In DanMachi, Freya Set Her Sights on Me from the Start! Chapter 16

"Perfect timing. Let me test my current strength!"

With a burst of speed, he yanked out the sword that had just pinned a Hellhound to the ground, then charged straight at the Unicorn Rabbits.

After being strengthened, Cao Ye's speed had increased dramatically, as though he had been buffed.

"Squeee—"

The instant Cao Ye drew near, the Unicorn Rabbits revealed a savagery completely at odds with their cute appearance. No matter how they looked, they were still vicious monsters.

"Slash—"

With one swing, he killed the first Unicorn Rabbit. The blade cut cleanly across its abdomen, severing it at the waist.

At that moment, the remaining Unicorn Rabbits attacked Cao Ye from every direction.

Cao Ye saw every one of their attacks and effortlessly evaded them all.

"So light~"

It was as if Cao Ye could no longer feel his own weight. His speed and reflexes had improved far, far too much.

"Slash—"

Another swing directly severed a Unicorn Rabbit's head.

Then, with a backhanded motion, he pierced another Unicorn Rabbit through the body and violently finished it off.

In just a few minutes, Cao Ye easily dealt with all seven or eight Unicorn Rabbits, every movement smooth and fluid.

"Whew~~~"

Letting out a breath, Cao Ye dispelled the enhancement from Mana Burst. Once the enhancement vanished, everything returned to normal, and the sudden weakening left him somewhat uncomfortable.

Still, feeling that he had more than half his mana remaining, Cao Ye had a rough estimate now.

Using Mana Burst to strengthen his body could last for around fifteen minutes. If he was not fighting, it might last even longer.

Chapter 27: I Really Want a Golden Rule!

"Snap—"

Looking at the broken longsword in his hand, Cao Ye sighed.

He had indeed developed some ways to use Imaginary Magic, even imitating Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon to create a similar style of attack.

However, what Cao Ye was doing did not even count as a high-quality imitation. At best, it was a shoddy rip-off.

Gilgamesh's treasury held genuine Noble Phantasms in untold quantities. He could afford to throw one away after every use.

As for himself, although he had made a small fortune, it was only a small fortune.

Moreover, this fighting style often caused his weapons to come into direct contact with rocks and walls. Once or twice was nothing, but over time, the weapons would suffer increasingly severe wear until they were eventually scrapped.

As for Projection Magecraft, Cao Ye could only use it himself. Storing projected weapons in Imaginary Space was simply impossible, because once his mana ran out, the projected weapons would disappear.

For all these reasons, Cao Ye had begun to run short on money.

Of the one million Valis, aside from living extravagantly for the first two days, most of it had later gone toward buying weapons. Yet only a few days had passed, and he had nearly burned through it all.

As for maintaining his weapons, Cao Ye had never considered it. Maintenance cost money too, and with the way he used them, he might as well buy new ones instead of repairing them. It was not as if he bought particularly good weapons anyway.

"I'm short on money. It'd be great if I had a Golden Rule~~"

At that moment, Cao Ye truly envied Gilgamesh. With Golden Rule, he would never lack money even if he did nothing. Cao Ye wanted that too. He was so poor.

While grumbling inwardly, he skillfully gathered the magic stones one by one and absorbed them all at once.

As he ventured deeper into the Dungeon, the monsters he killed grew stronger, and the magic stones contained more and more mana. Cao Ye's mana was steadily increasing as well.

However, that was also why Cao Ye had sealed off his fastest source of income.

"Hm? This is a Hellhound's tooth. I didn't expect an unexpected gain."

It was not a particularly valuable drop item, but he could still sell it for several thousand Valis.

After all, in Orario, the best materials for crafting equipment were all kinds of monster drops. Hellhound teeth, for example, were highly suitable for forging blades—ordinary weapons, that was.

"Today's task is done. Time to head back. I wonder where Freya has been these past few days."

Cao Ye had not seen Freya for several days. Not only Freya, but Ottar had also vanished without a trace.

That left Cao Ye somewhat puzzled, but she was the goddess of a Familia—and his employer. She did not need to tell him where she was going.

With that thought, Cao Ye stood up and began making his way out of the Dungeon. He truly had no passion for the Dungeon.

In fact, if not for the [Daily Task], he would not even want to enter the Dungeon. Unlike other adventurers, his future was limitless. As long as he had diamonds, he could grow stronger without end.

[All the World's Evil] [Projection Magecraft] [Imaginary Number Attribute] [Intrinsic Skill: Mana Burst]

Just these four rewards from the gacha had already made Cao Ye far stronger than others at the same level. Naturally, his future prospects were immeasurable.

Besides, after grinding for so many years, Cao Ye was tired. What he wanted most now was to lie down and do nothing.

In all of Orario, he was probably the only adventurer with that kind of mindset.

"Step—"

Finally, after leaving the pitch-black Dungeon, Cao Ye stretched lazily beneath the sunlight.

"I'll sell the drops first, then head back and find something to eat."

Glancing at the sun overhead, he guessed it was around two or three in the afternoon. Compared to other adventurers, he was practically an oddity. His daily working hours never exceeded six hours.

"Mr. Cao Ye?"

"Hm? Miss Aina, good afternoon~"

"You're back early again?"

"Yep. Felt like it was about time to come back."

"Okay~"

Looking at Cao Ye, the young elven advisor did not know what to say.

She was a kind girl, so she often repeated the same line to the adventurers under her care: "Adventurers must never take risks." That left many people rather helpless.

She knew her behavior was not ideal, but she had never given up. Maybe someday, one of her words would save someone's life. Even if it saved only one person, it would still be worth it.

But ever since meeting Cao Ye, her understanding of things had been shattered.

He was simply an outlier among adventurers. She did not even need to say anything; he himself had little interest in the Dungeon and came back early every day. This was not the first time she had seen it.

What was more, it had already been ten days, yet she had never once received him at the Guild.

That meant that although he went to the Dungeon every day, he stopped at the right point every time and came back. He was more punctual than someone going to work, and his personality was incredibly laid-back.

He hardly seemed human. Rather, he seemed like one of the gods. In Orario, there was no shortage of gods who just drifted through life, doing nothing but looking for fun all day.

And he had never exchanged magic stones at the Guild. Since magic stones were an adventurer's main source of income, how did he live without exchanging them for Valis?

It was only later that Aina learned a few things about Cao Ye.

He was the man being kept by the Goddess of Beauty. Once she learned that, and combined it with Cao Ye's usual behavior, her impression of him dropped considerably.

He was clearly a grown man, yet he had no ambition. He let a goddess support him, coasted through life every day, and wandered around everywhere. It was truly pathetic.

Because of that, Aina's relationship with Cao Ye remained limited to that of advisor and adventurer.

"By the way, I have something to do today, so I won't chat any longer. See you, Aina."

"Hey, I haven't—"

Aina had originally wanted to advise him. Most gods acted however they pleased. Perhaps Freya liked him a great deal now, but once she lost interest, he would be returned to his original state.

If he did not work hard now and wasted his time, it would be too late to regret it later.

Unfortunately, Cao Ye gave her no chance.

Meanwhile, Cao Ye took the elevator down to the lower levels of Babel Tower. This was Orario's largest marketplace, and it was also where he had always sold his monster drops.

The prices were not as good as outside, but it was safe. This was Babel Tower, after all. No one would dare cause trouble here.

Chapter 28: A Dwarven Friend in Orario!

"Thud—"

After weaving through several turns, Cao Ye made his way to a stall with practiced ease.

He casually tossed over the bag containing his drops. There were not many, but they could still fetch some pocket money.

"Well, if it isn't our 'Goddess of Beauty's darling.'"

The stall owner was a bearded fellow under one and a half meters tall, yet broad and powerfully built. He was a dwarf, a blacksmith from the Hephaestus Familia, and a Level 3 adventurer.

Cao Ye had met him while selling drops, and they had later become friends.

"Whitebeard, here's today's haul. Take a look and pay me."

Cao Ye did not treat himself like an outsider in front of the dwarf shopkeeper at all. He plopped down onto a chair and spoke casually.

"Shut up! I'll say it one more time, my name is Edward. Edward Hendi!"

"Got it, Whitebeard! I know, Whitebeard!"

"Fuckin'—%&*..."

The dwarf shopkeeper immediately launched into a string of curses.

He simply could not understand the nickname Cao Ye had given him. His beard was obviously black, so why did Cao Ye always call him Whitebeard? He had asked countless times, but the only answer he ever got was that his name was "Edward."

The dwarf shopkeeper was furious, but in the end, there was nothing he could do to make Cao Ye change it. He had given up, though he still got angry every time.

"Glug—"

While the other man fumed helplessly, Cao Ye casually picked up a bottle of alcohol from nearby, pulled out the cork, and started chugging.

Cao Ye had not drunk alcohol before, but after coming to this world, he found that drinking was quite enjoyable.

Especially the pleasantly dizzy feeling of being drunk—every worry seemed to disappear.

Besides, most of Orario's alcohol was similar to beer, with some craft brews resembling champagne or wine.

But to someone from the modern world, drinks like those were practically just beverages.

"Hey, that's my liquor!"

"What do you mean, yours or mine? Aren't we brothers? What's yours is mine, and what's mine is still mine."

Hearing Cao Ye's shameless words, the dwarf shopkeeper laughed from sheer anger.

"I've never seen anyone as shameless as you. But aren't you being kept by the Goddess of Beauty? Why do you come here every day to mooch food and drinks from me?"

"Can't help it. Free stuff always tastes best."

"You should just shut up. I don't want to talk to you."

Cao Ye's words nearly pissed him to death. If he had been ten years younger, he would have kicked Cao Ye's ass.

Though he said that, the dwarf shopkeeper still picked up Cao Ye's bag and opened it. Inside were common drops from the upper levels of the Dungeon. They had some value, but not much.

"Killer Ant shells, slime mucus, Unicorn Rabbit fur... and even Hellhound teeth. Looks like you had pretty good luck today."

Looking at the items in the bag, the dwarf shopkeeper spoke with some surprise.

"Not bad. Just pocket change~~~"

"Just shut up~"

The guy did not look bad at all, so why did every word out of his mouth make people want to punch him?

The dwarf shopkeeper then began calculating the prices. Though he talked like that, he genuinely considered Cao Ye a friend.

Dwarves had very peculiar personalities. Once they acknowledged someone, no matter what sort of person that someone was, they would sincerely treat them as friends. But for people they disliked, they would not say a single unnecessary word.

It was rare for someone like Cao Ye to be able to chat so casually with a dwarven blacksmith.

After all, most dwarves were rough around the edges. Given their temperaments and their particular quirks, there were not many people who could get along with them well.

"I've done the math. Today's haul is worth roughly fourteen thousand eight hundred Valis. I'll take a small loss and round it up to fifteen thousand Valis."

"Whatever. Just pocket change~"

"Hmph. Take the money and get the hell out. This is craft rum! You've guzzled it all down like that. I was saving it to drink with dinner tonight."