Chapter 500: For Research Purposes
“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.”