The axe-head stayed planted in the dirt, pivoting as I rose.
What struck me first was that I was taller. Just a little. Enough that the world seemed subtly shorter, the trees slightly closer, the horizon a fraction lower. It wasn't much, but the difference made everything feel…well, different. New.
I flexed my fingers, nerves firing with a speed and sharpness that made me shiver. Each tiny muscle fiber responded instantly, perfectly, as if my body had been rewritten from the ground up...and I was starting believe it had been.
Every movement felt magnified, every sensation amplified, and yet somehow, all of it came with a clarity I had never known. A sense of...precision.
I looked down at the greataxe. Its leather grip felt familiar as my hand tightened around it. I didn't put too much thought into hefting its heavy blade onto my shoulder.
Except that the weight...wasn't there.
