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

been able to see much detail, but he

'A green bird, huh?'

Shang thought of the mission he had

'Capture a Spear Stork.'

Storks could reach the Commander Stage, and Shang had guessed that this might be a

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

all, if the green bird had a long beak, Shang would have seen it. He had only been able to see prominent features,

also had an inkling as to

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

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

took a

the Late Soldier Stage in general, and the green bird

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

go to the northwestern forest if the

Shang weighed his options.

in the northeastern forest. Turning around now would waste a ton of time. I might as well hope that the green

eyes. 'Aren't Vanishing Snakes multiplying by being eaten? Does that mean that the bird

thought with furrowed brows. 'Why

it isn't eating

on his Darkness

he searched through the surroundings for places

couple of seconds

corpse of

it only eating the heads? I mean, the eggs should be in the belly

that it

Then, Shang sighed.

been killed by a beast, and the academy won't accept

bird flying above my head the entire time, but it probably doesn't care about

a smart

Probably not.

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

for some reason, Shang enjoyed this

on the edge of a

He felt alive.

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

What was this feeling?

wasn't sure, but it was the feeling of

didn't seem to

destiny was

out here, it would be due to his own lack

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

Shang's skills and abilities would have been easily enough to succeed, but other people had decided to take

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

had it taken

see how he

wilderness, everything was up

the only things that would decide his

was confident in

that he

he wanted to

that he was

dangerous his surroundings, the more powerful

know all this. He only knew that he wanted to