Rebirth Of The Bastard Spirit Summoner

After hearing Stark's words, Jasmine had made up her mind on what she needed to do.

Although she partly understood what he meant by conviction, she was not satisfied with just an oral explanation.

She needed something practical, a feeling that she could hold onto, a personal experience that would engrave his words in her soul.

And there was only one way to do it.

Immediately her head began to clear from the alcohol overdose, she stumbled over to her desk and pulled it open.

Stationed at the very corner was a little bottle of a light blue liquid. She picked it up and drank the entire thing in one go—a few minutes later, the drunkenness began to clear.

When her mind was sharp enough, she left her room and was walking down the halls when she met Eurus.

"J-jas… you're going out?"

He was covered in dirt and swelled with sweat, sand, and forest leaves, a result of his many days of late-night training.

"Yeah, I'll be back soon—by the way, do you know of any river close to us other than the one at the bridge?"

Eurus shook his head. "There isn't any other one…"

Before he could finish, she had already walked past him, taking the back entrance of the inn since it was in the direction of the bridge.

Shortly after, Jasmine arrived at the river.

She followed the other side of the bridge to get close to the shore, after which she took off her jacket.

Then she placed her toes in the water….

A light buzzing sensation ran through her skin, goosebumps appearing all over her.

The water was cold, far too cold.

'Do I really have to do this?' she wondered, pacing around.

Out of all the descriptions Stark had given, there was one that stuck out the most. The way he described his dreams… it was dreadful, scary even.

Was it really possible for someone to want something that badly?

The feeling of wanting air while drowning. That was how he had described his desire…

After hearing him say that, Jasmine knew that the only way she could truly understand what he meant was by coming here and experiencing it for herself.

So without wasting another second, she crossed her heart and leaped into the water.

As she sank into the depths, Jasmine shivered as the cold waters embraced every single part of her body.

Sounds blurred in her ears, the sloshing of water and the pounding of her heart the only things she could hear.

But this was just the easy part…

She swam deeper, up to the point she knew it would take effort to escape, and then she stared up.

By then her chest was already burning from the lack of air, her body throbbing with the need for oxygen, and so she took in a deep breath—inhaling the water.

It felt like inhaling fire.

Panic flooded her body the moment the water touched her lungs, sending warning signals firing in her brain.

Jasmine tried to remain calm at first, but then a cold fear gripped her heart. 'What if I die here?!'

She thrashed around, her hands desperately clawing at the water as she struggled for air, but the more she did, the more water entered her lungs—the more it burned.

Still panicking, she lifted her head to glance upward, where she could see a faint light piercing through the darkness like a beacon.

With her hands beating against the water, and her feet kicking forcefully, Jasmine began to swim towards the surface with desperate urgency.

But she had gone far too deep—so much so that the distance between her and the light appeared endless.

She struggled for a few minutes, but her panicking made her movement sloppy, slowing down her progress.

Soon, her mind became cloudy, her eyes drifting closed, and then her arms began to weaken.

With the last ounce of energy she had left, Jasmine reached for the light once more, wanting nothing more than to escape this hell.

Her face was fraught with worry as her hands just managed to rise above her head—but that was as far as it went before she lost all feeling in her limbs.

And her body became still.

As she began to drift into the depths of the ocean, death seconds away from taking her, she thought to herself:

'So this is what Stark meant…'

She now understood just how intense his drive was and why he had described it as madness.

It was terrifying.

Everything he had said about conviction, his explanation and his examples all clicked in her head, coming with a greater degree of understanding.

She knew what she was lacking.

She knew what she had to do…

It was too bad that she would never get to try it. Warm tears began to leave her eyes, joining the water as her vision began to darken.

•••

"JASMINE!" Kael screamed at the top of his voice, his mind a confused mess.

Down in the water, he could see a girl drifting within it, hair floating by her sides and body completely still.

He could not see her face, so a part of him wanted to believe that it was not her, that Jasmine would never take her life. Yet, he knew that it could only be her.

Without wasting a second or bothering to take off his shirt, Kael leaped into the water, pushing through the current as he swam towards her.

The river was freezing cold, which only added to his worry. The thought that she was already dead—that a student placed in his care was gone—caused a sickening feeling to spread through his gut.

Kael reached her seconds later and wrapped his arms around her weak body. Her skin was as cold as a corpse, and she was completely still.

"Damn it!"

With the current of the river, swimming with another person in tow was a bit tricky, but Kael expertly manoeuvred the waters, pulling her to the surface.

They burst out of the river a second later, with Kael taking deep breaths and Jasmine lying on the ground, facing the other side.

He quickly placed her on her back to begin heart compressions when he saw her eyes snap open.

Then she sat up straight, coughing out water.

"Thank goodness," Kael breathed out in relief.

'Was she really trying to drown herself?'

Jasmine continued coughing, her eyes red from inhaling too much water, and then she did something that caused a shiver to run down his spine.

She laughed.

It was a chuckle at first, as though she had heard a joke no one else could hear, and then that chuckle transformed into a full laugh.

She buckled, her hands on her stomach as she laughed, staring at the water with a strange look in her eyes.

"So that is what he meant?"

'What is she talking about?'

Kael grabbed her shoulders and shook her vigorously. Maybe a good shaking was what she needed to organise her brain.

"What is the meaning of this, Jasmine? Have you gone mad? How could you try to take your own life?"

She turned her attention to him and smiled. "Thank you for your help, professor. I don't know how things would have gone if not for you…"

Kael held the bridge of his nose and frowned. "Jasmine… what are you talking about? What were you doing?" he asked, confused by the entire ordeal.

She stood, still a bit shaky from having almost drowned. "I was learning…"

"Learning wh—"

A burst of mana suddenly exploded out of her body, sending a gust of wind billowing all around her.

The water was unsettled by the wind, ripples of waves distorting the surface of the river.

He had to steady himself to avoid being blown away by the currents, then he blinked in shock when he realized what was happening.

'Don't tell me…'