Melanie the Reincarnator

Battle: Sophia - Freia

They've already started?! That was way too fast! Narration hasn't even began yet! Wait! Let Hepha get her bearings, please!

《Don't you get tired of doing this all the time? You can just use first person too, y'know.》

Quiet, Melanie! Um, reset, reset! Let narration proceed properly this time!

《The time you took explaining Bloodkin last time probably took away time from this chapter...》

Quiet!!!

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Despite not owning an Aegis, Sophia is holding herself fairly well against Freia's onslaught of hacks and slashes. For every few strikes she parries, she only takes a single step backwards, but even still, she's moving back, meaning Freia isn't showing any openings for Sophia to take advantage of.

Currently, Sophia is holding back. Her Gift is far, far more powerful than she is making it out to be as she is now, and for good reason, seeing as she's hiding her identity. Right now, "Sophia" is only using the Gift that the appearance she takes on originally had, that is, "Sophia" is using Sophia's Gift. Even then, she's limiting herself to only block Freia's incoming attacks, not attacking herself when she could easily do so. The reason? To match her opponent's skill level.

Speaking of which, Sophia's Gift is the ability to manipulate string-like objects however she pleases... is not exactly the case. If the original Sophia were still here, surely her Gift would have evolved into a far superior version. Rather than manipulating "string-like objects", she could manipulate "lines". Sadly, Sophia is not here. Instead, "Sophia" has to make use of a Gift who's potential has not reached the apex. Still though, she's using her Gift to it's limits, barely scraping the level of evolution, but not quite there yet.

Now, you may be wondering how exactly Sophia is blocking Freia's attacks when there's no obvious string-like object in the vicinity, and that's where you'd be wrong. There are string-like objects, hell, both Freia and Sophia are wearing them. Thread, cloth, hairs, these thing, no matter the length, count as string-like objects, and so Sophia can control them however she wants.

That means however she wants. She can harden it, soften it, liquify it, move it, whatever, so long as it even just slightly resembles a string, Sophia can control it. That's how she's been blocking Freia's attacks this entire time, just by hardening the hair on her skin and the fabric used for her uniform. And like this, Freia's sword can't cut through her.

《Come on! Fight back already!》

Speaking of Freia, since the fight started, she's been acting very differently from the aloof attitude she's had prior. Now, if you hadn't already figured it out from her name alone, with the Aegis she wields, and the very fact that Hephaestus, the God of the Forge, exists in the form of an Aegis, then... Oh, Hepha's not supposed to say it now? It'll be revealed later? Okay then.

Anyway, Freia's been acting like a battle maniac since the fight started, always going on the offensive, but strangely enough despite acting berserk, she's not leaving any obvious openings, and not many subtle ones either. Even though her fighting style is unrefined and, frankly, barbaric, her form is perfect, and with every swing comes a great amount of strength that's practically impossible for such a small frame.

And since Freia's first leap to attack, this back and forth between her slashing and Sophia's blocking and occasional repositioning has not changed one bit. And it's already been a few minutes. Freia just keeps swinging, and Sophia's barely budging. Speaking of, you're probably wondering why Sophia, being able to manipulate string, hadn't just grabbed Freia's hair, and to answer that, she made a rule for herself that she can only control string-like objects that she touches. Yes, that's right. She's nerfing herself. And because she's nerfing herself, this battle isn't going anywhere but back and forth for a while.