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

see much

'A green bird, huh?'

thought of

'Capture a Spear Stork.'

Stage, and Shang had guessed that this might be a

he hadn't seen any beak due to the speed of the green bird, but Shang was sure

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 this thing

Shang also had an inkling as to why

strikes when I can feel the Vanishing Snake too,

the Vanishing Snakes when they hide, which is why it follows me. The

took a deep

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

this thing keeps killing them, I won't be

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 as well hope that the green bird gets its fill of

multiplying by being eaten? Does that mean that the bird in

with furrowed brows. 'Why

isn't eating the Vanishing

concentrated on his

he searched through the surroundings

couple of seconds later, Shang

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.

been killed by a beast, and

I should continue. I hate having this death bird flying above my head the entire time, but it

this a

Probably not.

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

Shang

the edge of a cliff made

He felt alive.

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

What was this feeling?

sure, but it was

This didn't seem to be related to control

meant that Shang's destiny was

it would be due to his own lack of

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

to succeed, but other people had

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

had it taken

they see how he

in this wilderness, everything was up

things

was confident

knew that he

to prove

he

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

didn't know all this. He only knew that he wanted to be in