Chapter 346 - Failed Ambush

Jason was not sure whether the youth from the Jual family was arrogant as his brother or not but that it didn't really matter to him because he wanted to venture through the Mythic Garden alone, either way.

There was no need for him to rely on others like it was the case in Cyro-City's rift.

He was confident in his own strength and his mana eyes' capabilities which allowed him to depart in the opposite direction where the youth from the Jual family was currently creating a massacre.

Artemis and Scorpio were expectant to leave the soul world and join Jason on his journey but he rejected their request for the moment because there was an ominous feeling approaching him.

'That's not a good start!' He told himself, looking around in vigilance.

This thought was not really helpful for him and would normally be the reason for most people to panic, but weirdly enough, Jason felt extremely calm.

He began to supply mana into his eyes again to enhance his eyesight, allowing him to see everything around him clearly.

Nothing with the thinnest mana fluctuations could escape him anymore!

As such, he was able to immediately perceive the outlines of a large panther that approached him silently from a bush that was located behind him.

Thanks to his mana eyes, Jason could not only see the panther's outlines but also its mana core rank at the peak-Unblemished rank.

Furthermore, the panther had a faint aura around its mana core!

This aura was the reason for him to feel uncomfortable and Jason assumed that it was most likely a curse, even if it might be an extremely weak one.

The panther didn't have any transmuted mana and instead of waiting for it to appear in front of him, Jason waited for the perfect time before he told Artemis and Scorpio to emerge from the soul world, at the exact same time.

Meanwhile, Jason used his fortified soul conjunction with the black origin flame to unleash it, allowing it to enter his mana core for the first time.

There was no physical or mana amplification, yet because the black origin flame didn't have a physical body or a mana core,

But Jason was still able to use the black flame he received as affinity unhindered without any restrictions.

Enveloping the light longsword in his hand with small, but extremely hot and compressed flames, Jason was confident that they were strong enough to injure the panther.

Exerting the weightless steps movement technique at the perfect mastery to increase his speed by 60%, he shot forward, following Artemis, who was in her large form, and Scorpio to attack the cursed panther.

One might think that he was a little bit over the top by going all out with his attack but Jason never fought against a cursed being and he was also unaware about which curse the panther harbored.

As such it was better to go all out and stay vigilant all the time!

The cursed panther who imagined that it had found an easy prey to hunt was suddenly overwhelmed and attacked by three opponents at once.

Furthermore, two of them seemed to be as strong as it was while the third being that was initially its prey turned out to have a powerful trump.

However, instead of panicking, the panther released its own trump as it unleashed its aura, which filled an area of a few meters around them within a single moment.

Jason perceived this and he could tell that his, Artemis, and Scorpio's strength decreased by roughly 2% in all aspects.

This might not be a devastating difference, but the area which the cursed panther filled with its curse was a radius of around 15 meters.

'If the cursed panther were to fight several hundred slightly weaker opponents with a partner, this curse would be extremely strong!' 

Jason concluded before he vanished behind Artemis, who released thick mist, while Scorpio manifested several small liquefied balls of corroding poison which he threw towards the cursed panther.

The cursed panther avoided these poisonous balls without much effort when it noticed that both Artemis and Jason vanished from its sight as the mist enlarged.

Suddenly several dozen icicles shot out of the mist, creating pressure on the cursed panther who could barely avoid the majority of attacks.

A few icicles targeting the panther hit it, but the damage caused was negligible as Artemis who ascended into the air when it released the ice mist dived down straight to the cursed panther.

Manifesting several, sharper and compressed icicles, the panther immediately knew that the owl was the biggest threat as several more poisonous balls flew towards it.

Evading them with nimble steps, the cursed panther suddenly sensed that its paws were burning which forced it to look down, only to see that the ground was littered with the corrosive poison, sizzling on the ground.

The pressure increased multiple times when it noticed that and the panther used the majority of its mana to unleash the whole curse it harbored, decreasing everyone's strength by another 1%.

However, what the panther already forgot was Jason's existence!

He suddenly emerged behind the panther with the light longsword that was enveloped in a glowing black flame in one hand, executing the [Devious Swordmaster] technique to his fullest capabilities, swiftly piercing through the cursed panther's abdomen.

The resistance Jason felt was less than he expected as the black origin flame burned through the panther's fur, flesh, and organs without much difficulty.

Twisting the light longsword within the cursed panther before pulling it out, Jason retreated several steps to merge with the ice mist that enveloped the whole area around them as several newly manifested, compressed icicles pierced into the injured panther.

The cursed panther was already roaring out in unbearable pain and about to die when it was hit with Scorpio's liquified poison which he threw beforehand, sizzling through the panther's skin.

Only a moment later, the panther's curse erupted once again before it completely vanished as it slumped to the ground taking its last few breaths.

When the short, but intense fight was finally over, Jason took a deep breath before he approached the cursed panther after he was sure that it was really dead.

This was quite easy thanks to his mana eyes that could perceive all mana fluctuations and determine if the mana core was still intact, or also 'alive'. 

After inspecting the cursed panther for a short moment, Jason was sure that the curse it harbored was not something that would be transferred by touching the corpse.

Storing the carcass inside his spatial ring, he began to wonder how powerful the panther's curse would have been if it acted as a supporting character for a stronger beast.

A weakened state of 2%-to-3% was not something major, but the area of effect the panther's curse had was extremely large considering that a panther was an agile beast!

It could jump into the fray and leave without injury as long as it was careful, level-headed, and didn't encounter a well-coordinated team like Jason and his soulbonds became after they trained hard.

The curse might have been a weaker one, but it was still astonishing that the first living beast he encountered was a cursed being.

This told Jason that the Mythic Garden was the perfect place for him to search for his next soulbond!

His chances were still extremely low, but they increased manifold compared to solely searching for a suitable cursed beast on Argos!

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