Sword God in a World of Magic

Shang's eyes narrowed.

'Is that thing following me? Why is it continually circling me? Am I near its nest?'

After a bit of deliberation, Shang continued walking towards the northeast.

Sure enough, the thing kept circling above him.

'Shit! That thing's actually following me! Why is it following me when it doesn't attack me!?' Shang thought with frustration.

Shang moved around in senseless patterns to test if that thing was truly following him, and, sure enough, it kept following Shang, no matter where he went.

Shang's frown intensified. He definitely didn't feel comfortable with something like that circling above him.

'If it decides to attack, I have to be ready. If I don't notice the very moment it charges down, I won't be able to react.'

'The thing is very fast, but it doesn't displace enough Mana to be a General Stage beast. It feels a bit stronger than the beasts I saw before, but it doesn't give me the feeling of overwhelming dread that a General Stage beast does.'

Shang remembered that spider he had hidden from on his way to Warrior's Paradise. That thing had been in the General Stage, and Shang had felt absolutely helpless.

In comparison, the thing circling above him felt more like an extremely powerful Soldier Stage beast.

Shang guessed that the thing was probably just like Astor, someone a level below him that could threaten him.

However, in comparison to Astor, this thing was a beast, not a human.

While Shang knew that he couldn't win against Astor, everything was different when his opponent was a beast.

Shang specialized in killing beasts.

If Astor were a beast, Shang was confident in winning, but he would have to be very careful and not make any mistakes.

So, even though the thing was very fast, Shang knew that he had a chance. If it was a flying creature with a lot of speed, its defense and pure power probably weren't that powerful. That meant that Shang could end the fight with one strike. He only had to hit it when it charged at him.

And what if the beast was on the blacklist?

Fuck that!

Shang could run from all manners of beasts, but that thing was far faster than him. Running would most likely end in his death since one wrong dodge would kill him.

So what if he had to pay a huge fine?

He had to stay alive!

Suddenly, Shang stopped.

Another Vanishing Snake had appeared.

Shang continued standing on the spot and concentrated on his Darkness Vision.

His instincts were shouting at him, and Shang saw the Darkness Mana being displaced.

WHOOOSH!

Shang frowned.

Just like last time, the thing above Shang swooped down and killed the Vanishing Snake.

prepared this time, he had seen the thing move. He had barely looked in the direction of the Vanishing Snake before he saw a green streak shoot across

able to see much

'A green bird, huh?'

Shang thought of

'Capture a Spear Stork.'

Stage, and Shang had guessed that this might be a Spear Stork. That would explain its

In fact, he hadn't seen any beak due to the speed of the green bird, but

to see prominent features, and a long beak would have been a prominent feature,

an inkling as

the Vanishing Snake too, which probably means

Snakes when they hide, which is why it follows me. The Vanishing Snakes see me as their prey, which gives the green bird an

a

Stage in general, and the green bird should be on the same level. Yet, the Vanishing Snakes couldn't

bad,' Shang thought. 'I came here to hunt Vanishing Snakes, but if this thing

northwestern forest if the most

Shang weighed his options.

waste a ton of time. I might as well hope that the green bird gets its fill of Vanishing Snakes

with widened eyes. 'Aren't Vanishing Snakes multiplying by being eaten? Does that mean that the bird in the sky is already at

with furrowed brows. 'Why

it isn't eating

concentrated on his

through the surroundings for

seconds later,

the headless corpse of a translucent

eggs should be in the belly at

bird knows that it can't

Then, Shang sighed.

corpse. It has obviously been killed by a beast, and the academy won't accept

I hate having this death bird flying above my head the entire time, but it probably doesn't

this a smart

Probably not.

the green bird was a huge unknown factor

for some reason, Shang enjoyed this feeling

the edge of a cliff made Shang feel

He felt alive.

excitement brought Shang a

What was this feeling?

wasn't sure, but it

control? This didn't seem to be related to control at

that Shang's destiny was in

died out here, it would be due

people often decided one's fate. If Shang were the most competent person for a job, he still wouldn't get it as long as the

enough to

had the abilities to enter the MNFA. However, it had

had it taken so

he had

wilderness, everything was up to

the only things that would decide his

Shang was confident in

that he

to prove

he was in control of

the more powerful he

didn't know all this. He only knew