Null first tracked down Barter's Ruler as he could literally create valuable currency in the form of solid gold.
While it might not always be treasured by some, the appeal in terms of cosmetics and also more technical matters such as its conductivity were benefits that most desired.
"Hey there. What are you looking at?"
The stand they were at held a trove of jewelry that were adorned with gems and metals of beautiful allure.
"Just some pretty trinkets. I have the need for golden treasures after all, you know what with my power."
"You mean your Golden Shower," chuckled Null, "Does that mean each of those objects are actual items and not just a manifestation of your ability?"
"That's correct. And due to the extremity of the ability, I have to make sure that each and every one be made of pure gold and be purchased by my own means."
He looked at one of the necklaces and smiled, "Ah. This is what I've been looking for. I have a passive ability that allows me to feel a resonation between pure gold."
Saying so, Barter's Ruler picked up the golden necklace and asked the stall owner, "How much for this?"
"Hmm. That one is made of pure gold with no impurities or added jewels, so it's not one of my most expensive pieces. What do you have to offer?"
In response to the question, Barter's Ruler had already prepared to generate another golden necklace with his own powers.
"Here, for the necklace I've made a suitable replacement," he said handing over an almost identical piece of jewelry.
"This...," the clerk was too awestruck to speak.
"The gold embodying this special necklace is much stronger as it was made with my power, so it has it bit of a specialness to it. I hope this works for you."
"Of course it does your majesty!"
"Good then. We'll be on our way now. Come Null, let's see if the others ran into any issues."
They left and soon found the others.
"I was able to get my hands on some digs just by helping them make em," Z'oelo said as he wore a shirt that had holes for his extra pair of arms.
"The people here are pretty nice," Klein said, "I got mine by showing the clerk some snow as they never experienced it before."
Now fully garbed in new clothes, the crew checked out the other areas with weapons and tools aplenty.
Theef was seen browsing the wares with a mischievous look in his eyes; it seemed like he was the most unperturbed by the lack of money.
One second a stall clerk was helping out another customer, he struck out with greed for one powerful looking amulet.
Just as he was about to grab it, gravity forced his hand— literally.
"Must you resort to such tactics all the time," Barter's Ruler sighed, "I'm literally the ruler of this planet. At the very least you should consider that."
"Yeah, my bad. Old habits die hard and all that jazz. You mind spotting me for this thing?"
Barter's Ruler sighed some more and turned to the clerk, "For the amulet."
A clamoring of golden coins fell onto the desk as he said so and the stall clerk bowed in thanks then continued talking to the customer.
"What even is the use of this thing," Barter's Ruler asked as Theef shoved the amulet down his gullet.
Not before changing into his chimera form to break it down with his acidic saliva.
"Who knows, the only thing I care about is that it does something useful."
After answering as such, the addition of the new ability manifested itself in the form of a light blue shield surrounding his body.
"Hell yeah! A defensive ability!"
The rest of the crew whistled in jealousy.
"How many abilities does that make now," Null asked.
"Exactly twenty that are useful. And one I almost forgot to use after all this time."
Theef held his hand out and a sprout grew from his skin.
"Oh, I remember this. Any goodies nearby?" Null asked.
"What exactly is that?" Klein was curious.
"Nasty looking is what it is." Z'oelo grimaced.
The little bud growing out of Theef's hand glew with a golden light that was as bright as a star.
It did not take much for the store clerks and customers who witnessed the scene to draw connections to the origin of the ability.
"A divining bean sprout!"
"He has one!"
"A genuine treasure seeker!"
Theef cared not for the ramblings of the crowds of people gawking at him.
"Aw shucks. I hit it big this time!"
Theef only concerned himself with finding the source of the golden light; a golden glow meant something worthwhile was present among the stalls and sellers.
While the glow could indeed tell of such a treasure nearby, it was going to be troublesome to find it with all of the goods being sold in the whole market.
"Tch. Seems like I'll need an upgrade to pinpoint the location of the gold rarity object."
Theef tried his best to focus on the glow of the sprout growing from his palm, where the presence of the object behind its budding came from.
The thing about the divining sprout was its range being able to find treasures even from great distances.
However, Theef needed to do the opposite and focus the divining sense to a controlled area to limit its range into a suitable length to act as a detector.
This went against the divining bean sprout's nature though.
Despite this limitation, there was a new variable in play as Theef devoured the plant and turned it into his own power.
Just as he could use the powers of other races and treasures, this should be no different.
Now that the power was his own, as long as his will was strong enough, he could realize something never capable of its previous nature.
That was easier said than done however as Theef had hardly practiced with the powers of his chimera form.
---
The total of his abilities was as follows: golden horns, vampiric blood, ice sovereignty, rebounding runes, acidic saliva, misfortune fairy aura, leprechaun luck, treasure sense, energy blasters, wizard magic, power fists, armored skin, thought acceleration, flexible ligaments, poison breath, pheromone control, toxin immunity, infrared vision, vibration sensitivity.
The final ability was gained after a brash decision after gaining a spiritual awakening from Null after the victory over the Creator.
It made his pupils elongate and dance in his eyes like a madman, yet his vision remained normal if not heightened to a degree inhuman.
The elixir was known as 'The Last Resort' among those in the know.
It was a powerful elixir that brought the acuity of all things stemming from the brain to a new level.
The catch, however, was that it wreaked havoc on the user all the time the effects were active resulting in a mix of heightened ability and disorderly conduct.
Suffice to say that whenever Theef was in his chimera form, he was at his peak with a bit of sensory overload.
Along with his lack of experience with using each of his abilities at once, he had a drawback that made it difficult to perfectly utilize them when in combat.
That was why he found it hard to corner Minerva during the assessment despite all of his strengths.
It should improve as he grew comfortable with his chimera form as it also had the ability to take powers from others.
Hell, he had the ability to take away Barter's Ruler, a Transcendent level being's source of power.
Like him, all Transcendent beings should have an object at the source of their power that was just his for the taking.
That is if they willingly allowed him to successfully change forms and use his tendrils to extract said object from them.
---
When Theef focused all of his attention on the one sprout, his heightened senses allowed him to feel the core of the ability all at once.
From the actual growth of the sprout from his skin, it started from his veins and grew from there outwards until budding out to develop the feelers that sensed for treasures.
The sprout was connected to him, tied to his vampiric blood and armored skin.
The more he sensed each of his powers individually, he discovered how they resonated between each other to allow a sense of balance.
So, he concentrated on the sprout and in turn, it spoke to him.
The golden glow dimmed, yet the ability was running just like before.
Only now, Theef knew what to do instinctually.
He walked in one direction and the sprout dimmed some more.
Noting the change, he switched directions until the glow brightened ever so slightly.
"Hell YEAH!"
He rejoiced aloud to which the audience were confused.
As he continued forth allowing the glow of the sprout to increase, he found himself at a secluded area where a mat was spread out with some trinkets laid along it.
As to not allow the suspicious crowd to pick up on what just occurred, he willed the sprout to shrink back into his skin just until the tip.
Approaching the seller, Theef spoke politely, "Excuse me, might I observe these wares you have available?"
"Of course. By all means good sir," the seller noticed the gazes of those who saw the glow of the divining bean sprout and grew nervous.
Theef took his time picking up each of the items on the mat and observed the changes in intensity of the sprout's glow.
Once he picked up what seemed to be inconspicuous dinner knife, the glow reached its maximum and confirmed to Theef his suspicions.