Chapter 181: 117. Swimsuit
At the foot of Klein Mountain, a winding stream flows through the verdant trees, endlessly rushing toward the Southern Ocean.
The Klein River flows steadily overall, appearing very straight on the map, with no obvious obstacles, making it the fastest among the nine rivers in Saint Nali.
Even such a river, near Klein Mountain, has several small bays dotting the upper reaches.
Once a river has a bay, the flow rate slows down significantly, making these spots ideal for Jasmine’s combat training.
Since deciding on the plan for combat training in the water yesterday, Fisher began contemplating where to train. The best place, of course, was Nali Lake, not far from here, but it is royal territory, guarded by soldiers everywhere, making it too costly to consider.
Initially, Fisher did not consider the Klein River because of its fast flow and narrow, shallow channel. He was worried that Jasmine wouldn’t be able to let loose, but Xiatu said many parts of the river upstream were quite suitable, prompting Fisher to change his mind.
This bay was found by Xiatu, who has more experience in the wild; she discovered it while resting near her camp, and it now comes in handy.
It turns out she also has a camp in the mountains, but compared to Fisher’s construction, it was much poorer. As Xiatu herself said, her camp was basically a crude product made from a few twigs and leaves, merely sufficient for her to rest a little during the evenings and afternoons.
The plan was finalized in the evening, and by the next morning, when they woke up, Xiatu made some soup with the leftover pork mixed with wild vegetables. The remaining uneaten food had to be discarded to prevent it from going bad by the time they returned.
After breakfast, Xiatu took Fisher and Jasmine to the lower bay of the river for training. Along the way, Xiatu moved swiftly, and her crisp hoofbeats echoed throughout the mountain.
“The water here is quite deep, it should be very suitable for you to perform.”
Upon reaching the riverbank, Fisher roughly estimated the depth of the bay. The water flow was not murky, and it was about six or seven meters deep, which should barely be enough for Jasmine to use.
This time, Xiatu was responsible for being the training instructor. It seemed she hadn’t taught anyone for a long time, and she appeared quite excited at that moment.
Before Jasmine could make any moves, Xiatu started warming up herself. While doing so, her ponytail suddenly flicked up, then she belatedly realized she couldn’t enter the water and didn’t need to be so excited.
After all, she was just a Centaur!
Staring at the river in front, Jasmine suddenly thought of something, so she cautiously tugged at Fisher’s sleeve. When Fisher turned to look at her, she blushed and whispered,
“Fisher, what should I wear for training later?”
Fisher glanced at the dress she was wearing and recalled there seemed to be only her cloak in the carriage, with no spare clothes for her to wear for the training in the water.
Thinking about it, Jasmine, as an Ocean Subhuman, faced the biggest dilemma each time, not in how to conceal her identity, but in finding something to wear.
Moreover, her physique was more “impressive” than that of ordinary women, and her size was a significant issue. It wouldn’t be feasible for Fisher to have all her clothes custom-made; that would take too much time.
After a few seconds of thought, Fisher looked at the quiet surroundings, raised his staff, and said to Jasmine,
“Why don’t you train here with Xiatu? I’ll keep a distance and watch the surroundings to prevent anyone from coming, so you won’t have to worry about clothes.”
In fact, there would hardly be anyone coming here. Fisher could easily set a larger area of protective magic. Considering that he had almost used up every spell on his staff, this protective magic was the only one he hadn’t had the chance to use.
Since the carriage was taken away, he seemed to have nothing valuable left, making its use unnecessary.
As soon as Jasmine heard that Fisher was going to leave, she immediately pursed her lips and shook her head, saying,
“No! You have to stay here! I don’t know why, but if you’re… if you’re here, I might become a bit braver.”
She cautiously looked up at Fisher and quickly finished her long line of words, as if afraid he would leave.
She was so cute, like a shy little animal hiding away, and it ignited something deep inside Fisher’s lower abdomen like a match striking dry tinder, threatening to engulf him.
Jasmine was just too adorable, a fact that no one could deny. Who could refuse such a timid and cute orca girl?
A second after hearing her words, Fisher’s gaze darkened, his fingers slightly raised as if he wanted to grasp Jasmine’s body.
But before he could make any concrete move, Xiatu stood by the riverbank and waved at Fisher, calling out to them,
“Hey, are you ready yet? I’m all set!”
Jasmine’s face flushed, and she shyly replied, “I’ll be right over,” but at that moment, Fisher noticed her fingers were also slightly curled in his direction, as if she were hesitantly holding onto something.
Jasmine flicked her whale tail and walked toward the riverbank, and Fisher silently let out a heated breath, this was not the first time he found it somewhat difficult to endure.
It had been quite a while since Eil had left, but for Fisher, this time felt extraordinarily long. Every day by Jasmine’s side was pure torment.
His sense of responsibility made it hard for him to easily take action against the unsuspecting girl. Apart from her terrifying wish to knock him out and take him back to the sea, Jasmine was essentially a pure girl, which filled his thoughts of wanting to devour her with an unavoidable sense of guilt.
Speaking of which, was it because of the reproductive ability bonuses given to him by the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans that led to this outcome, or was he simply born with a greedy nature that made him undesirable?
This question suddenly troubled Fisher, the scholar. Lost in thought, he sat on a nearby stone and pulled out the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans, the “culprit” of his predicament.
The golden light within the Supplement Handbook flowed freely, resembling a colorful fairy tale book filled with lighthearted fantasies, as he pulled up several entries of subhuman data he had obtained before.
Dragon Race, Sorceress, Demon, and the most recent, Whale Folk.
Oh right, if it’s Xiatu, can I also bind her? It seems I did quite a bit of research on her last night and obtained several results.
[Centaur Remaining Research Objects: 0/1]
[Bindable Objects: Xiatu, Adult Centaur]
After pondering for a moment, Fisher decided against it. He still had to deal with Blake and Lunsis, and it wasn’t the time for casual academic research. He could wait until things calmed down before trying to study Centaur subhumans.
[Whale Folk Biological Research Progress: 37%]
[Whale Folk Societal Research Progress: 22%]
[Distance to Next Reward Unlock: Biological or Societal Research Progress Reach 50%]
Looking at the floating virtual text in front of him, Fisher shook his head. It seemed that if he didn’t conduct “in-depth biological research” on these Sub-Human ladies, the biological research progress would be considerably slow. This conclusion was drawn after comparing Jasmine’s experience with the previous two subhuman studies, with the exception of Renee, as he had spent quite some time with her.
Thinking about this, Fisher internally attributed the excess reproductive desire and the intense longing for ladies to the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans.
The handbook in his arms began to warm slowly, although he didn’t know what it wanted to express. His gaze, however, was now fixed on the training Whale Folk nearby.
The two had hidden behind the thicket that obscured their view, as if Jasmine was changing her clothes.
“Is this really alright? If it doesn’t work, we can just let Fisher go somewhere else for a breather.”
“No, absolutely not! I want Fisher to be here!”
“Oh? Is that so?”
Faced with Xiatu’s deeply meaningful aunt-like smile, Jasmine shyly lowered her head, looking embarrassed, and one might mistake her for some gentleman’s little wife.
But since they needed to train in the water soon, Jasmine certainly couldn’t enter the water in her dress, so she opted to wear her undergarments as a swimsuit for training.
Initially, Xiatu thought using this as a swimsuit was highly inappropriate, as underwear could easily come off in the water. It would be better to let Fisher move further away and turn the combat training into a “lady-only space”.
However, when Jasmine hid from Fisher’s view and took off her dress, Xiatu’s smile suddenly froze at the sight of her tightly fitted undergarment.
“This… this seems at least two sizes too small, right?”
If it was really tight, it could probably work as a swimsuit.
“Th-this is the largest size I could buy!”
Facing Xiatu’s stiff gaze, Jasmine instinctively covered her chest, explaining in a flustered tone.
Xiatu mechanically looked down, but all she could see were her own hooves beneath her. When she wore the Lady of Nali outfit, the difference wasn’t this conspicuous, but now she was in tight-fitting hunting gear, which made her feel like they were worlds apart.
“Tsk.”
She let out such a sound almost imperceptibly. When Jasmine looked at her in confusion, Xiatu shook her head and sighed, saying to her,
“Let’s just go like this, it should work. Go out and let him see, you must be quite concerned about his gaze, right?”
“Eh? D-do I really have to show Fisher?”
“If you don’t let him see, why keep him here?”
“C-can’t I go into the water first? Like this, that way…”
Xiatu was left speechless by Jasmine’s ridiculous reasoning. As a woman, she instantly understood what this Whale Folk subhuman was thinking.
Clearly, Jasmine wanted that person’s gaze to linger on her, yearning for him to see her and praise her beauty, yet she was shy enough to feel her heart racing as if she were about to die from embarrassment.
Heh, do you think I don’t understand that kind of thought?
Feeling slightly sour, Xiatu pushed Jasmine out toward the thicket. Although Jasmine had considerable physical strength, she was half-pushed out by Xiatu’s Centaur strength, allowing Fisher, not far away, to see her quite clearly.
“Ta-da! We’re ready to start training! Jasmine, go over there and do some warm-up exercises.”
Jasmine was nudged closer to Fisher by Xiatu, and she shyly covered her body, stealing a glance at Fisher, only to find him gentlemanly staring at the water surface without looking her way. For a moment, Jasmine didn’t know whether to be happy or disappointed.
If only Fisher could keep looking at me… that would be great.
Thinking this, Jasmine suddenly patted her face to wake herself up.
Jasmine! You’re about to start combat training, stop daydreaming!
If she truly wanted Fisher to keep looking at her, she should work harder to solve her balance issues instead. She needed to be strong enough to find her aunt again; would Fisher love a cowardly and incompetent version of herself?
Taking a deep breath, Jasmine twisted her body and slowly approached the riverbank. Looking at the quietly flowing water, she gently reached out her hand and placed it in, then she softly closed her eyes, feeling the ripples, as if the waters responded to her.
As for the ocean and water, the source of life and symbol of Lord Ramastia, as a being in this world, she must maintain respect for it.
Jasmine had already gradually entered a combat training state, while Fisher still “politely” gazed at the lake surface, completely motionless like a steam engine that had stopped running.
In fact, as soon as Jasmine had first emerged, Fisher had seen her, but he could only dare to take a single glance. If he kept staring, he felt he might explode, uncontrollably.
He looked at the tranquil river, but internally, his emotions were as volatile as magma, threatening to consume her.
After a long while, he sighed, reflecting on his earlier conclusions for a second time.
Fisher felt it would be unfair to place all the blame on the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans; it probably only accounted for seventy to eighty percent of the burden. He must also take some responsibility.
Just as he thought of this, the handbook in his arms began to warm slightly, seemingly expressing “comfort.” If it had a mouth, the words it would speak would surely carry a fragrant aroma.
Unfortunately, the Supplement Handbook seemed to lack consciousness. The reason for its warmth was that Fisher’s mind was racing with thoughts and knowledge about Whale Folk, while the handbook dutifully recorded them.
Regarding the previous chapter’s “Fisher cannot cook,” it doesn’t mean he can’t make food. Back in the Southern Continent, he had cooked for Dragon Folk and even made desserts.
Here, “cannot cook” simply refers to the fact that he can’t cook well!
With the same ingredients, he can produce two completely different flavors compared to others, and one is definitely lower quality.
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(End of Chapter)
