What on Earth is a Core?

Of course, there was an easy way to solve James' current predicament : further Internet researches!

"A Core is a usually small object, often spherical, that appears to be made out of jade or to be some kind of pearl. Neither of these guesses is correct, however. Cores are made out of a unique material, Corite, which can be of any color, shape, or size."

Oh, so a Core can be whatever it wants to be. Nice, I know exactly what to look out for now. Great.

"Cores are generally situated in one of three places : the torso, generally between the lungs or behind the heart; the head, either under or in the brain or the middle of the forehead, creating the famous 'third eye'; or around the navel, those tend to be rarer and are more likely to be bigger or external. Cores can appear anywhere on the body however, a well-known example of this is the Hero Gauntlet, whose Core was on the back on his right hand."

Should... Should they make this kind of information public? I don't know, it seems kinda like a bad idea to just let everyone know a Hero's weakness.

"There are two types of Core positions : external and internal. External Cores are easier to use but, since they are at least partially outside of the body, are much more likely to be broken."

Ah yes, the weak points.

"Cores, like bones, can heal back from fractures as long as their host is alive. Some degrees of damage, however, can permanently destroy them, again like bones. Gauntlet's early retirement following the loss of his right hand is a perfect example."

Oh. So that's why the information is public. Though I wonder, was it released before or after the loss of his hand?

"The purpose of a Core in a body is simple: it hosts that individual's Aspects."

Ah yes, those.

"But this does not mean every Aspected individual has a Core."

Hu uh.

"Cores are only present in entities who break the norms of normality and reality within their respective species. A good demonstration of this would be to take Elfs and Goblins. An Elf with a sight akin to a hawk's is rare, true, but it is still a possibility written within their genes and therefore would not require a Core. A Goblin with an hawk's vision, on the other hand, would definitely have a Core - just like an Elf with a sense of smell rivaling a Goblin's."

So, Elfs and Goblins exist and everyone is fine with that? Ok. Good.

"Another possible example would be fairies, it is normal for a fairy to be Soul Aspected and therefore they do not need a Core to practice magic, it is abnormal however for a fairy to be Destruction Aspected and this particular individual would definitely have a Core."

Magic. Great. And Destruction Aspected? Sounds lovely.

"Of course, not everyone is born with a Core. Exact statistics are impossible to gather due to some Cores' tendency to evade detection, Dormant Cores, and numerous individuals preferring to keep their Core secret, but it is estimated that only roughly one out of a hundred persons have a Core."

That's... More than I expected, actually.

"This result may sound surprising until you realize that more than half of Cores remain Dormant until their host's death and that many abilities granted by Cores are not necessarily remarkable, for example, one of the researchers within our very own team is Cored , but her ability is far from impressive: her hair color changes depending on the amount of blood in her body."

That's... Oddly specific.

"Cored individuals have a stronger body than Coreless ones by default, which is the reason why Cored and Coreless athletes have different competitions. Cored people are either born with a Core, whether it is Dormant or not, or form one under extremely stressful circumstances - those are referred to as Chaotic Cores, due to their origins. Chaotic Cores tend to offer stronger abilities but are much more taxing on the body and the mind, they are also rather unstable and can and WILL explode or implode if overused. Chaotic Cored should report to the Hero Union to be watched over by medical professionals."

Well, that's horrifying. I'm guessing these are supposed to be a last resort on the body's part, a last-minute attempt to survive immediate danger even if it means you won't live as long as you should have.

"Dormant Cores, once Awakened, tend to also be stronger than regular Cores - though not to the level of Chaotic ones, yet, unlike them, Awakened Cores are stable and easy to use. Awakening varies greatly from individual to individual, for some it takes a life or death situation and for others getting engaged or being determined enough is sufficient."

So, normal Cores are a party trick, Dormant Cores are useless but can become Awakened Cores which give actual powers and Chaotic Cores give you powers but threaten to kill you at any time? If I had to guess, that Titaroach has a Chaotic one, based on how excessive his mutations are compared to the regular cockroaches.

"Of course, Cores are merely a vessel for the true source of our abilities : Aspects."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Fine, let's jump down the other rabbit hole.

"There are three Natures of Aspects : The Self, The Other, The World."

Well, that's ominous.

"The Self are the three Aspects that directly influence an individual, Body, Mind, and Soul."

So far so good.

"The Other are the three Aspects that an individual uses to affect their surroundings, Might, Will and Faith."

Ok, I'm seeing a pattern here. Physical strength, mental strength, and moral strength.

"The World are the three Aspects that an individual uses to radically affect reality itself, they are the rarest and most supervised Aspects, Destruction, Creation, and Transformation."

Uh... I mean, it's more metaphorical but it still works? The body destroys, the mind imagines and creates, and the soul changes as we live? Ok, I know when to give up, it doesn't work.

"Body grants abilities that are partially natural, merely excessively potent. All Mutants are Body Aspected, though how it impacts them varies on a case by case basis. Regeneration, infinite spikes, super strength, and light shapeshifting are well-known examples of Body abilities."

Ok, so nature on steroids and breaking a couple of laws of physics. The Titaroach probably has that.

"Mind grants abilities linked to intellect. While the specifics vary, it is overall known as superintelligence - whether it is in problem-solving, rapid calculations, imagination, or esoteric inventions. Most laboratories only employ Mind Aspected individuals, being much more productive than their normal colleagues."

I don't think the cockroach has this one? But this reminds me of something...

James turned away from the screen and called the ratlings.

"Kids, are you Mind Aspected? Do you all have Cores?"

They all turned around, Goliath freezing mid-hammering a nail into a plank with his bare paw for the gym before they all looked at each other and shrugged.

"Hum... I see..."

Yeah, definitely Mind Aspected. At least Goliath is, how else would a rat know anything about building stuff?

"Soul is unique in that it only grants one ability, but what can be done with that ability has infinite potential : mana manipulation, or more commonly known as magic. At its core, mana manipulation is simply about manipulating surrounding mana, using different elements in different ways and quantities to create different effects. Magic is further classified in Schools, each School focusing on one or multiple elements and a technique in particular. There are countless other different classifications relating to magic but those are not the subject of this article."

So, that's how magic works. I can't help but notice it's not that far off from how I manipulate shadows, does that mean I've been using magic this entire time? Infusing items with shadow mana to enchant them? Which brand of magic is shadow manipulation, by the way? Umbromancy? Tenebromancy? Bah, I'll look it up later.

"Might is similar to Body, granting abilities directly linked to the physical form, but instead of being somewhat natural Might abilities break all of the laws of logic. Firing lasers from one's eyes, taking on an elemental form without the use of mana, major shapeshifting, and wingless flight are a few well-known might abilities."

So, that's the outlandish comics stuff.

"Will is the ability to directly change reality. Whereas Might still employs the body as a medium, Will bypasses it completely. The world becomes a canvas, imagination is the paint and the mind is the pencil. Causality alteration, item summoning, some forms of teleportation and elemental manipulation - which means manipulating an already existing element, whereas magic creates it via mana - are a few examples of Will abilities."

Oh, I stand corrected, THIS is the outlandish comics stuff. I can't help but notice my shadow manipulation seems closer to Will than Soul. Maybe it's both? Can it be both?

"Faith is more complex to explain. Put simply, it is the sum of all abilities linked to relationships. Faith in the Divine, the power of friendship, ruling with fear, living through hate - as long as there is something that grants powers due to your feelings on that thing or that thing's feelings about you, it is Faith. Mutual relationships - a couple's love, a god and their follower, two mortal enemies - grant stronger powers than one-way ones. Faith abilities often copy ones obtainable via other Aspects, offering a broader set of abilities than other Aspects and with the potential for much more growth, at the cost of being focused on one 'theme' and being capable of weakening greatly following any major relationship change."

They... They did it. They found a way to explain the power of friendship. Incredible. Marvelous.

"Destruction is rather self-explanatory: it is the power to destroy. Destruction allows an entity to erase something, wiping them out completely, ignoring the law of the conservation of mass. The extent of the Destruction - how much power is needed, the minimum amount of damage necessary to function, whether or not a soul is affected too - depends on the entity's mastery of the ability as well as their other Aspects."

Oh. OH. Well, that's an existential dread and a half. Yeah, them watching over anyone who has THAT as a superpower makes sense. And hey, someone CAN have multiple Aspects. Nice. Not terrifying at all.

"Creation is the opposite : it is the power to create. Unlike some Will abilities, however, Creation-made items or constructs are permanent, ignore the law of conservation of mass, can be anything the host knows, and are only limited by the entity's knowledge of the item and their power. A famous Creation Aspected individual was Jonathan who, at three years old, created the starship from his children show - the starship being unable to fly, Jonathan being ignorant of the inner working of a spaceship, and much smaller than its original version, going from a whale-sized vehicle in the show to only rivaling a car once Created."

Ah. Yes, toddlers having powers in this kind of world makes sense - which horrifies me down to the soul. I just hope no one who has tons of fun lighting ants on fire gets any fire or Destruction based stuff.

"And finally, the most controversial Aspect, Transformation. Also know as Purification and Corruption, it allows an individual to infuse a part of their being on an existential level into anything. The intelligence, complexity, and willingness of the subject influence the difficulty of the process. If all can agree that superstrength can be used for both good and evil, they have a harder time accepting that the ability to rewrite reality in your image can be beneficial for anyone - besides its user, of course. The destruction of the Vallen Continent following the birth of the Vallenian Scurge, a race of monsters born from a single Transformation Aspected termite queen, did not ease the global worry concerning this Aspect."

Oh.

"We have reached the end of this short article. We at Xenocorp hope you found this small guide useful to refresh your memory on the matter of Cores and Aspects or teach you about it if, for some reason, you missed this part of your education - we at Xenocorp do not judge."

James wasn't really focused on the article at this point, more focused on the information about Transformation. Something that closely resembled his powers. His mind was already made up and he didn't care about the article anymore, completely oblivious to the closing words of the article.

"An article by Alan Leone."

I am DEFINITELY doomed.