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.

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 across his

see much detail, but he had seen green

'A green bird, huh?'

moment, Shang thought of the mission he had

'Capture a Spear Stork.'

guessed that this

beak. In fact, he hadn't seen any beak due to the speed of the green

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

event, Shang also had an inkling as to

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

which is why it follows me. The Vanishing Snakes see me as

took a

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

Snakes, but if this

the northwestern forest if the most valuable prey in the northeastern forest

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 well hope that the green

eaten? Does that mean that the bird in

brows. 'Why do

eating the

on his Darkness

he searched through the surroundings for

of seconds later, Shang

was the headless corpse of a translucent

I mean, the eggs should be in the belly at

bird knows that it

Then, Shang sighed.

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

above my head

a

Probably not.

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

for some reason, Shang enjoyed this feeling of

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?

but it was the feeling

seem to be related to control at

destiny was in

would be due to his

higher-ranked people often decided one's fate. If Shang were

enough to succeed, but other people had decided to take this chance away

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 year

it taken

how he had

in this wilderness, everything was up

the only things that would

confident

knew that he would

to

prove that he was

dangerous his surroundings, the more powerful he would feel after coming out

this. He only knew that he wanted