Jason had never seen a garment like that.
It was clearly just an ordinary piece of clothing, at most a bit luxurious, yet it inexplicably possessed a temperament all its own, as if it were a living, independent being.
That temperament was mystery, as though it contained boundless secrets, making anyone who saw it from afar want to lose themselves within it.
That temperament was sanctity, as though it held supreme truth, making anyone who merely approached it feel its inviolability.
"How can something like that even exist?"
Jason wailed inwardly.
Such a bizarre and impossible-to-ignore garment, even if worn by an ordinary person, would make them appear as noble and radiant as a saint.
It was like a garment crafted by the gods.
No, even a god could never produce such a garment.
What's more, the one wearing it was no ordinary person, but a powerful mage, a wise scholar, a man already handsome to begin with.
"At this rate, how am I supposed to stand out at the banquet? Everyone's attention will be drawn to that guy. Won't I end up just like everyone else, completely ignored?"
In truth, it was not strange for Jason to think this way.
Because what Alaric wore now was none other than the exclusive magical artifact of the Third Magic, Spirit Materialization, or, in Typemoon terms, a Mystic Code, one of Alaric's newest creations, the Dress of Heaven.
Just like the magicians of the post-Age of Gods era, even a Magic User who wielded one of the Five True Magics would possess Mystic Codes to aid in the manipulation of those Magics.
According to the lore of the Nasuverse, "Magic" is a form of Mystery fundamentally different from "Magecraft."
In every era, any phenomenon impossible to manifest through magecraft or science is called Magic by magi.
This is why the concept of "magi" did not exist during the Age of Gods.
If a phenomenon could be achieved by spending enough time and resources, no matter how difficult, it would never be considered Magic.
When human civilization was still young, all magecraft was Magic. But as science advanced, the number of things humanity could accomplish increased, and Magic, by contrast, diminished.
Only five True Magics remain in the modern era, extremely rare.
The First Magic, one of the oldest, but its details remain unknown.
In the modern Nasuverse, its contents seem to be common knowledge among certain privileged magi.
Although the user of the First Magic has already died, rumors say his direct descendants continue to barely survive.
However, in the Nasuverse era Alaric arrived in, the First Magic had still not surfaced.
The Second Magic, the Magic of traversing and observing countless parallel worlds. Its wielder is Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg.
Through this Magic, he created the Kaleidoscope Blade that draws mana from other worlds, spatial boxes capable of storing enormous amounts of items, magical girl devices, and more.
The Third Magic, the Materialization of the Soul, essentially the creation of true, complete immortality.
When perfected, the soul becomes a perpetual-motion engine, providing infinite magical energy.
This Magic belongs to the Einzbern family, who constructed the Holy Grail War system in order to achieve it.
The first Magic Alaric studied was precisely this one, to push forward his creation of weapons surpassing the limitations of the body, and of course, to create an infinite mana source to aid Hecate in becoming a Magic Goddess.
The Fourth Magic, like the First, has unknown details. Nothing is publicly recorded.
But all existing Magic Users unanimously agree that "it absolutely exists" and acknowledge it. The name of its user is also unknown.
The Fifth Magic, a modern-era Magic of the Nasuverse, inherited by the Wandering Magician Aoko Aozaki from her grandfather. Nicknamed "Magic Blue."
As a magus, Aoko is average, but her destructive capability is extraordinary.
Rumors circulate everywhere claiming "Judging from her nature, Magic Blue must also be related to destruction."
But in truth, the Fifth Magic concerns time. Aoko once used it to summon another version of herself from a different point in time.
Just as the Kaleidoscope Blade is the Limited Mystic Code that carries the Second Magic and taps into infinite parallel sources of mana, the Dress of Heaven is the Limited Mystic Code of the Third Magic.
Its mysterious and sacred aura comes from the fact that it is essentially a manifestation of the Third Magic.
In every thread, every stitch of the Dress of Heaven, the secrets of the Third Magic are sealed completely.
If anyone besides Alaric possessed the correct affinity and ability, this garment could serve as a "key" enabling them to step into the domain of the Third Magic.
However, the Dress of Heaven is not fully complete.
Alaric knew that in the original lore, the Dress of Heaven bore seven rings, said to be able to dominate all things, even the souls of others.
In the original story, these rings were used to absorb and control Heroic Spirits.
But since the Throne of Heroes was not yet fully established in this world, Alaric naturally had no reason to create them.
In short, to any magus, this Dress of Heaven would be a priceless treasure worth fighting to the death over.
But to the heroes present, and to the ordinary citizens of Colchis, it was merely a garment that looked excessively luxurious.
And Alaric wore it for a very simple reason, to look handsome.
It was rare for him to attend such a banquet. Naturally, he had to dress well, dress strikingly.
And in that regard, how could ordinary clothing compare to the Dress of Heaven?
The aura emitted from the Third Magic alone was enough to capture anyone's gaze.
If magi from the Nasuverse learned that Alaric wore such an irreplaceable artifact for the simple purpose of "looking good," they would undoubtedly cry.
But there were exceptions, such as the original wielder of the Second Magic, the "Old Man of Jewels," Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg.
What others considered invaluable, the Jewel Sword, he regarded as scarcely more than a toy.
He even modified it into magical girl transformation rods named "Ruby" and "Sapphire."
Circe, present at the scene, was naturally another exception.
As a daughter of the gods, Circe was indeed an excellent mage, but she did not care much for the pursuit of the highest mysteries of Magic.
Instead, she was far more fascinated by love and the emotions of mortals.
This trait seemed to be inherited by one of her distant successors.
So when she saw Alaric swaggering out in the Dress of Heaven, she was actually the first to support him.
"If the clothes look good, you should wear them." That was her logic.
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[PS: In the original lore, the Dress of Heaven of the Third Magic is a female garment, possibly because it was modeled after the "Winter Saint," Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, who was a woman.
In any case, converting it into male attire is no problem.]
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