Isaac stood bathed in golden light.
[Talent "Inferior Hyena Bloodline" – Tier 0: Normal attacks have a 6% chance to crit for 2x damage.]
Seeing the stat boost, Isaac was stunned.
"Whoa, it jumped by 5% just from unranked to Tier 0? Now we're talking! At 6%, I've actually got a shot at landing crits."
After grinding nonstop, Isaac had finally upgraded both his Quality and Talent to match the starting stats of a proper Hyenaman.
Aegis Corp had always claimed Celestia: The Eternal Realms was a hardcore game, and now Isaac could feel it firsthand. A standard Hyenaman was clearly much stronger than a level 1 player—higher attack, equipped with a weapon, and even capable of crits. Unless a player chugged potions non-stop, there was no way they'd win a one-on-one fight.
Looking at his stats now, Isaac's confidence surged.
"Nice. Just five more kills and I'll level up again. Let's keep grinding!"
He kept targeting Feeble Hyenamen—his healing potions were limited, and he needed to conserve them.
[Feeble Hyenaman (Level 1) killed. Gained 10 XP Orbs. Received Talent Evolution Shard x1 (Tier 0). Received Quality Evolution Point x1 (Star 0).]
[Feeble Hyenaman (Level 1) killed. Gained 10 XP Orbs. Received Talent Evolution Shard x1 (Tier 0). Received Quality Evolution Point x1 (Star 0).]
...
"Damn, these things never drop gear. I've killed like twenty of them and still nothing."
Grumbling, Isaac took down five more Feeble Hyenamen.
This time, he didn't even need to command anything—the golden light rose automatically from beneath his feet. He'd leveled up again!
He immediately opened his status panel:
[Character Bound: Isaac]
[Race: Hyenaman]
[Quality (Star 0): Normal (No base stat modifiers)]
[Level: 2 (EXP: 0/400)]
[Attributes – STR: 6 | AGI: 6 | CON: 6]
[Attack Power: Physical 10–13]
[Defense: Physical 3]
[HP: 170]
[Talent: Inferior Hyena Bloodline – Tier 0: Normal attacks have a 6% chance to crit for 2x damage.]
[Talent Evolution Shard: 0/20 (Tier 1 Shards)]
[Quality Evolution Point: 0/20 (Star 1 Points)]
[Monster Reputation: 0]
"Stats at 6, attack's finally double digits, and I've got 170 HP! Hell yeah! I can take on regular Hyenamen now! Huh? Where'd my Quality Points go?"
Isaac scratched his head. He should still have 5 Star 0 Points left.
Opening his inventory, he finally noticed them—5 Star 0 Quality Points listed as items, each with a description:
[Sell: 0.1 Monster Reputation]
[10 Star 0 Quality Evolution Points can be fused into 1 Star 1 Quality Evolution Point.]
"What the hell? It costs 1 Reputation to buy, but only sells for 0.1? This shop is a damn scam!" Isaac muttered. "Forget selling—no way!"
"So Feeble Hyenamen drop Star 0 materials… then maybe regular Hyenamen drop Star 1?" Isaac scanned his surroundings.
He'd wandered a bit farther from the newbie village, and the mob levels here were slightly higher.
Feeble Hyenamen were rare now, and even Level 1 Hyenamen weren't common—Level 2s and 3s were everywhere.
"Better stick to Level 1 Hyenamen. Gotta play it safe!" Isaac said, a bit sheepishly.
He found his target and charged in with his trusty club.
–8!
The other Hyenaman wasn't having it. It struck back with its own club.
–5!
"Heh, your damage is lower than mine, and you've got less HP too. This is easy." Isaac grinned wickedly. "Sorry, brother!"
Whack! –9!
Two Hyenamen trading club blows like lifelong enemies—it was almost a bonding experience.
[Hyenaman (Level 1) killed. Gained 15 XP Orbs.]
The XP Orbs were 5 more than from Feeble types—not bad. But Isaac cared more about the drops.
[Received Tier 0 Talent Shard x1]
[Received Star 0 Quality Evolution Point x1]
"What?! Still Star 0?" Isaac groaned.
"Wait… is it RNG?" He didn't want to believe it, but had to test it.
[Hyenaman (Level 1) killed. Gained 15 XP Orbs. Received Tier 0 Talent Shard x1. Received Star 0 Quality Evolution Point x1.]
[Hyenaman (Level 1) killed. Gained 15 XP Orbs. Received Tier 0 Talent Shard x1. Received Star 0 Quality Evolution Point x1.]
...
"Ugh, five kills and still just Star 0 drops. So even normal Hyenamen don't drop better stuff?"
"How am I supposed to evolve then?" Isaac sighed, slumping against a tree stump to recover stamina. "Guess I've gotta try killing a Level 2. That won't be easy…"
Unknowingly, he had drifted far from his original spot while hunting.
Just as he was stewing in frustration, something caught his eye.
A particularly striking Hyenaman—taller, bulkier, and oozing menace—walked into view.
The name above its head made Isaac's eyes light up.
"Sturdy Hyenaman!"
It was like the Lamborghini of Hyenamen—just standing there, radiating boss energy.
"Think it'll drop gear?" Isaac stared, afraid the thing would walk off.
"It's still Level 1. I'm Level 2 now, and I've got potions. No way I'm losing!" With dollar signs in his eyes, Isaac ignored all caution.
Club raised, he charged straight in and landed a solid blow.
–8!
The Sturdy Hyenaman hit back—–8!
"Hmm? Same damage, but it's only got 150 HP. I can handle this!"
With that, they began a 1v1 slugfest.
After a dozen seconds of brutal brawling, the Sturdy Hyenaman finally collapsed at Isaac's feet, a defiant glint in its eyes as if to say, Bro, you're two levels above me… really?
Isaac ignored its dying glare and glanced at his own low HP, letting out a long sigh.
"Damn, that thing had a higher crit rate. Good thing I had more HP, or I'd have wasted a potion."
He was down to just four left—and no way was he using one unless it was life or death.
Still, a win was a win. And now came Isaac's favorite part…
Looting!
[Sturdy Hyenaman (Level 1) killed. Gained 20 XP Orbs. Received Tier 1 Talent Shard x1. Received Star 1 Quality Evolution Point x1.]
Isaac's narrow eyes lit up like gold coins.
The XP was great, but he didn't care about that.
He cared about those two items.
"Tier 1 and Star 1 materials?! Hell yes! Finally! I just need to hunt special mobs!"
Now that he'd figured out where to get advanced materials, there was only one thing left to do—grind.
But then Isaac paused.
"Wait… that thing still gave me trouble. Maybe I should just stick to normal Hyenamen for now and mark the special ones for later…"
"Come back and kill them at Level 3!"
While Isaac was patting himself on the back for his cautious—not cowardly—approach, the system chimed again.
[Ding! Item acquired: "Worn Hyenaman Club" (Gray)]
It came with a unique notification sound, hinting at something important.
"Wait—what?! It actually dropped gear?!"
Isaac's eyes went wide. Even he could hardly believe it.