That's fine by Porthos. He shifts his focus between his balance and the clash of blade against blade, and he's very aware of exactly how easy Athos is going on him. He's aware of way too many things, in the end - how short his blade is, how tentative his footwork is, how off balance he feels - and not just because of his different centre of gravity. He's thinking so much that he can't get into the spar the way he normally would, and the result is really not worthy of a Musketeer. Frustration grows inside him, and that of course hardly helps.

"This is pointless," he grunts after a while, scowling - at himself rather than his friend. "I'm useless like this."