Karl awoke to light rain and a pounding headache early in the morning. He had no clock to check, but he was reasonably sure that he had not slept longer than a few hours. Kael extended his hurting head out of the shelter and into the drizzle. The wet and cold rain helped him get rid of the last bits of sleepiness. Looking towards the horizon, he saw the sun just peeking over the horizon ever so slightly. Sighing, he pulled back below the sheet of plastic and deliberated.

Tired as he was, returning to sleep seemed like an excellent idea. Even after shuffling around for a few minutes, however, he failed to find a comfortable position. The constant pitter-patter of the falling rain did its best to lul him in, but even with its valiant effort, sleep eluded him. Accepting the situation, Kael did the only thing he could: Stand up.

Rummaging through his rainy-day fund, he quickly grabbed what remained of his last run's spoils. Stuffing himself with a few dry biscuits and water, he was ready to start the day. Well, as ready as someone with a pounding head and running on too few hours of sleep would ever be anyway. The rain had reduced to a slight drizzle and allowed the sun to shine down on the wet capital, making the city look like it was covered in shining lights.

With the hood of his jacket draped over his head, Kael quickly scaled down from his resting spot on the roof and arrived on the ground unscathed. In the face of his magically improved reflexes, his speed was hardly impacted by the wet floor. Squeezing himself through the gate, he carefully avoided being seen as he left the construction site.

The streets were as empty as he had expected. The short walk to the bakery served as enough of a break to give him time to think about his goals for today. The meeting with Martin in the next few days weighed heavily on his mind. He would have to prepare for it. Not only would the meeting require money and clean clothes, but he also needed to know what questions he wanted to ask.

At least he had some time to get ready, he thought as he entered the almost empty bakery. Avoiding the looks of pity or disgust of the three employees, Kael brought two pre-made bread rolls and a piece of pastry for dessert. With time he had gotten pretty good at ignoring what others thought of him, but that did not make the pity hurt less.

Paying for his purchase, he grabbed his order and quickly left the store. Only after he had rounded a few corners and was securely sitting in an alley with his back to a wall did he calm down again. Shoving the uncomfortable thoughts aside, he slowly ate one of his bread rolls, savoring the rich taste of the butter and cheese while appreciating the fresh lettuce and pickled cucumbers.

Somehow the springy dough was even more intensely flavorful than usual today. No, not just the roll. All the ingredients seemed to somehow taste... More. Deeper, more vibrant flavors combined in his mouth to play a symphony of exquisite sapidity. This simple bread roll was the best thing he had ever eaten.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Kael questioned his own sanity. How could something taste so much better? Had his mouth just never worked before? Was he dying, and this was the last hooray before the end? What if it was just for this one time? Some boon he had been gifted to teach and torment him? Was it sane that he cared more about keeping this boon than the possibility of going insane? Could his improved reflexes and perception also work on his sense of taste and smell? He could only hope that his awakening was somehow responsible, as that would mean this change would be permanent.

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Not slowing down, Kael ripped the bag keeping his second roll and the pastry open, almost letting them fall to the ground from his violent action. Once the other roll entered his mouth, the explosion of flavor that assailed his tastebuds began again, and with tears streaming down his face, Kael ate. The cinnamon twist quickly followed its doughy cousin and vanished into the depths of Kael's stomach.

Even after he had finished his meal for a few minutes already, Kael could not stop himself from licking his fingers. Only when even that failed to provide results anymore did he accept that there was nothing of the piece of heaven left. Mourning the passing of his food, he stood and left the alley again.

Stepping back onto the open street, he noticed that there were suddenly more people going about their business. The rain must have stopped sometime when he was eating, and the rising summer sun had already begun to dry the concrete streets. Strolling through the neighborhood, fully absorbed in searching for some other food to try, Kael only noticed after a while that he was somehow able to more easily weasel around the other passer-byes.

Now conscious of the change, he experimented with its limits. Moving left and right to avoid obstacles by slimming margins, it was only a matter of time before he made a mistake. Thankfully the middle-aged man he bumped into only mumbled something through his teeth and went on his way without bothering to lecture Kael. He had seen magic performed right in front of his eyes. But this was something else entirely.

The change was not world-shaking, his body still being relatively normal. He was also not flawless, making mistakes from time to time. Maybe in the future, he would move through crowds like a devil bat ghost, but for now, he was happy to just try new things.

Caught in the simple pleasure of movement, Kael strolled down the walkway towards the subway station. On the way, he observed more and more curiosities. Walking past people and stores, he noticed many details that he had never paid attention to before.

A slight limp in a businessman. A woman glanced at the ring on her left hand over and over again while seemingly deliberating something. A young woman with a smile on her face that never quite reached her eyes accompanying an older man that could not keep his eyes off to himself. Three school kids riding their bikes laughing with each other while clearly not actually liking the company.

Stores cutting corners cleaning. Pickpockets, robbing the careless. A group of strange gentlemen exiting a laundromat looking around as if they were expecting the police to show up. A man, patting his jacket pocket repeatedly as if to check if it was still there. The smell of something rotting coming from below a diner. The gunshot-like bang of a car exhaust from two streets over, followed by police sirens just a few moments later.

It was as if some kind of flood gates had just been thrown wide open, threatening to drown him in impressions. Information was flooding his mind from all of his senses. It became harder and harder to deal with the excessive input, and Kael felt stretched thin even just walking down the street. His headache returned with a vengeance as he struggled to understand what was happening to him.

Luckily Kael found an abandoned dark alley that he could dive into. The strange smells that assailed his nose were only endurable when he closed his eyes. With the primary culprit of his sensory overload out of the picture, he slowly got used to the situation.

Slowly and with many breaks, Kael managed to return to his hideout. Hiding below the cover of the heavy plastic, he rubbed his aching head until the pain had lessened enough for him to catch up on some sleep. Thinking could wait until tomorrow. As the darkness of sleep took hold of him, Kael wondered if the heavenly taste was maybe worth all of the uncomfortable things.