You absorb some of the physical energy imparted upon you and store it for your next attack. Reduce the damage you take by 1d8, then the first time you hit with a melee attack on your turn, you deal additional damage equal to the reduced damage.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the damage reduction increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 2nd.