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=Alchemy Extract= Alchemy (錬金術) is a subbranch of magic that is traditionally associated with turning base metals such as lead into gold and creating an elixir of immortality. However the true goal of alchemic branch of magic is to be able to simulate the entire world inside their minds.

A practitioner of alchemy is called an alchemist (錬金術師), the only known ones being Aureolus Izzard and Good Old Mary.

Principles
With it simply being a sub-branch of magic, naturally it involves several applications and theories that are present in magic such as the teachings of, which the Golden Dawn advocates. One of these teachings is that alchemy is not only that of turning lead into gold, but also a process in which one can make a natural body into perfection, the process being called or Ars Magna - put another way, that humans are incomplete gods and through training and making one complete, humans can become gods. The four stages said to be involved in the Magnum Opus are ', ', Kitorinitasu and .

According to Stiyl Magnus alchemy is an unrefined knowledge, and a magician is referred to as an alchemist if they deal with subject matter closely related to it, if they are untalented enough for other roles. Stiyl also pointed out several times that as the goal of Alchemy is to simulate the entire world, any result that they happen to get before reaching the ultimate objective would, or should be seen as useless by the alchemist.

One of the alchemists known to have made significant progress is, who developed a number of concepts which were incorporated into the field and other forms of magic, including the association of spirits known as (such as Gnomes and Salamanders (サラマンダー))  with each of the four elements. He also developed the concept of the (also known as the tria prima or 'three primes') - salt (body or base matter, 🜔), sulfur (soul, 🜍) and mercury (mind, ☿) (not to be confused with the more mundane substances of the same name), and the relationship between them.

Another core concept which various alchemical concepts were developed around is the, which were identified by humanity in prehistoric times and the only ones known prior to the discovery of in the 13th century. Associated with the seven known celestial bodies among other things, the seven metals were (Sun, ☉),  (Moon, ☽),  (Mercury, ☿),  (Venus, ♀︎),  (Mars, ♂︎),  (Jupiter, ♃) and  (Saturn, ♄).

There are a number of legendary substances which are spoken of and pursued by alchemists; these include the elixir of life, a drug which is said to convey immortality upon its drinkers, the ', said to aid in the production of the elixir and enable the transmutation of metal into gold, and ', a cure-all medicine. Some of these substances also feature in Rosicrucianism, with one of the three main Rosicrucian texts involving the four stage cycle involved in creating the philosopher's stone.

Ars Magna
Ars Magna is Latin for "Great Art". It is the spell in which alchemist would achieve their goal of simulation of the world inside the mind. With Ars Magna, they can bring out thoughts into the real world, essentially making those who can accurately simulate or mold the real world able to control it.

However, according to Stiyl, since alchemy is an unrefined knowledge, modeling the entirety of the world and its laws into a chant takes centuries, even with the assistance of descendants and removing of unnecessary lines. Kamijou Touma deducted that this why the prospect of actual existing vampires are sought after by the magic side, by both alchemists and normal magicians, since one could finish the chants of the level of Ars Magna if one was able to figure out vampire's immortality. Hence forth, no one has yet to achieve Ars Magna under the above means.

Aureolus Izzard is the only person who has managed to achieve Ars Magna. By utilizing the Gregorian Chant Replica to chant the spell simultaneously, he was able to bypass the time required to chant the spell in only a mere seven days as well as increasing its effects 120 times. In his use, the Ars Magna distorts reality through his thoughts, and requires a vast amount of concentration to accurately model a thought into reality with it.

Limen Magna
Limen Magna is a type of Alchemy that was used by Aureolus Dummy and possibly Aureolus himself who could use it if he so desired. In normal conditions, the basic procedures for the alchemy of turning lead into gold are very bothersome and quite expensive - this makes it so that the actual cost and effort employed in the task is such that the produced Gold is of little reward when compared to the annoyance of the process. When used by the Aureolus Dummy, Limen Magna collects and condenses "natural mana" from the building, and creates the "turn into gold" process in an instant. Even though it's not nearly as impressive as Ars Magna, the pinnacle of alchemy, Stiyl commended the versatility of Limen Magna as still something beyond the current limits of modern alchemy, even thought it's just doing something that's being done in a new manner.

Background
According to Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, William Wynn Westcott 'brought alchemy back at the end of the 19th century'.

Deep Blood Arc
The concept of alchemy was prominently featured only in the Deep Blood Arc but was introduced earlier. It is also referenced much later, usually in the company with eerily similar concepts such as the teachings of Kabbalah and Thelema as well as Esper powers. Touma even thought that the basic principles of alchemy were similar to those of espers.

La Regina del Mare Adriatico Arc
While not present in the actual story in any form, Biagio Busoni mentioned that the spell that empowered the self destruction of the Queen's fleet was reinforced with Alchemy.

Coronzon Arc
Aleister Crowley referred to the relationship between in alchemy, during his explanation of the Lady of the Masquerade Ball's Taphthartharath. Mina Mathers later referred to the, specifically silver, when detecting Coronzon's imminent attack.

Christmas Eve Arc
Neoka Norito made use of the seven metals, utilizing their association with the planets and from that the Sephirah, for the magic he had acquired from R&C Occultics.

Los Angeles Arc
A Rosicrucian interpretation of Citrinitas played a major role in the events that occurred in Los Angeles on December 26th, with Citrinitas being the title of the magician protecting R&C Occultics HQ and the basis of the magic they used to trapped the city's population in sand.

Post-Handcuffs Arc
One of the magicians in the group centered around Alice Anotherbible was an alchemist referred to as good, old Mary, who according to her story took on the name of the to hide her identity, and apparently had alchemical skill that could produce miracles on the same level as the real one.

New Year's Eve Arc
On December 31st, besides Mary's resurrection techniques, Anna Sprengel made use of the eighth operation 'separation' in a chemical mine, in a thwarted attempt to kill a reanimated Anna Kingsford.

New Year's Arc
During a battle with Trismegistus on January 3rd, Good Old Mary invoked her own gigantic Tribikos, and mentioned her role in the alchemical tool's creation and at its foundation, mentioning the Kerotakis and Bain-marie alongside it.

Trivia

 * Stiyl commented that alchemists are like scientists of the magic side, who are constantly researching subjects, looking for a basis or rule for them.
 * Stiyl also mentioned that, besides, no alchemist has really done significant progress with their studies and thus "wasn't strong". This, however, was a statement made before he could experience Ars Magna first hand.

Aureolus Izzard, Abilities
His magic name is Honos628, "My honor is for the world" (我が名誉は世界のために).

He was said to be a magic author, capable of writing original grimoires. His job is to input 'vaccines' to make the grimoire destroy themselves, when he worked with the Roman Catholic Church.

Ars Magna
Aureolus uses a powerful form of alchemy known as Ars Magna, which allows him to think of anything and make it into reality. He requires great concentration for it to properly work, or else it may cause considerable unwanted effects (and can even be used against him, as Touma proved); because of this he uses needles to stab himself with in the neck to allow him to concentrate. After attaining sufficient concentration, Izzard then has to verbally express a command to initiate the effects that he desired; the commands can be of simple to complex phrases depending of the effect in question that he wishes to manifest. He uses acupuncture to soothe himself before using Ars Magna if he happens to be excited, which hints that he has at least some knowledge in this field. Of course, while Ars Magna allows him to materialize his very thoughts into reality, it does not actually enable him to alter (or undo in any way) the laws of reality. Touma likened to a computer simulation, that if even a line of code is messed with it will not function.

Aureolus admitted that using Ars Magna would usually be impossible, but he got passed that by using the two thousand students in Misawa Cram to simultaneously obtain knowledge. By utilizing the Gregorian Chant Replica to chant the spell simultaneously, he was able to bypass the time required to chant the spell in only a mere seven days as well as increase its effects 120 times. Since the students were not magicians however, and the unconventional way Aureolus obtained Ars Magna, it was incomplete and couldn't be used without the help of accupuncture needles.

The main concept behind that Ars Magna is 'To purify the murky, lead-like soul of a human into a pure golden soul of an angel' (『鉛のようにくすんだ人の魂を、黄金のごとき天使の魂へ昇華させる』).

List of known Ars Magna commands

 * "I will come to you now" - Allows Aureolus to move instantly towards a person. It is akin to teleportation in a way.
 * "You shall not touch me" - Makes a person unable to touch Aureolus. In the anime, it is shown that the distance between Touma and Aureolus would increase whenever Touma tried to come close to him.
 * "Forget everything" - Allows Aureolus to erase one's memory. Can be dispelled by the Imagine Breaker. Touma unintentionally achieved this after using the fingers of his right hand to run his hair.
 * "Slam to the ground" - Makes the target(s) slam towards the ground. Additionally, one cannot move from the ground after the command is executed. Can be dispelled by the Imagine Breaker.
 * "Die" - This command allows Aureolus to kill a target, though details on how the target can die is unknown. Can be dispelled by the Imagine Breaker.
 * "Sleep" - Caused Index to instantly fall into a deep sleep.
 * "Suffocate" - Suffocates a target, though further details are unknown. It seems to affect the neck of the target. Can be dispelled by the Imagine Breaker.
 * "Be electrocuted" - A command that summons electrical attacks from nowhere. Can be dispelled by the Imagine Breaker.
 * "Be crushed" - A command that allows Aureolus to crush an opponent. In the anime, he summons a car to do this, though it is blocked by Touma.
 * "Open" - A command used by Aureolus to open elevator doors.
 * "Bring (object) to my hand" - A command that summons an object that can be held in the hand, exact details and purpose of the object are required for the command to work. Demonstrated by Aureolus Izzard by summoning a pistol in his hand, and can be changed whenever he wills it.
 * "Fly to the sky" - Allows Aureolus to make a target float above ground at a certain height.
 * "Be Torn to Pieces" - Shown in the anime as being able to rip off a person's clothes and skin.
 * "Revert back to normal" - Return things to previous states depending on what the previous state Aureolus deems. Used to put Misawa Cram back together after its destruction via the Gregorian Chant.

Gregorian Chant
Aureolus Izzard could also replicate the use of the Roman Catholic Church's Gregorio's Chant by using the thousands of students of Misawa Cram, as a substitute for the 3,333 monks needed for the spell - though the number of students is only around 1,000 instead of the 3,333 needed. He is also capable of creating a seal on an entire building that separates people from interacting with objects and the people inside the building, and vice-versa.

Aureolus Dummy
Aurelous Dummy is a clone of himself that Aureolus made through alchemy. The clone is almost a perfect copy of him, even inheriting his will and believing himself to be the real Aureolus. While he cannot use Ars Magna, he has a weapon called Limen Magna. It looks like a golden arrowhead attached onto the end of a chain. His Limen Magna turns whatever the arrowhead touches into molten gold.

The clone was made to be a guard of sorts and once thought that he was the real Aureolus. He later runs into Stiyl who destroyed this misconception, and tore off his left arm and leg with a flame sword. He later ran into Touma with a new left arm and leg made out of gold. Touma used his Imagine Breaker on him, resulting in him cutting-off his mana source. He runs away, dying, and once again runs into Stiyl who pitied him and gave him mercy by burning him into nothing. In his dying moments, the clone found the answer to the question he had always been seeking; "Just what are the limits to what a human can achieve while still retaining a human's form?" He found that this is Touma after being defeated by him; since even with the Imagine Breaker, a power beyond human comprehension, Touma still has emotions like any other human being. Stiyl decided to kill it since being a scholar the clone would manage to find something else to think about in the 10 minutes of life it has left, and die regretting not being able to solve it - whereas if the clone dies right then it would be in a state of fulfillment for solving something it has be seeking for all its lifetime.

Limen Magna
Aureolus Dummy's only ability is to turn physical objects into molten gold, called Limen Magna which the dummy boasts as the pinnacle of alchemy, and according to the dummy, the Bohemian and Viennan alchemic schools of thought believed that it could not be fulfilled.

Using a dart on a chain that he hides within his sleeves, he propels the chain in order to hit the target with said dart. When the dart hits an object, it instantly turns it into molten gold. His Limen Magna, in actuality, is the entire Misawa Cram which the true Aureolus Izzard turned into a base. This allows the dummy to recreate the tool that he uses to convert things into gold to as many times as he wants, and as long as the main body is supplied with mana and the shape of the tool is recreated, he can use it again. Furthermore, the dummy can use Limen Magna on his own body, and can apparently use it as a makeshift prosthesis, although he is not immune to the molten gold's effects.

Naturally, the Imagine Breaker is immune to the effects of Limen Magna, much to the dummy's surprise and intrigue. Moreover, the dummy is unsure whether formless objects such as flames can be turned into gold.

Physical Characteristics
While Dummy's body itself is "as fragile" as a human body and can be easily be chopped into pieces by a fire sword, we have that just like Limen Magna; his body operates by receiving mana from Misawa Cram , in other words in the same vein as high level spells we have that Aureolus Dummy can't be instantly erased by the Imagine Breaker if it is used in him, but instead he will lose energy gradually for long before vanishing. It should also be noted that Aureolus Dummy can still move even after his whole body has exploded from the inside out.

Aureolus pointed out that Limen Magna will immediately vanish if the whole mana supply of the building is exhausted, otherwise it can be immediately reconstructed if so is desired by using available mana from the building, considering that his existence is similar in nature to Limen Magna it might not incorrect to assume the same about him.

=Revised Version (1 - Alchemy)=

Unsorted/Unprocessed Notes
From SD253: GT7, Metaphorical/true universe Goals: Red stone, immortality providing panacea, pure control over 5 elements, rearranging universe Creator must do more than complete research, not make progress without first inventing necessary tools Bain-marie, Kerotakis, Tribikos - basic tools to create universe, rule foundation of tools


 * Different regional variations and schools of thought
 * Influence from and on other fields

Alchemy (錬金術) is a subbranch of magic that is traditionally associated with turning base metals such as lead into gold and creating an elixir of immortality. However the true goal of alchemic branch of magic is to be able to simulate the entire world inside their minds.

A practitioner of alchemy is called an alchemist (錬金術師), the only known ones being Aureolus Izzard and Good Old Mary.

Paragraph 1:
 * With it simply being a sub-branch of magic, naturally it involves several applications and theories that are present in magic such as the teachings of, which the Golden Dawn advocates.
 * One of these teachings is that alchemy is not only that of turning lead into gold, but also a process in which one can make a natural body into perfection, the process being called or Ars Magna - put another way, that humans are incomplete gods and through training and making one complete, humans can become gods.
 * Partial Transfer

Paragraph 2:
 * According to Stiyl Magnus alchemy is an unrefined knowledge, and a magician is referred to as an alchemist if they deal with subject matter closely related to it, if they are untalented enough for other roles.
 * Stiyl also pointed out several times that as the goal of Alchemy is to simulate the entire world, any result that they happen to get before reaching the ultimate objective would, or should be seen as useless by the alchemist.

Paragraph 3: Transferred

Paragraph 4: Transferred

Paragraph 5:
 * Partial Transfer
 * Some of these substances also feature in Rosicrucianism, with one of the three main Rosicrucian texts involving the four stage cycle involved in creating the philosopher's stone.

Notable Spells

Ars Magna Paragraph A1:
 * Ars Magna is Latin for "Great Art".
 * It is the spell in which alchemist would achieve their goal of simulation of the world inside the mind.
 * With Ars Magna, they can bring out thoughts into the real world, essentially making those who can accurately simulate or mold the real world able to control it.

Paragraph A2:
 * However, according to Stiyl, since alchemy is an unrefined knowledge, modeling the entirety of the world and its laws into a chant takes centuries, even with the assistance of descendants and removing of unnecessary lines.
 * Kamijou Touma deducted that this why the prospect of actual existing vampires are sought after by the magic side, by both alchemists and normal magicians, since one could finish the chants of the level of Ars Magna if one was able to figure out vampire's immortality.
 * Hence forth, no one has yet to achieve Ars Magna under the above means.

Paragraph A3:
 * Aureolus Izzard is the only person who has managed to achieve Ars Magna. By utilizing the Gregorian Chant Replica to chant the spell simultaneously, he was able to bypass the time required to chant the spell in only a mere seven days as well as increasing its effects 120 times.
 * In his use, the Ars Magna distorts reality through his thoughts, and requires a vast amount of concentration to accurately model a thought into reality with it.

Limen Magna

Paragraph B1:
 * Limen Magna is a type of Alchemy that was used by Aureolus Dummy and possibly Aureolus himself who could use it if he so desired.
 * In normal conditions, the basic procedures for the alchemy of turning lead into gold are very bothersome and quite expensive - this makes it so that the actual cost and effort employed in the task is such that the produced Gold is of little reward when compared to the annoyance of the process.
 * When used by the Aureolus Dummy, Limen Magna collects and condenses "natural mana" from the building, and creates the "turn into gold" process in an instant.
 * Even though it's not nearly as impressive as Ars Magna, the pinnacle of alchemy, Stiyl commended the versatility of Limen Magna as still something beyond the current limits of modern alchemy, even thought it's just doing something that's being done in a new manner.

Trivia
 * Stiyl commented that alchemists are like scientists of the magic side, who are constantly researching subjects, looking for a basis or rule for them.
 * Stiyl also mentioned that, besides, no alchemist has really done significant progress with their studies and thus "wasn't strong". This, however, was a statement made before he could experience Ars Magna first hand.

Opening
Alchemy (錬金術) is a branch of magic, traditionally associated with turning base metals such as lead into gold and creating an elixir of immortality, with the true goal of simulating the world.

A practitioner of alchemy is called an alchemist (錬金術師), with the only two known alchemists appearing in the series so far being Aureolus Izzard and Good Old Mary.

Current:

Alchemy (錬金術) is a subbranch of magic that is traditionally associated with turning base metals such as lead into gold and creating an elixir of immortality. However the true goal of alchemic branch of magic is to be able to simulate the entire world inside their minds.

A practitioner of alchemy is called an alchemist (錬金術師), the only known ones being Aureolus Izzard and Good Old Mary.

Principles
Paragraph Focuses:
 * Basic gist
 * Different schools/variations of alchemy
 * Connection to other forms of magic, influence from, influences on
 * Rosicrucianism
 * Microcosm and Macrocosm (as above, so below)

Substances and Entities
The field of alchemy is traditionally held to involve numerous substances and their manipulation through various means to produce other substances.
 * Some of these are material and mundane, while others are more fantastical.

There are a number of legendary substances which are spoken of and pursued by alchemists; these include the elixir of life, a drug which is said to convey immortality upon its drinkers, the ', said to aid in the production of the elixir and enable the transmutation of metal into gold, and ', a cure-all medicine.

One core concept which various alchemical concepts were developed around is the, which were identified by humanity in prehistoric times and the only ones known prior to the discovery of in the 13th century. Associated with the seven known celestial bodies of the time among other things, the seven metals were (Sun, ☉),  (Moon, ☽),  (Mercury, ☿),  (Venus, ♀︎),  (Mars, ♂︎),  (Jupiter, ♃) and  (Saturn, ♄).

Another important concept, developed by Paracelsus, was the (also known as the tria prima or 'three primes') - salt (body or base matter, 🜔), sulfur (soul, 🜍) and mercury (mind, ☿) (not to be confused with the more mundane substances of the same name), and the relationship between them.

There are also a number of entities associated with alchemy and alchemical concepts. Paracelsus associated spirits with each of the four elements, known as, - such as Gnomes (Earth) and Salamanders (サラマンダー) (Fire). Another being featured in writings attributed to Paracelsus is an artificial humanoid known as a .

Philosopher's Stone

 * Red stone
 * Four stages
 * Base metals (e.g. lead) to gold, production of the elixir of immortality
 * Material phenomena or spiritual transmutation (refining of the soul, attaining wisdom)
 * Coding

Processes

 * The four stages said to be involved in the Magnum Opus are ', ', Kitorinitasu and .

There are various processes and procedures involved in the field of alchemy.

The most notable of these is the four-stage cycle said to be involved in the, be it for the creation of the philosopher's stone,  the attainment of wisdom,  or the refining of one's being. In order, the four stages are ', ', Kitorinitasu and .

There are other operations, some of which are an expansion of the four stages and others that are separate from them. Some of these have been assigned numbers which sometimes differ between sources. One example is 'separation', described as the eighth operation when utilized by Anna Sprengel.


 * Chrysopoeia (from Greek χρυσοποιία, khrusopoiia, "gold-making")

Tools and Instruments
Whether an alchemist is seeking to create the Philosopher's Stone, a panacea or elixir of immortality, pure control over the elements or to rearrange the universe, they need to have the necessary tools at their disposal in order to progress in their research, and if a necessary tool doesn't exist, they will need to invent it.

There are numerous alchemical instruments which exist to these ends, invented for both general and specific purposes. Three examples, attributed to the alchemist Mary, are the Hoon nabe (Banmari), Kanryū Sōchi (Kerotakisu) and Jōryū-ki (Toribikosu), described by the Transcendent bearing that name (who utilized gigantic versions of them), as basic tools necessary to create and contain a universe. Another tool spoken of in alchemical texts is the Philosopher's Egg (哲学者の卵), a egg-shaped glass crucible during the process of sublimation and in the creation of the Philosopher's Stone.

Background
The exact origins of alchemy are unknown but one of the earliest surviving texts from the 4th century concerning it mentions. Said to have lived in at some point between the 1st century and the 3rd century at the latest, she was credited with the invention of fundamental experimental tools, such as the Bain-marie, the Kerotakis and the Tribikos,  as well as various alchemical operations and precepts.
 * Supposedly taking on the name of the Virgin Mary to hide her identity, she was said to possess alchemical skill that could produce miracles on the same level as the real one.

Origins of alchemy:
 * Other than Mary

[Expand interim area?]

Middle Ages/Renaissance:
 * , 16th century.

One of the most famous alchemists (and one of the few known to have made significant progress with their studies)(Note ref for Stiyl's statement?) is, a 15-16th century Swiss alchemist of the. He developed a number of concepts incorporated into alchemy and other forms of magic, including the (also known as the tria prima or 'three primes') and the  associated with four elements.
 * Elementals
 * Tria prima

[Expand interim area?]

According to Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, William Wynn Westcott 'brought alchemy back at the end of the 19th century'.

Deep Blood Arc

 * The concept of alchemy was prominently featured only in the Deep Blood Arc but was introduced earlier.
 * It is also referenced much later, usually in the company with eerily similar concepts such as the teachings of Kabbalah and Thelema as well as Esper powers.
 * Touma even thought that the basic principles of alchemy were similar to those of espers.

La Regina del Mare Adriatico Arc
While not present in the actual story in any form, Biagio Busoni mentioned that the spell that empowered the self destruction of the Queen's fleet was reinforced with Alchemy.

Coronzon Arc
Aleister Crowley referred to the relationship between in alchemy, during his explanation of the Lady of the Masquerade Ball's Taphthartharath. Mina Mathers later referred to the, specifically silver, when detecting Coronzon's imminent attack.

Christmas Eve Arc
Neoka Norito made use of the seven metals, utilizing their association with the planets and from that the Sephirah, for the magic he had acquired from R&C Occultics.

Christmas Day Arc
During the initial stage of her clash with Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki, Anna Sprengel made use of her Pneuma-less Shell, made from an intentional distortion of the Philosopher's Egg and while invoking it, referred to the red stone which she did not seek.

Los Angeles Arc
A Rosicrucian interpretation of Citrinitas played a major role in the events that occurred in Los Angeles on December 26th, with Citrinitas being the title of the magician protecting R&C Occultics HQ and the basis of the magic they used to trapped the city's population in sand.

Post-Handcuffs Arc
One of the magicians in the group centered around Alice Anotherbible was an alchemist referred to as good, old Mary, who according to her story took on the name of the to hide her identity, and apparently had alchemical skill that could produce miracles on the same level as the real one.

New Year's Eve Arc
On December 31st, besides Mary's resurrection techniques, Anna Sprengel made use of the eighth operation 'separation' in a chemical mine, in a thwarted attempt to kill a reanimated Anna Kingsford.

New Year's Arc
During a battle with Trismegistus on January 3rd, Good Old Mary invoked her own gigantic Tribikos, and mentioned her role in the alchemical tool's creation and at its foundation, mentioning the Kerotakis and Bain-marie alongside it.

Trivia

 * In the afterword of, Kamachi mentioned wanting to add a "kitchen alchemy trick plot" to increase Index's role but decided against including the minor subplot.
 * Much later in Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index, alchemy and the kitchen were crossed together with Good Old Mary, a Transcendent who was both an alchemist and a cook,  and wore a belt with a variety of camping kitchen products. These aspects were compared several times, with her use of these tools to produce phenomena in her vicinity through magic compared to her creation of a microcosm in a glass container as an alchemist and cooking delicious meals with tools in her kitchen territory as a kitchen master.

Alchemy, Ars Magna
Ars Magna is Latin for "Great Art". It is the spell in which alchemist would achieve their goal of simulation of the world inside the mind. With Ars Magna, they can bring out thoughts into the real world, essentially making those who can accurately simulate or mold the real world able to control it.

However, according to Stiyl, since alchemy is an unrefined knowledge, modeling the entirety of the world and its laws into a chant takes centuries, even with the assistance of descendants and removing of unnecessary lines. Kamijou Touma deducted that this why the prospect of actual existing vampires are sought after by the magic side, by both alchemists and normal magicians, since one could finish the chants of the level of Ars Magna if one was able to figure out vampire's immortality. Hence forth, no one has yet to achieve Ars Magna under the above means.

Aureolus Izzard is the only person who has managed to achieve Ars Magna. By utilizing the Gregorian Chant Replica to chant the spell simultaneously, he was able to bypass the time required to chant the spell in only a mere seven days as well as increasing its effects 120 times. In his use, the Ars Magna distorts reality through his thoughts, and requires a vast amount of concentration to accurately model a thought into reality with it.

Alchemy, Limen Magna
Limen Magna is a type of Alchemy that was used by Aureolus Dummy and possibly Aureolus himself who could use it if he so desired. In normal conditions, the basic procedures for the alchemy of turning lead into gold are very bothersome and quite expensive - this makes it so that the actual cost and effort employed in the task is such that the produced Gold is of little reward when compared to the annoyance of the process. When used by the Aureolus Dummy, Limen Magna collects and condenses "natural mana" from the building, and creates the "turn into gold" process in an instant. Even though it's not nearly as impressive as Ars Magna, the pinnacle of alchemy, Stiyl commended the versatility of Limen Magna as still something beyond the current limits of modern alchemy, even thought it's just doing something that's being done in a new manner.

Aureolus Dummy, Limen Magna
Aureolus Dummy's only ability is to turn physical objects into molten gold, called Limen Magna which the dummy boasts as the pinnacle of alchemy, and according to the dummy, the Bohemian (Czech Republic) and Viennan (Austria) alchemic schools of thought believed that it could not be fulfilled.

Using a dart on a chain that he hides within his sleeves, he propels the chain in order to hit the target with said dart. When the dart hits an object, it instantly turns it into molten gold. His Limen Magna, in actuality, is the entire Misawa Cram which the true Aureolus Izzard turned into a base. This allows the dummy to recreate the tool that he uses to convert things into gold to as many times as he wants, and as long as the main body is supplied with mana and the shape of the tool is recreated, he can use it again. Furthermore, the dummy can use Limen Magna on his own body, and can apparently use it as a makeshift prosthesis, although he is not immune to the molten gold's effects.

Naturally, the Imagine Breaker is immune to the effects of Limen Magna, much to the dummy's surprise and intrigue. Moreover, the dummy is unsure whether formless objects such as flames can be turned into gold.

Physical Characteristics:

While Dummy's body itself is "as fragile" as a human body and can be easily be chopped into pieces by a fire sword, we have that just like Limen Magna; his body operates by receiving mana from Misawa Cram , in other words in the same vein as high level spells we have that Aureolus Dummy can't be instantly erased by the Imagine Breaker if it is used in him, but instead he will lose energy gradually for long before vanishing. It should also be noted that Aureolus Dummy can still move even after his whole body has exploded from the inside out.

Aureolus pointed out that Limen Magna will immediately vanish if the whole mana supply of the building is exhausted, otherwise it can be immediately reconstructed if so is desired by using available mana from the building, considering that his existence is similar in nature to Limen Magna it might not incorrect to assume the same about him.

Aureolus Izzard, Ars Magna
Aureolus uses a powerful form of alchemy known as Ars Magna, which allows him to think of anything and make it into reality. He requires great concentration for it to properly work, or else it may cause considerable unwanted effects (and can even be used against him, as Touma proved); because of this he uses needles to stab himself with in the neck to allow him to concentrate. After attaining sufficient concentration, Izzard then has to verbally express a command to initiate the effects that he desired; the commands can be of simple to complex phrases depending of the effect in question that he wishes to manifest. He uses acupuncture to soothe himself before using Ars Magna if he happens to be excited, which hints that he has at least some knowledge in this field. Of course, while Ars Magna allows him to materialize his very thoughts into reality, it does not actually enable him to alter (or undo in any way) the laws of reality. Touma likened to a computer simulation, that if even a line of code is messed with it will not function.

Aureolus admitted that using Ars Magna would usually be impossible, but he got passed that by using the two thousand students in Misawa Cram to simultaneously obtain knowledge. By utilizing the Gregorian Chant Replica to chant the spell simultaneously, he was able to bypass the time required to chant the spell in only a mere seven days as well as increase its effects 120 times. Since the students were not magicians however, and the unconventional way Aureolus obtained Ars Magna, it was incomplete and couldn't be used without the help of accupuncture needles.

The main concept behind that Ars Magna is 'To purify the murky, lead-like soul of a human into a pure golden soul of an angel' (『鉛のようにくすんだ人の魂を、黄金のごとき天使の魂へ昇華させる』).

Gregorian Chant:

Aureolus Izzard could also replicate the use of the Roman Catholic Church's Gregorio's Chant by using the thousands of students of Misawa Cram, as a substitute for the 3,333 monks needed for the spell - though the number of students is only around 1,000 instead of the 3,333 needed. He is also capable of creating a seal on an entire building that separates people from interacting with objects and the people inside the building, and vice-versa.

Aureolus Dummy:

Aurelous Dummy is a clone of himself that Aureolus made through alchemy. The clone is almost a perfect copy of him, even inheriting his will and believing himself to be the real Aureolus. While he cannot use Ars Magna, he has a weapon called Limen Magna. It looks like a golden arrowhead attached onto the end of a chain. His Limen Magna turns whatever the arrowhead touches into molten gold.

The clone was made to be a guard of sorts and once thought that he was the real Aureolus. He later runs into Stiyl who destroyed this misconception, and tore off his left arm and leg with a flame sword. He later ran into Touma with a new left arm and leg made out of gold. Touma used his Imagine Breaker on him, resulting in him cutting-off his mana source. He runs away, dying, and once again runs into Stiyl who pitied him and gave him mercy by burning him into nothing. In his dying moments, the clone found the answer to the question he had always been seeking; "Just what are the limits to what a human can achieve while still retaining a human's form?" He found that this is Touma after being defeated by him; since even with the Imagine Breaker, a power beyond human comprehension, Touma still has emotions like any other human being. Stiyl decided to kill it since being a scholar the clone would manage to find something else to think about in the 10 minutes of life it has left, and die regretting not being able to solve it - whereas if the clone dies right then it would be in a state of fulfillment for solving something it has be seeking for all its lifetime.

=Other= Agnese SS
 * Agnese hoping that Rouen Nalberia wouldn't end up trying to drink mercury for eternal life, after imagining that his research into extracting elements from food would probably lead to ancient Chinese alchemy, might be a reference to, the First Emperor of China, who sought immortality and ingested mercury in pursuit of it.
 * When hearing about his goal of directly extracting elements from food, Agnese understood his logic but imagined that studying it would only lead to ancient Chinese alchemy, hoping that he wouldn't try drinking mercury for eternal life - a possible reference to, the First Emperor of China, who sought immortality and ingested mercury in pursuit of it.

Afterword V2
As for magic, the story revolves around the key term Ars Magna.

Even though in the story, I made it to be the real essence of an alchemist, it was actually made up by me. In fact, it was said that the Bosnian sect of Alchemy (who created the concept of turning lead into gold) appeared in the late Roman period, but Ars Magna was created in the 17th century, so the time difference between them was quite large. The 17th century was the time when alchemy was widespread, and was also the time when fake magicians used it to fool nobility out of their money. In other words, Ars Magna was like a new religion that rode the wave of alchemy.

In fact, the goal of Ars Magna wasn't to create gold or make an immortal elixir. The concept was "Humans are incomplete gods.” In other words, through training and becoming complete, humans could become gods. It really fit the mold of a new religion. From the term God that's used now, one can find that such alchemy was mixed into Christian culture.

In the story itself, the spell Aureolus used to turn his imagination into reality was closer to the Zurich alchemist sect. This sect mixed in some psychiatric views of Jung, and the goal was to “do alchemy in the mind”, which really sounded ambiguous.

Also, there's another alchemist sect called Vienna, but this sect included some sexual magic rituals that were quite erotic and shouldn't be included in Dengeki Bunko (laughs).

One reason why alchemist sects were so abundant was said to be because “the nature of alchemy” itself was a mystery. But in fact, perhaps the commonly accepted reason was that alchemists lied to the rich saying they could turn lead into gold, but failed and had to offer all sorts of excuses to appease their anger.

After writing so much, in the end, what did I want to say?

What I wanted to say was that after researching so much into alchemy, I really used very little information.

In order to increase Index's role, I even wanted to add a “kitchen alchemy trick plot”. But, I guess I decided against including such a minor subplot.

Kabbalah
After Komoe explains SYSTEM to Index, she shuddered in fright, as the concept of SYSTEM sounds close to the Kabbalah of the Magic side, where the heavens are not described on the Tree of Life – Sephiroth – though other areas like humans and angels are clearly stated. Wherein the positions of humans, angels and god are divided into 10 levels, and upon that tree, the position of God could not be found. As such, humans could not understand the territory of God.

According to the narrative, there was stated that a religious system to achieve understanding of God's territory. The concept is called, which stated if humans can't understand then all they have to do is obtain a body that's beyond humanity. They claimed that humans are but immature gods that can reach ascension and God's power with enough training, which even the Apostle John sees as blasphemous.

Alchemy
Himegami Aisa thought of Aureolus Izzard's "Ars Magna" - whose principle behind it is "to purify the murky, lead-like soul of a human into a pure golden soul of an angel". It also occurred to her that it's strange how Academy City, a force that's completely opposite to religion arrived at the same answer. It could be that whatever path humans take they would arrive at the same answer, or maybe there's something else behind all this.