The entrance to Stone Seeds was under the frozen lake. Of course, there were other entrances to these caves, but Evan didn't want to waste another day on a path when he could get into the caves right here and now.
Without using any spells, Evan shattered a meter-thick layer of ice with a single blow. He dove into the icy water but didn't swim straight to the underwater cave.
He had to cover his tracks. Evan was going to fight a large group of Tears of Light, and he wanted to take advantage of the element of surprise. The Light Mages were not supposed to know that someone else was interested in the Meteor Glass.
Evan took his hands out of the water and cast Ice Veil. He quickly recovered the destroyed portion of the ice and canceled the spell.