“The rules of the game are as follows,” Leon said.
“It is a two-player competitive game. Each player starts with 30 health and 1 cost.”
“If a player's health is reduced to zero, they are defeated.”
“And cost is the key to playing the cards in your hand. You start with only 1 cost, and it increases by 1 with every passing turn...”
“...Next is the card design.”
“For example, using General Sophia as a template, she could be designed as a card with 7 cost, 6 attack, and 3 health.”
“Based on the deeds of General Sophia fighting the gray mist monsters alone, she could be given special skills, such as having unique resistance when facing a 【Gray Mist Descending】 event...”
Leon gave Aaron a brief explanation of the rules for 《Hearthstone Spire Slay》. As Aaron listened, he became increasingly interested.
This was interesting! Fascinating, even!
After listening to Leon’s explanation, Aaron immediately realized the strategic depth and entertainment value of this card game.
If it could be produced and promoted, the mechanics of 《Hearthstone Spire Slay》 would undoubtedly take the entire Heron Empire by storm!
Moreover, in Leon's design, the cards in 《Hearthstone Spire Slay》 were based on real-life figures.
Then... he could also include his own image in the cards!
Seeing the look of novelty on Aaron’s face, Leon knew that his version of 《Hearthstone Spire Slay》—a blend of various card games from his previous life—had successfully won over the Prince.
“This way, I can also add myself to the cards...”
The reason Leon had suddenly come up with a card game was to increase his popularity.
In the evaluation criteria of the divine spell panel, the dimension of 【audience feedback】 accounted for a large portion of the score.
And 【audience feedback】 was not only related to the strength of Leon’s opponents and the effects his divine spells had on enemies, but also to Leon’s own fame and reputation.
The greater his fame and the higher his status, the more audience members would recognize him, and the stronger the feedback would be.
This would lead the divine spell panel to give higher ratings, allowing him to harvest more experience points.
During the assessment just now, Leon had eaten a lollipop every time he won. This was to set an image anchor for his personal brand:
In the future, whenever people saw a priest who loved eating lollipops, they would know for sure it was that 'hero who saved Solainem.'
However, such an image anchor was not enough to make Leon's name strike deep into the hearts of every citizen of the Heron Empire.
So, Leon immediately decided—he would be a copycat!
What could spread fame faster than leaving one's exclusive image in a card game that was popular across the empire?
As long as he designed his own card in 《Hearthstone Spire Slay》 and made the card's skills overpowered enough that every player wanted to buy it...
Then every time a player played the game and saw his name and image on the card, they would naturally remember that there was a person named 'Leon Douglas' in the Heron Empire.
Of course, Leon kept his original goal firmly in mind.
He designed 《Hearthstone Spire Slay》 solely to better obtain 【audience feedback】 and, secondarily, to make some extra money.
His focus would not be on business or being a copycat.
Wealth was good, but without sufficient strength to match it, wealth was nothing more than a granary for others to raid.
His ultimate foundation was the strength provided by the divine spell panel.
“Intriguing!”
After hearing Leon’s explanation, Aaron was full of enthusiasm and immediately patted his chest, guaranteeing:
“You go ahead and design it without worry. I will have the head of the Gugu Chamber of Commerce personally come to cooperate with you. I will make sure 《Hearthstone Spire Slay》 sweeps across the entire Heron Empire!”
“However, I have one condition.”
Leon replied, “Please speak, Your Highness.”
Aaron said immediately, “My image must be included in 《Hearthstone Spire Slay》, and... it has to be designed to be exceptionally strong!”
Leon smiled slightly and nodded calmly.
“That is certainly not a problem.”
...
Several hours later, below the stands, most priests had completed their three combat assessments.
The officiating High Priests were ranking them based on their assessment scores.
First place was, without a doubt, Leon.
And second place was actually Sylvia, who had been defeated by Leon with two hammers.
After waking up from her faint, she had turned her shame into courage.
In her subsequent two duels, she had challenged the chiefs of other academies and won both, demonstrating several Silver divine spells of impressive power and ultimately achieving a high score.
After the rankings were announced, Sylvia walked to the front of the stands, her gaze locked directly onto Leon.
“You won this time. But next time... I will definitely surpass you.”
With that, she turned to leave.
At this moment, Aaron, sitting nearby, patted Leon on the shoulder and spoke up:
“Priest Leon, don't mind her. Sylvia is just talking tough.”
His voice wasn't loud, but it was just enough for the not-yet-distant Sylvia to hear clearly.
Her footsteps paused, and she whipped her head back to glare at Aaron.
Seeing this, Aaron simply shrugged.
“Don't look at me like that. Priest Leon and you aren't even on the same level.”
“The gap between you and him is even greater than the gap between an ordinary priest and you. Talking tough like this now is just asking for humiliation.”
Hearing this, Sylvia’s habitually cold face flushed with gnashing anger.
She and Aaron had been childhood playmates, but now Aaron was belittling her like this for a Leon he had just met. It made her feel both aggrieved and furious.
But... she also knew Aaron was right.
In the end, she could only toss her hair in indignation and leave directly.
Watching Sylvia walk away, Aaron turned back to look at Leon.
“Priest Leon, Sylvia is just being stubborn. Please don't take it to heart.”
Leon nodded calmly. “I understand.”
Aaron stared into Leon’s emotionless eyes and suddenly laughed out loud.
“Hahaha! As expected, Priest Leon, you don't fuss over minor details like Sylvia does.”
Looking at the laughing Aaron, Leon suddenly felt that even a royal scion with a status more noble than his own might not necessarily lead an easy life.
...
The final assessment phase began.
This stage tested the versatility of a priest's mastery over divine spells.
In this segment, Leon also crushed the competition to take first place without any surprises.
After all, after the massive harvest of divine spells in the relic chamber, Leon had mastered a wide array of techniques.
At this moment, aside from the shortcoming of his mental energy, he was basically an all-rounder in divine spells.
For offense, he had 【Hammer of Holy Light】; for defense, 【Holy Light Shield】; for detection, 【Holy Light Perception】; for speed, 【Light Dust Flicker】; and for long-range, he even had 【Radiant Longbow】.
Even for divine spells he had only recently begun to comprehend, with the bonus from the panel's experience points, his level of mastery was a tier higher than that of other priests.
In terms of versatility, among the crowd of Apprentice and Formal Priests, Leon was in a league of his own.
During the versatility assessment, Leon racked up another wave of experience.
Because there were no opponents to fight, the rating given by the panel for his spells didn't reach 【Excellent】, only a 【Good】 rating.
However, seeing the experience points rise once more on the panel, Leon was still very satisfied.
...
“The assessment is over!”
A High Priest announced loudly:
“The final rankings and specific scores of this assessment will be officially announced in three days.”
“At that time, if you find your name among the top ten in any category, you may go to the Holy See in three days to receive personal commendation and honorary rewards from His Holiness the Pope.”
As the words fell, the vast majority of priests in the field finally relaxed.
The assessment had lasted from morning until night, leaving most of them exhausted.
“I wonder why His Holiness arranged it this way? Wouldn't it be better to spend a few more days on it? Why squeeze all the content into one day?”
“Yeah, I heard it's not just us Apprentice and Formal Priests. Even the assessments for High Priests and Bishops were all squeezed into a single day.”
“My family has prepared a banquet at our manor on Lycette Street. Does anyone want to come?”
“I'll go! My father was recently recalled to his warband, so there's no one at home to nag me. I don't have to rush back tonight!”
On the other side, the female priest who had been given a lollipop by Leon earlier balled her fists to cheer herself up.
She stepped forward and politely invited Leon:
“Priest Leon... my family is also hosting a banquet. May I ask... would you be willing to attend?”
“Thank you for the invitation.” Leon shook his head directly in refusal.
“But I must go back and continue my cultivation of divine spells.”
If it were anyone else, the female priest would surely think it was just an excuse.
But this was Priest Leon. Through their brief interaction, she already knew that this was simply his nature.
“I see...” The female priest could only nod with some disappointment, but still unwilling to give up, she asked carefully:
“Then... when the Holy See announces the rankings in three days, will you be there? After the ceremony... there should be some celebratory arrangements.”
“I appreciate your kindness, but I truly do not have time to participate,” Leon said.
“I am approaching the stage of ascending to the Silver rank, so I must focus on meditation. I will not be scheduling any social activities for the time being.”
“Oh... I see.” The female priest lowered her head in disappointment, but then she suddenly snapped it back up, her eyes filled with shock as she looked at Leon.
“Wait! Did you say... you are about to ascend to the Silver rank?!”
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