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.

looked in the direction of the Vanishing Snake before he saw a

been able to see much detail, but he had seen green

'A green bird, huh?'

of the mission he had

'Capture a Spear Stork.'

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

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

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

Shang also had an inkling as to why the green

the Vanishing Snake too,

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

took a deep

are at the Late Soldier Stage in general, and the

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

northwestern forest if the

Shang weighed his options.

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

Shang 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

Shang thought with furrowed brows. 'Why do

eating the

his

searched through the surroundings for places with

seconds

was the headless corpse of a translucent

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

bird knows that

Then, Shang sighed.

turn in that corpse. It has obviously been killed by a beast, and the academy

death bird flying above my head the entire time, but it probably

this a

Probably not.

huge unknown factor that

Shang enjoyed this feeling of

on the edge of a cliff made

He felt alive.

Shang a unique feeling that he had missed inside

What was this feeling?

but it was the feeling of

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

meant that Shang's destiny was in his

died out here, it would be due to his own lack of

other, higher-ranked 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 manager didn't

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

had the abilities to enter the

it taken so

see how he had won every

in this wilderness, everything was up to

abilities were the only things that would decide his

was confident

knew that he

he wanted to prove that to

that he was in control of

his surroundings, the more powerful

all this. He only knew