Chapter 126: Harvesting Mussels Underwater

“You mean this little shovel?” Candice pulled out the small shovel.

Clearly, this little shovel is useless for mining.

“Yes, that’s it. It’s called a diving shovel,” Instructor Sha Hu said calmly.

“If you don’t want to mine, there are other options.”

“You can go underwater to harvest mussels.”

“In the waters beneath Hardship Cliff, there lives a rare creature—the Maid Mussel.”

“The Maid Mussel is one of the magical ingredients for the 1st-circle spell [Linguistic Comprehension].”

“Since [Linguistic Comprehension] is nearly a spell every 1st-circle mage learns, the Alchemy Branch has a constant, high demand for Maid Mussels—take as many as you find.”

“Each Maid Mussel you find counts as fifty kilograms of water-gold ore.”

“Still, let me warn you.”

“So far, the average time for students completing the entrance task through mining is sixty-one days.”

“For those completing it through pearl harvesting, the average is one hundred three days.”

“Huh?!” Candice frowned in confusion.

“The reason is simple,” Instructor Sha Hu explained patiently, as always diligent.

“Maid Mussels only hide in the riverbed’s silt, so to harvest them, you must dive to the bottom to search.”

“First, this requires excellent swimming ability—not everyone has it.”

In this world, far fewer people can swim than in Gao De’s previous life.

This world has no physical education classes, no extracurriculars, and most importantly, certain spells can fully replace the skill of swimming.

Thus, unless one’s profession is water-dependent, few bother to learn swimming.

“Second, the riverbed is cold, visibility is poor, and the terrain itself is chaotic—these three factors combined make finding hidden Maid Mussels extremely difficult.”

“Repeating the cycle of surfacing to breathe and diving back down to search consumes as much stamina as mining.”

“Most importantly, mining guarantees results if you just dig.”

“But with pearl harvesting, you might spend a full day searching and find nothing—or you might catch a full load on your very first dive.”

“The choice is yours.”

“My advice? Just mine the ore like everyone else,” Instructor Sha Hu offered, based on his experience—whether they listened was none of his concern.

His duty was only to lead and supervise.

“Oh, one more thing I should mention.”

“Though there’s no deadline for this entrance task, if you complete it within thirty days, the academy grants you an extra credit point; if you break the record, you get five.”

“Instructor Sha Hu,” Luo Yasi raised his hand to ask.

“Speak.”

“What’s the record?” Luo Yasi’s question was the same one all the new students wanted answered.

Instructor Sha Hu chuckled, then replied, “The current record holder for fastest completion of the entrance task is the former dean of Ceres Spell Academy, Gaven Hog.”

“He did it in twenty-five days—by mining.”

Hiss—

At this, everyone present involuntarily drew in a sharp breath—shocked not only by Gaven Hog’s time, but also by the fact that even the academy’s own dean had once labored faithfully beneath Hardship Cliff.

Having finished his briefing, Instructor Sha Hu responsibly led them down the winding cliff path to the base of Hardship Cliff.

Beneath the hundred-meter-high sheer cliff lay a stony riverbank.

Even descending without heavy loads, six new students—all except Gao De, who had trained for half a year—breathed unevenly.

Imagine hauling dozens of kilograms of water-gold ore back up the mountain—what a trial this would be for these pampered “magic Erdai .”

Upon reaching the cliff base, all saw a massive entrance carved into the cliff wall.

Sunlight streamed down, partially illuminating the entrance, allowing faint glimmers to be seen.

Light and shadow interwove, forming mysterious patterns.

Yet deep within the mine, where no light reached, even by day, it remained a pitch-black abyss—chilling to the soul.

Along the cliff wall beside the entrance hung many specially made miner’s helmets, forged from metallic ore, their surfaces etched with complex magical runes.

Instructor Sha Hu picked up one such helmet, gently tracing its finely carved runes: “These helmets are crafted by the Alchemy Branch, enchanted with [Light] and an automatic [Blade Ward].”

“The latter protects you from falling rocks above; the former provides illumination within the mine.”

He clapped his hands. “Alright, everyone—get to work!”

As Instructor Sha Hu spoke, all took a deep breath.

Lu Ke and Caplan exchanged a glance—two magic Erdai from the Hains family, their eyes sparking with rivalry.

Each saw the other as a rival; driven by competitiveness, they stepped forward first.

They each took a miner’s helmet from the cliff wall, placed it on their heads, and entered the dark mine one after the other.

Seeing them go, the remaining male student, Luo Yasi, refused to lag behind and followed.

Next came Jelika. She paused, noticed Gao De still standing motionless, said nothing, but a faint, almost imperceptible encouragement flickered in her deep eyes—then she took a helmet from the wall and put it on.

With steady, composed steps, she entered the mine, her silhouette soon swallowed by its shadows.

Candice watched this, her face twisted in indecision; after a moment’s hesitation, she stomped her foot in frustration, sprinted to the cliff wall, grabbed a helmet, and followed inside.

Outside the mine, only Gao De remained unmoved.

“Why aren’t you moving yet?” Instructor Sha Hu was slightly surprised.

Of the six, Gao De wore the plainest clothes—but also the most practical, seeming the most hardened. Why, then, was he the slowest? “I don’t want to mine,” Gao De gave an answer that startled Instructor Sha Hu.

“To complete the entrance task, you must mine—do you not wish to enroll?” Instructor Sha Hu’s warning cut off abruptly.

Because Gao De had already begun taking off his clothes.

Seeing this, how could he not understand Gao De’s intent?

Soon, Gao De shed his outer garments, leaving only his underclothes.

He strode across the stony riverbank, then slowly stepped into the water.

Though the sun blazed overhead, the river water was cool.

The deeper he dove, the greater the pressure—and the colder the water became.

One could imagine how biting the riverbed’s currents must be.

(End of Chapter)