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.

thing move. He had barely looked in the direction of the Vanishing Snake before he saw a green

able to see much detail, but he had seen green

'A green bird, huh?'

thought of the mission he

'Capture a Spear Stork.'

reach the Commander Stage, and Shang had guessed that this might be a Spear Stork. That

seen a long beak. In fact, he hadn't seen any beak due to the

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 meant

had an inkling as

to catch Vanishing Snakes,' Shang thought. 'It only strikes when I can feel the

why it follows me. The Vanishing Snakes see me as

a deep

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

bad,' Shang thought. 'I came here to hunt Vanishing Snakes, but if this thing

as well go to the northwestern forest if the most valuable prey in the

Shang weighed his options.

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

multiplying by being eaten? Does that mean that the bird in the sky is already

furrowed brows. 'Why do I feel

it isn't eating the Vanishing

concentrated on his Darkness

through the surroundings for

of seconds later, Shang found

headless corpse of a

should be in the

the bird knows that it can't eat the

Then, Shang sighed.

corpse. It has obviously been killed by

my head

this a

Probably not.

green bird was a huge unknown factor that could potentially end their lives.

some reason, Shang enjoyed this feeling of

a cliff made Shang

He felt alive.

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

What was this feeling?

it was the feeling

seem to be related to control

meant that Shang's destiny was in his own

be due to his own lack of

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

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

he had known that he had had the abilities to enter the MNFA. However, it had still taken him another year to prove

had it taken

they see how he had

everything was

abilities were the only things that would

confident in his

knew that he

he wanted to prove

that he

his surroundings, the more powerful he

all this. He only knew that