Unmoving and completely unaware of his surroundings, Aoni lay on the ground for an untracked period. However, as his eyes slowly and weakly fluttered open, it was clear that the Ash-Blond Lad was somehow still alive, indicating he hadn't been unconscious for too long.
But there was one fact that he was acutely aware of: even in his immobile state, the chilling temperature would surely have killed him if he had remained stationary for much longer.
Amazingly, despite his struggle to keep his eyes open and running solely on willpower, Aoni noticed a distinct lack of response from his limbs, particularly his legs, which were completely numb and nothing more than logs attached to his hips.
From his positioning while traveling in the Flume, Aoni knew this was the only relatively safe area for quite a distance, leaving him with little to no other options.
He either made it to the cave or perished in the snowy forest below. As his brain gradually began to wake up, he attempted to roll onto his side, shrugging his shoulders until, after several minutes of effort, his pack finally slipped off his back and landed on the rock floor beside him.
With this small victory, Aoni's next move was to use his teeth to unzip the pack and retrieve three essential items: health potions, a Tinder kit, and matchbooks.
If he wanted to survive the night, he needed a fire to keep warm, and hopefully, the potions would aid him.
"Hopefully"
Wearing a disgusted frown, Aoni couldn't help but feel the urge to spit on the ground, for he really hated that word; who could be full of hope in such a dire situation?
He hadn't even completed a full day of his journey as a traveler, and here he was, teetering on the brink of death, struggling just to wiggle his toes.
It took considerable time and effort, but eventually, he found himself on his belly, staring at what resembled a tube of toothpaste.
Contrary to what one might expect, Terrian potions were more like jelly than anything else, a product of science rather than fantasy.
Panting heavily and still feeling numb, he opened his mouth, scooted forward like a caterpillar until he was close to the tube, and bit down with the little strength that remained in his body until the tangy flavor of the tube's contents hit him, and then… he screamed bloody murder!
In his haste to heal his injuries, Aoni completely overlooked the fact that he had been pushing his body to its physical limit, resulting in a considerable amount of bodily harm.
The moment the citrus-flavored potion began working its magic, a wave of intense pain surged through every inch of his skin.
From his toes to his scalp, Aoni felt as if he had been lit ablaze, transporting him from an icy hell to a traditional one instead.
In short, he was miserable.
Tears and snot streamed down his face, his eyes turned bloodshot, and every vein in his neck bulged as he thrashed around while the potion attempted to repair the damage.
To make matters worse, the fluids leaking from his eyes and nose froze within minutes, turning an already embarrassing situation into something even worse.
But just as quickly as the pain hit, thanks to the potion's effects, he noticed a wave of numbness starting to settle in. Even though he didn't regain complete mobility, he realized that the longer he thrashed about, the worse things would get.
So, without wasting any more time, he clenched his teeth, rolled onto his side, dug into his pack, and began searching for what he needed immediately.
On that list were matchbooks, a Tinder kit, a sleeping bag, and an emergency blanket. He needed to get warm—fast. Although the cave's temperature was slightly warmer than outside, it was still around -40 degrees, which would mean certain death for a normal human; even seasoned Travelers couldn't survive forever in such conditions.
However, with a stable shelter, Aoni knew that if he could get a fire going, the cave would warm up quickly, especially since it was only a bit larger than the living room of his home back on Terra (roughly 25x25 feet).
Fumbling with the packaging of the Tinder kit (imagine a brick made of some type of foam wrapped in plastic) for a few moments, he decided to throw caution to the wind.
Using his teeth, he managed to break it open, and within a minute, he had created a pile of flammable material that he knew would burn for exactly 24 hours before needing more fuel.
Sure, Aoni was using half the Tinder kit in one go, but in his mind, it was a necessary expenditure. Back at the Academy, they were taught to cut the brick into ten equal portions for longevity, but given how cold he felt and how desperate he was to warm up, he didn't care about wasting it.
With a few sweeps of his arm, Aoni cleared all his stuff a safe distance from the half brick and placed it on the ground before picking up the matches and lighting the tinder kit.
The kit was specially designed to ignite with even the tiniest spark, making it super easy to light. Before long, the cave was illuminated and warmed by the crackling fire while he huddled in front of it, snug inside his sleeping bag with an emergency blanket draped over him.
As life started returning to Aoni's body, he found the experience surreal, but that feeling quickly gave way to a wave of dread. With the warmth of the fire and the healing potion working its magic, Aoni soon figured he could only recover to about 65%.
Lying bathed in the firelight and filled with anxiety, Aoni knew his only course of action was to take the 2nd and final healing potion if he wanted to be completely healed, something that went against all the training he'd been subjected to over the years.
Even after setting up his Flume, it would still take around 35 days to gather enough power for a return trip to Terra. That meant if he got injured during that time, he'd be out of luck and stuck dealing with any injuries—especially frostbite.