Chapter 4: Equuleus Bronze Cloth
Moen could understand, at least to some extent, the shift in Laxus's personality and attitude.
As the biological grandson of Master Makarov, Laxus carried the heavy burden of legacy and expectation. The name Makarov Dreyar carried great weight across the continent of Ishgar — he was one of the legendary Ten Wizard Saints, a title bestowed by the Magic Council upon the ten most powerful and influential mages in all of Ishgar. Each of them was a living legend, with enough magical power to shake the heavens and reshape the earth — S-Class among S-Class mages.
For Laxus, this legacy became a chain.
Whenever he succeeded, people would say, "Of course — he's Makarov's grandson."
And whenever he failed, they'd sneer, "He's a disgrace to Makarov's name."
Living under the shadow of a giant, Laxus — once a well-mannered, passionate, and kind-hearted boy — had grown increasingly extreme. Surrounded by critical eyes and rarely offered genuine praise, he became obsessed with power, determined to surpass the man whose name had become a mountain looming over him.
Compared to Laxus, Moen's life had been much simpler.
He was an orphan — a child found and adopted by Makarov. People were naturally more forgiving, more generous in their judgment. When Moen began to show remarkable magical talent, everyone praised him. "Makarov's so lucky to have found such a gifted child!" they'd say.
That difference in how they were treated — even if unintentional — played no small part in shaping Laxus into who he was now.
Moen made his way upstairs to his room on the third floor.
Makarov lived on the first floor. The second floor housed his study and "that man's" old room — someone Moen didn't like to talk about. The third floor was where Moen and Laxus lived.
Once inside, Moen pulled out the Equuleus Bronze Cloth.
This sacred armor was stored in the inventory space provided by the Saint Seiya System — a unique magical system only Moen could access. Various rewards he had earned from previous missions were kept inside, but the storage only accepted items created by the system itself.
Clunk.
A square, heavy box dropped onto the wooden floor with a deep metallic thud.
It was intricately decorated with carvings and bore the constellation symbol of Equuleus, the little horse.
This wasn't just a container — it was a Cloth Box, a magical preservation unit designed specifically to hold Sacred Cloths. Like a life-support system for armor, the Cloth Box helped preserve and repair the armor inside, allowing it to heal itself.
Because Cloths weren't ordinary armor — they were alive.
Each Sacred Cloth had the ability to self-repair and evolve. Every time it was damaged and healed, it grew stronger. Its shape, weight, and even appearance could change as it evolved.
At this moment, Moen could feel a clear connection with the Cloth.
It was alive — and responding to his presence.
Click.
With a focused thought, Moen channeled a bit of magic into the Cloth Box.
The lid swung open with a smooth mechanical motion, revealing the armor within — a gleaming blue Cloth, highlighted with streaks of red and silver, shaped in the image of a leaping horse.
"Alright," Moen whispered. "Let's see your true form."
As if responding to his call, the Cloth shivered in place, then began to disassemble and shift. In an instant, it broke apart into pieces and flew toward Moen, transforming into armor components mid-air.
The four legs of the horse split into armor for his arms and legs, each piece inlaid with red crystal accents.
The horse's head morphed into a headband, wrapping itself around Moen's forehead. It bore a miniature horse-head crest in the front and small silver wings on either side, similar in style to the legendary Pegasus Cloth.
The body of the horse reshaped itself into a breastplate, shoulder guards, and a battle skirt, providing protection for Moen's torso and waist. For a Bronze Cloth, its coverage was fairly extensive — enough to protect all the vital areas.
"Not bad. Fits like a glove."
Moen twisted his body, testing the flexibility. He was not yet twelve years old, still growing rapidly. His body seemed to change every year — but he wasn't worried. The Sacred Cloth would adjust itself as he grew. As its user matured, so would the armor. The Cloth always reshaped itself to fit its master perfectly.
"Looks like it's been localized, too. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't even be able to wear it."
Moen clenched his fists and felt a surge of power flow through his body.
Wearing the Cloth didn't just provide protection — it significantly enhanced his physical strength and amplified his magical efficiency. It was far more effective than he had imagined.
Under normal circumstances, a Saint Seiya warrior (a Saint) had to ignite their Cosmos — their inner energy — to synchronize with their Cloth. Without that resonance, the Sacred Cloth was nothing more than an extremely heavy suit of armor, offering no real advantage in battle.
But for Moen, that limitation didn't apply.
The moment he obtained the Cloth, it had already acknowledged him as its master — a benefit granted by the Saint Seiya System. The usual prerequisites were bypassed entirely.
Still wearing the Equuleus Bronze Cloth, Moen pulled out a picture book filled with illustrations of various constellations.
Sure enough, Equuleus was among them — a minor northern constellation, located just behind Pegasus. In star charts, only the horse's head was visible. Despite being the second smallest constellation, just slightly larger than the Southern Cross, it was still officially recognized.
This book wasn't just a stargazer's guide — it was a magical reference on Celestial Spirit Magic, a rare form of summoning magic that revolved around the power of the stars and constellations.
Celestial Spirit Magic was an ancient, summoning-based branch of Holder Magic. Practitioners of this art — known as Celestial Spirit Mages — formed contracts with spirits from the Celestial Spirit World, calling them into battle through the use of magical keys. Each key corresponded to a specific spirit, and summoning was only possible through these keys acting as conduits.
Clearly, that system was completely different from the kind of power Moen wielded.
Still, he often used the label "Celestial Spirit Magic" to explain his abilities, simply because he didn't know what else to call them.
He couldn't just walk around saying "I use Saint Seiya Magic," could he?
"Return."
With a thought, Moen recalled the Equuleus Bronze Cloth.
The armor disassembled from his body and flew back into its Cloth Box, reforming into the shape of a small horse. The box then vanished as Moen stored it back inside the Saint Seiya System's inventory.
He tried summoning and retracting the Cloth several more times, and discovered that he didn't even need to bring out the Cloth Box physically — he could summon the armor directly onto his body, skipping an entire step.
"This is basically the same as Requip Magic."
Moen was quite satisfied with that feature.
Requip Magic was a spatial-type magic, and for melee-focused mages, it was almost essential. Those who mastered it could open up a personal storage dimension — a pocket arsenal — to quickly switch weapons mid-battle without having to physically carry them all.
Erza was the best-known example of this magic. Her version, Requip: The Knight, was an advanced evolution of the spell. Her storage space was enormous, capable of holding not only a wide variety of weapons but also countless suits of armor for instant gear changes.
By comparison, most ordinary Requip users had very limited storage and could only swap out weapons. High-level applications like Erza's required exceptional magical control and power.
Now, with the Saint Seiya System, Moen had essentially achieved his own version of Requip: The Knight — but with a significant upgrade:
His storage space was virtually unlimited, and he'd never run into the kind of spatial constraints other mages struggled with.
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