Chapter 131: Alchemy
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Edward sat in a chair in front of a fireplace. Numerous books floated in front of him as their pages kept flipping on their own. And as quickly as those pages flipped, as quickly as Edward absorbed the information inside.
Once he was finished, he muttered to himself: "Damn those Alchemists. All of them are so paranoid that all their research is in code, making waste so much time and effort."
After complaining, he walked to one of the empty rooms. He took a piece of chalk, then talked out loud:
"Alchemy is the scientific technique of understanding the structure of matter, decomposing it, and then reconstructing it. If performed skillfully, it is even possible to create gold out of lead. However, as it is a science, there are some natural principles in place. Only one thing can be created from something else of a certain mass. This is the Principle of Equivalent Exchange.
"Although this is a summarization of Alchemy in this world described in many books, it is not completely accurate. Although most Alchemists clearly state that their practice is science, Alchemy also involves things that the majority of scientists would consider pseudoscience. For example, things like spirit and the soul."
After talking out loud to himself, Edward used the chalk in his hand to draw a circle on the ground.
"One of two essential components of Alchemy is the Transmutation Circle. Just like wizards, Alchemists cannot accomplish such miracles without the need for a power source or energy. In their case, they use the energy from the movement of tectonic plates deep in the Earth's crust.
"The Transmutation Circle served as a way to allow the energy to flow within a controllable range determined by the Alchemist."
After making the circle, Edward drew a few more runes inside the circle.
"The second essential component of Alchemy is runes. Runes served as a formula to guide the energy trapped in the circle to do their desired outcomes."
After finishing drawing the alchemic runes that looked like a few triangles placed together, Edward placed his hand on the Transmutation Circle and activated the energy needed.
Soon afterward, electric light flashed in the center of the circle, then the ground turned into a spear standing at the very center.
Looking at this, Edward had a pondering look on his face.
'To become an Alchemist, a Gate of Truth is needed. From what I know from the anime, it was stated that all living beings have their own Gate of Truth. Does this rule apply to every being in existence across every universe, or just the one in this world?
'Since I can perform Alchemy, meaning that I also have a Gate of Truth, then the answer should be the former. However, there is also the possibility that the Laws of the world affected me and created a Gate of Truth for me after entering this world.
'Furthermore, if only the laws of this universe allow people to perform alchemy, then this knowledge might be useless to the people of the Empire...Wait, not necessarily.
'If the Gate served as a way to allow ordinary people to sense and control energy to perform alchemy, then wizards would not have such limitation. They can be trained to sense tectonic plate energy in the Earth's crust to perform Alchemy.
'Wait, I'm thinking too small. Alchemy is an art that can be performed with different kinds of energy. Alkahestry of Xing uses something called Dragon Pulse as energy, while in Amestris, the soul can be used as energy to conduct Alchemy. So, there is no reason that mana should not work.'
After coming to that conclusion, Edward did not immediately test his theory. In his first attempt at alchemy, he felt something wrong with the energy he used.
From the anime he watched in his previous life, he knew that Alchemists in Amestris did not actually use energy from tectonic plates or earthen energy, but the Philosopher's Stone inside Father's body as he is connected to an underground system that travels all around the country.
As a result of this, Father can prevent all Alchemists in Amestris from being able to perform Alchemy by disconnecting them from the power source (the underground system) he controls.
Knowing this, Edward began to truly connect to the Earthen energy that Alchemists were supposed to use. After a few trials, he succeeded. Electric Lights appeared in the circle, then an ax appeared this time.
Nodded in satisfaction, Edward proceeded to use mana as energy to perform Alchemy. Immediately afterward, a giant ax appeared in the middle of the transmutation circle.
The ax looked like it was the weapon of a giant. Edward calculated that if his body was not strengthened by mana, there was no way that he could lift that ax.
"Well, that was unexpected," muttered Edward. "It seems that mana served as an amplifier for Alchemy. No, the mass of the ax should not increase as Alchemy follows the Law of Equivalent Exchange."
With excitement, Edward quickly did a few more experiments.
"Mana can actually allow me to break the Law of Equivalent Exchange--just like the Philosopher's Stone. Well, this is wonderful news."
After that, Edward spent the next few days learning alchemy and doing experiments. With his knowledge of science that was far ahead of this time (WWI) and his natural ability to control energy (mana), he learned everything quite quickly.
"Now, it's time to perform human transmutation and meet Truth. Without getting answers from it, I'm not relieved to do things. Plus, I need to confirm a few things about the Gate of Truth.
"If my theory is right, it could fundamentally change my trajectory in life, and the trajectory of the Empire."
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Next Chapter Title: Human Transmutation.
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