While Klein, Z'oelo, and Muni were back on their home planets, Theef and Barter's Ruler sought to embark on more missions with the Wanderer's Guild to find the whereabouts of Transcendent level beings that nobody would care if they ended up crippled or dead.
The entirety of the Trogon System may have been under the watchful protection of the Wanderer's Guild, but there were still those who caused trouble and even worse threatened the lives of others.
It was those people that Theef and Barter's Ruler were looking to find so that Theef could see about stealing their special items so that he had the power of a Transcendent.
He seemed to be one such being that was an outlier on the power scale seeing that he had no other way to increase his strength.
His power lied in the fact that he could adapt to and take the powers of the objects or beings he consumed.
Becoming a Transcendent meant having ties to the Universal Rules; without a deep understanding of them, it was impossible to take the next step unless one had unorthodox methods.
This described Theef perfectly as he could forcefully extract the source of the power that Transcendents relied on and— if he could handle it— use it as his own.
If he was capable enough, who knew if he could hold multiple Transcendent level powers at once and become a terrifying existence.
On the mission list, Theef and Barter's Ruler browsed those that seemed worthy enough to attempt with the intention of taking their power.
Very quickly they sorted out which powers were less eye-catching and landed on a rescue mission.
The details were to rescue a well-known comedian in the entertainment district of one of the planets.
"It seems he wasn't too keen on being the butt of the joke," Theef said.
"No kidding. Who would have thought that someone capable of understanding a Universal Rule would have such a bad personality," Barter's Ruler chuckled.
The mission details included an eyewitness account of the powers displayed by the Transcendent; he seemed to be able to turn himself and anything he held— including living beings— invisible for an unknown period of time.
"This guy seems to be the perfect target seeing as he doesn't have any means to attack. Best to watch out for any hidden weapons though," Theef analyzed.
"I wonder how well my rule has an effect on other Transcendents," Barter's Ruler wondered.
"Hehe. It'll be a battle of Universal Rules! Who knows how that level of power would affect reality," Theef was pumped at the thought, ""Should we go for a warmup or do you just wanna get it over with?"
"Let's get it over with. I'm also itching to go all out."
With the hype at its maximum, the two accepted the mission and were given more details about the urgent matter and swiftly set off.
---
On the entertainment planet, Regalia, the famous comedian, Corbus Mikels, was taken from the stage by an enraged audience member after joking about his sleazy power.
His power was then used to sneak past all of the security and take Corbus to an unknown location.
Luckily, the translator that everyone had doubled as a tracking device; only the technicians of the Wanderer's Guild had access to this function.
With this information, Theef and Barter's Ruler took the ship to the location which was still on Regalia.
"Please spare me! It was just a joke," the pleading voice of Corbus could be heard inside an abandoned building.
"I've already told you to shut the fuck up! Your loudmouth personality is what got you in this situation in the first place!"
Gavus was having a hard time dealing with the consequences of kidnapping a famous figure.
His anger got the best of him and now it only grew worse as he realized that his actions were going to result in more than just a slap on the wrist this time.
"It's all your fault!"
Corbus was bound by the wrist and ankles, so when he got kicked, he fell to the side in pain.
It was a miserable situation he found himself in for doing his job.
'Why did I have to offend someone like this?!'
It was at that time that the lights of a ship shone through the windows.
"Shit. Shit. Shit!"
Gavus panicked and immediately went invisible meanwhile Corbus was ecstatic at the prospect of being saved.
The two who exited the ship then walked towards the building and busted through the doors.
"I'm over here!"
From the floor, Corbus screamed to his saviors, but he soon grew worried for their safety as he had no idea where Gavus went.
"The culprit went invisible! He can't have gone far though!"
It turned out that the warning came too late as one of the figures that entered the building was besieged by the invisible foe.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?!"
Theef took a hit from the invisible assailant and could do nothing about it as his opponent's steps were silent.
'I can't even hear the bastard!'
After seeing that Gavus was sticking around somewhere close, Barter's Ruler immediately acted.
The surrounding area's gravity increased severalfold and the hidden figure was influenced by the change.
Near Theef was the retreating Gavus that had gotten caught by the increase in gravity; the gravity revealed a flickering image of him, but it seemed he was escaping its full might with his power.
Theef was not one to waste an opportunity, so he immediately went to business and brought out his chimera form and its tendrils.
The freezing aura was used despite its ineffectiveness, and he rushed towards Gavus' still form.
'A fucking Transcendent! The shitty Wanderer's Guild sent someone way too quickly!'
The two Universal Rules were clashing, and Gavus' own was still working despite being affected slightly, but when Theef got a hold of him it was bound to be over.
The tendrils latched onto Gavus while he was trying to resist the force Barter's Ruler inflicted on him and were searching for something specific.
Gavus was not going to let him just steal his treasure though.
Squelch!
A dagger sliced through one of the tendrils despite the difficulty of moving and Theef reeled back in pain.
"Bastard! I'm gonna take your valuables whether you like it or not!"
With the tendril still latched on, Theef seemed to have found what he was looking for and absorbed a transparent piece from Gavus' body.
Once he was finished, the flickering went away and Gavus was there for all to see, only now he was flattened by the pressure of Barter's Ruler's greed.
"Nothing but a chump without this, are you?"
Gavus had not felt the feeling he was currently feeling after witnessing the scene before him since he first started his journey with the Universal Rule of Desire.
"G-Give it b-back! My desire!"
From the floor, Gavus struggled to even speak even after Barter's Ruler had ended his suppression.
His world was forever changed as his precious treasure was taken from him.
Theef however, did not even bother with the useless person on the ground; his full focus was on the new sensation that came to him after stealing the treasure.
'It's different from the greed I felt when hopped up on Goldie's treasure. This feeling is desire; desire to take without fear of being found out."
It would seem that Theef had gained a power that spoke to him perfectly.
He knew all too well this feeling and let the feeling of desire permeate throughout his being.
If there was anything he wanted, he just had to take it, and it would become his.
When the feeling spread all throughout himself, he suddenly felt a change in his body and looked at his outstretched arms.
"I'm fucking invisible!"
Thanks to the nature of the Universal Rule, Theef's voice resounded without revealing his position.
Gavus could only lament after seeing his power being used by another after all the time he spent familiarizing himself with it.
The restraints that were used on Corbus were taken and used to tie up Gavus and the four soon departed on Theef's ship.