To get the most out of his plan, Isaac knew the ideal targets were Level 7 Special XX monsters.
Luckily, there were a bunch of suitable candidates right at the base of the hill.
He stopped in front of a Special Robust Hyenaman, hesitating for a second. "How do I even use this thing? Just wave it in its face?"
He raised the token experimentally. Right on cue, the Hyenaman—usually docile around him—lunged at him with a snarl.
"Here we go!" Isaac braced himself. The two of them were now locked in a one-on-one submission duel.
He was more than familiar with this system by now—he'd climbed all the way up through solo duels. It didn't take much effort for Isaac to knock the monster down.
Instead of dying, the Hyenaman dropped to 1 HP, trembling on the ground.
"So, do you recognize who's boss now? Wanna join up?" Isaac threw out a lame one-liner, eyes locked on the system prompt.
Recruitment wasn't guaranteed—if it failed, all of this would be for nothing.
[Congratulations! The Special Robust Hyenaman has agreed to join your legion.]
"Yes!" Isaac pumped his fist. "I mean, come on. Hyenamen are the weakest mobs out there. If one of them had refused, that would've been pure bad luck."
With his first minion secured, he moved on to the next.
Special Sturdy Hyenaman. Another clean win. Second recruit locked in.
The third attempt failed, but he succeeded with the next—another Special Robust Hyenaman.
Three soldiers, check.
Isaac marched his new crew back to the hillside and immediately began upgrading them.
"Thank god I saved some Star 1 Quality Shards."
He used those to max out their Star 1 Quality. For example, one Robust Hyenaman became:
Sturdy, Agile, Special Hardy Hyenaman.
It cost 40 Star 1 Quality Points per minion—120 total—and yes, it hurt to spend that much.
According to the system, subordinates couldn't have higher Quality than their leader. But Isaac figured that getting them to two Special prefixes was probably the optimal state for now.
Too bad he was broke. This was the best he could afford.
To cap it off, he handed each of them a Hyenaman Club.
"Not only did I burn all my Reputation, I just gave away 900 bucks' worth of gear… You guys better not die, or this is gonna be the worst investment of my life."
Once everyone's health and stamina were back to full, Isaac took a deep breath.
"Alright boys, time to go to work."
A towering Special Sturdy, Special Agile, Special Robust Hyenaman led a motley crew of:
Sturdy, Agile, Special Hardy Hyenaman
Special Sturdy, Agile, Robust Hyenaman
…right up to Greedy Daffino, Commander of the Hyenamen.
Say what you will, but their name tags alone made them look like an entire raid group.
Standing before Daffino, Isaac realized just how massive the elite mob really was.
All four of them were about 6 feet tall, but compared to Daffino, it felt like looking up at a mountain.
"Buddy, I went all in on this. You better drop some serious loot."
He motioned to one of his minions. "Red One, hit him!"
THWACK. No hesitation—Red One smashed his club right into Daffino's face.
"Red Two, Red Three, move in!" Isaac charged alongside them.
Clubs rained down. Damage numbers floated up:
-18, -17, -23, -25
That's when Daffino's HP bar popped up—1190.
Monstrous.
Daffino didn't hesitate—he swung his own massive club at Red One.
-55
"Jesus! What kind of monster damage is that?!"
Red One was built for HP, not defense. Even so, he had 8 physical defense, which meant Daffino's base attack was over 60.
Red One had 740 HP, and that one hit carved out a massive chunk.
Still, it was 4-on-1. Even with busted stats, Daffino couldn't keep up.
Then came the bomb.
-104 (Critical Hit!)
Red One's HP plummeted again.
"Holy crap! His crit rate's insane!" Isaac was fully locked in now, no more fooling around.
"Red One, pull back. Red Two, take over!"
"Red Two, rotate—Red Three, you're up!"
"I'll draw aggro. You guys go full DPS!"
For once, Isaac felt like a real commander. It felt good.
Eventually, after a storm of club blows, Isaac landed the final hit—-24—and the giant finally collapsed.
Everyone was down to yellow HP. Quick math told Isaac that Daffino had dished out over 1,200 damage total—against four opponents.
"Damn, that was insane." He exhaled slowly.
[Greedy Daffino (Level 8 Elite) defeated. You gained 360 XP Orbs.]
[Received: Tier 3 Talent Shards x3, Star 3 Quality Points x3]
"Three of each? Hell yes!" Isaac grinned. Named elites were clearly in another league—the Shard drop rate alone was double the norm.
But the real moment of truth was still coming.
Loot. That was why he'd bet it all.
[Ding…]
Isaac's heart skipped a beat.
[Item Acquired: Leather Shoulders (Level 5 – White)]
Shoulders? And white-tier, too?
[Item Acquired: Ragged Wolf-Hair Vest (Level 1 – Gray)]
A vest? The first time he'd seen that slot filled.
[Item Acquired: Cragstone Hyenaman Club (Level 5 – Green)]
The last one stopped him cold.
Green.
Green.
Officially, gear rarity in Celestia: The Eternal Realms was:
Gray: Inferior
White: Standard
Green: Superior
Up till now, the only gear anyone had was gray, even the best of the gray-tier "superior" clubs still counted as gray.
The Leather Shoulders? First white-tier gear in the whole server.
And then—this.
A green-tier weapon.
Isaac quickly opened the item details:
[Cragstone Hyenaman Club (Green – Superior)]
"Greedy Daffino's personal weapon. Brutally heavy. Said to crush boulders with ease."
Level: 5
Attack: 9–15
+6 STR | +8 AGI | +6 CON
"Oh… my… god." Isaac just stared at it.
He wasn't thinking about selling it anymore.
And that was saying something—for a guy who got into this game just to make money…
He couldn't bring himself to let it go.