From the message, Jonathan could tell that he now had an opportunity to streamline whatever skill he got towards his own needs. He was tempted by the physical option, but then realized that he could probably direct the magical one towards improving his Void Rocket skill.

He conceptualized the skill in his mind, and then selected Magical Mastery, feeling a torrent of insight enter his mind. Those insights were directed towards his skill, and a moment later, it evolved.

You have upgraded one of your skills!

Void Rocket: Epic->Void Cannon: Legendary

With increased channeling potential compared to its previous iteration, this skill allows you to channel the true power of the Void, at least at your current understanding. Unbind the world itself with your strength, sending the pure energy of the Void to cleanse your enemies.

Jonathan smiled at the upgrade, and raced out of the cave. He idly realized that he was starting to become somewhat of a closet progressor, retreating to his cave whenever he had a breakthrough to make. It was oddly similar to the concept of cultivation that he had pondered before. If there was some grand architect of his fate out there, writing his story into being, perhaps he was but one of many projects, all of which had similar powersets. Then he shook his head.

“Where the hell did that come from?” He wondered, before banishing the thought. He had come out to test his skill.

Holding out one hand, Jonathan expelled the primal power of the Void, using the same channels as with his Void Rocket skill. Rather than creating a small bolt of power, a telephone pole thick lance of energy leaped from his fingers, soaring into a nearby hill. There was a flash of light, and then the dust cleared to reveal a dozen foot wide crater. His power had gone up.

Jonathan grinned. There was nothing like a good level up or skill increase to make his day. Then he looked down towards his rapidly growing city, and frowned. All of this would be lost if Granath won. He knew that his power was not yet enough to stand against the forces of the Ash Heaps and win, which meant that his people would have to pick up the slack. Rumors of armies massing across the realm came in through new arrivals, and Jonathan was starting to take them seriously. It was time to start taking his own part in preparation, using his runes. If he could hammer out another array, he could fortify the city more effectively.

In fact, he had just the idea. Using his Rune of Hatred and his Rune of Beckoning in unison had already worked in the past. What if he combined them into an array? That would likely increase the power even more. There would likely be little experimentation to do either. It might even increase his Runecrafting skill.

Jonathan sat down, and started to experiment with his runes, using them in a similar configuration to how he made them on his gauntlets. The runes were not as complicated as his other ones, as they did not involve mana, but they were still tough to get to work together. Their concepts were not aligned, as one of them was trying to push away and harm its target, while the other was trying to draw it on. He would have to make some sort of binary rune system for this to work.

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As the city bustled with life below him, Jonathan sank into a trance, the second of many in his line of work as a runecrafter. Combining runes should have been tedious, but his mind found it intuitive, and he soon had a multitude of prototypes going. Different configurations of the runes had different effects, from simply going off as soon as it was created, to never going off at all. The key to arrays was balance, and Jonathan eventually found the answer.

Because the Rune of Beckoning was more subtle in nature than the Rune of Hatred, he needed more of them to balance out the other rune. He finally created a triangle like array, with two Runes of Beckoning beneath one Rune of Hatred, using thirds of his Divinity supply to imbue them. He watched the rune circuit in apprehension, but was eventually met with a notification telling him of his success. This array had only taken him a few hours to make, compared to his first array.

You have created a runic array!

Toxic Longing Array

This array draws in enemies to their doom, using the Rune of Beckoning to attract them, and the Rune of Hatred to obliterate them. It is a contradiction in terms, but it still works, a testament to the binary nature of existence.

The name of the array was a bit strange, as Joanthan had been expecting something a bit more utilitarian, but it hardly mattered. It did what he wanted it to.

Jonathan decided to check on his full repertoire of runes and arrays after this, remembering that it was not visible on his status sheet. All he had to do was to go back through his notifications log however, and he soon had a sheet filled with his runes and their descriptions. However, since he had never seen the description for his Rune of Beckoning, he had the System make one for him.

Rune of Hatred

This rune, powered by Divinity, will kill any enemies within a certain radius. The radius, and the power of the rune, depends on the amount of Divinity placed into it.

Rune of Beckoning

This rune, powered by Divinity, will draw in all those who come within its radius, enticing them with its power. This effect is potent, and becomes more potent the more Divinity is placed within it.

Rune of Consumption

This rune, powered by Divinity, will draw upon its conceptual nature to devour all mana within its radius of effect, and deliver it into whatever medium the rune is inscribed upon. You can upgrade this rune to devour more substances by furthering your understanding of it.The radius, and the power of the rune, depends on the amount of Divinity placed into it.

Rune of Parsimony

This rune, powered by Divinity, 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.

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.

Toxic Longing Array

This runic array draws in enemies to their doom, using the Rune of Beckoning to attract them, and the Rune of Hatred to obliterate them. It is a contradiction in terms, but it still works, a testament to the binary nature of existence.