He was faster than his frame suggested, and the sword came in at a diagonal angle that was not unintelligent — aimed for the shoulder rather than the center, harder to track, designed to collapse Nero's guard rather than punch through it. Nero stepped back and to the right, let the blade pass wide, and did not counterattack. He wanted to see the boy recover his footing first, see how long it took, see where the balance went after an extension.
It took three steps. The front foot problem compounded itself mid-lunge and the recovery required a brief stagger, two counts of adjustment before the stance was viable again.
Nero noted it and kept his spear back.
"Don't wait for him to reset," Vane said, somewhere behind him, and it was not clear if the comment was directed at Nero or the general yard. "Anyone watching in a real engagement will use that."
