It had been a while since Eren and Arto had started their duel.
Arto was trying to get close to Eren due to his close combat advantage as a swordsman. The latter wouldn't have minded the close combat brawl with a swordsman if it wasn't for the fact that it was an Awakened rank Spider in the last stage of his current rank.
The two rankers had repeatedly attacked and injured each other. They had used everything they had against each other. And yet, they both felt like they were going nowhere with the way their opponent was behaving.
Eren was only able to hold out against his opponent due to his infinite mana core. Otherwise, he would have been a goner a long time back. He had to say that Arto was a capable swordsman. He could use his sword to attack, defend, maneuver, and draw a stalemate. He complemented his swordplay with the right set of martial arts and spells. He wasn't much faster or more agile but his movements were attuned to support his battle style.