Zarkith realized almost instantly that his opponent possessed uncanny speed and precision unmatched by any mere human he had ever met before. He watched his thrust narrowly miss his target, with his wily opponent shifting to his left. His only warning to what was to come next was from the telltale tensing of his opponents muscles as he dropped low. Zarkith came down on his right foot, leaning back on the ball of his left leg which allowed him a quick transition into his next maneuver. The pale warrior’s rapier lunged forward as Zarkith had expected, the thin blade moving faster than his eyes could track. 

Zarkith didn't even bother trying to parry the faster, smaller, sword, by coming in from Zarkith's left and thus into the strongest zone of defense of his right leg leading plow stance, the other warrior had presented an all too tempting target. The man’s speed may have caught Zarkith off guard, but he had a few surprises of his own. His heightened instincts and years of experience had anticipated the move, his body moving all on its own from countless decades of ingrained responses. Zarkith quickly brought his right arm down with his left hand pulling upward, thus tilting the sword slightly downward bringing it in line for his follow up cut while helping to avoid the lung simultaneously. Having only gone into a tight thrust, he did not have to fight the swords inertia to bring it into a quick and precise swing counter clockwise, to his left as it was, aimed at a spot just behind the pale warriors head. 

The maneuver would have completely brought his arm's out of harm’s way had a mere human been his opponent. As it was however, the rapiers tip cut along the length of his vambrace leaving a telling scar on the steel. The thick steel, but more effectively, Zarkith's potent perception saving him from an otherwise grievous wound. A moment slower would have easily made all the difference Zarkith realized in the very back of his mind even as the central ridge of his great-sword sailed toward the left side of his opponents skull aligned just under their nose. Perhaps his opponent thought him slower due to his choice of weapon, that was only half true, for while recovering from a powerful swing would have taken longer than with a shorter weapon, his blade moved with the same control, precision and speed as one might expect from a one handed weapon, only with far greater degrees of each as he had the advantage of using two hands instead of one. 

 The angle of the cut insured a hit even if his opponent fell back, something that would have been impossible for a human fighter, but his opponent had proven to be much faster thus far. However if he ducked under the swing with it now inches from the mark, Zarkith would quickly respond in a maneuver that would further shatter a lesser experienced swordsman's views on such weapons, Zarkith retracted his sword to his shoulder mid swing even as his left leg dropped lower than brought the blade in a tight figure eight. Working with the momentum gained from his initial swing, he brought his swords tip up, around then down again, effectively swinging at another angle altogether then he had been earlier but instead towards the right side of opponent’s skull downward at an angle. The the transition from feint to right left to right horizontal swing all within the blink of an eye, to an observer with knowledge of the craft, they might recognize that Zarkith had effectively transitioned into an 'X' cut, shifting from the ball of his left foot to the front sole as he did. 

 
Of course the x cut would only follow if his opponent attempted to drop under his swing, to then press forward. Assuming his opponent escaped the surprising counter, he would fall back into plot stance his right leg still leading, and legs apart and slightly crouched.