Magic Circuits (魔術回路, Majutsu Kairo^?) are a pseudo-nervous system that spreads itself through the human body and what qualifies a person to be a magus. Their normal functions are to act as paths that convert life force into prana, but humans learned how to control it and use it to perform mysteries. They are that which connects the material world to the astral plane, the paths which connect to the foundations underlying Grand Rituals.^[1] If prana is the force that actualize the rules of a Thaumaturgical Theory’s system, then the Magic Circuits are the pipelines that converts prana and transmit that energy from the magus to the system.

MechanismsEdit

Magic Circuits reside within the magus’s soul, and what is found on the body is just a physical expression of them that stretches itself throughout the body in a fashion similar to the nervous system. They are composed of core components, which are the actual Circuits so to say, and bypasses that connect those components to the brain. Magic Circuits do not change and once damaged they cannot be repaired. Because organic activity is necessary for the operation of Circuits, it is a common mistake to think that they are literally a part of the magus body. There are rare occasions in which the Circuits continue working even after the practitioner’s body has ceased all vital functions. In these cases, destruction of the brain is necessary to stop the Circuits. Their Quality and Quantity are ranked through letters like Magecraft, and their Composition often varies between magi.

As like any other organ, the number of Magic Circuits that one possesses is determined at birth and cannot decrease or increase naturally, meaning that those from older lineages will be more powerful. But it is possible to change that number artificially through a number of methods. One of those methods is through the establishment of a mystic pass between two magi from which the Circuits can transferred. As the Circuits are located in the soul, a fusion of body and mind is required during the transplant. However, the process carries the same risks and complications as a transplant of organs. Furthermore, as the Magic Circuits become unstable if tampered while in use, there is a possibility of mutual destruction if a contract similar to that between a magus and his familiar has not been established beforehand.

For that and other reasons, lineages of magi seek not to tamper with the Circuits of their members while they are alive, but rather try to produce descendants with the greatest "extra" number of Magic Circuits possible. Note that number is not everything, and quality and precision of the Circuits are also an important factor that differs from lineage to lineage. The Aozaki bloodline is known for producing magi with a low quantity of Magic Circuits, but the great quality of their Circuits is more than enough to compensate for that. Meanwhile the Barthomeloi possess a powerful brand of Magic Circuits known as Blue Blood Noble Magic Circuits (貴い魔術回路（ブルーブラッド）, Burū Buraddo Tōtoi Majutsu Kairo^?).

A normal person rarely acquires Magic Circuits but in these cases they are considered as sudden mutations. While Kirei Kotomine was born with sudden Magic Circuits not of his lineage, he is not of this type. Kirei's Circuits were a gift from the divine sacrament, rewarding his father, Risei Kotomine, for years of pious worship. Kirei was born with "the right to recreate the miracles in the divine sacrament". This "right", in other words, was the Magic Circuits.^[2]

Still, the Circuits are ultimately something unnatural for the human body and their activity will cause pain and numbness to the magus. Their very presence in the human body is something uncommon and an ordinary person will have little to none. Also, the use of Magic Circuits increases the magus bodily temperature, which is what allowed Kiritsugu Emiya to track down enemy Masters in the battlefield through the use of a thermal sensor during the 4th Grail War.

Magic Circuits are “opened” when prana is run through them for the first time. From that point on, the user can activate them at will through the use of a mental trigger. The image that is related to that trigger will differ from a magus to another: Shirou’s image involves firing the hammer of a gun, while Rin Tohsaka’s is that of a knife stabbing her heart. There are also those that can only use that trigger under predetermined conditions, such as after performing self-injury or when sexually excited.

Prior to the Fifth Grail War, Shirou Emiya believed that he had to “make” a new Circuit every time he wanted to perform Magecraft. In each attempt to do so, he temporarily (and inadvertently) converted parts of his nerves into makeshift Magic Circuits. A very dangerous procedure, as failure would result in his body breaking down from the inside out and even with success the resulting pain would be comparable to inserting a hot iron rod into the spine. Furthermore, when his natural born Circuits were finally opened, his nervous system went haywire due the sudden intake of energy. At first, neither of his teachers of Magecraft (Kiritsugu and Rin) noticed that habit of his.

Differing from the Magic Circuits of regular humans, Saber has a Magic Core (魔術炉心, Majutsu Roshin^?) granted by her Dragon blood. Its capacity is far greater than any human can achieve. While a magus' body can be considered a machine which creates magical energy, Saber's Core acts as a factory which creates magical energy. Something like Prelati's Spellbook has a Prana Reactor (魔力炉, ^?), supplying essentially limitless power to its wielder.

Beings like Lugh Beowulf and Arcueid Brunestud have Regression to the Age of Gods (神代回帰, ^?) as their own style of Magic Circuits. It represents the extent at which they are capable of producing Mysteries that existed on Earth before Magic. They are ranked with quantifiable letters like Magic Circuits. Their Quality ranking represents "how distant from what humans are capable of" when reproducing their pure Mysteries. Their Quantity ranking represents power, the higher the quantity, the greater the degree of influence over the surrounding environment. C rank Quantity allows for the display of power over a village at most. Their Composition represents the era of the "Mystery", such as Runes, Kabbalah, and Black Magic do so in magecraft. While similar in concept, things like Alice Kuonji's Ploys are not from the Age of Gods and cannot be assigned a number in Regression to the Age of Gods.^[3]

Magic Circuits By CharactersEdit

• Average magus: 20 Magic Circuits.

• Touko Aozaki: 20 Magic Circuits. She is the first in the history of her family with so many Magic Circuits. Her parents had none whatsoever and it has been implied that her sister does not have much more than them.

• Souren Araya: 30 Magic Circuits.

• Cornelius Alba: Unknown. Implied to have more than both Touko and Araya.

• Shirou Emiya: 27 Magic Circuits. Each Circuit can barely handle 10 units of prana while being damaged in the process. Considering the amount that he has, such low quality of Magic Circuit is inconsistent.

• Rin Tohsaka: 40 inborn Magic Circuits and subs that are 30 each. Maximum output is of 1000 units of prana.

ReferencesEdit

1. ↑

   Magic Circuits (Others)

   The pseudo-nerves existing in the body of a magus. They are the paths that convert life force into prana, as well as the paths which connect to the foundations underlying Grand Rituals. The number of Magic Circuits is determined at birth. Mage lineages will resort to any means to alter themselves in hope of giving their descendants just one more Circuit. This is why magi from older lineages are more powerful. In terms of the number of Magic Circuits, and the quality of the lineage, Cornelius Alba is undoubtedly a first rate magus. In fact, neither Aozaki Touko nor Araya Souren have many Magic Circuits. Touko has about 20, Araya about 30. Still, the two are considered geniuses: Touko has talents that are independent of her lineage. Araya's overwhelming power is probably a result of the anguish that he ceaselessly accumulated through the ages.

2. ↑ TYPE-MOON Fes. Q&A - Q: Kirei's wife Ortensia is covered with wounds in the design draft, is it because she has a body similar to Caren's? Also, Command Spells appeared on Kirei due to the fact that he somehow possesses Magic Circuits despite being born in a non-magus lineage. Does this mean Caren also has Magic Circuits?
   A: Kirei's wife is an albino, and is immunodeficient. As a result, she can die from even a tiny wound, thus her body appears tattered. What Caren inherited is the aspect of "prone to be plagued by illnesses". This is truly an ordeal given by God.
   About the Magic Circuits, a normal person rarely acquires Magic Circuits. You can consider such cases sudden mutations. However, Kirei is not of this type. Kirei's Circuits were a gift from the divine sacrament, rewarding his father Risei's years of pious worship. Kirei was born with "the right to recreate the miracles in the divine sacrament". This "right", in other words, was the Magic Circuits. Caren did not inherit the Circuits.
3. ↑ TYPE-MOON Fes. 10th Anniversary Q & A - Q: What do the Quality/Quantity/Composition of Regression to the Age of Gods mean in Beowulf's profile? Do Ploys, Arcueid, and Heroic Spirits have such designations? And what would their number be?
   A: Regression to the Age of Gods represents the extend at which they are capable of reproducing the Mysteries that existed on Earth before True Magic. Consider it to be like that, their own style of Magical Circuits. Quality represents "how distant from what humans are capable of" their pure Mysteries are. Quantity represents power. The higher the quantity, the greater the degree of influence over the surrounding environment. Since Beowulf only has a quantity of C, he can only display his power to an individual, or over a village.
   Composition represents the era of the "Mystery". In terms of magecraft, it would be like Rune, Kabbalah, Black Magic and such.
   Ploys are not of Age of Gods, so they cannot be assigned a number in Regression to the Age of Gods.
   For Arcueid... Princess Arcueid should qualify. "Quality: B Quantity: A++ Composition: Before Common Era, pseudo-deified natural phenomenon"

• Fate/Side Material encyclopedia entry (p.73)
• Tsukihime Dokuhon PlusPeriod dictionary entry (p.188)
• Dictionary resource at Jonnobi .