Sixty-five percent to eighty-five in the single second Varen's eyes were on Mark's face—the jump larger than the incremental gains the fight had been producing, the direct sustained contact at close range with the simulation's structure actively projected giving the lock more input than any previous moment of contact had provided.
Varen looked away.
But the Nikegami on his legs had released and he stumbled—the partial lock's brief duration ending, his legs' function restored, but the restoration arriving while his weight was distributed incorrectly from the lock's freeze.
He caught himself.
His eyes—in the catching motion—went to his feet again.
Mark was still projecting.
Two seconds of indirect contact—Varen's eyes on his own feet, which were in Mark's line of sight, the simulation advancing at the slower rate of non-direct contact but advancing.
Eighty-five to ninety.
Varen found his footing.
