Testing as a mage was surprisingly straightforward. He just put his spellbook onto the testing stone, and it read the Fire Spark spell structure within its pages, giving him a small metallic plate made out of dark iron.

There was no grand, flashy show of fire like what happened to the webnovel main characters he had read about. No sleeping elders waking up from their slumber.

Hell, even the person giving him his identity token never gave him a second glance. The guy just scribbled something in a heavy leather book and slid the token forward.

"You can choose either one Initiate spell or one Apprentice spell for a month," the man said, letting out a loud yawn. "Don’t forget to return the spell structure after you’re done studying. Any damage to the parchment will be taken out of your personal account as a debt."

Rhys raised his eyebrows, looking down at the simple iron token in his hand. "That’s it?"

The old man gave him a judgmental look, squinting through wrinkled eyes. "What else? You are here only because of the free spells, aren’t you, lad? Take what you want and scram. There’s a line behind you."

There was no one except him.

Rhys twitched his lips but didn’t argue. He took the iron token and walked out of the room. It seemed the people joining the MSFRM were mostly doing it for the free spell rentals. Honestly, they couldn’t really be blamed. Spell structures cost a literal fortune in the open market, and not many ordinary citizens had the luxury of buying them.

Those born with talent but no background couldn’t get affiliated with powerful families or sects, while those completely without talent either had to risk themselves by hunting mutated monsters out in the chaotic, untamed lands just to make a living.

But not all mages were daring enough to risk their lives against terrifying beasts outside the Light Shield. For those who preferred to stay safe, the MSFRM’s free rental system was a massive attraction.

Just like it was for Rhys.

Following the signs along the dark stone hallway, Rhys arrived at the society’s library. It was a massive, high-ceilinged room filled with rows of towering wooden bookshelves that smelled heavily of dust.

The librarian at the front desk was a sleepy-looking middle-aged man who didn’t even bother to stand up. He just glanced at Rhys’s iron token and pointed a lazy finger toward the endless aisles.

"Don’t go past the ground floor," the librarian muttered, adjusting a pair of round spectacles. "The ground floor is where the Initiate and Apprentice spells are kept. Anything higher requires a copper or silver badge, and the stairs are protected by an active barrier. Try to climb them, and your brains will turn to mush."

"Understood," Rhys said, giving a quick nod.

He didn’t need to be told twice. He had no intention of testing the library’s security systems. He walked straight past the front desk and entered the maze of bookshelves, his eyes wide as he looked at the thousands of parchment scrolls neatly lined up on the racks.

Naturally, he decided to choose an Apprentice-rank spell structure over an Initiate one. Apprentice spells were E-rank, so obviously they were vastly superior to his F-rank Fire Spark.

Since he didn’t need to spend any money, renting the highest rank available to him was a total no-brainer.

As he walked down the quiet aisles, Rhys already had a very specific idea of what kind of spells he wanted. He wasn’t looking for highly destructive elemental magic like a massive fireball or an ice spear.

He didn’t want to fight in wars or duel sect geniuses. Instead, he wanted something highly practical, meaning spells that would directly help him with his secret insect farming back in the greenhouses.

According to the wooden plaques hanging at the end of each aisle, the spells in this world were rigidly differentiated by their core types.

The categories were clearly laid out: Elemental, Summon, Healing, Curse, Illusion, Enchantment, Necromancy, Barrier, Transformation, and Mental.

Rhys walked past the Elemental section without stopping. He also bypassed the Summon and Healing rows. Eventually, his footsteps slowed down when he reached the sign labeled Mental Spells.

Insect farming in the outer courtyard’s greenhouses was an incredibly difficult and exhausting job. It wasn’t difficult because the Flint Carapace Ants or other pests were exceptionally strong, but rather because the work was physically demanding and mentally draining.

The insects were small, erratic, and aggressive. Any slight mistake or sudden movement during the cleaning process could ruin the plants, which wasn’t what he wanted. So, the most suitable type of magic for his current situation would be Mental spells.

Mental magic specialized in directly affecting the mind, consciousness, or nervous systems of living things. Even better, mental spells were completely invisible to the human eye. There would be no bright flashes of light, no loud explosions, and no smoke.

If he used a mental spell in the middle of a crowded greenhouse, the other workers and guards wouldn’t see a single thing. It was the absolute perfect camouflage for his secret activities. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Rhys stepped into the aisle and began reading through the titles of the Apprentice-rank mental scrolls, pulling them out slightly to skim their descriptions.

The first one he found was called [Calm Beast]. It was designed to soothe the anxiety and fear of low-level animals. Rhys shook his head and slid it back onto the shelf. He wasn’t calming insects.

The next scroll was titled [Sleep Whisper]. It could induce drowsiness in a target, but the description explicitly stated it worked best on mammalian creatures with higher brain functions. For simple-minded insects, the spell’s structural wavelength was too complex to take root properly.

Rhys kept searching, his fingers sliding across the dusty parchments until his eyes locked onto a scroll tucked away in the back corner of a lower shelf. The ink on the label was slightly faded, but the title immediately made his heart skip a beat.

[Apprentice Rank: Psychic Ripple]

Rhys pulled the scroll out carefully, unrolling the top section to read the system-approved details inscribed on the inner parchment.

[Spell Name: Psychic Ripple]

Rank: Apprentice (E-Rank)

Property: Fundamental

Type: Mental Type

Description: Emits a concentrated, invisible wave of psychic pressure outward from the caster’s mind. When applied to targets with low mental resistance, it burns their nervous system, destroying the targets’ brains.

NB: Usage of a conductor will improve the range of the spell from a five-meter radius.

Rhys’s eyes lit up. This was it. This was the absolute best spell among everything he had seen.

A psychic attack spell was exactly what he needed to optimize his lifespan farming loop. The next time he walked into a greenhouse infested with Flint Carapace Ants, he wouldn’t have to chase them down one by one or risk plants getting destroyed.

He could simply sit down, activate [Psychic Ripple], and unleash an invisible wave that would instantly kill every single insect within the spell’s range.

They wouldn’t be able to run, they wouldn’t be able to hide, and he could casually walk around and harvest their lifespans at his own leisure.

"Perfect," Rhys whispered to himself, a wide grin spreading across his face.

He tightly gripped the parchment scroll, checking one last time to make sure there were no tears or smudges on the runic equations drawn inside.

Once he was satisfied, he walked back to the front counter and placed the scroll down in front of the sleepy librarian, along with his iron token.

The librarian opened one eye, looked at the [Psychic Ripple] scroll, and then looked up at Rhys. "A mental spell? Most lads your age go straight for the fireballs or the wind blades. You sure you want this one? It won’t help you look flashy in front of the ladies."

"I’m sure," Rhys replied with a straight face. "I have a very sensitive mind."

The librarian snorted, clearly thinking Rhys was just an eccentric kid who wanted to act mysterious. He tapped the iron token against a magical stamping device, registering the rental into the society’s ledger, and then pushed the scroll back across the desk.

"One month," the librarian reminded him. "Bring it back before the full moon."

"Thank you," Rhys said.

He took the scroll, carefully tucking it inside his space stone. As he walked out of the heavy stone fortress of the MSFRM and stepped back into the sunny streets of Azure City, a deep sense of satisfaction filled his chest.

He had the blueprint. Now, all he had to do was go back to his horse stall, memorize the complex geometric lines, and copy it into his midnight-black Spell Book. The road to becoming the ultimate invisible farmer was officially open.

He never considered going for a conductor, simply because he didn’t have the money to buy one.

’Money... money... money. It seems money will be a problem in the future.’

Rhys had to find a way to solve this problem, because he didn’t think one spell structure a month was gonna satisfy him.

’Or I can go to the untamed lands...’

He hurriedly shook his head. Not now...