Cursing in his mind, Jason didn't have any time to waste, as he turned into the exact opposite direction from the fire elemental python, while Artemis was still sleeping soundly in his arm, slowing him down, while his shoulder burned like hell, due to Artemis' weight.
"Artemis…. Can´t you wake up? Please?? It's already painful to even run with my shoulder…." he quietly pleaded, but his words couldn´t be heard by Artemis, as she continued to sleep soundly.
Sighing deeply, Jason exerted his weightless step movement technique while gritting his teeth to endure his pain spreading from his shoulder.
His current position was definitely not suitable to run away from any high-ranked beast but there was one thing he could do for sure with his current capabilities!
Hiding!
'With Artemis low mana fluctuations caused by overexerting her mana and my used up mana, it should be quite difficult to perceive us...If I use the concealment technique I learned in addition it will be even more difficult...right?'
He was still extremely tired, powerless and his whole body ached because he smashed into the tree thanks to the overwhelming explosion a few minutes ago, but forcing himself to stay awake Jason had to find a better place to hide.
Rushing past a few lush trees and bushes, Jason suddenly halted his steps, before he turned around in order to squeeze himself through a particular bush as his mana eyes perceived something.
It was extremely risky because it could either save him or cause his death, as he saw a large hole behind the bush which he entered without hesitating anymore.
With his mana eyes, he perceived faint mana fluctuations radiating from something he estimated to be a hole, while further below he sensed weak fluctuations that came most likely from awakened beasts.
However, even though the mana radiating from them was extremely weak, the radiating color Jason perceived was a thick green indicating the potential of a magical ranked beast, which was the reason for him to jump into the hole.
Even though the fire elemental crystal horned python was a magical ranked beast, it barely reached this rank thanks to it undergoing a mutation and it would never challenge other magical ranked beasts if it was not necessary because it was suicidal.
After jumping into the hole he identified as a den, Jason felt his shoulder burning even more than before, while Artemis was forcefully woken up from her slumber.
Looking around, he suddenly saw three small dark-green furred wolf cubs in front of him, gazing at him confused, as they expected their parents to come back.
Smiling lightly, Jason used all his remaining mana to supply his golden eyes with it while trying to show that he didn't want to harm them.
Bewitched by his golden eyes the dark green-furred wolf cubs, he identified as tornado wolf cubs didn't make a single sound as they approached him quietly.
'Thank you!!' He told himself, as he exerted the concealment technique, he barely knew in order to suppress his mana fluctuations even more.
Seeing the magical-ranked python halting in its track, his heart thumped loudly as he stopped to breathe.
'Just go!' Jason shouted in his mind as the crystal horned python slowly slithered away from the bush he squeezed through.
Sighing in relief, he didn't even notice the three furballs sniffing at him in interest.
Stroking them subconsciously, Jason was still looking through the soil with his mana eyes in order to figure out when to leave the Wolf den he jumped in a few seconds ago.
Suddenly he heard Artemis screeching out, which surprised him.
Turning around to her worriedly, he saw her quarreling with the tornado wolf cubs, which were currently at the awakened rank because she also wanted to be stroked.
Averting his gaze towards his left hand, Jason noticed that he stroked one of the wolf cubs, while the others also wanted to be cuddled causing them to approach his other hand.
Trying to lift it, Jason felt extremely uncomfortable and it was almost impossible to do without him feeling an almost unbearable aching coming from his broken shoulder, which caused him to inspect his current situation closer.
Scanning through his own body, he sighed in relief, as he took out a handful of glimmering potions.
Gulped down the potions after a short moment, Jason immediately felt the effect, invigorating his body while at the same time supplementing him with necessary nutrition.
Because of the tornado wolf cubs' gentle behavior, Jason forgot that they would be magical ranked beasts once they reached maturity, and even more important was that they had parents that would come back soon.
However, Jason seemed to be completely oblivious to this fact.
After gulping down the potions, Jason took out a few dishes to eat because he felt extremely hungry, almost as if he were to starve any moment if he wouldn't eat immediately.
Unfortunately, he was interrupted by three dark green bodies and a pure white Artemis jumping towards the food he took out from his storage device, as the four beasts landed on his chest, throwing him on the back.
Shouting out in pain, his heavy chest was immediately freed from the four beasts' weight, as Jason glared at all of them.
'Are all of you my soul bonds now or what?! Can't your parents feed you?? Artemis is already a glutton and too much for me to handle.' Sighing deeply, Jason couldn't help but feel slightly regretful, that he even entered the Wolf den.
Nevertheless, he had to acknowledge that surviving the crystal horned python's wrath would have been much more of a hassle.
Nodding his head, he took out a few dishes because the puppy eyes of the tornado wolf cubs made him weak.
"You three helped me to survive… let me give you a reward, okay?" Jason said as he took out a few raw steaks he purchased in Cyro-City in order to make a BBQ on their journey through the four-star rift when they had time and the opportunity to do so.
Unfortunately, the whole expedition was now somewhat chaotic, and instead of grilling and eating the steaks by himself, he could also feed them to the wolf cubs, who saved his life, even if they weren't aware of the effect the cubs and their parents' smell had.
Feeding the three tornado wolf cubs, Artemis stared daggers at him, causing him to chuckle lightly, as he took out another steak and a magical ranked mana core at the same time to let her decide what she wanted to eat.
Taking the steak with her beak, Jason stored the magical ranked mana core away, as he took out convenience food which he heated up slightly with his black origin flame before he scarfed down one plate after another.
After a few plates, he took out a few more steaks to give them the wolf cubs and Artemis, and when Jason was done eating, he felt full of energy thanks to the food he ate and the potions' effects.
The pain in his shoulder already lessened slightly, even though it was still extremely painful.
Trying to stand up, Jason suddenly noticed four furballs laying on his lap and legs.
"Am I a bed or something like that?!" he mumbled as his body stiffened when killing intent enveloped his whole body.
Turning his head, he saw two, three-meter tall dark-green furred wolves entering the Wolf den, only to bare their teeth at the sight of him, while both released their killing intent towards him.
"Oh..F**K...Greetings mother wolf…."