Chapter 358. Health and Delay.

  “Thanks, Darsen, you’ve been a big help. If you run into Ingrid, let her know I’ll be back soon to see about any contracts she might have for me,” I said before taking my leave of the shop. I wasn’t quite done with my shopping yet and made my way over to see Itzlebit at his alchemy shop. Whatever spell Zerallia had hit me with, it wasn’t a regular fire blast. It did more damage than it should have given my moderate resistance to that type of damage.

  I passed a few other shops, but so far, other than Somhagen Exports and Itzlebit’s shop, the other stores had been a bit of a disappointment. The town catered toward the lower tier and rank adventurers, and the gear I was looking for was probably too expensive for them to keep in stock regularly.

  The next time I was at Somhagen Exports, I’d have to ask Ingrid about perhaps ordering items directly. Maybe they could fill specific requests for an additional charge. My pocketbook would take a hit, but the coin was useless if I died holding a big bag of it. It turned out that I was in luck, and Itzlebit’s shop was still open. It wasn’t that late, but he seemed to be a one man show and I knew that I wouldn’t want to keep my shop open all day and night.

  “What can I get for…hey, I recognize you. You’re the adventurer that was actually courteous and knew a good deal when he saw it,” Itzlebit said as I entered. The rest of the shop was empty, and I had the place to myself.

  “Yeah, I’m Rico, and remember, I’m not just an adventurer, I’m also an adjunct professor,” I reminded him. I wasn’t big on titles, especially temporary ones, but I sort of figured that my connection to the academy would lend me a bit of consideration given Itzlebit’s dislike of adventurers.

  “Exactly. What can I do for you this fine evening? I was about to close up for the night, but I can stick around for a bit if you’re here to actually buy something,” Itzlebit said.

  “I won’t take too much of your time. I’d like to buy a few more of the healing potions that you sold me on my previous visit. Unfortunately, I had to try one out recently and I’m alive to report they did the job,” I said.

  “Not a problem, let’s see, I remember the formulation that I sold you last time,” Itzlebit said as he began to search the racks of potions behind the counter.

  “You remember my order?” I asked with a bit of surprise. He had recognized me earlier, but to also remember what strength of potion I was interested in was impressive.

  “Of course, I may not be all that hot with names, as my dear wife likes to remind me whenever we go out with friends, but I’ve always been able to put a face with an order,” Itzlebit said as he held out the replacement potion.

  “Better make it full five of those, just in case. I don’t know when I might make it back for more shopping. Oh, and I did have a question, Itzlebit. I was hit with a fire spell that seemed to almost ignore my resistances. Any idea what that might have been and what I can do to prevent something similar from happening in the future?” I asked.

  “Hm, well, preventing it is easy enough, don’t get hit. As for the other part of your question, I’ll need more details,” Itzlebit said, motioning with hand for me to pick up the pace.

  I explained a bit of the encounter that I had, describing Zerallia, her class, and the effects of the spell she used. He asked a few more questions about her summoned creatures, and he excused himself for a moment to consult a series of large reference books he had lined up on the back counter. Muttering to himself and stroking his long moustache, Itzlebit suddenly slammed the book closed and returned to where I was waiting.

  “Okay, you were probably hit with a spell called Fell Fire. It’s a nasty blend of regular old Fire Blast, with a more powerful damage over time component that mixes fell energy and fire damage. Having resistance for one of the two effects is helpful, but if you can add layers of protection for both, it’ll go better for you next time,” Itzlebit said.

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  Hearing that, it made me realize just how powerful Zerallia’s magic had been. I was protected moderately for fire, but I also had the infernal protection amulet Dalzrin had given me as part of my compensation. While it was possible that the professor had given me a dud, the system had confirmed that it was legit. The amulet protected from infernal damage, and Itzlebit confirmed that Fell energy was also in the category of infernal damage, which the amulet worked on.

  If I hadn’t had either of those two resistances, I would have probably died from the first hit. My survival must have thrown Zerallia off a bit, she was probably expecting an easy win with the element of surprise, her higher tier, and the power of her spells. My preparations had saved me, as had my experience in dealing with confusing, dangerous, and rapidly changing situations. The experiences I’d had as a summoned being made me as ready as I could be for just such an ambush.

  “Do you have anything to protect me from Infernal damage?” I asked.

  “From a potion standpoint, it’s difficult to brew one that protects from Infernal energy directly, and it uses a lot of expensive and rare component. In a town like this, there’s no market for it, Itzlebit explained.

  “Is it something you could do as a special order?” I asked.

  “Yes, but it’ll cost you and take a while. Most people decide to go a different route. Instead of directly trying to counter a specific energy, it’s often better to go with more comprehensive protection. Here, let me find an example for you,” Itzlebit said.

  I expected him to grab a potion or direct me to one of the cards in the racks the shoppers used to order potions. Instead, Itzlebit brought a tome over, and flipped to a page that he turned toward me. It was a recipe and ingredient list, but I was more interested in the description below.

  Potion of Delay. This draught will delay any damage taken by the imbiber. As the potion wears off, the damage will begin to slowly accumulate. How much damage can be absorbed, the length of the delay before the damage resumes, and the time that the returning damage is spread out over depends on the quality of the potion components, and the skill of the alchemist creating the potion.

  “Sounds dangerous to use, but I could see it being a lifesaver in the right situation. From that description, there seems to be a lot of variables to determine the quality. What strength of potion could you create,” I replied. There was a use for this type of potion, and if the returning damage was spread over a long enough time, my Health Bloom would help to mitigate it.

  “With my skill, and the ingredients I can easily gather, the potion would absorb a sizeable amount of damage. I’d say, based on your description of the spell, it would have absorbed the first Fell Fire spell completely, and then mitigated a bit of the second,” Itzlebit explained, tapping the counter and muttering to himself as he did some calculations in his head before continuing.

  “As far as duration, my potion would delay the damage for five minutes, then spread the damage out over a period of around sixty seconds or so,” Itzlebit said.

  I’d have five minutes to deal with the threat, which was far longer than most of my battles. With the damage it absorbed returning over a period of sixty seconds, I should be able to tank it. Between Health Bloom, my Troll’s Belt, potions, and perhaps healing from my minion Elida, it wouldn’t be a problem.

  “How much would these cost me, and how long for you to make them?” I asked.

  “Hmm, I’d have to price these at two gold and sixty silver apiece. Like I said, not cheap, but it could be a life saver. As far as how long to make them, give me a week, and I can have up to five of them brewed,” Itzlebit said.

  “Any chance I could get them sooner?” I asked.

  “No, the ingredients will take a day or two for me to acquire, then these need to simmer for some time to get the full effectiveness out of them. On top of that, I still have a business to run and other customers to see to. A week is the best I can do,” Itzlebit said.

  “I’ll take five, then,” I said, handing over the coin for my order and the health potions from earlier. “What about side effects? Anything else I should know?”

  “No side effects, but you can only use one every 24 hours. I should also mention that you can imbibe it up to an hour before you’re in battle. Any longer than that, and effects will start to diminish,” Itzlebit explained.

  “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied, taking my health potion purchases and leaving the shop. I’d have to wait a week for the potions to be made, but I didn’t think I could avoid Professor Dalzrin for that long.

  No, I had what I needed to face him now. He had my rewards, and if he was in league with Zerallia or Gary, dodging him for a day or two wasn’t going to help. All I could do was make sure I had a witness with me when I confronted him. Hopefully, Melody would be willing to join me for a visit to the professor’s classroom.