Magic Core



A sphere-shaped item found in bodied of monsters and demons.

Origin
Magic cores are created by Labyrinth or Maze cores absorbing magical energy from the environment around them and then create basic cores. These are then injected into normal creatures to create monsters. During the life of the monster, they continually absorb other forms of energy to increase the strength of the core and thereby the strength of the monster.

Several forbidden drugs capable of turning people and animals into monsters also exist (some of them, despite the danger, occasionally consumed by explorers as a short time power boost), though no scientifically proven ways of turning them back currently exist.

According to Demon God, Demons came to be as people transformed by high concentrations of miasma created from negative emotions, so he created monsters to "gather miasma inside their bodies, converting it into mana through an organ they posses called magic stone". WN 17-24

Usage
With cores being essentially condensed magic power, they have a wide variety of uses. They are indispensable ingredients in both potion making, alchemy and magic weapons and items crafting, as well as the main form of fuel used in magic furnaces powering everything from self driving carriages and airships to mining equipment, making them a strategic resource with production and distribution strictly controlled by the government (citizens are required by law to sell the cores they obtain from killing monsters directly to local city officials).

The cores gathered by the kingdom are distributed between the nobles in accordance with current demand and political situation, with deciding the specific amounts, being one of the main topics of a yearly meeting of all higher nobles in the capital city dubbed the Spring Conference.

Given their immense value as major core productions sites, the labyrinths have been the source of many conflicts in the past (see Arisa and Lulu's family history) as well as a major strategic resource with control of them greatly affecting one's political standing.

Grading System
In the Satou's intermediate alchemist book, it's written in that depending on magic cores level used, the resulting reagent rank would be different.

Cores quality is describes with their grade:


 * [White 9 Vermilion 1] is a core of lowers possible grade 1


 * [White 8 Vermilion 2] is a core of grade 2


 * [White 7 Vermilion 3] is a core of grade 3




 * [White 1 Vermilion 9] is a core of grade 9


 * [Vermilion 10] is a core of grade 10

and so on.
 * [Vermilion 9 Red 1] is a core of grade 11

There are five colors of magic cores: For example a core described as [Red 3 Crimson 7] is a core of grade 27.
 * White - no magic power [0]
 * Vermilion - low magic power [1-10]
 * Red - medium magic power [11-20]
 * Crimson - high magic power [21-30]
 * Blood Crimson - highest magic power [30+]

The older the monster, the deeper the color of the magic core tends to become. And it seems that the higher the level, the bigger its magic core becomes.

The price of the magic core doesn't depend on its quantity, but its grade and weight, as well as any damage to it's surface (LN only). The value of each core can be measured by a special magic tool, which calculates the price based on the set exchange rate.