If Mizu were to strike true and with enough force, Vergil's body would mend itself too quickly to give Mizu an advantage for long. Thus, he could just take the hit and quickly recover, but Vergil would rather not. For one, it's not as though Vergil's tolerance for pain is so high that he wouldn't feel it at all. For another, any opponent Mizu faced off with wouldn't exactly allow him to do something like that. Their bodies wouldn't heal like Vergil's and it wouldn't be a simple training spar between them. An attack like that would be potentially a finisher in those circumstances. So, Mizu commits to the attempt at immobilizing one or more of his limbs, but Vergil remains a difficult target. When he's not adopting more defensive stances—such as drawing his arms close to his torso with elbows bent at times to prevent access—he's also quick to shuffle back so that attempts at his knees land elsewhere on his leg.
Eventually, it's during one of these attempts that Vergil forces the kick to connect with his thigh and before Mizu can retract his leg he grabs Mizu's calf. He could maintain a vice grip on Mizu's leg at that point if he really wanted, leaving Mizu with few options for trying to wriggle free. He could also simply sweep Mizu's remaining foot and send him to the floor immediately. But neither of those are the plan. Instead, Vergil aims a cross jab for Mizu's jaw as he pulls on Mizu's leg, drawing him closer and into the punch. Shortly thereafter, Vergil tosses Mizu's leg aside, forcing a continued downward momentum on him. Vergil fists a hand in Mizu's hair and the other at the scruff of his kimono to pull him further in that direction before slamming his knee up towards Mizu's solar plexus with more than enough force to wind Mizu. If the strike connects, Vergil releases Mizu and allows him the space to catch his breath. If not, Vergil follows with a kick that is meant to push Mizu back regardless of connection or not.
"You're thinking too much like a swordsman," he says, the statement a neutral observation rather than some form of condescension or otherwise negative evaluation. Vergil didn't exactly anticipate Mizu to approach this fight any different than he would crossing blades with someone else. He continues, "Steel equalizes. It doesn't care about my size or my strength. I bleed the same as you."
Vergil doesn't spell it out further than that for Mizu, trusting that he at least understand the point that unrelenting attacks aren't going to serve him well in this. When it's a clashing of blades, reclaiming the offense has to be done with extreme care. A poorly timed or executed attempt is how one might find themselves run through and the fight over for a less durable opponent than Vergil. But in a fight like this where Vergil is larger and stronger, he can easily weather a strike and respond with a ferocious counter of his own. In the end, constantly strike at Vergil creates vulnerabilities that Vergil can and already has taken advantage of to strike back without too much concern. Provided that Mizu understands this, it's up to him what he does with that information as far as Vergil is concerned.
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Eventually, it's during one of these attempts that Vergil forces the kick to connect with his thigh and before Mizu can retract his leg he grabs Mizu's calf. He could maintain a vice grip on Mizu's leg at that point if he really wanted, leaving Mizu with few options for trying to wriggle free. He could also simply sweep Mizu's remaining foot and send him to the floor immediately. But neither of those are the plan. Instead, Vergil aims a cross jab for Mizu's jaw as he pulls on Mizu's leg, drawing him closer and into the punch. Shortly thereafter, Vergil tosses Mizu's leg aside, forcing a continued downward momentum on him. Vergil fists a hand in Mizu's hair and the other at the scruff of his kimono to pull him further in that direction before slamming his knee up towards Mizu's solar plexus with more than enough force to wind Mizu. If the strike connects, Vergil releases Mizu and allows him the space to catch his breath. If not, Vergil follows with a kick that is meant to push Mizu back regardless of connection or not.
"You're thinking too much like a swordsman," he says, the statement a neutral observation rather than some form of condescension or otherwise negative evaluation. Vergil didn't exactly anticipate Mizu to approach this fight any different than he would crossing blades with someone else. He continues, "Steel equalizes. It doesn't care about my size or my strength. I bleed the same as you."
Vergil doesn't spell it out further than that for Mizu, trusting that he at least understand the point that unrelenting attacks aren't going to serve him well in this. When it's a clashing of blades, reclaiming the offense has to be done with extreme care. A poorly timed or executed attempt is how one might find themselves run through and the fight over for a less durable opponent than Vergil. But in a fight like this where Vergil is larger and stronger, he can easily weather a strike and respond with a ferocious counter of his own. In the end, constantly strike at Vergil creates vulnerabilities that Vergil can and already has taken advantage of to strike back without too much concern. Provided that Mizu understands this, it's up to him what he does with that information as far as Vergil is concerned.