[That spell... it’s not from this world.]

Rhys slowed down a bit, his boots clicking softly against the polished stone floor of the corridor. "What do you mean by that?"

[Legendary Spells are derived from a Legendary monster and beyond. Such monsters would never be seen in a low-tier world like this one. This spell... its property is highly unusual. I am afraid not even an ordinary Legendary monster can birth such a spell structure...]

A monster beyond Legendary. Rhys’s mind immediately raced through the classifications he had managed to pick up since his transmutation.

Beyond Legendary meant tiers like Mythical, Primordial, and finally, Divine.

These were entities that defined the rules of magic.

Rhys recalled the description of the spell structure he had just scanned.

[Spell Name: Crown of Force] 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Rank: Adept

Property: Absolute Authority (Legendary)

Description: Manifests a psychic crown above the caster’s head, converting raw thoughts directly into telekinetic force. The more absolute, unwavering, and certain a thought becomes, the greater the physical force the crown can exert, though the mana consumption rises proportionally.

Weak thoughts create weak force, while thoughts backed by complete conviction can unleash power far beyond the spell’s apparent rank.

As the caster’s mind, willpower, and understanding grow stronger, the Crown evolves alongside them, gradually revealing greater authority over the physical world.

[It’s from the Sovereign Dragon, the legendary golden dragon who rules all other dragons. For its spell structure to descend into this world... host, the secret of this world is far deeper than we initially thought. Perhaps even the Systemverse has gazed down at this exact place...]

Great.

Very, very great.

Rhys rolled his eyes slightly in the corridor, but his chest tightened with a sudden, unbidden surge of adrenaline.

His chaotic, intrusive thoughts were already whispering that a world with hidden secrets were much better than a flat, boring, ideal world.

[But missing it will be your biggest loss. Legendary Spells can only be learned by a single person in a generation until that person dies. And apparently, no one in this small world even knows its true importance. They just think it is a broken, mana-draining trap. Host, quick, we need it as soon as possible.]

Rhys didn’t need the system to tell him twice. If a spell possessed the property of Absolute Authority and grew alongside his mind, it meant his limitless lifespan reservoir would allow him to bypass the heavy mana backlash entirely, leaving him with an evolving weapon of pure draconic dominance.

He took a deep breath, adjusted his plain robes, and walked briskly toward the main hall of the MSFRM while gripping the cold iron token in his fingers.

The moment he stepped through the heavy archway into the main hall, the ambient noise of shouting mercenaries, clinking armor, and rustling papers washed over him.

But before he could even look around at the massive mission boards, he felt a strange, warm vibration pulsing through the iron token.

It was a physical connection guiding his attention directly toward a large wooden table situated near the center of the room.

Every single male mage in the vicinity was either staring openly or secretly glancing toward that specific table, their expressions filled with a mix of awe and desire.

Sitting around the table were three female disciples wearing the distinct, elegant blue garments of the Azure Lotus Sect’s outer circle.

All three of them were exceptionally beautiful, but their appearances and auras were vastly different from one another.

The first girl sat perfectly straight, cleaning a long steel blade with a white cloth.

She held the weapon with an experienced grip, but what immediately caught Rhys’s eye was a faint, jagged sword mark on the left side of her face that stretched slightly across her cheek.

Despite the mark, she was striking, possessing sharp features and a stern demeanor that practically screamed she was an Enhancement or Transformation mage who fought on the brutal frontlines.

Sitting right next to her was a tan-skinned girl who leaned back against her chair with her arms crossed.

Her forearms were covered in faint, glowing blue veins that pulsed right down to her fingers, and her fingernails were unusually long and sharp.

A dark, vicious aura swirled heavily around her, giving off the unmistakable, chilling vibe of a seasoned Curse mage whom no one in their right mind would want to cross.

But it was the last girl sitting at the table who completely made Rhys’s breath catch in his throat.

She was an absolute masterpiece of gods.

She had long, shimmering silver hair that fell over her shoulders like a waterfall of moonlight, and her large, lively purple eyes seemed to sparkle with an innocent curiosity.

The moment Rhys stepped into the hall, her eyes locked directly onto him.

Her lips instantly upturned into a bright, enthusiastic smile of pure warmth, and she eagerly raised her hands, motioning for him to come over to their table.

[Wait, host. She feels incredibly strange, like... she isn’t completely whole,] the system’s voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts, dropping its usual playful tone for something far more analytical.

Rhys quickly returned from his reveries, snapping himself out of the trance as he began walking toward the three girls, acutely aware of the obvious, envious gazes of dozens of men drilling into his back like hot needles.

’Like what?’ Rhys asked inwardly, keeping his face neutral.

[Like she is completely missing a massive portion of her soul. She might be heavily injured in her very soul structure, or perhaps something vital was violently torn away from her long ago...]

Rhys suppressed the urge to frown as he approached the wooden table.

The silver-haired girl’s lively purple eyes continued to track his movements with a cheerful, almost childlike innocence that didn’t match the heavy, dangerous atmosphere of the rogue mage hall.

"Are you the one the librarian sent?" the silver-haired girl smiled at him. "You can call me Yuki..."

"Hello, Yuki..."

The girl’s smile widened a bit.

"Ahem. I am Rhys..."

"Rice? I really like eating rice."

There was surely a bit of creepiness in the sentence.

"Cough." The scarred woman cleared her throat. "I am Kai. Don’t mind Yuki. She has a strange taste in jokes."

"I see..."

But why did he feel she wasn’t joking?

[Same...]