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.

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

hadn't been able to see much detail, but he had seen

'A green bird, huh?'

moment, Shang thought of the mission he

'Capture a Spear Stork.'

Commander Stage, and Shang had guessed that this might be a Spear Stork. That

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

Shang would have seen it. He had only been able to see prominent features, and a long beak would have been

event, Shang also had an inkling as to why

me as bait to catch Vanishing Snakes,' Shang thought. 'It only strikes when I can feel the Vanishing Snake too, which

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

a deep

at the Late Soldier Stage in general, and the green bird should be on the same level. Yet, the

'I came here to hunt Vanishing Snakes, but if this thing keeps killing them, I won't be able

if the

Shang weighed his options.

far in the northeastern forest. Turning around now would waste a ton of time. I might as well hope that the green bird gets its fill of Vanishing

multiplying by being eaten? Does that

brows. 'Why do I feel like

isn't eating the

on his Darkness

he searched through the surroundings

of seconds later, Shang

corpse of a

mean, the eggs should be in the

knows that it can't eat the entire

Then, Shang sighed.

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

this death bird flying above my head the entire time, but it probably doesn't care about me. Might

a

Probably not.

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

reason, Shang enjoyed this

the edge of a cliff made

He felt alive.

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

What was this feeling?

it

control? This didn't seem to

meant that Shang's destiny

out here, it would be due to

Shang were the most competent person for a job, he still

and abilities would have been easily enough to succeed, but other people had decided to take this chance

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

had it taken so

see how he

in this wilderness, everything was up to

only things

was confident in

that he would

to prove

that he was in

more powerful he would feel after coming

He only knew that he