How to get Beast Cores in Slayers 2

Once you have the cores your trainer needs, open the training planner to follow the unlock steps.

Kill a Beast Born Demon at night. It is the only enemy that drops them, at 50% a kill, so plan on about two kills per core.

Drops from: Beast Born Demon, horned NPCs
Chance: 50% per kill, one core each time
When: Night only
Who needs them: Serpent 5, Insect 3 and Stone 4, 12 for all 3

Archives, with Beast Core open: Uncommon, and one line under Source: 50% (Beast Born Demon).

The demon that drops them

The Archives screen in the menu lists every item with the enemies that drop it. Beast Core has one line: 50% (Beast Born Demon). You may see 30% quoted elsewhere; 50% is the in-game figure. The item text adds that trainers ask for these as proof before teaching harder forms, which is why they sit on the breathing requirement lists.

Look for an NPC with horns on its head after dark. The core drops where it dies.

At night, a player stands next to a horned NPC under a pink tree — Night, under a pink tree. The NPC with horns beside the player is labelled `Beast Born Demon`.

At night among village buildings, a Beast Core pickup appears beside the player — After the kill, between buildings at night: a pickup reading `Beast Core` `x1` beside the player, and along the top `25 Wen`, `+33 Sword and Water Mastery` and a reputation gain.

Where they spawn at night

They only come out after dark, and they are reported on open ground among village buildings. Three spots to try:

The open area along the road past the torii where Giyen spawns, heading into Mistfall Harbor. At night the whole area fills with horned demons.
The shipment quest to Ora ends among lantern-lit village buildings where they spawn at night, so you can farm them on the way.
They may also spawn up in the snowy area, where they are reportedly harder to kill.

If you draw a blank near Mistfall Harbor after dark, the map page has the other named areas, including Iceveil Valley.

Daytime, a player runs past a red torii gate with a boss timer over it — Daytime, on grass by a red torii. Over the gate: `The Water Hashira` `Giyen` and a respawn timer.

Daytime, a player runs down a road toward village buildings as a place name appears — Further down the road toward the buildings, the place banner at the bottom reads `Mistfall Harbor`.

How many each trainer asks for

3 of the 8 breathing trainers want cores. The others ask for Demon Horns instead, and Water may want only Wen.

Serpent (also called Snake), trainer Obari
5
Beast Cores
Also: 20 or none Demon Horns.
Serpent breathing guide
Insect, trainer Shinora
3
Beast Cores
Also: 15 Demon Horns, 3,500 Wen.
Insect breathing guide
Stone, trainer Gyorei
4
Beast Cores
Also: no Demon Horns, 4,000 Wen, The Axe and Mace weapon, a Stone Trainee drop: 7% at launch, 15% since the V0.98 update.
Stone breathing guide

Bring 5 for Serpent. For Stone, bring 4: Gyorei asks You need 4 Beast Core for this Quest!, even though some creators’ checklists say 5. Stone also needs the Axe and Mace, a drop from the Stone Trainee mini boss. Sound normally wants 10 Demon Horns and no cores, though it may take Beast Cores instead.

A player facing the Stone trainer by a wooden wall, with the trainer's line and a boss health bar above — `Stone Trainer Gyorei`: `You need 4 Beast Core for this Quest!` Above, the bar of `The Stone Hashira` `Gyorei` in the same yard, with `Arcs of Justice x1 (10%)`.

Add up cores and horns for your plan

Tick the styles you are after. The kill counts assume the 50% drop. To see what you can unlock with what you already hold, use the checker on the breathing styles page.

Styles you want to learn

Tick a style to add up what its trainer asks for.

Only Serpent, Insect and Stone list Beast Cores. The other 5 ask for Demon Horns, and Water adds Wen.

At a 50% drop, one Beast Core takes two kills on average.

Anything else that takes Beast Cores

Tai Chi. The Tai Chi trainer reportedly wants at least 5 Beast Cores.
Only horns on your list? The Demon Horns page covers the cave by the Mother Bear and the boss that drops three at once.