Chapter 175: Jasmine’s Inner Thoughts
“Can you achieve balance?”
Listening to Fisher’s words, the Whale Folk girl in front of him had a somewhat serious expression.
In front of her, Fisher had filled a basin with water. At this moment, Jasmine gazed at the flowing water in the basin, and the flow in her own eyes mirrored it, only that the black water within her remained vigorous, unable to dissipate no matter what.
A moment ago, Fisher had just finished a call with Keken. Since Keken was willing to help, the method to enter the Healing Room had become much simpler.
Even if Jasmine, with her Whale Folk appearance, could not yet accept the blessings of Ramastia, it didn’t matter. Fisher could rent a carriage and then put Jasmine inside to take her in.
With Keken’s connection, they wouldn’t have to go through strict inspections, after all, the charity gala was being organized by him.
Speaking of which, Fisher already owed Keken a favor from when they were in the Southern Continent. Now returning to the Western Continent, he needed to trouble Keken again, and he hadn’t repaid these two favors yet.
Fisher planned to design a spell for Keken after this event and grant him the patent rights for that spell as a way to repay his favor.
But right now, the issue Fisher faced was not how to enter the charity gala, but rather Jasmine’s persistent imbalance problem.
Once Jasmine fell into fear and tension, she would become extremely violent, and the hunting pressure from the ocean’s apex predator would erratically attack indiscriminately.
If Jasmine remained in this state, bringing her to the Healing Room would not only be unhelpful but could also hinder progress.
However, Fisher was also uneasy leaving her here. One should know that Blake’s target was the Child of the Sea, Jasmine. If he left and got his house raided, it wouldn’t be funny. Moreover, Lady Martha was also in the rental house; he couldn’t take that gamble.
So, as soon as Fisher returned to the room, he intended to start training Jasmine on how to balance the blessings and curses within her.
The method of focusing on the flow of water was taught to her by her mother. Jasmine first demonstrated it to Fisher, and the general method involved using external force to manipulate the water to move smoothly, gradually aligning the internal flow with the actual water flow, finally reaching the end of balance.
Doesn’t that sound a bit like a riddle?
Fisher quickly realized that Jasmine’s mother had taught her a method leaning toward stream of consciousness; whether one could learn it depended on personal understanding.
In addition, Jasmine’s condition differed significantly from other Whale Folk, making this method highly ineffective for her. Jasmine stared at the swirling water with frustration, feeling increasingly anxious. She felt it was her own foolishness that led her to be unable to achieve balance.
After a long while, Jasmine looked at Fisher pitifully and shook her head.
“No, it’s not working.”
In her gaze, the black water flowed more chaotically, showing no signs of dissipating. Essentially, the black water suppressed the white water, let alone talk about balance.
“I tried to suppress it, but it was useless. The curse is too terrifying. As soon as I get close to it, I become very restless. When I was in the sea before, every time I became agitated by the curse, Xianghun would feel very uncomfortable.”
Xianghun was Jasmine’s companion sea beast, assisting her in suppressing her own curse.
Fisher rubbed his chin, gently moved the basin of water aside, then glanced at the sky outside. Suddenly, he reached out with his staff and activated a reinforcement spell. The original target for reinforcement was the staff, but he could also expand the range. However, doing so would cause the spell to disappear quickly, needing Fisher to redraw it.
He expanded the reinforcement spell throughout the room, covering a layer of faint light film over the furniture and walls, which also caused the sigil on his staff to vanish instantly.
After doing all this, Fisher spoke to Jasmine.
“Jasmine, enter battle mode.”
“Huh? But…”
Hearing Fisher’s words, she pursed her lips and looked at Fisher.
“I’m a bit scared. I’m afraid of hurting Teacher Fisher.”
“It’s okay. I’ve reinforced the surroundings. Others won’t hear anything. As for my safety, there’s no need to worry. Come on, try to touch your curse so I can help you.”
Jasmine looked at Fisher, hesitating for a while before finally nodding.
She silently reminded herself to control the power of the curse so it wouldn’t harm Teacher Fisher, but as soon as she touched the black curse, her pupils instantly turned pure black, and the softness in front of her shrank suddenly, causing her entire aura to become dangerous.
She quietly looked at Fisher, not making any aggressive gestures. Just as Jasmine had said before, she was conscious in this state, but it was very difficult to control; her emotions and senses seemed to be torn in two, rushing in different directions.
But her body was not peaceful. In Fisher’s view, her body trembled slightly, the flow in her pupils surged like a tsunami, flashing dangerous light like a thunderstorm about to pierce the clouds.
“Fisher…”
She struggled to utter a word, and as Fisher observed, she suddenly lunged at him.
Fisher’s gaze tightened, thinking she was going to attack him, so he prepared to extend his hand to restrict her movement.
What he didn’t expect was that as soon as he grabbed Jasmine, a strange and excited smile appeared on her face, as if it was just what she had wanted.
Her face flushed, and her huge tail suddenly wrapped around him, forcefully knocking Fisher toward the bed.
Her strength was immense, like a giant orca crashing toward you. Fisher, caught off guard, was pinned down underneath her.
Looking up, under the lights, Jasmine’s black pupils shimmered with dangerous and alluring brilliance.
“Jasmine?”
“Hey, Teacher Fisher, come back to the sea with me. I’ll take good care of you for the rest of your life. Running away won’t do you any good; if you try to escape, I’ll knock you unconscious and drag you back over and over.”
Fisher was momentarily stunned, shocked by Jasmine’s sudden words. Before he could fully react, the dangerous expression on the girl’s face froze, abruptly returning to her original demeanor, the flow in her eyes suddenly exhibiting a faint blue, and while sitting on Fisher, her face began to turn a frightening shade of red.
Her lips trembled, and her hand rested on Fisher’s body, so hot that she hastily withdrew it, nervously waving her hands and saying,
“That just now… that wasn’t me. I absolutely did not think of knocking Teacher Fisher unconscious and dragging him back to the sea, absolutely not!”
Jasmine was so embarrassed she seemed about to evaporate; her entire face turned as red as an apple, and even her speech began to blur.
“Because Teacher Fisher can’t breathe in water, how could I… could have such thoughts… I just…”
“You get up first.”
“Yikes!”
Hearing Fisher’s reminder, she finally realized where she was sitting on Fisher.
Startled, she hurriedly jumped off Fisher, only to accidentally bump her head against the hard corner of the nearby sofa, causing her to clutch her head in pain, her tail gently slapping the ground, raising layers of reinforced magical glimmer from the floor.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Jasmine covered her head, burying her face in her knees. Hearing Fisher’s words, she slowly raised her head slightly, revealing a pair of watery eyes looking at Fisher, then she softly spoke,
“Just now… just now, it wasn’t me, Teacher Fisher. Can you forget about it? About what just happened.”
Oh dear, the silly Jasmine emphasized again that it wasn’t her real thought, making Fisher feel it was indeed her true inner feelings.
It seemed her mother was right; both the curse and the blessing were parts of her body, manifestations of her inner thoughts, not a second personality nor newly generated thoughts. These were Jasmine’s genuine thoughts.
Fearing caused by battling led her to want to repel those monsters, hence the curse would replace Jasmine to wipe them all out.
Fisher finally understood where Jasmine’s problem lay. Fortunately, he hadn’t told Jasmine that he could breathe underwater, otherwise, if she hadn’t fully grasped the balanced state and accidentally attacked him in the Healing Room while in a blackened state, knocking him unconscious, waking up to find himself in a trench would not have been good.
Fisher extended a finger toward Jasmine, his expression serious as he spoke.
“Jasmine, I know the reason you can’t achieve balance now. All these years, you’ve been using the wrong method. You’ve been trying to suppress the curse to reach the same level as the blessing to achieve balance, but both the curse and the blessing are parts of you. How can they be suppressed?”
Jasmine’s heart had always been related to blessings and curses; her timid and delicate nature made her very concerned about others while neglecting herself. That lovable understanding made her gentle and kind, but that didn’t mean she lacked her own desires.
When she wanted something to eat, she would consider whether it would trouble others; when she wanted to resist those terrifying monsters, she worried about exposing her subhuman identity; when she wanted to knock Fisher unconscious and drag him back to the sea, she would carefully hide her true thoughts.
She couldn’t achieve it; the more she suppressed, the stronger the power of the curse became because she needed the curse to surpass her own physical limits to help her fulfill her wishes.
She had been mistaken from the start; it was not the idea brought by the curse, but rather her own true inner thoughts.
“Constantly suppressing the powerful curse is futile; you need to make the power of the blessing stronger, increasing the blessing to reach a scale equivalent to the curse. How you usually think should be practiced by yourself, without hiding away, letting the curse take charge for you. You are yourself.”
Jasmine was actually not foolish; she could figure out the obstacles with just a hint from Fisher. She bit her lip, struggled for a bit, then suddenly closed her eyes and raised her head to speak to Fisher a bit loudly.
“Then, I don’t want Teacher Fisher to see me as a pupil anymore.”
Fisher raised an eyebrow, momentarily not understanding where her train of thought was jumping to. Before he could ask, Jasmine frantically blurted out a whole string of words.
“I didn’t mean that Teacher Fisher’s teachings were bad. I’ve learned a lot from Teacher Fisher, whether it’s magic, human matters, or your help to me. I’m very grateful. But I don’t want you to consider me your student, an undeveloped child to take care of.”
“Boom!”
Her ears were flapping, and her tail behind her was even more excitedly lifted, then it slammed heavily against the ground, almost sending the nearby furniture flying.
This was even stronger than her battle capabilities under the curse. If Fisher hadn’t reinforced the magic, he suspected she could simply smash through the floor.
“I… I want Teacher Fisher to look at me with a woman’s perspective. Is that… okay?”
Jasmine, closing her eyes, finished speaking hastily, then gasped, covering her chest. Perhaps because of anxiety and uncertainty, she kept her eyes closed, but feeling like this might be too timid, she still tentatively glanced at Fisher.
Of course, she didn’t dare to look directly at Fisher; she merely peeked at his collar.
Fisher was slightly taken aback, then smiled as he replied.
“I’ve already resigned from Saint Nali University. I am no longer your professor. Moreover, I have learned a lot from you too.”
A lot of knowledge about Whale Folk and the underwater situation he had obtained from Jasmine. Although sometimes she was not very mature, even the explanation in the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans was for juvenile Whale Folk, Fisher had never regarded her as a child; after all, she was the predicted “Mysterious Child of the Sea.”
After hearing this, Jasmine felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her heart. The blue water flow in her eyes began to rise, cheerfully intertwining with the black water.
“Then, can I touch Teacher Fisher’s hand? Just for… researching humans.”
Jasmine cautiously tested, seeming to disguise her thoughts with many limiting conditions. Although she still felt a bit evasive, at least she could now express her desires herself, which should be beneficial for her balance.
“…Sure.”
Fisher gently extended his hand. Her ears were almost flapping away, and after she looked at Fisher with a flushed face, she placed her small hand into Fisher’s palm.
Strangely, although she had just said it was for researching humans’ hands, now she was resting her fingers on Fisher’s hand.
Her delicate little hand tightly grasped Fisher’s hand, and she quietly leaned a bit closer to Fisher to see more clearly.
“Hehe.”
Teacher Fisher’s hand was very big and very warm, vastly different from the temperature of the sea.
She thought adorably like this while Fisher was still contemplating her earlier words derived from the curse.
It would be better not to expose the fact that he could breathe underwater; if she did ambush him and knock him out, things could get problematic. This little orca, though timid, was incredibly strong.
Oh, and there was also that deity from Ramastia who was helping out.
“Let’s sleep.”
“So soon? I… am not ready yet.”
Jasmine looked at Fisher both panicked and excited, her hesitant demeanor was far too tempting, leaving Fisher uncertain whether he should express his true thoughts.
After thinking about it, Fisher still reached out with his other hand, gently tapped her small head, causing her to cover her head cutely with both hands.
“What are you thinking? I meant it’s time to rest; you still sleep on the sofa.”
“Woo, I… I understand! Don’t knock my head! It hurts.”
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(This chapter is complete)
