As William learned more and more about Tier 6 Arrays, he found that their abilities were almost too strong for this World. If he wasn't careful when using them, he could destroy more than just a City, he could destroy much more than that!
If he used Tier 6 Arrays to recreate the Five Elements Explosion Array, William might just be able to destroy a considerable portion of the Far West Forest Region!
It's too powerful though... What's the point of using such an attack? The number of innocent people caught in the explosion wouldn't be small, it wouldn't matter if I had a good reason...
That aside, William now had an essentially unbreakable Confinement Array, which even a Tribulation Transcendence Cultivator probably couldn't break out of.
As he was thinking this, the System notified William of the successful Talent upgrade.
———
Arrays: (SSR --> X)
Effects:
-Knowledge and Talent with Arrays +2400% >> +9600%
-Level of usable Arrays raised to Tier 5 >> Tier 6
X-Rank Bonus Effect:
-Puppetry Master: Can control up to 10 Puppets made with Tier 6 Arrays. Number of controllable Puppets doubles for each Tier lower than 6.
-Array Analysis: Can analyze the workings of an Array at a glance. Only applies to Arrays, Array Formations, and Runes the Host already knows.
Next rank up: Requirements Locked. Ascend or upgrade the System to A-Rank to unlock the next Rank.
———
While there weren't as many effects as those provided by the Mind Talent, William felt it wasn't a bad thing at all. Just the Puppetry Master effect alone was enough for William's mouth to drool.
If he could use twice as many Puppets for each lower Tier, that meant William could control twenty Complete Puppets at a time, and forty Perfect Puppets!
After the Summoning Element, the Epic Sound Element was raised, followed by the last three Rare Elements: Poison, Curse, and Death.
William expected the Death Element to be the most dangerous to his body, but it was surprisingly weak compared to his insane Regeneration.
William didn't age a single year during all of these upgrades, and the only one that caused real damage to his body was the Death Element, which was only able to do so because it could bypass his Hard Skin Talent with its corrosive properties.
Following the Death Affinity upgrades, William was assaulted by multiple unique and odd effects.
First, he was thrown into a terrifying dream where the most abominable creatures he could imagine chased him through the darkness. His body was torn apart within the dream hundreds, maybe even thousands of times by these eldritch horrors that seemed to do it for sport.
What felt like months passed, but this time the experience didn't fade away in mere moments like simulations. With William's Mind Talent, he remembered each and every detail clearly, his pain resistance the only thing keeping him semi-conscious.
The dream was immediately cut short, replaced by overwhelming negative emotions from the Necromancy Affinity. Tears flowed from William's eyes constantly until there was nothing left to cry.
He wanted to call Water Mana to create something for him to drink, but the negative emotions prevented him from properly focusing on his Magic. He could only wait out the effects of the upgrade with gritted teeth and dry eyes.
The Blood Affinity upgraded in an instant. His body exploded into a rain of blood, then reformed almost as fast with the Regeneration Talent. The Seal Element upgraded immediately afterwards, fossilizing his entire body and completely restricting his movement for a fraction of a second.
As William broke free from the Sealing with his incredible strength, the Mana continued to affect his insides, his body entering a constant state of damage and healing, eventually leading him to age his first year since the start of the upgrades.
The Gravity Element came next, pressing William's body to the ground. His body sank further and further into the ground, until it came into contact with the Barrier Arrays that were underground. It was a decision William had decided to make in the last second, and he was thankful that he did now.
His body tried to break through the Barrier Array with the pure strength of Gravity, but Tier 6 Arrays were no joke. Neither the A-Rank nor the S-Rank Gravity Affinity upgrades could even cause a crack in the Array.
William stood up slowly as the Gravity Affinity completed its upgrade, but he was overwhelmed again by the Illusion Affinity upgrade, which made his body become slightly illusory as it faded in and out of existence.
William had no idea how to defend against such a Magical Attack, but thankfully the upgrade completed on its own and his body reformed after a few minutes of anxiety. The System had ranked the upgrades from least to most dangerous, yet the Illusion Talent upgrade didn't seem that strong.
That was the scariest part, since William had no idea whether he was close to dying or not.
He was forced to stop thinking about this when the Time Affinity started its singular upgrade from A to S-Rank. It was the second to last Element that the System would raise, which made William wonder what kind of effects it would have.
He found out the answer very quickly, when his skin turned leathery, and his hair turned grey. The Regeneration side effect started to trigger one by one, as the number next to his age rose once every minute or so, only stopping when his age had reached 104 years old.
-Reached one hundred years of age: +1000 PP