IWUAaDNW: Exploit 4.5

I moved the beetle forward and all the other bugs back. I let it express its excitement at the upcoming fight, which it did by vibrating its antennae and clacking its mandibles loudly. For the most part, I was going to let it do its own thing this fight; I would only stop it from actually killing or hurting Gwen. It didn’t feel right to control my bug in a fight to the death where the point was for it to die. If it was going to be killed, then I would give it a chance to fight for itself.

“What is your opponent?” Ulfric asked.

Her eyes fixated on my beetle’s, Gwen replied, “Lesser beetle. Armored tank insect with a medium-range whipping attack and a close-range bite. Slow-moving, can be escaped from. Should be flanked. Use heavy crushing weapons or target joints behind the head. Do not attack from the front.”

“What should its priority be in a gauntlet?”

“Extreme-low,” Gwen replied. “Leave for last. Ah… but this isn’t a gauntlet, sir.”

Ulfric nodded. “Good.”

Raffaa, watching all of this, gave another satisfied nod.

My beetle, having more range, started the fight with a swipe of its left antenna, immediately followed by a low swipe of its right; a one-two punch I used fairly often in training sessions, and which the soldiers––and Gwen––had grown more than used to by now. Its timing was a bit off, though, and gave enough time for Gwen to recover from blocking the first blow and leap over the second instead of having to weapon-block or absorb it. With both whips extended, she had the opening she needed to flash forward with a burst of mana around her feet. She dashed directly at it, but I knew from her footwork that she wasn’t going to finish her charge. She was going to alter her dash to the right and go for a flank, as dictated by the bestiary’s advice.

My beetle braced to take the hit head-on. When it didn’t come, it took just a fraction of a second too long to react.