Aozaki Aoko Case File [512] (Patreon)

The avalanche was about 200 feet wide and 100 feet long—not huge, but to Aoko and her friends, it felt like facing a tsunami.

“Everyone, gather to me!” Aoko shouted calmly. “Don’t panic, I’m casting a spell!”

The white wall of snow rushed toward them. The team obeyed instantly and clustered around her.

With a double metamagic surge, Aoko instantly cast Leomund’s Tiny Hut: a ten-foot-radius hemispherical force field enveloped them.

The force field closed just as the snow hit, plunging them into darkness.

The good news: Leomund’s Tiny Hut was as sturdy as ever. The bad news: they were buried alive.

A brief incantation, and a globe of light rose from Simon’s palm, illuminating their shelter.

They checked each other and, finding no injuries, breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“Looks like we’re completely buried by the avalanche,” Jasrah observed, peering through the semi-transparent force field at the densely packed snow—so thick not a ray of sunlight shone through. “Can you open the shield? We could dig out.”

“We could just teleport out,” Aoko replied nonchalantly. “I can calculate the coordinates by the boulder and take everyone out directly.”

“No need to waste a spell slot,” Edgin shook his head. “The avalanche’s origin was far from here. The snow isn’t very deep here. We can just dig out.”

“Alright,” Aoko nodded. “I’ll open a gap now—grab your shovels.”

Holga, naturally the main muscle, pulled out a fine folding shovel—bought from the Frozenfar Expeditions Shop, now proving its worth.

She dug quickly, and despite worries about hitting ice, soon made a person-sized hole, piling the snow in the hut.

It took about half an hour for Holga to dig a five-meter tunnel, following the slope’s general shape from memory, finally emerging into sunlight. Jasra sighed in relief.

Jasrah wasn’t familiar with Aoko’s team’s strength; even without Aoko, Edgin’s group could have handled the avalanche—Simon alone could have dealt with it.

Back outside, they saw the boulder the goats had occupied was now mostly buried, with only its tip visible.

“The path is still there,” Jasrah said after checking her compass. “We’re lucky, but we should hurry through this unstable area—there could be more avalanches!”

With Jasrah’s advice, the others had no objections. They dug through the snow and followed the faint mountain path.

They’d left base camp at noon; by the time they dug out of the avalanche, it was around 3 PM.

The Everlasting Rime kept the Icewind Dale perpetually dim. After an hour and a half of climbing, it was nearly 5 PM, and the world looked like night.

“Hey, look over there!” Simon, with his darkvision, pointed at a spot on the cliff edge. “Is that someone?”

Aoko enhanced her vision with magic. She saw where Simon pointed: a human body half-buried in the snow, unmoving, head in the snow, bloodstained clothes.

“Let’s check it out!” Edgin said, moving first, Holga right behind.

Holga grabbed the person’s legs, pulled them out, and laid them on the ground.

“It’s Garret,” Edgin frowned. “Was he attacked? Where are his companions?”

“He’s still alive!” Jasrah knelt, feeling for breath at Garret’s nose. Weak, but the Waterdeep-born guide was still alive.

“I’ll heal him,” Aoko said, walking over with her staff.

Garret Velryn, unlucky or lucky, was in a deathlike state, but he couldn’t last much longer. Aoko needed to restore his body temperature first.

She cast Resist Elements, then Enhance Resilience, Cure Minor Wounds, and Cure Light Wounds.

After the spells, Garret’s breathing became stronger and steadier. Edgin and Holga both relaxed.

“It’s getting late,” Aoko said, glancing at the sky. “Let’s rest here tonight and continue tomorrow. We can wait for Garret to wake up—it’s not convenient to carry him.”

“Agreed,” Edgin was clearly pleased to have found Garret so quickly. As for looking for the duergar thief from Caer-Konig, he wasn’t too concerned. “I’m hungry anyway.”

“Rest? We can’t camp here,” Jasrah objected. “We need to climb higher to find a suitable spot—”

Aoko ignored her and took out her mansion spell components, placing them on a flat rock.

With a chant, a marble archway radiating warm light appeared. Aoko opened the door and went in, the others following. Only Jasrah stood outside, stunned.

“I’m starting to doubt you even needed to hire me as a guide,” Jasra muttered, but quickly recovered and ran inside Aoko’s magical mansion.