After rummaging through the documents on the table, Gerhard finally found what he wanted.
[Imperial Year 999, Imperial Armian Academy, First Year First Semester, Integrated Survival Class Plan]
It was the plan for this year's first-year survival practical that he had already obtained.
It contained detailed information such as the placement and plans of professors and instructors, and safety measures.
Gerhard committed all of this to memory.
'It's tight.'
The time remaining until the practical was just over a week. And there were a total of seven lakes in the southern forest.
In one of them, the spirit herb, mithril, and the spirit creature guarding them were sleeping.
The problem was that he didn't know exactly which of the seven it was.
In the memory of the prophecy book, it showed Aint swimming to the bottom of a lake to find an underwater cave, but it didn't show which lake he jumped into.
This was why Gerhard volunteered for the instructor job and recruited Janice, preparing for the very last resort.
Although there was still a week left, he wasn't confident he could find it while attending classes within that week.
"I'll go check it out first."
The goal was to check as many lakes as possible in a week. There was also a small hope that the first lake would be the destination.
In the evening as the sunset was fading.
It was time for even the students with the most lectures in a day to finish all their classes and have dinner.
Gerhard knew that guard shifts changed at this time.
'All areas are managed by magic.'
The entrance to the forest was no exception.
Instead of individuals checking everything, it was a method of managing through magically created systems and recording orbs to see if there were any major problems.
It was the most efficient method necessarily chosen to manage a large property, but it had the weakness that it couldn't be perfect after all.
After stopping by Veriana's place to request a few things, he stood in front of the entrance to the southern forest. More precisely, it was a side path, not the official entrance.
'By now, they should be in the middle of the handover.'
Taking advantage of the confusion during the shift change, he presented an acquired faculty ID, and the secretly deployed magic barrier opened.
"Good. It works."
He threw himself into the forest while wearing a stealth robe.
***
Grrrr-
Red-furred wolves with 3m bodies. A pack of Hell Hounds prowled around, sniffing.
After wandering for a while, the Hell Hounds quickly disappeared in another direction.
After some time, a black figure dropped from a tree with a thud.
"This is killer effective."
Who would have thought it would instantly paralyze the Hell Hounds' sense of smell?
As expected of a Dragon Faith Order item.
"Let's see, the lake..."
Before long, Gerhard arrived at a massive lake. There were seven such lakes in the southern forest.
"So I need to find a secretly hidden cave here..."
["Do you think we can find it if we don't actively look for it?"
That's how secretly the entrance to the underwater cave was hidden.
"That's true."
Aint pushed his body through a small gap visible in the bottom mixed with pebbles and rocks.
It felt more like going underground than entering a cave.]
Recalling the fragment of prophecy, Gerhard clutched his head and tore a scroll.
Although there was a time limit, the breath magic that allowed him to breathe underwater enveloped his entire body.
Throwing himself into the water, the interior of the seemingly peaceful lake came into Gerhard's view.
The water was clear and clean, and there were fish swimming instead of monsters. Pushing away a freshwater crayfish crawling on the bottom, Gerhard placed his hand on the gravel-filled floor.
'This is why I became an earth magician.'
It was a subtle difference, but originally his highest aptitude attribute was not earth but fire. Yet he chose earth, his second best attribute, as his main attribute for no other reason.
To find metals, veins, money.
Mana penetrated the earth. It carefully and meticulously checked below, and further below.
After several hours, when the scroll's effect was almost over, he could completely confirm.
"This is a bust."
Unfortunate, but that was it. There were still six lakes left.
How much longer did he rummage through the water?
Gerhard achieved the remarkable feat of checking all seven lakes in a week, even cutting back on sleep.
The resources spent in the process were quite expensive. It was undeniable that he had been somewhat neglectful of company affairs.
After going to such lengths.
"None in all seven?"
There were no results.
Could there be another lake I don't know about?
That can't be. He checked the map multiple times. There were no lakes in the southern forest other than those seven.
After pondering, Gerhard reached a conclusion.
"It must be magically processed."
It was clear that some measure had been taken to make it difficult to find. Well, that's probably why no one had found it even after a thousand years.
He had thought it would be too easy. He seemed to have underestimated the first Emperor.
"...I should say it's good that I made preparations."
That was the only consolation.
Damn it. Gerhard cursed.
***
And the day after Gerhard came up empty until the very end.
"From now on, we will begin the joint practical training between the knight department and the magic department."
"It should originally be held in the northern mountain region, but due to a small issue, the location has been changed. The location for this survival practical is the southwestern forest."
Finally, the first-year joint survival practical began.