Parallel Vol. 5

Chapter 36: A Tiger's Pride

Common sense dictated that the Lich required at least a moment to fight the rebounding force, stop, and then launch another attack toward Stryke.

Yes, common sense dictated that.

Unfortunately, this was Destia.

Common sense often gave way to the overpowered nature of magic!

It was unknown when an extra skeletal arm grew out from the Lich's back. The hand clenched into a fist and punched the retreating shield. Bam! The shield burst forward with even more speed than before, stunning Stryke who was yet to clear the zone.

BAM! Stryke's eyes went wide with fright and shock when the shield suddenly froze millimeters away from his eyes. The tora did not waste any time in wonder. He quickly rolled away and then backed off. Only when he was about ten meters away did he look at his savior with wide eyes.

"You!?" Stryke and Hogosha exclaimed in shock when they saw the hulking figure that gripped the shield from the side. Red squiggly veins bulged on the great orc's powerful muscles, giving him a terrible visage like a demon from hell.

"Hng!" Renark grunted as he pushed against the Lich's shield.

Unfortunately, the Lich's superior strength won out it in the end. With a loud grunt, the Lich sent Renark stumbling a few steps backward.

Renark grunted as he reached out and pulled his ax from the tree, all the while glaring at the Lich with narrowed, reddened eyes. He then glanced at Stryke and Hogosha who had run over to the tora's side and helped him to his feet. "You are excellent warriors to have held it off for so long." His grip tightened as he added, "But you must muster a bit more courage, I fear. This monster will not go down easily, even with my help."

"Hmph!" Stryke snorted as he wiped his blood from his lips. He appreciated the orc chieftain for saving his life, but did not mean he would idly accept such insults. "Courage is the one thing we Maggots do not lack."

"Heh. You sound like an orc." Renark revealed an amused smirk. "Apologies then. My wording was wrong."

"No need. I got what you mean. Courage is not enough. We are too weak like this." Stryke's gaze hardened. He was more aware of his shortcoming than most. Unlike Kashi, and the rest of the top brass, Stryke carried the lives of the raid members on his back every day.

In a bid to familiarize himself with, and train as many promising members as possible, Stryke's raid parties could range anywhere from experienced veterans to the noobest of noobs. Due to the large disparity, and the consequences of semi-permanent death, Stryke took it upon himself to ensure the survival of every member.

To achieve this, Stryke forced himself onto the path of ultimate defense. Every skill he acquired or mastered either protected his raid members, or boosted their stats. Due to this extreme focus, his base attack suffered.

Stryke could not defeat most bosses on his own due to this limitation.

Of course, no one in the guild, excluding perhaps Kashi, could survive an onslaught longer than Stryke could. However, not even Kashi came close to protecting masses the way Stryke could.

Due to these limitations, Hogosha became Stryke's best partner. Just like Stryke specced into full defense, Hogosha focused on pure attack. The tora's size, strength and claws allowed it to deal immense damage to any fools that got their attention seized by Stryke.

Unfortunately, Hogosha's biggest limitation was its quadrupedal nature. Its range of movement and flexibility were severely limited in a fight. This was not a problem when fighting smaller or physically weaker foes as it could just overpower them in a frontal charge before tearing them to pieces.