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

to see much detail, but he had seen

'A green bird, huh?'

thought of the mission he

'Capture a Spear Stork.'

and Shang had guessed that

he hadn't seen any beak due to the speed of the

to see prominent features, and a long beak would

as to why the green bird

catch Vanishing Snakes,' Shang thought. 'It only strikes when I can feel the Vanishing Snake too, which probably means

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

a

the green bird really is terrifying. Vanishing Snakes are at the Late Soldier Stage in general, and the green bird should be on the same level. Yet, the Vanishing Snakes couldn't

if this thing keeps killing

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 as well hope

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

thought with furrowed brows. 'Why do I

it isn't eating the Vanishing

his

the surroundings for places with

of seconds later, Shang found

was the headless corpse of

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

knows that it can't eat

Then, Shang sighed.

corpse. It has obviously been killed by a

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

this a

Probably not.

all, the green bird was a huge unknown factor that could

Shang enjoyed this feeling

edge of a cliff

He felt alive.

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

What was this feeling?

it was the feeling

seem to be related to control

that Shang's destiny was in

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

factors like on Earth. On Earth, 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

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 the MNFA. However, it had still taken him another

it taken

how he had won every

in this wilderness, everything was up to

abilities were the only things that would decide his

Shang was confident

knew that he would

he wanted to prove that to

that he was in control

his surroundings, the more powerful he would feel after

He only knew