Still, she knew better than to fantasize. Zeus lived, after all. Making a fair trade with Hera for a few treasures left no room for complaints. But sneaking in during the dead of night to loot everything? That would bring serious trouble.
The happiness of too many choices became her delightful burden. Back when she'd taken a fake Godkiller sword from Themyscira, Thea had celebrated for days. She'd thought divine artifacts were rare and precious.
Only today did Thea realize artifacts weren't scarce—Zeus had already scavenged them all! Thanks to his head start, the old king had apparently stripped the world bare, leaving the outside clean as a whistle. People treated artifact scraps as treasures while his vault overflowed with them.
This perfectly illustrated taking everything and leaving everyone else with scraps.
What should she choose? Thea stroked her chin thoughtfully. Diana came purely to broaden her horizons and offered no constructive opinions.
Thea glanced at Hera standing outside the vault. That cunning woman made it seem generous, letting Thea choose freely, but the items obviously varied in quality. Pick well and profit; pick poorly and eat the loss.
Hera wasn't offering explanations. Everything depended on Thea's own judgment.
Focusing divine power into her eyes, Thea relied on her Wealth Domain to identify the vault's most valuable items.
Dazzling radiance filled her vision. She couldn't name many treasures but could judge based on their wealth auras.
Some nameless gauntlet—one meter of golden light. Thea picked it up, examined it, set it down.
A black iron arrow next—1.2 meters of gold.
"That's the arrow said to have killed Achilles," Diana explained. Thea hefted the arrow, found she disliked such treacherous weapons, and returned it.
Walking further, she discovered an excellent item—a gleaming golden cup. This chalice registered as extraordinarily valuable in her Wealth Vision!
"The chalice Leto forged for her son Apollo from Aegean sunlight, shining bright even in darkness. Legend says it can even dispel negative emotions and darkness," Diana said after long consideration, comparing it to her memories.
Thea found this quite useful, especially its ability to dispel negative emotions—perfect for controlling anger. She mentally checked this chalice for final consideration.
She examined many more treasures afterward. She didn't lack weapons or armor currently, focusing instead on items with special properties.
Evil artifacts fell outside consideration. Her attention centered on legendary items—like Odysseus's ruby, given by his wife Penelope before he sailed for Troy, containing a wife's love.
Thea also spotted the infamous Golden Apple. Carrying it would enhance the bearer's charisma. Her charisma already topped out—Hera could keep this one for herself.
"Huh?" While strolling leisurely, something in a corner caught her attention.
The Golden Fleece? A fluffy pile of wool sat casually discarded. Compared to the numerous artifacts and sub-artifacts, this wool seemed utterly unremarkable. Yet Thea's wealth-sensing divine power told her this item's value was immeasurable.
Impossible... Thea touched the fleece. Besides softness, nothing seemed unusual. What use did she have for this? Make a scarf?
Shaking her head at the absurd thought, she stood to continue browsing. But after just one step, a powerful psychic premonition warned that leaving meant missing something crucial.
The premonition made no logical sense. She turned back. No mistake—this wool pile radiated the brightest aura in the entire treasury. Perhaps it served some unknown purpose? Or contained hidden secrets?
Trust her instincts! Without hesitation, Thea gathered the fleece.
After extensive deliberation, she finally selected Odysseus's Love Ruby, Leto's Golden Chalice, and the mysterious Golden Fleece.
Hera remained noncommittal about her choices. The transaction was complete. The selection belonged to Thea—profit or loss was her own concern.
The Love Ruby would provide abundant love-based emotions, though she'd absorb those after anger.
The Golden Chalice worked passively when kept nearby, eliminating negative emotions—an invaluable artifact for someone constantly dealing with various emotions.
Thea carried the Golden Fleece to her quarters to study with Diana behind closed doors.
They examined everything from mythology to dietary habits and genetic mutations. Nothing.
Had she chosen wrong? Thea's confidence wavered. What else could this thing do? Make thermal underwear for her long-legged goddess?
As her thoughts wandered aimlessly, her peripheral vision caught something unusual.
Within the golden wool, a small thread drew her attention.
Though both were yellow, the fleece shone golden while this thread glowed pale yellow.
The instant she noticed the thread, Thea felt sand slipping through her fingers, time racing forward, sun and moon cycling endlessly. An indescribable sense of antiquity washed through her heart.
What was this thing? It was supposed to be fleece—was this a joke? Thea found it utterly absurd. Despite just a glimpse, the thread's power exceeded even her current capabilities.
Among everyone she'd met, perhaps only Highfather could resist it. If this was the Golden Fleece, wouldn't the original ram be completely overpowered?
She called Diana over. Something miraculous happened—Diana looked exactly where Thea pointed but saw no mysterious thread. Thea was completely baffled.
Only she could see it? Her heart pounded wildly. She had Diana stand guard while she investigated carefully.
Directly touching it seemed reckless. She extended a wisp of mental power to communicate with the thread—at minimum, she needed to know what this was.
Her mental tendril shattered the instant it made contact, before any information could transfer.
Thea assumed this was an offensive weapon and prepared defensive spells, ready for anything. But the thread simply remained in the wool pile, making no further moves.
Thoroughly confused, Thea calmed herself and considered worst-case scenarios. To prevent accidents, she prepared several instant-cast spells and locked onto her own coordinates. Without power far exceeding hers, no one could forcibly teleport her away. Only then did she attempt a second contact.