Accidental Elf: My Passive Allure is Ruining My Plans

To Alaster, the new ring he was holding was undoubtedly way too ornate.

The elf had stepped back from the table where Denderatrix was still watching him with a smile. Standing a short distance away, he turned toward the woman, who was crossing her legs and eyeing him attentively.

"What? Didn't you want to test a spell?" she asked.

Alaster looked back at the ring.

"Don't you have one... a bit more...?"

"It's just for testing, handsome elf, not like you're going to wear it out on the street. Besides, it suits you," Detrix said.

Alaster chuckled.

"What are you on about, woman?"

The elf turned his back on her with dramatic, playful indignance, muttering under his breath, though loud enough for her to hear: "Jealous..."

The mage burst out laughing.

"Al, you're a fool. Stop messing around and tell me which spell you want to test. Do you want to cast a bunch of ice lances or some other common-grade spell? Honestly, it seems a bit excessive for you to want more capacity at such a low level. Ah, handsome Al, what level are you, anyway? I know it's rude to ask, but I need to know so I can give you a proper defensive barrier spell."

"Fifteen," Alaster replied absently. "Almost sixteen, I think. Since I can't check... but I'm probably about to hit sixteen."

Denderatrix raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean you can't check? Can't you just look at your experience indicator?"

Alaster, who had approached the table and was picking up the Sil-Spider summoning book, froze mid-motion. «Indicator?» he thought. He had tried to find his experience bar multiple times without success, failed to locate it on his status screen, and eventually gave up.

Denderatrix seemed to catch his confusion.

"You just have to focus on wanting to see your progress indicator, and it'll show up."

Alaster sighed. So he'd simply made a mistake looking in the wrong place again? He focused on his progress indicator, and a bar materialized in his sight: 22,325 / 22,500.

"Man, I'm barely close to reaching level sixteen," Alaster said, picking up the grimoire from the table and stepping a few paces away. "I've killed so many goblins and I'm hardly making progress... this sucks."

The woman smiled, resting her elbows on the table and leaning her chin on her hands.

"That's because they're weak monsters. You're not going to gain much from level six creatures."

Denderatrix's eyes tracked the elf's profile. The breeze gently moved his black hair. Having shed his heavy leather coat, his bare arms showed beneath his rolled-up linen sleeves. The mage watched his silhouette as he held the book. «How can he look so good and be this clueless at the same time? And that ability to cast magic without a single chant or incantation...» A smile touched her bare lips.

"You asked what spell I want to cast..." Alaster said, glancing at her sideways. "Well, it's not ice lances. I want to test a common summoning spell."

For a moment, he saw her bite her lower lip, but suddenly her eyes widened in shock.

"What? What did you say? Summoning? Didn't you just tell me you're level fifteen?" Alaster gave a distracted nod. "At that level, you should barely be casting common spells, let alone struggling to learn a medium-grade one!"

Alaster lowered the book for a second to think. «Except I already know a few medium-grade spells.» He raised the book back up and continued preparing.

"Hey, Detrix, you never told me what passive skill summoners get when they unlock that advanced class."

The mage looked bewildered.

"Umm... I'll tell you, but can you tell me if you actually know any medium-rank spells already?"

"I know a few," Alaster said. "Fireball..." He paused, taking his eyes off the grimoire to look at the girl, whose mouth was slightly agape. "Wave Spikes..." He cut himself off. He couldn't mention that he knew—or almost knew—Disruption, since it was a spatial spell and that would expose him. "Nebula."

Alaster returned his focus to his reading. Denderatrix stared at him in utter shock. He didn't just know a medium-grade spell—he knew several, and they weren't the easy ones to learn, especially Fireball, which was notoriously hard to stabilize. Could a level fifteen elf really do something reserved for level thirty-three? And that summoning spell... he'd need to be close to level thirty just to cast it.

"Can you really understand that?" the mage asked, narrowing her eyes. "Or are you lying just to impress me?"

Alaster lowered the book.

"I actually do understand it, but there are way too many symbols—over six thousand in precise order." He smiled at her and continued, "Then I noticed this grimoire doesn't contain any metal—no staples or clasps like the ones used to bind pages together. I realized it was designed so a mage could hold it without worrying about losing mana. I think I can do it; I just needed more capacity."

He looked down at the ring with wave motifs and a pink gem on his left hand, resting beside his much simpler silver band.

Detrix let out a muffled groan, her chest heaving slightly.

"I hate summonings. They're always painfully long, and it's always ferocious creatures. I've never seen anyone summon anything cute, just horrifying or massive monsters."

Alaster smiled to himself. «No matter how powerful she is, she's still a girl,» he thought.

"Alright, I'm going to try it," he finally said.

The girl adjusted herself in her chair. Just then, another figure stepped out into the yard. Remis stopped near Detrix.

"Hey! What are you two doing? Mage stuff?"

Detrix pointed to another chair beside her.

"Al wants to test a new spell."

Remis, dressed in short pants, a light top, and casual sandals, sat next to the mage, pulling her chair closer to talk without disrupting the elf's concentration a few meters away.

"And what are you doing?" Remis asked.

Denderatrix gave her a side-eye.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm admiring how good he looks," she replied.

Remis rolled her eyes.

"And what is he going to cast? We're on the edge of town." The blonde suddenly turned to the brunette. " He's not planning on throwing a fireball out here, is he?"

The mage frowned.

"Do you think we're crazy? No, he's just going to summon something, though he didn't tell me what."

Remis nodded and stayed to watch.

Alaster held the grimoire in his right hand and pointed his left forward. He closed his eyes, concentrating his mana to fill both rings. After a moment of visualizing energy flowing out of him and into the jewels, he noticed filling both was a slower process.

«This ring Detrix gave me has a capacity of 500, so between the two I have 950 mana. At 50 mana per second, it takes me about nineteen seconds to fill them.» In practice, the timing could vary, taking anywhere from twenty-one to twenty-four seconds.

Once the rings were charged, he began visualizing according to the book: first, a sequence of symbols and dimensional concepts, specifically regarding the plane from which he would pull the creature—a realm called Avalon, the third world of the nearby middle layer. According to the grimoire, it was a wild environment full of untamed, non-malicious creatures. Avalon was a neighbor to this world, which the book referred to as Silvaren.

Alaster shook off the intrusive thoughts; now wasn't the time to ponder world mechanics, so he focused entirely on the spell.

On the ground before him, a faint blue light appeared—a single point that expanded into lines of magical symbols, forming a circle dense with the patterns he was visualizing. In roughly nineteen minutes, he completely finished constructing the conduit to bring the creature through.

The magic circle acting as a portal emitted a soft purple mist, colored by the dark blue tint of his mana. He smiled. «Only 100 mana so far,» he thought. If tearing open the rift turned out to be spatial magic, it might save him a ton of energy.

He flipped a page to the final section and extended his left hand once more, feeling a pulse of nervousness.

Remis watched the process with excitement; the glowing circle on the ground was vibrant even in broad daylight, something she'd never witnessed before. Detrix, meanwhile, was carefully analyzing the line work.

"Everything is in order. I don't like summonings, but he actually seems to know what he's doing," the mage murmured softly to the warrior.

Suddenly, the dirt inside the circle churned, and the sight of the yard beyond the drawing warped. A pitch-black fracture tore open, and a creature tumbled out onto the ground, landing on its feet and looking around in confusion as the rift snapped shut with the sound of shattering glass reversing itself.

Alaster let out a sigh and looked at the creature before him. It was larger than he had anticipated. When picturing a spider, he'd imagined something like a tarantula, but this had nothing to do with a natural animal—it looked as though it were forged from silver armor, strangely beautiful. Its legs were sleek, covered in overlapping plates.

Something began communicating in his mind—a gentle connection of simple thoughts. Following the grimoire's instructions, he transmitted warmth to the Sil-Spider. The one-meter-tall creature shifted its legs, turning to face him directly. Instead of eyes, a soft red light glowed within its eight sockets.

Alaster raised a hand and rewarded the creature, sending pure mana from his ring. The arachnid shivered slightly, like a bird enjoying a bath. It let out a soft hiss despite having no visible mouth; it possessed six walking legs and two front appendages that moved like sharp scythes.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream cut through the air. Alaster turned to see Detrix standing on her chair, pointing an accusing finger at both the arachnid and the elf.

"What is that?! A spider?!"

Beside her, Remis was holding her chair out like a shield.

"That thing looks dangerous! Send it back where it came from!" Remis yelled.

"It's just an innocent spider," the elf said.

Remis lowered her chair slightly.

"Can you actually control that thing?"

Alaster turned his attention back to the spider.

"I think so."

He transmitted the basic commands recommended by the book: simple instructions like not attacking people, humanoid beings, children, dogs, chickens, pigs, or horses. Alaster wanted it to guard the area, but since there were no goblins around and it might get confused, he decided to save tactical commands for later.

«Stay within the boundaries of this house,» he mentally instructed the creature. Though it couldn't understand words, it comprehended his intent and the images Alaster sent: a picture of the spider, the house, and the surrounding fences acting as a border.

The creature shifted uneasily, stepping side to side as it transmitted a request: more.

Alaster immediately understood and fed it four more mana points. «I need to get my hands on some mana crystals,» he thought, remembering how to sustain his new minion. The book recommended using low-rank crystals—the kind found inside weak creatures like goblins that nobody bothers to harvest because they aren't worth much, unlike high-rank ones from wyverns. «I still have a lot to learn.»

The creature turned playfully upon receiving the mana. For an otherworldly beast, it behaved remarkably like a house pet. Alaster gave it one final order: «Do not wander off unless necessary.»

The creature turned and began roaming aimlessly, inspecting its surroundings while staying strictly within the fence line.

The mage stepped down from her chair.

"Couldn't you have summoned a wolf pup or something?" she asked in annoyance.

Alaster smirked inwardly, though he simply said, "I don't have that grimoire."

He checked his rings: he had only spent 160 points to summon the spider, leaving him with 782 mana between both rings.

«Should I summon another one?» he muttered.

"No!" Remis and Denderatrix shouted in unison.

The elf looked at them, puzzled.

"What? Are you really afraid of a poor little spider?"

The mage stepped closer.

"You shouldn't just summon ugly things without a second thought. What if the locals complain about your creatures? What will you do then?"

Alaster paused to consider it. She had a point—he wasn't living in a forest; he was inside a town, and people would likely raise a fuss.

"Fine, I won't summon any more until I talk to the village chief," he said.

Detrix let out a relieved sigh; she had no interest in a pack of those things crawling around near her.

Alaster was thoroughly amused by the mage's expression. The summoning experiment was an absolute success: it was easy to cast and didn't consume 700 mana like he had originally feared, meaning wearing the extra women's ring was largely unnecessary. He watched the creature wander around, curiously inspecting everything, completely obedient.

At that moment, Syrus walked out into the yard, passing right by the Sil-Spider. The spider made no aggressive move, but the tank caught sight of it and jumped back. Lacking his weapons, he yelled:

"A... a creature! Watch out!" He spun around and sprinted back inside to grab his gear.

"Hey, Syrus! Stop!" Alaster called after him, laughing.

A moment later, Remis ran inside after Syrus to explain the situation, leaving Detrix to resume their conversation.

"Alaster... so... you really know the Fireball spell?"

Alaster nodded, sitting back down across the table.

"Yeah, I learned it recently."

The mage marveled silently. «This elf has incredible talent. He learns spells effortlessly and doesn't even need verbal chants. It's as if he understands the elements and the world so deeply that he doesn't need words to give shape to his ideas.»

"Unbelievable..." she muttered under her breath.

"Did you say something?" he asked, not hearing her clearly.

"No," the mage replied. "I have a spell that will definitely be useful to you."

She reached out to grab one of the books she had brought to the table; in fact, she had brought two.

"This is a grimoire for learning an advanced-grade spell, though it's almost medium-grade."

She handed the book to the elf, who took it.

"Thanks, Detrix. I feel bad that you're always giving me things and I have nothing to give you in return." Alaster read the title: Theory and Practice for the [Lesser Barrier] Spell. "Is this like a shield? Or does it create a wall of stone?"

"No," the mage answered. "That would be an Earth-attribute wall. This is a barrier made of light energy that solidifies upon contact."

The mage stood up, stepping gracefully away from her chair.

"I'll show you. It's one of the first defensive spells my mother taught me—it's very easy to use and extremely effective. I doubt you'll have any trouble mastering it."

The mage focused her mana. Alaster watched as the dark-haired woman with delicate features extended her hand, declaring:

"Elements of the world, this sovereign commands with her authority to halt all harm. Emaanate from my unyielding mana—[Lesser Barrier]!"

As Denderatrix cast the spell, a shield materialized in front of her. To Alaster, it looked like something straight out of a futuristic story rather than a fantasy world: a rounded square floating directly before Detrix, reddish in hue, composed of light, semi-transparent, and patterned with perfect hexagons.

"That looks awesome," he muttered.

The girl smiled, resting a hand on her hip.

"The best part is that you can change its position just by thinking about it."

The two-meter-wide shield swiftly moved around the woman, shifting to cover her back without her making a single gesture.

Alaster felt a surge of excitement. «This is perfect. With a shield like this, I could be completely self-reliant: summonings, a magic shield, fireballs, and instant transportation with Blink. With all of that... I'll be unstoppable!»

Grinning from ear to ear, Alaster asked, "How much damage can that barrier take?"

"To be honest, it's not that strong," Detrix replied, repositioning the shield to her side. "It could withstand a single strike from the wyvern we fought, though goblins wouldn't stand a chance of breaking it in a thousand years. It's great against arrows or standard offensive spells, but an explosive medium-rank fireball would shatter it to pieces."

In his mind, Alaster was already crafting a tactical strategy: spiders to distract the enemy, fireballs for offense, and the lesser barrier to ward off ranged attacks. Then, if everything went sideways, he had Blink to vanish in an instant.