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

see much detail, but he had

'A green bird, huh?'

a moment, Shang thought of the mission he had

'Capture a Spear Stork.'

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

In fact, he hadn't seen any beak due to the speed of the green bird, but Shang was sure that it wasn't a Spear

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

strikes when I can feel the Vanishing Snake

when they hide, which is why it follows me. The Vanishing Snakes see

took a deep

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

bad,' Shang thought. 'I came here to hunt Vanishing Snakes, but if this thing keeps killing them, I won't be able to kill any

go to the northwestern forest if the most valuable

Shang weighed his options.

it. I'm already too far in the northeastern forest. Turning around now would waste a ton of time. I might as

by being eaten? Does

with furrowed brows. 'Why do I feel like

it isn't eating the

his Darkness

searched through the surroundings for places with

seconds later,

corpse of a translucent

mean, the eggs should be in the belly at the back,

like the bird knows that it can't eat the

Then, Shang sighed.

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

my head the entire time, but it probably doesn't care about me. Might

this a

Probably not.

bird was a huge unknown factor that could potentially end their lives. It was

for some reason, Shang enjoyed this

a cliff made Shang

He felt alive.

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

What was this feeling?

but it was the

to be related

Shang's destiny was in his

died out here, it would be due to his own

Earth. On Earth, other, higher-ranked people often decided one's fate. If Shang were the most

to succeed, but other

had still been a fighter, he had known that he had had the abilities

had it taken

they see how he had

in this wilderness, everything was

things that would decide

Shang was confident in

knew that he

to prove

he

the more powerful he would feel after

know all this. He only knew that he wanted to be in