Shang definitely didn't look forward to fighting the Trash Bird. Sadly, such an opponent was the optimal choice for him.
Beasts at the Initial General Stage already had overwhelmingly powerful bodies, and Shang had to use his entire repertoire of smarts and tactics to fight them.
And then, he could only fight the weakest General Stage beasts.
Shang didn't dare to attempt to fight a beast that was actually powerful in a direct confrontation. Just their speed alone was already ridiculous.
Shang charged into the northwestern forest, leaving the defense behind. He was actually glad that the Trash Bird fled into the forest since Shang wouldn't have to worry about prying eyes.
The Trash Bird was around three meters tall, and it didn't have it very easy passing through the Wild Forest. It wasn't built for traversing a dense forest since its home was the Wasteland. On top of that, whenever it destroyed a tree, it got slowed down by a lot.
Following the Trash Bird's trail wasn't difficult. It would be harder to not know where it was with its constant screeching.
After a couple of seconds, Shang came close to the Trash Bird. Right now, Shang didn't need to be careful since the hunters were blocking all General Stage beasts from entering the Wild Forest.
Ironically enough, the day that the most beasts entered battle was also the day the Wild Forest was at its safest.
As Shang started to close in on the Trash Bird, something happened to his body.
A white mist was left behind by Shang's legs as he accelerated to higher speeds.
If someone with an Ice Affinity were here, they would be able to feel a cloud of Ice Mana leaving Shang's body.
At this moment, Shang reached the speed of an Initial General Stage warrior.
And even more, this was not a momentary increase!
Shang could keep this going indefinitely!
How?!
Well, after a lot of training with his Affinities, Shang had unlocked the ability to release his Affinities from other parts of his body with a lessened effect.
At the moment, Shang was continually shooting out Ice Mana from his back and legs, increasing his speed.
But wouldn't that heat up his body?
Yes, it would, but if it got too hot, Shang could simply switch to releasing Fire Mana. As long as he didn't change the temperature of his body too quickly, it wouldn't become injured.
Something like this would be impossible if Shang only used his left arm. After all, his left arm had only so much mass.
But as long as he distributed the negative effects over his entire body, it was bearable.
This ability to keep his speed permanently at a higher level was the very ability that allowed Shang to jump to the top of his class.
Of course, this only counted for the Caterpillar Class. Amongst the other students, there were still several that were more powerful than Shang.
Very advanced Martial Arts could achieve the same effect. Of course, one first needed to train for a long time in them to reach such a level.
Several students had already reached that level.
However, as someone in the Caterpillar Class, Shang was essentially above all of his peers.
Well, except for Mattheo, but only if he used his Magic.
When the distance between Shang and the Trash Bird reached two meters, the Trash Bird suddenly turned its head to him.
Then, its mouth opened wide.
Shang gnashed his teeth and tensed his entire body.
He knew what was about to come.
SCREEEEEEEEEE!
It was like an explosion of sound left the Trash Bird's beak and reverberated throughout the entire forest.
The trees at the side began to sway violently under the explosion of sound.
BANG!
As soon as the explosion of sound appeared, Shang's eardrums exploded.
It was so insanely loud!
Shang's vision spun as he felt like his brain was bumping into all the corners of his skull.
This was the Trash Bird's primary defensive weapon. If any predator came close to it, it would gather Wind Mana in its mouth and release it in a shockwave of sound.
The attack wasn't directly dangerous. After all, the most it could do was to make someone woozy and destroy their eardrums.
Someone wouldn't die from just that.
However, the attack would not only severely startle the predator but also inflict pain upon their ears. On top of that, the predator might lose their balance and fall over during the chase.
This was not a weapon to hunt but a weapon to flee.
This was also one of the reasons why hunters hated hunting Trash Birds.
Luckily, Shang had learned a terrifying amount about all the beasts in the Storm Eagle Zone over the last year. Because of that, Shang had known what would come for him.
It felt a bit difficult for him to retain his balance, but Shang managed it.
He had slowed down a bit, but he quickly managed to accelerate again.
However, Shang also felt a very weird feeling of dissociation as he lost the ability to hear.
It was almost like he wasn't inside his own body anymore.
It was like he was watching someone else.
As Shang reached the Trash Bird again, it turned its head to him again and released the same attack.
This time, Shang heard nothing.
However, he felt his head hurt and his vision warp.
In perceived silence, Shang took out his sword and pointed towards his back with his left hand.
Shang unleashed a Fire Blast to accelerate even more, and he lifted his sword.
The Trash Bird saw that it was under attack and stopped using its soundwave.
On its next step, its talons dug into the earth.
And on its next step, Shang got a cloud of dirt thrown into his face.
Shang felt the dirt assault his eyes, but he still committed to his swing.
At that moment, his Mana finally finished repairing his eardrums, and Shang could hear again.
SHING!
Shang heard the sound of meat being cut, and he felt a bit of resistance coming from his sword.
However, his sword was several levels above the Trash Bird, allowing it to easily injure it.
"SQUAWK!"
The Trash Bird squawked in pain.
The right side of its large behind had received a massive cut, which involuntarily changed the Trash Bird's trajectory.
BANG!
The Trash Bird barreled through a tree, completely decimating it in the process, which ruined its balance even more.
The Trash Bird was trying to regain its balance by taking several compensating steps.
Meanwhile, Shang violently moved his right arm across his eyes to get rid of the dirt.
Shang had been so aggressive in his cleaning that his eyes received indents. However, that was necessary. Shang's Mana could heal his eyes, but it couldn't get rid of the dirt. It was better to just injure himself to get rid of the dirt faster than to clean his eyes for several seconds.
Shang's vision became very cloudy for a second before his eyes completely recovered.
BANG!
Shang's right leg collided with the broken stump of the tree the Trash Bird had just destroyed.
Luckily, Shang's body was powerful enough to not get injured by that, but his balance was also ruined.
Shang quickly pointed his left arm to the ground and unleashed an Ice Blast.
BANG!
Shang was catapulted forward, but his arm exploded in several places.
As Shang reached the Trash Bird again, it turned its head to Shang again with its opened beak.
Shang gritted his teeth in anger, hatred, and frustration.
SQUEEEEEEE!
And Shang lost his hearing again.
Fucking Trash Birds!
