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

been able to see much detail, but he had seen

'A green bird, huh?'

thought of the mission he had

'Capture a Spear Stork.'

Commander Stage, and Shang had guessed that this might

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

only been able to see prominent features, and a long beak would have been a prominent feature, but since he saw nothing, it meant

Shang also had an inkling as to why the green bird was

when I can feel the Vanishing Snake too, which probably means that

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

a

Stage in general, and

thought. 'I came here to hunt Vanishing Snakes, but if this thing keeps killing them, I

forest if the most valuable prey in the northeastern forest is

Shang weighed his options.

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 bird gets its fill of

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

it?' Shang thought with furrowed brows.

eating

concentrated on his Darkness Vision

through the surroundings

couple of seconds later, Shang

corpse

mean, the eggs should be in

like the bird knows that

Then, Shang sighed.

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 doesn't care about me. Might as

this a smart

Probably not.

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

Shang enjoyed this feeling

the edge of a

He felt alive.

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

What was this feeling?

but it was the feeling

didn't seem to be related

that Shang's destiny was in his

died out here, it would be

on Earth. On Earth, other, higher-ranked people often decided one's fate. If Shang were the most competent person for a

been easily enough to succeed, but other

he had known that he had had the abilities to enter the MNFA. However, it had still taken

it

see how he had won every

wilderness, everything was

only things that would

Shang was confident

that he would

he wanted to prove that to

he was in

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

all this. He only knew that he wanted