"All of the spells I normally use can be cast with just my hands alone, so I really don't need any equipment," Erwin explained.

"So what you're saying is that your confidence stems from ignorance." Professor Hawk was glowering at Erwin with an enraged expression.

Thankfully, Erwin was already used to this, and he merely lowered his head and remained silent.

Thus, the two of them reached an impasse, and neither of them said anything. Erwin was flipping through the pages of "Laws of Time and Space" in an absentminded manner, while Professor Hawk was flipping through the pages of the book in his hand, making sure the pages rustled loudly as he did so. At the same time, he would occasionally cast a disapproving glare in Erwin's direction, but Erwin was very smart in keeping his head lowered the entire time, not giving Professor Hawk a chance to look into his eyes.

The impasse continued for close to an hour, and Erwin was starting to grow a little sleepy. Looking at all of the symbols and large passages of text in the book, he was beginning to nod off, and his head was bobbing up and down, looking as if he could collapse onto the desk and fall sound asleep at any moment. Professor Hawk immediately flicked a finger through the air upon seeing this, and a lightning spell that carried a slight paralysis effect struck Erwin right on the waist. His control of power was exceptional, and the spell wasn't powerful enough to hurt him, but it also jerked him wide awake.

Erwin was caught completely off guard and immediately fell off his chair while howling with pain, rubbing his own waist as he glared at Professor Hawk with a resentful expression.

In contrast, Professor Hawk was feeling very satisfied at the sight of Erwin's suffering.

"Come with me, I'll tell you about the uses of equipment like staves, rings, and necklaces," Professor Hawk sighed as he beckoned Erwin over to him.

Erwin was still rubbing his own waist with an indignant expression, but he didn't dare to direct his anger at Professor Hawk.

"Just as you said, all magicians can cast spells with their hands. Using one's hands to sense the changes in the matter around them is the clearest and most direct way to do things, and most instant-release spells can be cast directly with one's hands," Professor Hawk explained. "However, when it comes to magic that involves altering matter, staves will generally be used. Come here and give this a try."

Professor Hawk was pointing at a staff on the table as he spoke. The staff was around three fingers thick and the length of one's forearm.

Erwin picked up the staff before carefully inspecting it. There was a red gem embedded into the tip of the staff, and judging from its color, it appeared to be a premium Red Brown Gem. Erwin picked up the staff before unleashing an intermediate fireball spell. Fire instantly erupted from the front of the staff, and a fireball quickly took shape. Erwin was quite startled by this, and he immediately canceled the spell.

"As you can see, this is a premium Red Brown Gem, which has a high sensitivity to fire elements. You were able to conjure up that fireball spell much faster through the use of the staff, right?" Professor Hawk explained. "Each staff possesses different attributes and elemental sensitivity, but all staves are used for the same purpose: to speed up the conversion of matter in the surrounding space."

Erwin nodded in response, then asked, "I saw that some of the students in the magic division use long-handle staves. Is that any different from this one?"

"Long staves will increase the distance and range of a spell, making it suitable for large-scale battles, but they're not suitable for melee combat. In contrast, short staves have superior elemental sensitivity, allowing one to cast spells through them faster than they'd be able to with long staves. Whether one is superior over another is decided by the circumstances of the battle you're in," Professor Hawk explained.

Erwin was suddenly made to realize just how much of a novice he was in this field.

"Then if my magic becomes sufficiently powerful in the future, will I be able to not use staves?" Erwin suddenly asked.

"I would advise against that unless you have absolute confidence that you can cast spells faster with your hand than you'd be able to using a staff," Professor Hawk replied. "In a battle of life and death, you want all the help that you can get."

Erwin nodded in response and committed this information to his memory. Unbeknownst to him, these words from Professor Hawk were going to save his life countless times over the years.

Erwin wanted to ask Professor Hawk which type of staff would be best for him to use, but he was afraid of being scolded again, so he didn't dare to ask.

"Come and try out these rings next." Professor Hawk raised two fingers before waving them through the air, and a copper accessory box rose up from the top of the bookshelf before flying over to them.

Erwin used his sleeve to wipe away the dust on the box. Even though the box was a little dirty, it was clear that it had been extremely intricately crafted. Upon opening the box, Erwin was greeted by the sight of several silver rings and a few necklaces placed in no particular order. These accessories were also all covered in dust, and it seemed that they hadn't been used in many years.

Erwin couldn't see much difference between the rings, so he chose one at random and blew off the dust on its surface, upon which he discovered that countless magical runes were engraved upon the silver ring. He put on the ring before attempting to cast some spells, but he couldn't sense anything different, and he turned to Professor Hawk with an inquisitive expression.

Professor Hawk raised his fingers once again to cast a spell, and a magic puppet that was glowing with blue light appeared in front of Erwin.

"Try to use your instant-release spells now," Professor Hawk instructed.

Erwin nodded in response, and with a wave of his hand, several small fireballs were sent flying toward the puppet. This was a spell that he was so familiar with that casting it was virtually second nature to him at this point. However, what happened next came as quite a surprise to him. As soon as the fireballs struck the puppet, the entire puppet quickly erupted into flames.

Oh, so this ring can enhance the negative status conditions inflicted by spells! Erwin thought to himself as his eyes widened in surprise. This was quite a practical ability, and he suddenly wanted to keep the ring for himself.

After that, he tried a few more rings, and as a complete novice to magic equipment, his horizons were broadened significantly. There were some rings that could enhance the tracing ability of spells, there were some that could enhance the destructive power of spells, and there were even some that could automatically conjure up magic shields during the casting of spells.

"Try a necklace," Professor Hawk instructed.

Erwin picked up a silver necklace before putting it on. The hollow runic carvings of the necklace were wrapped around the transparent gemstone, and it was impossible to tell exactly what the gemstone was.

After Erwin put on the necklace, Professor Hawk flicked a finger through the air, unleashing yet another lightning spell directly toward him.

The gemstone on the necklace suddenly began to glow, while the hollow runes rapidly revolved. A series of interconnected ring-shaped lines began to appear, and by the time the bolt of lightning reached Erwin, a magic mirage had already been conjured up to block the spell.

Erwin looked down at the necklace in his hand with a stunned expression. However, the necklace had already returned to its original state, and the light had faded from its gemstone. 

"A mirage spell is enclosed in the runes on that necklace, and it's activated by this gemstone, is that right?" Erwin asked in a bewildered manner. "What kind of material is this gemstone? How is it able to sense magic attacks?"

"It's a Duskshadow Gem," Professor Hawk explained. "It's a type of magic gemstone with resonance properties. Whenever a harmful spell reaches within a certain range of the necklace, the magic power stored within the gemstone will be activated, thereby fueling the mirage spell runes."

"Then will the necklace be triggered when I'm casting spells myself?" Erwin asked.

"That's why I told you to wear it. Duskshadow Gems absorb magic power in order to replenish themselves. Once it absorbs your magic power, it'll essentially become an extension of your own body, so your spells naturally won't trigger its resonance," Professor Hawk sighed. "You need to spend less time with hostesses and more time browsing books in the library! Your lack of knowledge is really going to come back to bite you someday."

Erwin was rather disgruntled to hear this. It seemed to him that Professor Hawk was looking for every possible opportunity to scold him.

"So that means that this necklace can be used repeatedly as long as I provide it with enough magic power?" Erwin asked.

Professor Hawk naturally knew what Erwin was thinking, and he replied in a cold voice, "There's a cooldown time required for the activation runes, and that cooldown time is around 15 minutes per use. Also, I already told you that your magic power will be expended with each activation of the necklace. In battle, this necklace will be extremely taxing on your magic power. Given your current level of magic power, you'll only be able to activate it a few times before you're wrung dry."

Erwin nodded in response with a dejected expression. He had thought that this necklace would be activated whenever he was attacked by a spell, but the fact that the activation runes had a cooldown time and that the necklace would expend his magic power with each use made it suddenly a lot less appealing.

"Professor Hawk, I think these accessories are all great. Why are you storing them away to gather dust like this?" Erwin pulled out the remaining few necklaces before carefully inspecting them.

"These are all elementary accessories that are no longer useful to me." Professor Hawk couldn't help but feel a little amused. No matter how lackadaisical this student of his was, his youth would always be able to bail him out. In contrast, he was already an old man, and he couldn't help but lament the rapid passage of time as he looked at these accessories that he had used in the past.

"In that case, I'd be more than happy to take these accessories off your hands, Professor Hawk. I don't think I'll be able to buy any better equipment even if I go to the eastern part of the inner city," Erwin said with a shameless grin. "In any case, you're the one forcing me to go to the Pillow Sword Tournament, so you have to take responsibility for me, right? For your sake, I can't make too much of a fool out of myself!"

"Hmph, even with those accessories, you're still probably not going to embarrass yourself any less," Professor Hawk taunted.

Erwin could only shake his head with a resigned expression in response to Professor Hawk's insults.

"You can pick whatever rings and necklaces you want, but don't take this staff. A staff is the most important piece of magic equipment, and you have to get one that's suitable for you," Professor Hawk said.

In terms of the rings, the choice was simple for Erwin. The ones that he liked the most were the ones with negative status condition enhancement effects and spell tracing effects. As for the necklaces, all of them seemed to be useful according to Professor Hawk's descriptions, but he was too embarrassed to take all of them. Thus, after pondering the matter for a long time, he finally decided to pick the necklace capable of unleashing the mirage spell.

"For your staff, I recommend you go to Haven Street in the eastern part of the inner city. Head east, and when you reach the end of the street, you'll get to a shop called the Luzen Equipment Shop. There, you should be able to get yourself a suitable staff," Professor Hawk said as he put the remaining rings and necklaces back into that copper accessory box.

Erwin nodded in response, making a decision there and then that he was going to take all of the accessories in the box for himself someday.