Chapter 21: The Alchemist's Daughter!
Thanks to his absorbed knowledge, Xolvion had traced to the halls of the adventures guild, seeing a picture of the current duke, along with his wife, his eldest son and his daughter.
"So, that's what he looks like..." He said, wondering if he could somehow adapt a disguise, he would have no problem getting into the ball.
"Now the only question is how do I do it?"
Xolvion had made his way through the city, visiting every alchemist shop he knew about and could find. Unfortunately, none of them seemed to possess any abilities to change an object's shape through the rare ability called transmutation, let alone a person's image. He searched and searched until finally, an old man told him there was only one person in this city who could do such a thing, and that it wasn't cheap.
"T-Thats a divine ability, transmutation is a tricky thing. Don't get many who can use such a magical power." The old man had said before he pointed Xolvion in the right direction.
Xolvion had finally come to a small shop on the edge of the city, located in the slums closest to the city walls, a lowly place full of beggars and thieves. The smell of human waste was rife in the air as people willingly threw their waste into the street.
"So this is the place?" Xolvion thought before he knocked on the door, noting that it was well hidden among the lowest of places here in this city, easily escaping notice.
Nobody answered, and Xolvion knocked again, this time getting a response.
"Yeah, I'm coming!" a voice said before the door opened.
Xolvion was met by a tomboyish girl with large breasts and short auburn hair that was flicked across her face. She appeared to be around nineteen, with sharp green eyes that held intelligence beyond her rough appearance.
"What do you want?" she said as she crossed her arms over her chest, her large breasts pushing out of her rags she called clothes.
"I'm looking for Jiran the Wise. Is this the right place?" he asked, looking at her oddly.
"What do you want with him?" she asked.
"I would like to hire him for a job," Xolvion said, watching the girl closely.
"Oh yeah, how much does it pay?" she then asked.
"One gold coin," Xolvion said, flashing it to her in his hand.
The girl's eyes opened wide before she cleared her throat. "Come in," she said, moving to the side, allowing him inside before she checked the area and closed the door, her behaviour changing drastically at the sight of such a large sum of money.
"Grandpa, you've got a visitor!" she shouted.
An old man in his eighties walked into the dusty living room, hobbling on his walking stick as he did.
"Is that so?" he said, taking a look at Xolvion. "My, you're a handsome fellow. What do you say, want to marry my granddaughter?" he said, giving her a poke with his cane.
"She might look a bit tomboyish, but she's got huge jugs," the perverted old man said, laughing.
"Shut it, old man!" she shouted before she kicked his walking stick, causing him to fall over.
"Oh, my back!" he said in pain as he rolled around on the ground.
"That's what you get, pervert," she said as she walked away into the other room.
Xolvion was a little confused but decided to heal the old man and help him up.
"Heal."
The glow of light cast over the old man, taking away all of his aches and pains, making him feel almost ten years younger.
"Oh my, that healing... I haven't seen someone use that in a long while," he said, impressed as he stood up, not even needing his walking stick.
"Wherever did you learn such a skill?" he asked as he readjusted his glasses, taking a better look at Xolvion.
"I'm here to hire you. Rumour has it you can use transmutation to alter a person's face and body," Xolvion said, deciding to ignore his question and get to the point.
The old man smiled as he looked at Xolvion's features. "That's true. But there is a limit to what I can change," he said as he walked towards the door, waving his hand for Xolvion to follow him.
"What do you mean?" He asked as he followed.
"Well, you see, laddy. Alchemy is a wonderful skill, letting us change the matter of objects or potions and even people. Someone skilled in the art could turn water into wine or stone into gold. However, such skills are extremely rare. Rarer still are those who can use transmutation on people," he explained.
"The young tomboy there has inherited my skills, and her body is better suited to carry out the transmutation. I taught her everything I know, after all." He said.
Xolvion took a mental note of what the old man had just said and looked at the girl with new interest.
Is that right...
"So what's the job? Most people who come here want to look like somebody else, or be prettier with bigger boobs," the girl said, having returned to the room.
"I want you to make me look like the duke's firstborn son," he simply said.
"What!" the girl said, almost spitting out her drink.
"What's wrong? Can't do it?" he asked, giving her a questioning look.
"It's not that I can't—I won't!" she said, refusing.
"You see, lad, the duke forbids things like this. If we got caught, he would have our heads," the old man said.
"The question is, why on earth would you want to do such a thing?" He then asked, giving Xolvion a questioning look.
"I have my reasons," Xolvion said, his tone growing colder. "Name your price."
"No amount of gold is worth losing our heads," the girl said firmly. "Find someone else."
Xolvion's red eyes flashed dangerously. "I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, you're the only one with this particular skill in this city, and I don't have time to waste."
The old man sensed the shift in atmosphere and stepped protectively in front of his granddaughter. "Look here, young man, we've said no. I think it's time you left."
"I don't think so," Xolvion said softly, his hand moving to his sword hilt. "You see, I really do need this service. And I'm willing to take it by force if necessary."
The girl's eyes widened as she recognised the threat. "Grandpa, get back!" she shouted, her hands beginning to glow with alchemical energy.
But Xolvion was faster. In one fluid motion, he drew his blade and struck the old man down before either could react properly. The elderly alchemist collapsed with a gasp, blood pooling beneath him.
"No!" the girl screamed, rushing to her grandfather's side. "You bastard! You killed him!"
"And you're next if you don't cooperate," Xolvion said coldly, pointing his bloodied sword at her throat.
Tears streaming down her face, the girl looked up at him with pure hatred. "I'll never help you, you monster!"
"Then you're of no use to me alive," Xolvion said with chilling finality.
The girl tried to use her alchemy to fight back, her hands glowing as she attempted to transmute the air around him into poison gas. But Xolvion's enhanced speed, gained from his various conquests, allowed him to close the distance before she could complete her spell.
His blade pierced her heart with a single thrust, sliding through her flesh and bones before it went completely through her back. The girl gasped, looking down at the steel protruding from her chest in shock.
"Y-You bastard..." she whispered as life faded from her eyes.
"I know, that's me. The bastard prince." Xolvion said without emotion. "But I prefer to take what I need rather than ask for it."
As the girl's body went limp, Xolvion withdrew his sword and knelt beside her, knowing there was only one way to take her ability for himself now. "I really do despise this method, but beggars can't be choosers."
He tilted her head back and made a small cut along her neck, allowing her blood to flow freely before he placed his mouth against the wound and started to drink the blood freely.
The taste was different from what he'd experienced before, metallic, but with an underlying essence that spoke of profound knowledge and power. As he swallowed, he felt the familiar rush of absorbed abilities flooding his mind.
The girl's memories came first, years of alchemical study, the precise hand movements required for transmutation, the deep understanding of matter and its manipulation. Then came the power itself. The ability to change one thing into another, to reshape reality through will and knowledge.
"Incredible," Xolvion breathed as he stood, wiping the blood from his lips. He could feel the new power settling into his very bones, becoming part of him as naturally as breathing.
Looking down at the two corpses, he felt no remorse. They had been obstacles to his goal, nothing more. With their deaths, he had gained something far more valuable than their lives—the ability to infiltrate the duke's castle undetected.
"Time to become someone else," he murmured, placing his hands on his face as he began the transmutation process, letting his magic flow through his body as he activated his skill.
The sensation was strange but not unpleasant, like warm clay being reshaped by invisible hands. His features began to shift and change, his silver hair darkening to brown, his build becoming slightly more stocky to match the duke's son. When the transformation was complete, he looked nothing like the demon prince who had entered this hovel and was a perfect match of the duke's son, after having found a picture of him to use for reference.
"Amazing..." He said, knowing this power had amazing opportunity.
With a casual gesture, Xolvion set the bodies and the building ablaze using his fire magic, ensuring no trace of his visit would remain.
"Now then," he said, his voice even changed to match his new appearance, "time to prepare for a ball."