.

His master never blamed him for that as it was his life to live, however, he always expressed Shan could do many incredible things if he ever put his heart into it.

'Vengeance,' he mused, floating on soft waves to creep towards the bank, 'is that what I want?'

Why does he feel so stray from that thought, though? Does it have something to do with his rebirth? Or did he give up everything on dying?

The little white snake shook its head and came out of the water. Those thoughts would only make him pessimistic and melancholic, which he did not want this time around. This system did offer him a new life, however, there's no mention that it would do it again. Moreover, of all the generosity it showed towards him, there should be something behind it.

Shan might have always chosen the shortcuts, but he knows how the world works. There's always a motive behind every generosity, and so there could be something behind the system. Shan feared it would just be much bigger than what he could handle, or even like to handle.

He was again losing himself to those thoughts. Important as they might be, Shan wanted to have nothing on his mind; not at this time, at least. So he decided to busy himself with the task at hand. His ultimate task for now was to advance and not lose any of the system features. Luckily, on the way to find the river, he found a cavern, which should have plenty of things to kill.

Moreover, there were those tempting chances to acquire a new form as well with the advancement. He didn't know if the system would provide a human or even a humanoid form, but a man, or at least a man in the spirit, could not help but hope.

Shan couldn't help it. He had been a human all his life, so it was expectant of him to dream of turning back into a human again. Anyway, who would even want to live their life crawling around?

'Bloody hell, something with a few limbs would be much preferable;' he thought and saw a bird in the sky. 'Or something with wings.'

Then his slit eyes narrowed at the bird flying. 'Isn't that the golden-tailed eagle that the leader of the silver rankers had with him?' Shan grunted inwardly, or at least he did the mental equivalent of it. He was not a brilliant man with knowledge, however, he did hold some common sense. In a clash between a snake and an aerial predator, it was always the aerial predator that held the upperhand.

Well, he might be some special snake, however, that eagle was not far away from becoming an Iron ranker. The odd thing about it was the size. It was no bigger than a normal eagle, which unrested him even more in place of making him relax.

Good thing it hadn't noticed him yet. Shan exhaled in relaxation as his body crept away towards the entrance of a cavern—he noticed when climbing the ridge. If his memory hadn't gone all dull, then this eagle was supposed to be after an elf and a witch. Why was it here then? Shan had deliberately chosen the other direction of where silver rankers had runoff. However, it seemed their spy was still searching around.

Shan crept fast towards the particular hole he found earlier, blocked by many boulders. Well, surely that eagle wouldn't notice him. He's small, even though he looked like a tasty meal with its rare white scales, that it didn't have in its lifetime.

Regardless, it was as Shan had feared it. The biggest feature of these kinds of flying predators was their sight, that's why they were implemented so heavily on spying or tailing. It didn't take long for the golden-tailed eagle to notice the white snake creeping away down the ridge. And at first sight, it flung itself towards the white snake, forgetting everything about the task it was entrusted with.

Shan cursed and moved at his top speed, the spirit projectile infused with poison ready in his mouth, but he didn't rest or even slowed down in the slightest. The cavern was so close. However, getting away from such an aerial predator turned out to be challenging. With just a single flap on its wings, it came fifty yards closer to Shan, trailing right behind. It wanted to pick him just how kingfishers catch fish out of water.

Yet, there was no instinctive fear in Shan's mind as a snake should have against its natural predator. Well, it might've been there if he was only a normal snake, or if hadn't lived another life. His mind was cold and calculative. However, he had no better way of killing it. Is wasn't like the wounded python that he helped in its way a few hours ago.

The eagle swooped down in a swift arch and got Shan in the middle of its beak, crushing hard. Shan's spiritual spirit coating over his body broke instantly as he felt a sudden lurch internally of the force crushing him, but he was not worried, though it hurt like hell. Lurching his head upwards, Shan stared right in the eyes of the eagle to shout the spirit projectile face to face.

There was no way for the bird to dodge, however, it tried and failed. The projectile struck right in its eye, blinding it. It screeched, letting go Shan's body from its beak as it collided against a tree. Shan didn't wait there to check on its condition. He turned first, and crawled towards the cavern, gaining a sense of his direction, while also preparing a few of the projectiles in his mouth. This time smaller ones that he could shoot at once.

The other one surely had blinded the bird, however, the poison was not enough to kill it. It might, very well, slow down the eagle, and that was the best he could hope for. Either way, it was all possible because the bird was dumb. People don't insult calling bird brains for no reason, after all. Though a bird like the golden-tailed eagle should have better intelligence than a freaking reptile, Shan was no normal reptile.

His snake form did play a role in his mental strength, however, it wasn't making him dumb that he would fall to a bloody bird. Moreover, he felt a deep surge of coldness in his blood, roaring, telling him to see till the end until the bird was finished. He was a Snake of Infinity, for gods' sake. He isn't the food of others, but actually, it's quite the opposite.

The wounded eagle screeched again as the tree it clashed against shook, and out came an enraged predator of two metres long, wide wings flapping behind, enough to shelter two men. From the size of half a metre, it turned into something that could crush a human head easily with its beak. With one flap of its wing, its shadow appeared on Shan, who was still level headed as he was always in this confrontation.

The irrational part of his mind was telling him to see through this dumb bird, teach it who the real predator is. He could very well try that, however, he decided against it. Why bother when you can escape safely? He had been a gold ranker in another life, not just being sequestered in one place.

Shan's body lurched towards the direction of the cavern while he twisted his head towards the bird to shoot out all the projectiles as it was approaching him again. This time the eagle could dodge, however, by dodging, it lost the opportunity to catch onto the small white snake that blinded its eye.

Shan hissed last, before his narrow body slipped between the tiny gaps of the bounders.