Firstly, he tried to bind the rune together with his Rune of Beckoning. Perhaps he could soften the draw upon mana with the other rune, if he used its concept right.

He created the Rune of Beckoning first, allowing it to glow on the cave floor. Next, he created a Rune of Consumption next to it, allowing the runes to blend. The Consumption rune started to draw in power immediately, and the other rune began to pulse softly beside it. Energy started to swirl around them in a helix shape, and funneled into the Rune of Beckoning, before being recycled back into the original rune. However, it did not solve his problem. The Rune of Consumption was still taking in too much mana.

He canceled the runes upon seeing that it was too unstable to work, and sighed. He would need to experiment with this one.

A few hours later, he had tried to create various constructs, changing the amount of each rune within it. Balancing out the Rune of Consumption with a cross of four Runes of Beckoning made the intake rate lower, but it still ended up amping up to too strong of a pull. All he was doing was increasing the stable period of the construct, rather than doing anything to make it permanent. He would need a new rune for this, it seemed.

With a sigh, he dove into his skill constructs, using Truesight to check on the other runes available. This would help him increase the level of that skill as well. What he wanted was some sort of power regulator. He could remember seeing runes like that within his skill matrices, but he had no idea what exactly they did. Odds were that if he took them out of the complicated matrix, and used it on its own, it would kill him. However, he did not see any other way, and with his stats already reduced by over twenty percent, he had little choice in the matter.

Sighing, he plucked out one of the runes out with his mind and transcribed it onto the cave floor. His skills in this area had improved greatly, and whereas during the beginning of his tenure as a runecrafter, he had needed to use a mirror, now he could simply delve into his skills without an intermediary.

He took a deep breath and placed the regulator rune by the Rune of Consumption. He knew little about the rune save for a vague notion that it served to regulate power flows. Anything past that was beyond him.

A moment later, the Rune of Consumption started to take in power, but it was blocked by some outside force. The other rune began to glow brighter and brighter as it regulated the mana, but after a few minutes, it burnt out and exploded, taking a large chunk out of the cave floor. If not for Jonathan’s high stats, the blast would have injured him. As it was, he simply kept experimenting. A notification waited for him however, and he quickly checked it.

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You have discovered a new rune!

Rune of Parsimony

This rune serves to decrease the energy intake of more greedy runes like the Rune of Consumption, allowing for stable rune constructs that involve a power source. At higher levels, it is able to regulate reality itself within a limited range. However, if overloaded, the rune will detonate with a strength based on the amount of energy regulated.

The name suggested that the rune had something to do with the effective usage of materials, and it seemed that this was exactly what he had needed. The only thing to be wary about was the detonation at the end.

Jonathan got back to work, testing various strengths and numbers of runes. Simply regulating the amount of mana intake was not enough. He needed to balance it so that the runes had a chance to process the mana back into the central rune before exploding. He couldn’t simply slap a few Runes of Parsimony upon the Rune of Consumption. That would only prolong the detonation, not prevent it.

He fell into a trance within that cave, and he spent days tinkering with the runes. Edgar came about a few times, but did not bother him. Dozens, or maybe hundreds, of failed attempts later, Jonathan finally did it. A complicated array of half a dozen Runes of Parsimony, each imbued with five points of Divinity, which was hard to measure, given that there was no resource bar, and a single rune of Consumption, using up the remaining seventy points of Divinity.

As the central rune cycled the mana into it, each of the other ones worked together to regulate it. Too much power in the Runes of Parsimony resulted in nothing happening, and too much created an explosion. However, this one had run for over an hour, and he was eventually met with a notification.

You have created a runic array!

Mana Magnet Array

This runic array draws in ambient mana and allows for it to be processed. It can be used for many different things, from mana batteries to empowering living beings. Created from a balance of two different rune types, it is a marvel of runic engineering, at least for someone as unversed as you.

Jonathan ignored the latter half of the description, and found another notification waiting for him. It was the one that he was waiting for.

You have reached Journeyman Rank in Runecrafting!

Runecrafting is an art that only you, and the System, possess. Going against all odds, and the warnings of a being far wiser than you, you have managed to take this art into a stage approaching competence. Creating skills, or tapping into the advanced runes is far beyond you, but you will eventually reach that level.

+15 to Intelligence, +10 to Wisdom

Naturally, a notification for Truesight awaited him as well.

You have reached Journeyman Rank in Truesight!

Your talents in runecrafting are only possible with your ability to parse archaic runes and divine their meaning. Without this, you would be like a blind man groping in the dark. This skill is still new and unrefined, but its potential grows greater by the second.

+15 to Wisdom, +10 to Intelligence