[Spirit of Lust] Chapter 195: Belphegor’s infodump. (Patreon)

William and Belphegor ate their meal. The two did so in contemplative silence yet for very different reasons. Belphegor was, as far as Will could tell, pondering on the questions he had asked. Will, however, looked down at his plate with indignation.

It should not be legal to sell so little food for so much money, and Will just had to stop for a moment and wonder how anyone could have the audacity. His food consisted of a small salmon filet on a bed of risotto and three asparagus on the side. The food was on a plate at least three times larger than the portion he was served, and as if to make up for it, the edges of the plate were adorned with some purple sauce in zigzag patterns. Pretty, yes, but unnecessary.

“So an artificial body for the little lady,” Belphegor said. “One she can use temporarily, without truly leaving your body. One that can shapeshift at will, too. Hah! You’re not asking for something easy, boy.”

“But it’s possible,” Will inferred.

“In theory, yes. I’ve never heard of anything like this done before, but all the things you’d need already exist or are possible to achieve.” Belphegor had a bite of his wagyu beef, swallowed and took a sip from his glass of wine. “Let’s start with the little lady’s consciousness. She’d be able to leave your body whenever she wished, but the way you are now, it may not be possible for her to come back.”

Will flinched, and he felt Ishtar flinching as well inside his head. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve learned to control aether. Your body now has innate resistance to magic. If Ishtar were to leave your body and sever the connection, she wouldn’t be able to create it again without severely hurting you, even if you were to willingly let her in again. As the kids say these days, you’re now built different.” Will stopped himself from cringing. If the old man noticed, he didn’t comment on it. “I’m assuming you both would like to avoid that scenario.”

‘Yes.’

“Yes.”

“Then the first thing Ishtar needs to do is learn to separate her consciousness from her being. That way, she can posses a soulless body using minimal power while most of herself remains inside you. It should be possible, in theory. My advice is to practice on something inert and that can, in some way, be conceptually thought of as… someone instead of something. A stuffed animal, for example.”

Will felt Ishtar nodding along. She was already getting some ideas.

“Next is the matter of the body. To get something like that on your own would prove rather difficult. See, those exist. I mean flesh and blood bodies with no life and no soul. Imitations made through alchemy for… well, a plethora of purposes. They are, however, extremely difficult to make and require a true expert. They are sold in your world’s black market, but as you may imagine, are ridiculously expensive. You could probably dine here every day for a couple months with that money.”

Will winced. Money was his greatest enemy, as always.

“Finally, there’s the most difficult thing to achieve. That is to give the body a shapeshifting ability. Again, this is something that exists, believe it or not.”

“Nanami mentioned Doppelgangers,” Will said.

Belphegor smiled, but it was the kind of smile a grandfather would give to a grandson who didn’t know any better. “Let’s call them mirrorkin, if you don’t mind.”

Will swallowed, but nodded. “I heard they… That they hadn’t been seen in a long time.”

“Correct. They’ve been assumed extinct, which means their plan worked.”

Will blinked. “Excuse me?”

Belphegor sighed. “I owe Cynthia a lot, so I will share this information with you. However…” He extended his hand, and Will saw it glow with a small, yet intense amount of aether. “I would have you swear that you will not share this with anyone else, boy. It is a sensitive topic.”

“What is this?” Will asked.

“A harmless security measure. Once you shake my hand, I will know if you ever speak of what I’m about to tell you. This is quite the sensitive topic, you know?”

‘Should we do it?’

‘If it’s not the enchantment he’s saying it is, I’ll know. I may not be able to match him in power and ability, but I’m confident I can stop the enchantment before it takes root.’

Will reached out and shook Belphegor’s hand. He felt foreign aether against him for a short moment before the sensation completely disappeared.

“You are aware of how aether can be particularly attuned to a certain school or type of magic, right?” Belphegor continued nonchalantly. “Like incubi and succubi, for example. Their aether is second to none when it comes to sex-related magic. Mirrorkin were similar in that regard. Their aether was strongly attuned to illusion magic, so much so that, over time, their illusions became real. They acquired the power of true shapeshifting. You can imagine the value of such an ability, can’t you? Mirrorkin were pursued, enslaved, slaughtered. People both coveted and feared their power. The King of Envy, a mirrorkin himself, killed every other of his kind, proclaiming that he was the only one who should ever possess such a powerful ability.” Belphegor chuckled. “It was a ruse. His people took different forms, different names and scattered around the world. Who knows where you’ll find a mirrorkin, but it’s very likely that you have at least walked past one in your life.”

Will pursed his lips, crossed his arms and leaned back on his chair. He didn’t know if this was a good or a bad thing. “And we need a mirrorkin to create a shapeshifting body, correct?”

“It’s your only chance,” Belphegor said casually. “Unless you’re willing to spend centuries honing your illusion magic until your aether becomes attuned to it and you can shapeshift yourself. Losing your previous attunement, by the way.”

‘We’re not doing that, you know?’

He knew.

“What do we need a mirrorkin for, though? I mean, what would we need to ask them?”

“Either their willing help in attuning the body, some of their blood or some of their semen, if male.”

Will blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You know that potions and alchemy in general are based on aether. You’ll need a mirrorkin to infuse an artificial body with the ability to shapeshift. If not that, then blood and semen are the two bodily fluids that best carry aether. It would make thing harder, but it would still be possible.”

Will sighed. “So… Recapitulating: we need Ishtar to learn to extend her consciousness to another body; we need to buy an artificial body from the black market; and we need to find a mirrorkin to help us.”

“Correct, my boy.”

Will rubbed the bridge of his now. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and at least now we know what we need, but still. This will be a long project…”

Belphegor grinned. “You know… I think I know of a way to help you with those last two tasks. Of course, I’ll need something in return.

Of course. Well, they might as well hear him out.