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.

looked in the direction of the Vanishing Snake before

hadn't been able to see much detail, but he

'A green bird, huh?'

Shang thought of the mission

'Capture a Spear Stork.'

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

beak due to

if the green bird had a long beak, Shang would have seen it. He had only been able to see prominent features, and a long

also had an inkling as to why the green bird

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

is why it follows me. The

took a

Soldier Stage in general, and the green bird should be on the same level. Yet,

came here to hunt Vanishing Snakes, but if this thing keeps killing them, I won't be able

if the most valuable prey in the northeastern forest

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

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

Shang thought with furrowed brows. 'Why do

it isn't eating

on his Darkness

surroundings for places with

of seconds later, Shang

was the headless corpse of

eggs should be in the belly at the back, not

that it can't eat the

Then, Shang sighed.

has obviously been killed by a beast,

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

this a smart

Probably not.

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

Shang enjoyed

on the edge of a

He felt alive.

a unique

What was this feeling?

wasn't sure, but it was

seem to be related to control at

that Shang's destiny was

be due to his

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

situation, Shang's skills and abilities would have been easily enough to succeed, but other people had decided to take this chance away from

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

it taken so

see how he

in this wilderness, everything

the only things that

was confident in

knew that he

he wanted to prove that to

to prove that he was in control of his

more dangerous his surroundings, the more powerful he

He only knew that