In DanMachi, I Was Targeted by Freya from the Start!

To recreate the original Charmander, Cao Ye had designed it with the ability to breathe fire. Once connected to its magic core, it only needed to consume magic power to breathe flames.

'Roar—'

'Boom—'

With a furious roar, flames suddenly burst forth.

The smile on Cao Ye's face instantly froze.

The fire had indeed come out, but it had not been sprayed out. Instead, it exploded directly inside its mouth, blowing half of the cursed corpse's Charmander head to pieces.

"Looks like fire magic stones won't work. I'll have to use something else instead."

Looking at the disastrous scene before him, Cao Ye sighed. Disappointing as it was, it still counted as an attempt, even if it had failed.

Although the cursed corpse had exploded, the core had not been damaged. Only its head had been blown apart. A minor problem.

He just needed to repair it with materials. After all, Cao Ye was not lacking in materials now. There were plenty in the "Imaginary Space," all of them today's gains.

After spending some more time on repairs, Cao Ye reactivated the cursed corpse, Charmander.

This time, Cao Ye removed its fire-breathing function, leaving only clawing and biting attacks. After all, its claws and teeth had been assembled from materials dropped by Dungeon monsters.

Hellhound fangs and Lizardman claws were already extremely sharp drops in the upper floors.

"Charmander, use Scratch!"

'Bang—'

This time, Charmander executed Cao Ye's command perfectly. A chair was instantly smashed to pieces by its paw.

"Charmander, use Crunch!"

'Crack—'

With another bite, it directly bit off one corner of the table.

In his excitement, Cao Ye forgot something. This was a room on the top floor of Babel Tower. Even a single table and chair were immensely valuable.

With those two attacks, he had wrecked a chair and taken a corner off the table. If anyone else saw it, they would definitely curse him out.

Such expensive things, destroyed just like that. He was truly too reckless.

Next, Cao Ye tested its other aspects. The results were fairly decent, though there were still many shortcomings.

Since it was his first time making and controlling a cursed corpse, there were many things Cao Ye did not understand. This attempt had also exposed many problems.

One of them was the cursed corpse's stiffness. It did not seem like much now, but it would become a major problem in battle.

After all, it was only a puppet. Even under Cao Ye's control, it was not as nimble as a normal creature.

Especially in the Dungeon, the monsters might dismantle his cursed corpse before it could even launch an attack and hit them.

Elsewhere, on the other side of Orario, at the Hephaestus Familia's residence.

After testing the weapon, Tsubaki returned to the Familia and told her goddess, Hephaestus, the God of Forging, about what had happened today.

"What did you say? You saved someone from the Freya Familia today?"

"Yeah. He looked like a newcomer, probably only Level 1."

"A newcomer from the Freya Familia entered the Dungeon alone?"

As a partner of the Freya Familia, Hephaestus naturally knew about the Freya Familia's brutal methods of competition. She did not approve of that style of growth at all.

In her eyes, such training and competition were unreasonable. But it was someone else's Familia, so she could not really say anything.

Now, a newcomer who did not need to undergo "competition" had appeared in Orario. That was rather strange, much like that child Freya had taken in off the street before.

But at that thought, Hephaestus suddenly shuddered.

"What was the name of the person you saved today?"

"Uh, I think it was Cao Ye. Cao is his surname, Ye is his given name. He was a strange guy."

"Cao Ye? Was it really him?"

This time, Hephaestus was shocked. Most gods in Orario were no strangers to that name.

The little guy whom Goddess Freya had snatched up and taken in right on the street. Quite a few male gods had said they were jealous to death. That was Freya, the Goddess of Beauty.

Charmander vs. Young Dragon!

Early the next morning, Cao Ye got up at dawn.

The first thing he did after getting up was dive straight into the Dungeon.

He had only one goal: to test Charmander's strength. As his first creation, Cao Ye had high hopes for Charmander.

Furthermore, he had made several adjustments to Charmander over the night.

After entering the Dungeon, Cao Ye felt somewhat excited. After all, this was his first time controlling a cursed corpse in battle.

As for letting the cursed corpse fight on its own, Cao Ye could not do that yet. He would have to wait until he became more proficient with "formulas" before attempting it.

After entering the Dungeon, Cao Ye stopped on the first floor.

Today's objective was Charmander's practical combat test. Like a rookie adventurer, the first test target naturally had to be the weakest Goblins.

'Yah yah yah—'

Not long after he stopped, Goblins began emerging from the walls.

Looking at those green-skinned little monsters, Cao Ye smiled.

'Whoosh—'

A waist-high rift tore open before Cao Ye. Then a round-headed, orange-skinned little dinosaur walked out, though its movements were still somewhat stiff.

Cao Ye was becoming increasingly proficient in his use of "Imaginary Space" and "Imaginary Magic."

Previously, he had used the "Imaginary Space" to store weapons. Now, Cao Ye had changed his thinking. What was the point of storing weapons? He wanted to store an army of cursed corpses. When the time came, he could wave an arm and summon thousands upon thousands of troops!

'Yah—'

To Goblins, whether humans or other creatures, everything was an enemy and something that needed to be killed.

So one Goblin charged over, raised its wooden club, and smashed it directly at Charmander.

"Scratch—"

'Rip—'

The next second, Charmander raised its little claws. They looked adorable, but the instant they came down, the Goblin's body was torn apart.

The other Goblins around it were immediately frightened. They all stopped where they stood, not daring to move forward.

Monsters were still monsters and possessed little intelligence, but they also had the instinct to avoid harm and seek benefit. The most classic example was how protagonist Bell and heroine Ais met, when she had been chasing the fleeing Minotaurs.

"Tackle, then follow up with Crunch!"

'Bang—'

Charmander's body was made from the dropped materials of various monsters. Its bones were forged from smelted metal, its core was a five-million-valis magic gem, and it was filled and connected with Black Mud.

Even if it stood still, these Goblins could not harm Charmander in the slightest.

'Rip—'

At that moment, Charmander bit off half of a Goblin's head.

The sight delighted Cao Ye. Charmander's teeth were made entirely from Hellhound fangs, materials that only appeared in the middle and upper floors. Their sharpness was beyond doubt.

In only a short while, all the Goblins had been wiped out.

Nothing could be tested in such a one-sided battle, so Cao Ye brought Charmander deeper into the Dungeon.

Over the following period, Cao Ye became increasingly skilled at controlling the cursed corpse, handling it with greater and greater ease.

During that time, Goblins, Beastmen, Killer Ants, and a variety of other monsters all died beneath Charmander's claws.

Of course, there were also monsters it could not deal with, such as War Shadows. Their agility far surpassed Charmander's, and being unable to hit them became a problem.

During this time, Cao Ye also discovered several other issues. He committed them all to memory, planning to modify them once he returned.

'Bang—'

On the twelfth floor, Charmander rammed forward, its round little head directly killing an Imp.

They were jet-black, with slender bodies that made them look malnourished. However, these little creatures were agile, and one could easily be ambushed by them if careless. Their strength, though, was not particularly great.

'Boom—boom—'

A series of vibrations sounded in the fog-like surroundings from the distance.

'Roar—'

A pair of scarlet eyes appeared along with a roar. Cao Ye looked over. A massive figure was in midair, but after a moment, he saw its appearance clearly.

It was a monster somewhat like an extremely small dinosaur. Its head had structures resembling dragon horns, but it had no wings. At first glance, it looked like an oversized lizard.

A Young Dragon, a rare monster in the upper floors. It was very strong, and ordinary Level 1 adventurers would have trouble dealing with it.

However, after defeating it, one could obtain many valuable materials: hide, teeth, bones, and more. They could all fetch a good price on the market. After all, it had "dragon" in its name, so naturally it would not be cheap.

Charmander's outer hide had been made from Young Dragon hide.

In a sense, the two were somewhat "similar."

"This is a pretty good test subject."

Looking at the Young Dragon, Cao Ye smiled. He had been worrying about finding a suitable test target, and now one had come right to him.

'Roar—'

At that moment, the Young Dragon let out a roar and charged over with heavy steps.

Its body was far larger than Charmander's, but Cao Ye was confident. Setting everything else aside, Charmander's "production cost" alone was already no small matter. Combined with his formula enhancement, if it still fell short, then this formula could simply be sealed away.

"Tackle—"

'Bang—'

It was a fierce direct collision. The sudden attack even knocked the Young Dragon back two steps.

However, the size difference was there. Charmander's attack had not actually caused much damage.

'Boom—'

At that moment, flames began gathering in the Young Dragon's mouth before it sprayed them out.

Charmander was directly swallowed by the flames, yet Cao Ye was not worried in the slightest. There was even a faint smile on his face.

As the owner of the formula, Cao Ye could control every aspect of the cursed corpse and sense all changes in it.

The Young Dragon's flames likewise did not cause Charmander any damage. After all, its Young Dragon hide had been strengthened by Black Mud and the formula. Its toughness was in no way inferior to the Young Dragon before it, perhaps even greater.

Its hardware was absolutely superior, giving it an innate position of invincibility. That perfectly described Charmander at this moment.

"Crunch—"

'Boom—'

Charmander shot out of the flames and bit down on the Young Dragon's long neck.

'Roar—'

With its neck bitten, the Young Dragon also let out a howl.

Cao Ye Notices Something Amiss, a Chill Rising in His Heart!

'Roar—'

In pain, the Young Dragon continuously shook its neck, trying to throw Charmander off. But it could not get its way. Charmander's sharp teeth were clamped tightly around its neck.

"Crunch—"

Under Cao Ye's control, strands of magic power flowed from Charmander's core to its head, coating its jaws and teeth.

In an instant, Charmander's bite force and the sharpness of its teeth were both enhanced.

'Rip—'