Magic Circuit

A Magic Circuit (魔術回路) is a pseudo-nervous system that spreads itself through the human body and what qualifies a person to be a magus. Originally, its function was to just replenish a person’s life force whenever the amount of Od inside his body reaches zero, but humans learned how to control it and use it to perform mysteries. That which connects the material world to the astral plane, 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.

Mechanisms
Strictly speaking, the 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.

As like any other organ, the number of Magic Circuits that one possesses is determined at birth and cannot decrease or increase naturally. 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）).

A normal person rarely acquires Magic Circuits but in these cases they are considered as sudden mutations. However, Kirei Kotomine is not of this type. Kirei's Circuits were a gift from the divine sacrament, rewarding his father Kotomine 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.

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) granted by her Dragon blood. Its capacity is far greater than any human 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.

Magic Circuits By Characters

 * 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.