"What did you do...?" the prince asked mesmerized.
Evlin just kept looking at him with a wide smirk on her face, "What? I just wanted to look good while pummeling you into the ground! Don't you think your sweet bride looks cute?"
"You... You used modeling magic on the tree root... How did you learn that?"
"Who knows... Maybe I've been such a good girl that Santa Claus decided to give me magic skills as my Christmas present this year! Come on! Let's get started!"
Evlin looked like a changed person. Not only was she showing a completely new visual attire, but even her way of speaking was different. She was acting bolder and more childish as if a switch had just been flipped inside her head. Even Dalla started to look at her with concern.
"Evlin...? Is that you...? Why are you talking like this...?"
Evlin was confused for a second. She then realized that she was probably wearing her 'gamer face', a name given by her sister to describe the way Evlin looked whenever she started acting extra competitive when the two would play games together.
She would start to smirk without control, stare at her opponents like a predator looking at its prey and trash talk her adversaries until they gave up and surrendered.
She pressed her finger over her mouth and realized she was smiling like a little kid, "Talking like this? Oh sorry... I just can't help myself Dalla. I just can't contain my excitement!"
"Excitement?"
Evlin could not wait to start the duel. She finally had managed to obtain the magic power that she longed for so much. On top of that, she could even use it to payback the prince she despised for all the pain he had caused her.
All of the suffering, stress, and annoyance she felt after coming to this new fantasy-like world, she had just been given permission to go all out to punish the culprit for all of it.
The prince tried to appeal to her one last time, "That look on your face... You really think you can beat me, don't you? I want you to know that I have been taught by- Buaaaahh!!"
Before the prince could finish his sentence he was blown away by a huge wave of magic energy that was released from Evlin's crossbow, making him fly backwards and land on his face.
"Mmmm... I'm not familiar with that name... Say... What kind of teachings did the great mage 'Buaaaaaaahh!!' gave you?" Evlin asked with the biggest grin on her face.
The prince finally stood up again and glared at the girl, "You little..."
Evlin was getting cockier by the minute. She wasn't just looking down on the prince, she had complete intention of turning him into her punching bag for the next few minutes until she got bored with him.
"But you know... All this resistance only makes me want you even more!!"
The prince released two waves of energy towards Evlin, one of lightning and one of fire. It seemed like the prince was able to perform multiple types of spells just like Evlin.
Before the waves could hit her, she released healing energy from the greaves on her legs, giving her lower body her boosted speed and agility back, allowing her to easily dodge the attack with one fast leap.
The prince and the rest of the room were in shock, "How did you..."
Evlin landed on the ground and bowed as if she was doing a performance, "Told you! Santa! He likes me more than you!"
"Stop mocking me!! And who the hell is Santa!!??"
The prince kept releasing more energy attacks but none of them were fast enough to reach Evlin in time with her boosted speed. Sometimes Evlin would try and redirect some of the attacks on the guards just for fun by standing right in front of them and jumping away right before the blasts could reach her, making the prince even angrier.
The boy started to stomp his feet, "Aargh!! You fools!! Get out of my way!!"
While the prince was distracted complaining, Evlin aimed her crossbow at his head and started to charge more magical energy. Before releasing it she called the prince's attention.
"Hey, your majesty? What were you saying before about being your own best mage?"
"Wha- Ooouch!!" While turning around after being called, the prince was once again hit by a blast of magic energy from Evlin that made him swirl in the air like a human spinning top.
Evlin might have been able to master how to use healing magic, earth magic, and modeling magic, but that was as far as she would go.
All of her attacks were made of pure raw energy with no particular shape attached to it. However, from the way she kept combining all these powers, she felt she had more than enough to deal with the foolish prince.
The boy himself stood up again after being hit by the stream and started to charge his own multiple waves of energy at the same time.
"You may be my future bride but I will not let you make a fool out of me!!!"
Evlin rolled her eyes, "You make a fool out of yourself every time you open that garbage can you call a mouth. All I am doing is making you realize how out of your league you really are."
"Enough!!"
Every single energy wave was launched at Evlin at the same time. Water, fire, lightning, wind, ice, and even some other elements that Evlin couldn't recognize. Even with her speed, there was little room for her to escape, which meant it was time for her second weapon.
"Evlin!!!"
Dalla screamed as all these powers collided on top of the little girl covered in wooden accessories before a huge explosion took place and a pile of smoke was formed on the spot.
The old lady was covering her mouth in an attempt to hold her scream of despair after watching such a display of destruction while the prince was making a proud look on his face that had the words 'Got her!' written all over it.
The smoke started to dissolve and on that place stood Evlin with all of her wooden armor gone from her body and concentrated on her hands forming a massive shield that also contained pieces of stone attached to it.
Normally a shield that big would be impossible to carry for such a small girl like Evlin, but with her healing magic boost, it weighed like a feather.
Evlin wasn't sure why or how, but for some reason the act of transforming her armor just felt right for some reason, as if she was born to give things a new appearance.
She remodeled the shield back into her armor and crossbow once again and looked at Dalla with a naughty smile.
"You called?"
Dalla wanted to cry. Evlin looked like a warrior who had been in countless battles in the past who was just enjoying another fight like a child playing around.
She was calm, relaxed, and shining with confidence. Such a sight started to remind Dalla of another popular figure from that world.
"She can transform her armor at will... It's just like... The living weapon!"
Evlin gave her a look that said 'The what...?' but her focus quickly returned to the prince who was leaping in the air and spinning his staff while preparing for another attack.
The staff was starting to cover itself with lightning and kept accumulating more energy as it continued gaining more speed.
Finally, after reaching a certain size, the prince released all of that energy on top of Evlin. In return, she aimed her crossbow at the ground, released some earth and modeling magic, and created a massive hand made of rocks to intercept the lightning.
The prince used the hand as a stepping stone to leap away and created some distance between him and Evlin.
At that moment, the girl shot the stone hand and changed it's appearance to that of several spikes that went flying towards the prince's position. The prince didn't have time to dodge it so he released wind magic to make the spikes disperse. Due to the wind magic, another curtain of smoke was gathered and blocked his vision from Evlin.
After the curtain was gone, Evlin was no longer there. The prince desperately moved his gaze, trying to find her, but it was too late. Evlin had already used her enhanced speed to quickly appear behind him before he could even react.
She stared right into his eyes and let out a few words of joy, "Been waiting a long time for this!"
Her crossbow and necklace were gone, they both had been fused into her bracelets which had now been transformed into huge gauntlets. Evlin started to release as much healing energy into her arms as these gauntlets could support, and with all her strength, smacked the prince with a powerful fist.
"Kuaaaaahhh!!!" The prince left out a huge scream of pain as the fist collided with his stomach and sent him flying all the way across the room, knocking over the table, until he smacked with the wall.
Evlin switched her armor back to its usual crossbow and necklace figure and sent a few final words of mockery to the prince, "I think we should see other people!"
At that moment, the knights started to circle around the fallen prince and tried to threaten Evlin, "Your highness!! You! You think you can attack the son of the king and walk away with no consequences?"
"... That was literally what has been on my mind for the last few minutes, yeah... Punch the prince and then go home..." she replied in a monotonous voice as if this was obvious.
"You insolent... Surrender yourself right now or we will kill that woman!"
"Good idea! Anger the person who just sent the castle's 'greatest mage' flying like a rag doll. I'm sure nothing bad will happen to you."
The knight started to shiver. Evlin was completely surrounded but she still acted like she could take on anyone in that room. The knight was hoping that the fight with the prince would have tired her out but it seemed like she could still keep going for a few more rounds.
"This... You will pay for this... The king will hear about this and will hunt you like a dog!"
Evlin frowned her eyes as if the guard had just told her that the sky was blue, "Have you not been listening to what that stupid kid has been saying before? I'm a runaway bride! I was already being hunted! On top of that, are you really looking forward to telling the king that you let his son become my personal punching bag under your watch?"
The guard started to shiver even more.
Evlin released a small sigh, "So I believe we are done here? Can we go?"
She looked at the knights that were pointing their weapons at Dalla which made them all tremble in fear. The soldier she was talking with before gave them the signal to let her go and Dalla rushed towards Evlin.
Dalla was having a lot of trouble forming words, "Evlin!! That... This... You... How...??"
Evlin laughed softly at Dalla's expression, "Yeah, I know... Let's go home for now shall we?"
Before leaving the room, the soldier gave one final attempt at threatening Evlin and Dalla.
"You will pay for this, girl! Before... You were being chased as a potential lover for the prince and as a powerful mage to serve the kingdom. But now!? You will be a wanted criminal!! There will be a huge bounty on your head! No matter where you go, people will treat you like an enemy! You won't be safe anywhere!!"
Dalla looked at Evlin with a worried gaze but the girl calmly turned around and answered the guard.
"Then... Should I just get rid of every single one of you right here and now?" she asked while holding a psychotic look in her eyes and changing her crossbow into wooden claws ignited with energy.
The soldiers all started to hide behind the one who let out that threat, covered in immense fear. Dalla started to tremble as well as if the girl who was beside her was a complete stranger.
Evlin started to walk slowly towards the guards with her hands raised. She kept coming closer and closer making the soldiers tremble even more intensely. Finally, when she was one step away from all the guards cowering in fear of her, she raised her arms and left out a shout.
"Boo!"
"Aaaaaaahhh!!!" they all cried.
All the guards started to faint after screaming loudly in terror. Evlin stared at the pile of men passed out on the floor and returned to Dalla's side.
"Ta-dah!" she blurted out while taking a final bow as if indicating that the show was over.
The two left the building slowly and crossed the city to return to Dalla's cabin, carefully looking back every now and then to make sure they were not being followed. An awkward silence covered the mood until they finally arrived back home.
Before entering, Evlin grabbed Dalla's hand and asked her a question with her head staring at the ground.
"... Is it ok... If I stay here...?"
Dalla looked at her for a few seconds, and suddenly that vision of a powerful warrior mage that completely demolished the prince without breaking a sweat started to feel like some far off memory while the one in front of her looked to be the same lovely little girl that she had learned to love up until now.
Dalla raised Evlin's face with her palm and replied with a soft smile, "As long as you don't mind the cold nights and the small bed... You can stay as long as you want!"
The girl covered in wooden armor made a huge smile followed by giving a deep hug to the kind lady.
"Actually, I think I can do something about that!"
Evlin then turned her wooden armor into two big crossbows and held them in each of her hands.
She started to shoot the cabin with modeling magic in numerous spots and slowly started to transform it into one of the vacation houses that she and her family would use during the winter from her memories.
Dalla wanted to cry at the sight of her beautiful new home that she never imagined she could have in her lifetime.
"Evlin!! How did you learn all this?"
"When I was taking the second exam, I learned modeling and earth magic by accident."
"You learned it by accident? How do you learn something this amazing by accident?"
"I don't know... I just didn't want to hurt the beaver..."
"... ... ... Wha...?"
Evlin grabbed Dalla's hands and pulled her inside their remodeled home, "Come on! let's see if I can do something about our bed!!"
The day had finally reached its ending, and during that night, the two slept peacefully for the first time in a long time.