Jon's result barely made anyone jealous of him.
After all, what was the use of possessing godly talent when the maximum achievement he could achieve in his life was advancing to the ranks of intermediate stage battle masters?
It wasn't an impressive feat either as many such figures had emerged from their clan.
Although pissed that Jon's talent was better than his, Nathan held nothing but disdain for him.
In the future, Jon wouldn't be able to even become an elder of the clan since the most basic requirement of becoming an clan elder was to reach the elite battle master stage, whereas he could even aim for the position of the clan patriach!
No one knew that Jon had a way to improve his potential, otherwise they would have started sulking like brats who had been wronged.
"You don't seem dissapointed," Mordgeist pointed out.
"The Martial World is an extremely huge world with countless mysteries left unexplored. Surely, there would be a way to increase one's potential that's yet to be discovered," Jon said.
As such a method had never been discovered since the New Age began, which was 600 years ago, the onlookers found Jon's hopeful attitude disgusting.
The gaze they directed towards him revealed that they saw him no differently than a mud-covered street urchin trying to court a silken lady of the court.
It was simply the case of a person overestimating himself, they believed. 'Totally unsightly,' they cursed him under their breath.
They didn't know he already had a way to do what was considered impossible.
"Go and stand with the crowd who have passed the awakening trial," Mordgeist said to Jon.
"Yes, elder," Jon followed his instruction and went to stand alongside the group who had already passed the talent assessment test, which came to an end after a while.
"Out of over a thousand people who participated in our clan's annual awakening trial, only a few dozen of you have managed to pass it. Congratulations," Mordgeist said before handing a transparent hexagonal crystal to everyone who passed the Awakening Trial.
"The crystal in your hand is the awakening stone. Press it against the area between your eyebrows and you should awaken as a battle master," Mordgeist explained.
Jon was quick to follow his instruction.
As he pressed the awakening stone against his glabella, it turned into countless specks that flowed into his body, vanishing from sight.
The next moment.
Jon's expression twisted into one of agony as if a grand battle was being fought inside him.
Luckily, the pain went away as quickly as it came, and it could only mean one thing.
The boost from the awakening stone has unsealed his magic sea.
Jon became sure of that as he sensed his battle spirit.
"What luck. My situation is no different than a poor man who's stumbled upon a treasure so valuable, others would kill me for it."
He wasn't being overdramatic. After all, battle spirits could be stolen by killing their owners or using special methods. His battle spirits were anything but ordinary. If their effects were to become public knowledge, he would no doubt attract trouble!
Jon's mind went into overdrive, cooking up ways that would allow him to fool the world about his battle spirit so that he could use it whenever required without worrying about killed for it.
'There's no easy way. But it's not impossible either.'
To cover up one lie, sometimes a hundred more were needed, and slipping up even once in the middle could unravel everything and expose the truth.
Deceiving others might look easy from the outside, but it demanded thoughtfulness and precision.
But if every step was carried out with meticulous care and no trace was left, it was entirely possible to fool someone for a lifetime.
'That should work.'
Not even a minute have passed since he awakened, but in that short time, he had already come up with a plan to fool the world about his battle spirit. His intelligence was terrific!