Accidental Elf: My Passive Allure is Ruining My Plans

"Everyone in the party had underestimated the red-headed warrior's sheer recklessness.

Tagard had charged into a full sprint the exact second he heard the direction the women and children had been taken. Without wasting a single moment, the rest of the team scrambled to run after him.

Tracking the goblins wasn't difficult at all. As they dragged the captives away, the creatures had left a blatant trail of broken branches and deep footprints that practically carved out a path through the brush.

«Judging by such an obvious trail, this goblin group must be massive,» Alaster thought as he ran.

Remis spoke breathlessly, maintaining their frantic pace through the trees:

"Listen up, we won't have time to plan anything elaborate. We'll keep it simple: we split into two teams."

"Syrus and I will go after Tagard to save his skin again, and we'll distract as many of them as we can."

"Berona, Elise, and Alaster—hide. Once the goblins give chase to us, circle back and free the prisoners. That's the best I've got. If anyone has a better idea, speak up now."

The leader vaulted over a fallen log, her heavy armor clanking against the scattered branches on the ground.

«Honestly, it's not a bad strategy,» Alaster evaluated internally. «The real issue will be how they're going to escape after that entire horde starts hunting them down...»

The elf was about to suggest an alternative, but it was already too late.

"Idiot spotted!" Elise shouted.

The archer had caught sight of Tagard in the distance. The warrior was slashing wildly in all directions with his greatsword as a massive crowd of goblins began swarming all around him.

Berona flashed a quick hand signal to Alaster. "This way," the black-haired thief directed.

The elf followed her immediately, with the archer covering their rear.

As they moved, Alaster noticed a curious detail: why were his two companions so utterly exhausted? The thief ran ahead of him, visibly panting for air, and the loud, ragged breathing of the archer echoed right behind him.

He, on the other hand, barely felt winded.

«Looks like my stamina stat is actually pretty damn good,» he concluded.

The thief slowed her pace and came to a complete halt behind a thick patch of bushes, pointing ahead. "There's the camp."

Alaster spotted more than twenty-five huts crudely slapped together with sticks and straw.

Suddenly, several goblins burst from the woods, kicking up a massive racket and braying unintelligible warning cries. The rest of the creatures, who had been busy lighting campfires or building more makeshift shelters, dropped their tools.

With savage shrieks, they snatched up weapons from inside the huts.

"They're running toward Remis and the others," Berona whispered.

«Impressive,» Alaster thought. «They're running in the exact opposite direction of our hiding spot. I just followed this girl blindly, but without even realizing it, we took the long way around and ended up right behind the camp.»

"There are too many of them," Elise said, her voice dropping to a faint whisper. "I easily counted at least a hundred."

"Wait," Berona countered.

The thief crept forward stealthily, closing the distance to Alaster without taking her eyes off the settlement.

The elf felt the girl's hands rest firmly on his shoulders as she slid right behind him, seeking a better vantage point. Alaster narrowed his eyes.

«What exactly is she looking at?» he wondered.

The armed goblins were marching toward the northwest, moving further away from their position. A few paused briefly to goad the stragglers into joining the fray.

However, keeping one hand on the elf's shoulder and the other on the archer's, the thief whispered firmly, "Look over there."

Alaster followed the line of the girl's finger. "It's the people from the convoy," he whispered back.

"Yeah," Berona confirmed, "but that's not all."

"No... it can't be!" Alaster heard the archer gasp. Her melodic voice was suddenly tight with disbelief and dread.

The elf finally picked out the real threat.

Positioned just past the captives—who remained bound by their hands and huddled together on the dirt—loomed a figure that resembled a goblin, but stood far larger than an ordinary man. His frame was bony but packed with massive, bulging muscles, and he gripped a colossal sword.

"That's a Goblin Chieftain. A special boss," Elise explained tensely.

"That thing is a real problem," Berona added, letting out a heavy sigh that Alaster felt directly on the back of his neck. "Lord... Al, do you have a spell capable of killing that monstrosity?"

Alaster studied the creature. It was large, heavy, and barely moved from its spot, content with barking orders at the few goblins left behind as guards.

It was standing roughly 34 meters away—a perfect distance to ensure a fireball wouldn't miss.

However, the elf's gaze shifted to the women and children weeping and clutching one another in a dense huddle on the ground. They were barely 4 meters away from the boss.

"I think I can kill it, but it's too close to the hostages."

Suddenly, Alaster felt Elise's hand squeeze his forearm tightly. Turning his head, he saw the archer looking up at him with a wide smile, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"Can you really rescue them, Mr. Al?"

Alaster felt a wave of pressure under the weight of such high expectations.

"You don't need to kill it in one shot," Berona intervened. "These creatures aren't brave. If we wound it badly enough, it'll tuck tail and run. It's the same for all these ugly pests."

Alaster nodded, his confidence returning. "If you can draw it away from the hostages, I can blast it with a proper spell."

The archer and the thief exchanged a skeptical glance, but Alaster simply offered them a calm, reassured smile.

Both girls knew the elf carried himself like someone dependable, but so far they had only witnessed his ice spears. As useful as those were, they didn't exactly boast the overwhelming, exorbitant power Remis had promised when describing what it meant to have a true mage in the party.

"Alright," Berona finally conceded.

It wasn't that she fully trusted Alaster, whom she barely knew, but she trusted the judgment of Remis, whom she deeply respected and cared for. "If Remis says your magic is powerful, I won't doubt it."

Elise nodded and let go of the elf's arm, suddenly turning bashful as she realized she had been gripping him tightly the entire time.

"Those goblins guarding the boss," the thief resumed, "they look a lot stronger than the ones we fought on the road. They must be his elite warriors. Maybe around level 15."

Alaster smiled with renewed certainty at his companions' obvious doubt.

«Looks like they don't think I can handle all these monsters with my spells.»

"Tell you what," the elf whispered to them. "I have another spell. It's a buff that boosts defense eight times over for eight seconds. The weaker goblins will most likely target you two, so you'll be perfectly safe. While you distract them, free the captives and get them out of here. I'll finish off anyone left standing from back here."

Berona drew her dagger with grim resolve. "Deal."

Elise unslung her bow from her shoulder. Alaster caught a glimpse of the weapon; it was crafted from fine, simple wood and adorned with small, hand-painted colorful flowers—a clear sign that it was a deeply prized possession for the young girl.

"Don't miss," the thief requested before stealthily creeping forward.

Alaster began channeling the mana required to cast [Iron Skin].

«This spell is seriously awesome,» he thought. «Feralt turned out to be a hell of a salesman. He cleared out all my gold, but a 150-meter casting range is incredible. It's just a shame I can only buff 10 companions at a time, otherwise this would be a total cheat in a large-scale war.»

In a mere three seconds, Alaster pooled enough mana and triggered the effect.

By then, the girls had almost closed the distance to the Goblin Chieftain, who remained surrounded by 14 shorter warriors. Once they reached a position about 15 meters from the enemies—careful not to block the elf's line of sight—both prepared their weapons.

Elise drew her bowstring back with an iron-tipped arrow, while Berona slipped a throwing knife from the strap on her left thigh.

Alaster watched the play unfold from his vantage point. He concentrated his magical energy, and a faint blue shimmer began to manifest around his body.

The aura grew denser, causing his robes to flutter slightly as a gentle breeze kicked up around him. The process concluded with a faint hum in the air, resonant like a low-frequency musical note.

The buff was active.

"Hey, ugly!" Berona shouted to draw their attention.

"You green, cowardly pests!" Elise added, her voice trembling slightly, though her stance remained rock-solid.

The archer released the string.

The boss, who was already beginning to roar and point toward the intruders, had no time to dodge the projectile. The arrow buried itself directly into his shoulder.

-200 HP

It didn't mean much against the monster's 4,000 HP bar, but it was more than enough to completely enrage him.

With a deafening roar, the Chieftain began stomping toward them with massive strides.

Elise fired several consecutive arrows, tagging the goblins that rushed ahead, while the thief hurled her knives with lethal precision, dropping one of the bodyguards instantly with a critical hit to the neck.

The moment the vanguard of enemies closed within 5 meters, the girls spun on their heels and bolted in the opposite direction.

Alaster watched the maneuver from more than 30 meters away, completely concealed within the thicket. He already had his ring's output maxed out: [450 MP] primed and ready for use.

The archer and the thief ran gracefully, easily outpacing the considerably slower goblins, while the boss, propelled by his long legs, had charged right into the center of his smaller minions.

«Perfect. The Chieftain is the ideal center point for an AoE attack,» Alaster analyzed.

Despite his logic, his nerves were tingling; the girls were still relatively close, and this would mark the first time he unleashed magic of this magnitude. The detonation of [Fireball] was going to be an entirely different beast compared to his basic spells.

«No time to hesitate now.»

Alaster stepped out of the bushes and planted his feet firmly, facing the oncoming enemy advance. He closed his eyes for a split second, feeling the mana pulsing inside his accessory.

«I'm not an office worker anymore. I am Alaster, a mage.»

Opening his eyes, he extended both hands and called out, "You guys are just the first stepping stone of this quest."

A tiny red dot materialized in the air in front of the elf.

Instantly, a series of fiery threads began converging onto it, expanding its volume until it swelled to over a meter in diameter. Then, the energy violently compressed, turning a deep, localized blue at its core.

The sphere pulsed exactly three times with the steady rhythm of a heartbeat, shrinking down to the size of a soccer ball composed of intense, churning red flames and a dense core.

"This is for hunting me through the woods," the mage declared.

At that exact moment, the goblin pack had drawn more than 15 meters away from the captives, and the girls had pulled roughly 10 meters ahead of their closest pursuer.

Alaster fired the fireball straight at the boss.

The projectile zipped away with an unnatural whistle, leaving a dense, choking trail of smoke and embers in its wake. The girls, catching the strange sound, instantly looked back mid-stride.

BOOOOOM!!!

-2,164 HP

The sheer scale of the explosion turned out to be far more violent than Alaster had calculated. It was one thing to read a spell's specifications on a user interface, and an entirely different matter to feel the literal tremor that shook the earth beneath his boots.

«Holy hell!» Alaster thought, struggling to maintain his footing.

Despite being more than 30 meters away from ground zero, his ears rang violently, his balance wavered, and a backdraft of scorching air smacked him dead in the face.

The Goblin Chieftain was sent flying by the direct impact to his left flank, sailing 7 meters through the air before crashing heavily onto the dirt. He lay there, thrashing in pure agony—his left arm completely obliterated, his torso engulfed in flames that he desperately tried to smother by rolling on the ground while shrieking open-mouthed.

Out of the 14 escort goblins, 8 had been vaporized instantly, reduced to charred remains. Two were dragging themselves forward, missing their legs entirely; another two were rolling to put out the fire consuming their flesh, and the final two were fleeing in terror into the woods in opposite directions.

The elf surveyed the results with blatant satisfaction. Seeing that the girls, who had been knocked off their feet by the shockwave, were scrambling back up practically unscathed thanks to the massive defense buff, he smiled.

However, the Goblin Chieftain wasn't dead yet; his bar indicated 1,636 HP remaining.

«You're a tough bastard. I guess I'll let you taste my magic one more time,» Alaster thought, beginning to recharge his ring, which barely held [50 MP] available at that exact moment.

Berona coughed, her eyes pinned to the dirt as she felt a lingering heat radiating across her back. Spotting her dagger a few inches away, she scrambled to her feet and spun around to assess the damage.

Where the imposing boss and his guard had stood just moments ago, there was now only a dying pillar of flame and a scorched goblin slowly dragging itself toward her, emitting weak, pathetic whimpers.

«What in the world was that?» she thought, her eyes bulging.

"We almost got turned to ash..." a weak voice groaned beside her.

Elise was sprawled on her back, propping herself up on her elbows as she stared at the smoking corpses in complete stupor.

"There aren't even any ears left to harvest..." the archer muttered, visibly in a deep state of shock.

Noticing that a few strands of Elise's hair were catching on a stray ember, Berona quickly ripped off her cloak and slapped it down to smother the spark.

"We need to move and get the women and children out of here," the thief urged, leaning down to help lift Elise, who still couldn't tear her gaze away from the wounded enemy.

"This is insane," the archer managed to choke out.

"Yeah," Berona agreed, "but the boss is still kicking. Stand up! Look over there."

About 15 meters away, the Goblin Chieftain was somehow forcing himself up onto one knee, clutching the smoking stump of his lost limb while shaking his head—dazed, but still highly lethal.

Alaster observed that the adventurers were already safely near the captives with no major obstacles left.

He extended his hands once more to pool his remaining mana. He knew that after this attack, he would only have enough juice to use that particular tier of magic two more times before running completely out of mana.

The flames condensed in the air once again.

The Goblin Chieftain snapped his head around and locked eyes with the elf at the exact instant the second fireball was unleashed. This time, the impact caught the monster squarely in the chest.

-1,636 HP (Overkill / Fatal)

A second thunderous detonation echoed across the campsite.

Berona was in the middle of sawing through the ropes binding the convoy elder's daughter when she heard the whistle a second time. Turning around, she watched the incandescent projectile smash directly into the Chieftain's torso.

Before the eyes of everyone present, the terrifying leader was reduced to scattered ash in a matter of seconds.

Through the drifting curtain of residual smoke, Berona watched the elf walk casually toward them, looking for all the world as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

For Alaster, everything had gone exactly according to script. They had even cleared an area boss they weren't even supposed to encounter on this route.

As he approached the group, he noticed everyone staring at him with a volatile mix of awe and terror. Among the survivors were women, a few young men, and at least 5 children; in total, about 23 people surrounded Elise and Berona.

"What's the play now?" the elf asked as he arrived.

"N-Now we need to regroup with the rest," Berona replied, fighting to patch her composure back together. "Assuming they're still alive... It's highly likely they're still locked in combat with the main horde or running for their lives," she added with a worried grimace.

Alaster offered a light, effortless smile. "Then we better hurry."

Both girls stared at him blankly.

"I can still drop one more fireball. Actually, make that two; my mana has already regenerated a bit in this short window."

Berona swallowed hard, recalling the sheer terror of being that close to the blast radius, while Elise took a deliberate step back, turning visibly pale.

"I... I think I'll stay here and watch the kids," the archer stammered.

The thief glanced at her sideways, noting her obvious nerves. Her thoughts were abruptly cut off by the elf.

"It's better if Berona guides the convoy people on a detour to avoid running into the goblins head-on. I'll hit the horde's rear flank to scatter them and catch up with you right after."

Alaster was already calculating his mobility options. He still needed to field-test a crucial spell: [Blink].

With that skill, he should be able to teleport 19 meters using a mere 20 units of mana, all thanks to the passive modifier of his space attribute, which slashed 90% off the casting cost and boosted spell efficiency by the same margin.

Escaping danger in a dense environment like this forest would be a simple matter of a couple of consecutive jumps; the creatures would lose his trail instantly. Therefore, he didn't view it as necessary for the girls to tag along.

However, Berona shook her head immediately.

"Elise is going with you. You're still a mage; if any goblin manages to close the distance while you're channeling your mana, you'll be in grave danger."

Alaster snorted mentally at her insistence, but decided to roll with the suggestion to avoid burning any more time.

«There's still a long journey ahead,» he reflected. «I have plenty of time to test the magical teleportation of [Blink] in live combat and evaluate the true worth of the massive defense buff from [Iron Skin].»

Wrapping up his thoughts, he looked at his companion. "Alright, let's move, Elise."

The black-haired elf fixed his gaze toward the northwest—the exact coordinate from which the distant, familiar screeches of the goblin horde were already ringing out."