"It's ... different," he replied, cocking his head slightly to the side as he considered. Harder was probably relative, but no, he figured it was safe to agree that it was harder. "You have to split your focus; pay attention to your opponents blade, casting your own magic, keeping an eye out for their magic."
He would be horribly out of practice if he actually did find someone to spar with. He wondered how much of it would come back easily, but he didn't expect to be an expert after a couple decades spent mostly alone.
"Have you always lived in Highlyn?" He asked curiously, and it wasn't completely random in his head, although it might appear that way. She'd mentioned some lessons with blade which got him to thinking about her education and he hadn't heard much about her past.