Chapter 169 - 165: Claudio: There is only one truth, Jon, you are the "Enlightener

Chapter 169: Chapter 165: Claudio: There is only one truth, Jon, you are the "Enlightener

Jon, for his part, warmly welcomed Xia and Xina temporarily joining their party.

Besides the help their strength as Official Level Sun Monks would provide, their personalities were also quite pleasant.

After some further discussion with Ingram and Reed, where they confirmed the plan to strike against the Blood Eye Association and Eternal Frost Sect in the vicinity of Birch Town, Rosalind returned.

She was clearly overjoyed to see Jon back on his feet and fully recovered.

But in front of others, she did her best to maintain her cool and reserved demeanor. She simply took Jon’s hand, pressed the Earth’s Blood into it, and then whispered a reminder.

"Master, Master Sutton and Master Claudio heard that you’ve awoken and wish to visit."

"How can I let two elders come to visit a junior like myself?"

Jon clutched the Earth’s Blood, turned his gaze to the two Priests, and nodded respectfully.

"Gentlemen, I am fully recovered now. It is only right that I go pay my respects to the two elders. Please excuse me."

Ingram and Reed, of course, had no reason to refuse.

After seeing Jon, Rosalind, Xia, and Xina out the main doors of the church and watching them depart, Ingram sighed softly.

"Such fine manners... I wonder what noble house he hails from..."

"Mr. Jon has never mentioned his surname. He likely doesn’t wish to speak of it, so we shouldn’t pry."

"I was just remarking... It’s a rare sight..."

...

"Kid, you’re all better already?"

When Sutton saw Jon, he looked as if he’d seen a ghost.

From his perspective, Jon’s previous injuries should have kept him bedridden for at least six months to a year, let alone running around hale and hearty like he was now.

"Is that ritual and the Holy Water really that effective?"

Jon didn’t answer directly. He just spread his arms, spun in a circle, and said with a grin,

"It’s all thanks to you and Mr. Claudio for saving me in the nick of time. After I woke up, I just moved around a bit and felt good as new."

"Cut the smart talk!"

The Old Dwarf shot him a glare but didn’t press the issue. He just pulled him over to the rest area and pointed at several devices on the floor, his tone peculiar.

"Did you make this?"

He was pointing at the Walker V Type, which Jon had disassembled into parts, as well as the Steel Nail Ejector that had previously been mounted on Big Mimi.

These were the Engineering weapons Jon had intended to bring to Meis Town to clear out cannon fodder. In the end, they weren’t used, so the Trade Hall Guards had naturally brought them back and returned them to Jon’s room.

The Elf Blacksmith, Claudio, was also there, examining a component from a Crystal Energy Accelerator that was missing its Crystal Energy Core.

Upon hearing Sutton’s question, he too looked up at Jon, awaiting his answer.

Facing their stares, Jon didn’t flinch, admitting it with a calm nod.

"Yes, Uncle Sutton, Master Claudio. I did indeed figure these out on my own and then assembled them myself."

The Old Dwarf’s small eyes went wide in an instant. His short, thick fingers pointed at the precisely assembled gears, bearings, and components as his voice suddenly shot up.

"You made them yourself?! You’re a kid who grew up in a village! Where in the world did you learn to make stuff like this?!"

If it had been anything else, it might have been believable, but this was Engineering.

This was a discipline with an incredibly high barrier to entry, requiring years upon years of study and practice to achieve any level of mastery!

How old was Jon?

He was twenty at most, and not long ago he was just a foolish kid who couldn’t even swing a hammer properly!

Even for a legendary "mental awakening," this leap was simply too outrageous!

However, Jon had long anticipated this question.

Since he’d dared to use these engineered creations, he was naturally prepared for someone knowledgeable to notice, and he already had an explanation rehearsed.

He spread his hands, a perfectly measured look of confusion on his face.

"To be honest, Uncle Sutton, I’m not entirely sure myself. It’s just... when I touch these parts and look at them, my mind naturally fills with... ’ideas’? About how they fit together, how to power them, what they can do, that sort of thing."

"Then I just tried putting them together, and I didn’t expect to actually cobble together something that works."

As he spoke, he pointed to the parts of the Walker.

"This one, for example, was pieced together based on the idea that it should ’walk on its own and shoot steel nails.’ It’s a bit crude, though."

Jon’s explanation was half-truth, half-lie.

The core Engineering knowledge did indeed come from the "understanding" granted by the game system, but the hands-on process of bringing it to life also involved his own logical thinking and the "player experience" he had accumulated in his past life.

To avoid exposing his secret, he deliberately portrayed this ability, which was far beyond what his identity would suggest, as something akin to instinct and intuition.

Sutton’s brow furrowed at his words. He pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Claudio, his eyes full of a ’Could it be?!’ sort of meaning.

Claudio returned a look that confirmed, ’I’m afraid it’s just as we suspected.’

The gazes of the two experienced and knowledgeable members of long-lived races met mid-air. Though no words were spoken, it was as if a thousand had been exchanged.

They thought of Jon’s unnaturally fast recovery, the complex and exquisite elemental martial arts he displayed in battle, and now this "self-taught" mastery of advanced Engineering.

All of this could hardly be explained away as simple "natural talent."

In the end, it was Claudio who broke the brief silence.

He set down the Mechanical Body component in his hands, his movements cautious and careful, as if he were handling not an ordinary part made from common materials, but a priceless treasure.

He then looked at Jon, his gaze seeming to penetrate the surface and see something deeper.

"I see... Jon, I’m afraid you might be an ’Enlightener’."

Enlightener.

Claudio spoke the word softly, yet it landed with the weight of a thousand stones, creating a strange pressure that fell upon everyone in the room.

Jon was no exception.

’Although I wanted to guide their speculation toward an explanation they could accept, what on earth is an Enlightener?’

He had played *Yino* for years and had never heard of such a term. He had, however, fought plenty of bosses with the word "Enlightened" in their names.

Fortunately, Claudio was clearly not the type to keep people in suspense. Seeing the looks of pure, unadulterated curiosity on the faces of Jon, Rosalind, Xia, and Xina, he slowly began to explain.

"The so-called ’Enlightener’ is not a specific profession or type of individual, but rather a term from ancient lore used to describe a certain type of being."

"They are people believed to be directly or indirectly touched by an ancient will, by mystic knowledge, or even by divine revelation. Their ’knowledge’ and ’inspiration’ often defy logic, as if heaven-sent. For them, no skill or field of knowledge is difficult to comprehend."

"Jon, you are a young man from a small village, yet in a matter of days you have acquired a Power that most people could not obtain in years. You can create intricate engineered items that even seasoned experts cannot."

"The only explanation for all of this is that you are an ’Enlightener’."