Larwood and Chase entered the tavern first with smug expressions, while a dejected Kaiba could only lead Erwin toward the end of the street.

As the two arrived at the entrance of the Luzen Equipment Shop, Erwin took a look at the archaic shopfront. The construction of the shop was done in a style that was no longer fashionable, but it was very clean and well-maintained. Judging from the appearance of the shop, it had to be several decades old, but it had clearly been recently painted, so the owner of the shop was still taking good care of it.

The two of them entered the shop, and an elderly man who appeared to be the manager of the shop got down from the counter and made his way toward them. Judging from his appearance, he seemed to be a lot older than even Professor Hawk.

Erwin took a quick glance around the shop. It was a little cramped, but everything was well organized. The shelves on either side of them mostly contained rings and other accessories with runes engraved onto them, and there were also some pieces of armor and scrolls of all types of different sizes. On the backside of the counter was an entire wall of all types of books, all of which appeared to be quite old. There seemed to be something behind the counter as well, but it was obscured by the bookshelves, leaving only a walkway that only a single person could pass through at a time.

"May I ask what you're looking for, young masters?" The elderly man could tell from the attire of Erwin's duo that they hailed from affluent backgrounds.

"Hello, sir. I need to find a suitable staff for myself to use during the Pillow Sword Tournament, and Professor Hawk recommended me to come here," Erwin replied with a smile.

"Oh, so it was Professor Hawk who recommended that you come here. I haven't seen him in many years already," the elderly man said with a smile as he took a glance at Erwin. "The Pillow Sword Tournament is quite a prestigious event. You must be a very capable magician for Professor Hawk to have recommended you to participate in the tournament at such a young age."

An ashamed look appeared on Erwin's face. "I'll most likely be embarrassing Professor Hawk during the tournament."

"I doubt it! Professor Hawk has an extremely sharp eye for talent. I've never seen him be wrong about anyone yet, so don't be too hard on yourself," the elderly man consoled. 

"I certainly hope I'll be able to live up to his expectations," Erwin said with a wry smile.

"Now then, what would you like, Young Master? Are you going to the Pillow Sword Tournament as well?" the elderly man asked as he turned to Kaiba.

Kaiba hurriedly waved his hands in response. "I'm just here with my friend. I can take a look on my own, please take him to choose a staff."

"Alright, then please come with me, Young Master." The elderly man beckoned toward Erwin, then led him toward a room down the back of the shop.

After passing through the walkway, there really was another area of the shop. The elderly man snapped his fingers, and the lamps on either side of the counter immediately lit up. There were several dozen types of staves of different sizes lined up on one side, while weapons for martial artists were lined up on the other side. There were familiar weapons such as swords and spears, but there were also some weapons that Erwin had never even seen before.

Upon seeing the dozens of staves of different sizes, Erwin was feeling quite overwhelmed. Did he have to try out all of the staves one by one to find the right one?

The elderly man could see what Erwin was thinking from his expression, and he smiled as he said, "Don't worry, I'll take a look for you and narrow down the selection, so this won't take very long at all."

Erwin heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

"By the way, those two rings on your hand and that necklace you're wearing were given to you by Professor Hawk, right?" the elderly man suddenly asked with a smile.

"Wow, you have some sharp eyes, sir," Erwin exclaimed as he lowered his head to look down at the two rings on his hand.

The elderly man shook his head in response. "My eyes aren't what they used to be. I was only able to identify the accessories when I took a closer look. Those accessories were purchased from me by Professor Hawk many years ago, and seeing them has brought back a lot of memories."

"Professor Hawk bought these accessories from here?" Erwin asked.

"Indeed, he did." The elderly man nodded in response. "He bought them from me several decades ago. At the time, he had only recently become a lecturer, and he was still far from becoming a professor. Those are some very nice accessories. It seems like Professor Hawk has a very high opinion of you."

The elderly man began to pick out a staff for Erwin as he spoke.

Erwin didn't know how to respond to that, so he remained silent.

"I'm guessing you mostly use instant-release spells, so a short staff would be best for you," the elderly man murmured, and Erwin didn't know whether he was being spoken to or whether the elderly man was just thinking out loud to himself.

After browsing through the short staves for a while, the elderly man pulled one out before handing it over to Erwin. "Here, try this one."

Erwin held the staff in his hand before taking a look. A purple gem that he didn't recognize was embedded into the top of the staff.

Erwin raised the staff, and an intermediate fireball spell began to take shape at the top of the staff. To his surprise, the fireball was purple, and the speed of its formation was astonishing to Erwin.

"Why is it that this flame doesn't look like a fire-attribute one?" Erwin asked as he canceled the spell.

"This staff is capable of manifesting all gathered and converted matter into the darkness attribute. On top of that, the rate at which it's capable of gathering and converting matter is twice as fast as the average staff," the elderly man replied with a proud expression.

Erwin nodded in response.

"The darkness attribute is quite uncommon, but once I reveal it during the Pillow Sword Tournament, my opponents will come to expect it, would they not?"

In other words, if his opponents were to embed darkness resistance gems into their equipment, he would be completely powerless against them.

"That's true, but this darkness-attribute Shaved Purple Gem cannot just be bought anywhere. Even the mines in Fooz only produce several kilograms of this stuff each year," the elderly man replied.

"Hmm, I'd like to try another one." Erwin was still a little wary of the fact that this staff converted all of his spells into the darkness attribute. The fact that he was able to get his hands onto this type of gemstone meant that others would most likely be able to as well. After all, there was no lack of individuals wealthier than him in this city.

"Alright, I'll pick out another one for you then." The elderly man could see that Erwin had some reservations about this staff, so he began to browse through the collection again.

After that, Erwin tried out quite a few staves, but all of them were staves that only enhanced one particular attribute, which was very similar to the staff that he had tried in Professor Hawk's office. The only difference was that the staves in this shop were able to convert matter more quickly, and they also allowed for smoother casting of spells.

"We've gone through quite a few staves, but none of them seem to be as good as this first one." Erwin picked up that darkness-attribute staff again and began to carefully inspect it.

"Trust me on this one, Young Master. Your first gut feeling will often end up leading you in the right direction," the elderly man said with a smile.

Erwin nodded in response, then turned to the elderly man before asking, "How much is this staff?"

"150 Loonies," the elderly man replied with a polite smile.

Erwin couldn't help but draw a sharp breath as a stunned look appeared on his face.

However, the expression on the elderly man's face was completely justified, and it didn't look as if he would be open to offering any discounts.

Thus, Erwin put on a polite smile of his own as he said, "That's quite a reasonable price."

Meanwhile, he had already cursed Professor Hawk 100 times in his heart, and the only consolation to him was that a good staff would most likely allow him to perform better during the Pillow Sword Tournament.

Despite what he was thinking, Erwin was quite calm and composed as he settled the transaction with the elderly man. As he pulled out the 150 Loonies required for the staff, Kaiba's eyes immediately widened with astonishment, and he asked Erwin whether he had bought an entire carriage full of equipment.

Upon being told by Erwin that he had only purchased a single staff, the same polite smile appeared on Kaiba's face as well.

Throughout this entire process, the elderly man didn't seem to have sensed anything amiss with Erwin and Kaiba's expressions, and he asked, "Do you need to look at anything else, young masters?"

"No, that'll be all for today," Erwin replied as he bade the elderly man farewell, and the two of them departed from the shop.

"Alright, it was a pleasure doing business with you, young masters. Please visit again if you need anything else." The elderly man accompanied the two of them to the door with a smile, then extended a slight parting bow to see them off.

"Holy shit! 150 Loonies for a single staff?" He took Erwin's staff from him before carefully inspecting it. "Do you know how many cottages you can buy outside the city with 150 Loonies?"

Erwin didn't say anything.

"That shop looks like it has to be several decades old, how did it manage to stay open for so long with such ridiculous prices? I bet the only customers it gets are students like you who were recommended to go there by Professor Hawk," Kaiba chuckled with an amused expression.

Erwin continued to remain silent as he looked at the 50 remaining Loonies in his bag. All of a sudden, the wind seemed particularly cold to him, and he couldn't help but shudder.

On the way from the equipment shop to the Redbud Pavilion, Erwin maintained a dejected silence, while Kaiba teased him relentlessly the entire way there.

Right at this moment, a furious roar suddenly erupted from within the Redbud Pavilion. "You're not getting away with this, you little rascals!"

Immediately thereafter, Larwood and Chase were sent flying out from under the wooden eaves of the tavern. Kaiba and Erwin exchanged a glance, then immediately positioned themselves in front of Larwood and Chase to shield them. The four of them weren't exactly renowned scoundrels in Sarus or anything like that, but they had certainly experienced their fair share of pub brawls in the past.

A young man with brown hair and blue eyes emerged from the tavern. He was quite a bit older than Erwin and his friends, and he was holding a black longsword with an enraged look on his face. The sword was giving off a menacing black gleam under the streetlights, and it was giving off a completely undisguised threatening aura.

"Oh, so you've got a couple of friends here to back you up, have you? Fine, I'll just have to take care of all four of you at once!" A derisive sneer appeared on the young man's face as he spoke, and he was naturally referring to Erwin and Kaiba here.

Meanwhile, Larwood and Chase had already clambered to their feet and were ready for battle. Erwin took a quick glance behind him to see that the two of them had already gotten up, following which he moved a few steps to the side. The young man that they were facing was clearly a martial artist, so it was best to leave Larwood and the others to face him head-on while he assisted them from the rear with his spells.

The young man lunged forward and stabbed his sword directly toward Larwood's face. It seemed that out of the entire group, he resented Larwood the most. Larwood remained calm and collected as he crossed his arms in front of himself in defense.