Parallel Vol. 4 [LEGACY EDITION]

Chapter 83.2: Selfishness

Kashi groaned as he dropped to a knee. His muscles ached as he fought back against the spear bearing down on him. But try as he might, Razznik's blade grew closer to his face with each passing second. The daeben cursed and then weakened the pressure from his left hand which caused his spear to bend to the left. As a result, Razznik's spear followed the inclined slope, and then harmlessly crashed into the earth.

Kashi seized this opportunity. He sent the right side of the shaft shoot upwards to Razznik's exposed chin. BAM! To the daeben's shock, Razznik as if expecting this very move, grabbed the shaft before it could reach his jaw, having already let go of his spear the moment it began to slide.

Razznik glared at the daeben, his fierce gaze akin to the burning coals in hell. "No improvement whatsoever." Razznik kicked out, his boot crashing into the daeben's midriff. The impact caused Kashi to double over, eyes glazing over in pain. Razznik then whirled Kashi's spear and bashed him with the shaft.

Kashi was once again sent flying, only this time, he scraped along the floor, cutting himself on several sword and spear edges. The daeben eventually came to a pitiful stop, blood pooling out of numerous wounds. He had no time to rest however, as he quickly pushed himself up and then bounced backward.

BOOM!

Reality proved Kashi made the right choice as Razznik appeared next to, and then slammed the spear onto the daeben's previous location. Kashi groaned as he fixed a broken arm back in place and then glared at the man walking towards him. "You. It's easy for you to lecture me when you're a freaking god." He laughed through bloodied teeth as he challenged, "Do you really believe this would be one-sided if we—"

"On the same level?" Razznik taunted, his gaze turning harsher. "Same strength? Same speed? Is that your excuse?" The warrior sneered as he corrected, "Idiot. If I did not go out of my way to tie my stats to yours, do you really believe you could have withstood a single breath?"

"What?"

Razznik let out a snide laugh. "You still don't get it? The moment you got here, both our stats were aligned to be the exact same. The reason I seem stronger lies in the difference in our training." Razznik dropped the spear and then picked up a sword. He ran his fingers across the blade, his expression distant as he remarked, "Even the sharpest blade will rust or dull if it is not regularly sharpened and polished." He turned to look at Kashi in abject disgust. "You were handed the sharpest blade one could possibly have. But, not only did you not try to improve it, you failed to even give the minimum care, content with your superiority over mediocre opponents."

Razznik's eyes flitted over to a bow. With a snide grunt, he pulled it out of the ground and then flung it at Kashi, who in turn, instinctively caught it. "You chose the path of an archer, did you not? Something different. A path of your own to follow." As he spoke, he dropped his sword and then pulled out another bow, while a quiver of arrows appeared on both his and Kashi's backs.

Razznik notched an arrow, and then pulled the string to full length as he trained the bow at Kashi. "This path you evidently chose. Just how far did you go with it?" BOOM!

The earth erupted with a shattering boom as Kashi explosively retreated. The daeben grasped his bow, a pensive expression on his face as he quickly notched an arrow. His eyes darted around, searching for Razznik. Above! Kashi looked to the sky, and sure enough, Razznik appeared there, already letting an arrow loose.

To Kashi's shock, the single arrow split mid-flight into a salvo of dozens, which then rained upon the daeben with great prejudice. The daeben cursed as he dashed to the side, weaving his way through the onslaught. Occasionally, he would shoot down arrows that got dangerously close, but despite his best efforts, he was forced on the defensive throughout the battle.