“no!” roman cried. “not all at once, you’re not some dumb....” he looked over at the dwarf, but didn’t finish his sentence.

    “i’ll be perfectly fine,” derek said as he gently placed the now empty mug between himself and roman. “he...” he nodded his head at braxton. “seemed to be confident to drink the whole thing, so i’ll be more tha—” he tried to finish, but instead stopped speaking once the first shiver went down his spine.

    it was like he jumped in ice water without any preparation, then the heat hit him. instantly, his body went from cold shivers to feeling like he was standing on the top of an active volcano. but, again, that feeling didn’t last very long, either. however, once the heat left, the true reaction began.

    derek felt like he was above his own body, watching down. it was basically an out-of-body experience, and it was almost like the body he was watching was paralyzed, other than the fact that if he thought really hard and really forced himself, he could make the body move a little, but it was more like he was a puppeteer instead of the actual owner of the body.

    is this what had the dwarf staring straight ahead, out of it? derek questioned himself. but before he could continue that line of thought, he was pulled back into his body in a very jarring manner, and the world started spinning. he tried to open his mouth to say something to the concerned, but upside down, roman, but his head was spinning so badly that he couldn’t even get his words straight, much less speak them.

    instead, the best he could do was brace himself for what came next. if it all went the same as what happened with braxton—which it seemed it was—then the next step in the brew’s reign of terror would be unconsciousness. and sure enough, as soon as the world came to a screeching halt, derek was hit with a sleepiness that he hadn’t experienced in ages.

    no, it was a sleepiness that he’d never experienced. like he’d been awake for multiple days and was now being given anesthesia. it wasn’t enough, however, to actually cause derek to fall forward. instead, he clenched his fists and flexed every muscle that he could over and over. it was almost impossible for him to fully move himself, but he could at least still do that.

    after a handful of seconds that felt like forever, the sleepiness faded, and derek was left with an actual bona fide buzz. a nice sense of warmth, much more comfortable than the previous heat, started in his chest and slowly, almost at a crawl, began expanding throughout his body. this, combined with a little lightheadedness and a small sense of euphoria, brought back some memories. derek took a deep breath in as he felt relaxed.

    “not bad,” he finally said. he looked to his left, and the dwarf was face down on the bar once again. “looks like he still couldn’t handle it, even though he knew it was coming,” derek chuckled. “well... i guess he did drink the whole thing after a single sip had got him before.”

    “you’re... okay?” roman asked.

    “i’m better than okay,” derek replied. “this is actually kind of nice. i wouldn’t say it’s like actually being intoxicated, but more of a much lighter version of it.” if i had to explain it to someone, i’d say it was like having a very light, but persistent, buzz.

    “what’s going on? what did it do? that dwarf took his second ‘drink’ before answering any questions,” roman asked. “what did he mean by dangerous?”

    “well, for me, nothing’s that bad mentally. obviously, this assassin over here had, and is having, a much more intense reaction than me,” derek explained. “for me, other than good feelings of relaxation, a cozy warmth spreading through my body, and light euphoria, the only negative feeling once the... main reactions were finished, was a very small amount of lightheadedness. but that has already gone, and i’m left feeling only the good things. even those, however, are pretty light.”

    “i see,” roman said as he was quickly scribbling down notes in a notebook that magically appeared in his hands. “please, continue. what happened in the beginning?”

    derek then told him about intense sleepiness and other reactions happened before the final effects settled in. roman scribbled everything down like a machine. “fascinating!” the alchemist said. “and what about your health?”

    “oh... i haven’t checked,” derek said. “i didn’t feel hurt at all, so i didn’t even think about it. give me a second.” with that, derek pulled his status sheet up and his eyes widened in shock.

    “what is it?” roman asked after seeing derek’s shock.

    “do not give this to anyone other than me... or maybe this dwarf, if he was paying attention,” derek said.

    “why? what are you seeing?” roman asked again.

    “my health is at seventy percent right now, and is not moving,” derek said.

    “interesting!” roman replied as he wrote more in his little book. “i wonder if it would kill or put someone in a ‘dying state.’”

    “i’m not sure,” derek said. “it may push them to dying, but make the state last shorter. the only way to tell would be to actually see it happen.” he thought about his experience, then continued. “the fire and ice feelings at the beginning, though intense, aren’t exactly painful. i suspect that anyone would withstand them. the out-of-body experience afterward is just weird. and then there’s the dizziness that gives way to unconsciousness.”

    “what about it?” roman asked.

    “well, nothing about the potion screams lethal,” derek said. “even with the side effects at the beginning, i don’t think many people would really look at their health until it was too late. and that is doubly true depending on how long they stay unconscious during that stage,” he explained, then nodded at braxton. “give him the potion.”

    “huh?” roman looked over, then, “oh!” he grabbed the potion, brought it to braxton’s lips, then turned it up.

    that let derek know that the dwarf did have greater meditation, as he opened his mouth without the pattern gaining much more ground than it was before. interesting, he thought. there weren’t that many people who would have been able to get meditation to that point. he and brandi were outliers.

    “i guess that’s enough for now,” derek said. he still felt the relaxation and the euphoria, which made the brew even more scary. feeling good like that could, once again, cause someone to pay less attention to their overall situation. actually... he thought. i think the feeling of relaxation and euphoria grows stronger as the pattern grows... that’s even more scary. he gulped, then was impressed by how braxton had entered meditation of his own accord after the pattern had already spread so far. that’s some pretty great willpower, he thought.

    derek thought about letting the pattern spread more just to see how much the feelings increased, but, in the end, he chose not to. instead, he closed his eyes and used greater meditation. in no time at all, he pushed the pattern all the way back to his chest, then stopped the meditation.

    his health was back up to seventy-five percent at that point—it seemed that the brew took a quarter of someone’s health just to create the beginning of the pattern. will this stay as long as you want? as long as you control it and don’t let it spread too far, and don’t heal it completely? woah... he thought, then pushed the pattern the rest of the way off of himself—causing it to disappear.

    “you’re not selling this to anyone,” derek said once the pattern was gone. “even if they could handle it, i feel like, for those without very high wisdom and willpower, they will either become addicted, then have an accident and die, or they just won’t be able to control it. this is not something you want your name attached to.”

    “i have to agree,” braxton said from the side. the regeneration potion that roman had given him was not just a good one, it was a great one. as far as derek could see, and by the way the dwarf was speaking, it seemed the pattern was completely gone. “as great of a brew as it is, it’s not something that should be sold. it would be a great training aid to increase one’s willpower, though. but that would be towing a dangerous line, too.”

    “yeah,” derek replied. “and the scariest part is that i think it’s all based on the person who’s consuming its health pool.”

    “twenty-five percent?” braxton asked derek.

    “exactly,” derek replied. “and there is no way we have the same amount of health, endurance, and everything else...”

    “agreed,” braxton said with a nod.

    “i guess i won’t make anymore,” roman said.

    “now, now... i didn’t say you should go that far,” braxton said. “just give me the jug, and i’ll test it and think of a plan.”

    “yeah...” derek snorted. “for research purposes, right?”

    “exactly!”