He moved without hesitation or pause, his blade glinting in the early morning light as it spun into a series of complicated patterns. Faint trails of mist followed the sword as it cut through the air in a series of rapid strikes and feints. What made it extraordinary was not the speed or grace with which he was moving, but rather that every aspect of his form was perfect. The Flow transcended such concepts as instinct and muscle memory, for it instead gave the user the time to think and plan through every step.
Rather than the open courtyard, he was instead standing in a large room with numerous stone columns. His opponent was slumped against one of them, desperately holding his throat in a futile attempt to stem the flow of life leaking from it. He could feel his own blood trickling down his left arm and his side, but ignored it as he met the murderous gaze directed at him with ice-cold eyes. With a mocking precision, he raised his sword in a salute to his defeated foe.
It was called shadow dueling, and while the concept was relatively simple, it was far more difficult in actually use. To perform the technique required a greater level of mental concentration than most people were capable of. It allowed the user to to perfectly reenact a previous fight that they had experience, although without the opponent actually being present.
As he replaced Illari on his back, he tilted his head back and felt the cleansing caress of the wind across his face. He reveled in the feeling for a moment, then lowered his head and finally opened his eyes. There was almost imperceptible pause before he chose to release the Flow. His lips tightened as he considered the slight hesitation. While the abilities granted by the states of Focus were powerful, not even a master could ignore the price for using them.
Looking around at the group of people that had gathered to watch his morning practice, he suppressed a wince at the expression of the two Royal Guard as they regarded the crowd. As he walked past them, he gave them a wry smile of apology.