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.

had been prepared this time, he had seen the thing move. He had barely looked in the direction of the Vanishing Snake before he

able to see much detail, but he

'A green bird, huh?'

of the mission he

'Capture a Spear Stork.'

could reach the Commander Stage, and Shang had guessed that this might be a Spear Stork. That would explain

to the speed of the green bird, but

all, if the green bird had a long beak, Shang would have seen it. He had only been able to see prominent features, and a long beak would have been a prominent feature, but since he saw nothing, it meant this thing didn't have

Shang also had an inkling as to why

to catch Vanishing Snakes,' Shang thought. 'It only strikes when I can feel the Vanishing Snake too, which probably means that the Vanishing Snake needs to come out of

it follows me. The Vanishing Snakes see me as their prey, which gives the green

took a deep

bird really is terrifying. Vanishing Snakes are at the Late Soldier Stage in general, and the green

Snakes, but if this thing keeps killing

northwestern forest if the most valuable prey in the northeastern forest is

Shang weighed his options.

in the northeastern forest. Turning around now would waste a ton of time. I might

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

with furrowed brows. 'Why

eating the

concentrated on his Darkness

surroundings

of seconds later, Shang found

was the headless corpse of a translucent

mean, the eggs should be

like the bird knows that

Then, Shang sighed.

can't turn in that corpse. It has obviously been killed by a beast,

my head the entire

a

Probably not.

have turned around. After all, the green bird was a huge unknown factor that could potentially end their lives. It was too

for some reason, Shang

on the edge of a

He felt alive.

of terror, uncertainty, and excitement brought Shang a unique feeling that he had missed inside the

What was this feeling?

but it was the feeling

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

meant that Shang's destiny

it would be due to

were the most competent person for a job, he still wouldn't

skills and abilities would have been easily enough to succeed, but other people had

Shang had still been a fighter, he had known that he had had the abilities to enter

had it taken so

see how he had won

wilderness, everything was up

the only things that would decide his

Shang was confident

knew that he would

to prove that

he

the more powerful he would

only knew that he wanted to be in