Callisto started dawdling about, but not going too far away from the point where she threw the rock at the base of the hill.
At the same time, she was making discreet glances at the tourists that were still facing her direction, noticing how some of them were starting to return to doing their own thing.
"In hindsight, maybe throwing rocks that way in the park is a bad idea. Yep."
Callisto nodded to herself.
Her footsteps soon stopped as she looked at her own hands and arms, observing and trying to feel anything within her body.
Callisto suspected that using her golden eyes might have some bad side effects, but she felt nothing out of the ordinary. She wasn't even exhausted.
Though again, Callisto only activated her golden eyes, throw a rock with inhuman strength, and then turned it off afterwards.
"I guess you can just consider it a light warm-up," she thought to herself before shaking her head in denial. "No, not even close. I'm being too reserved at using it."
And with that, the silver-haired girl closed her eyes, and the golden shade returned.
This time, Callisto intended to keep her golden eyes active until she started feeling the exhaustion caused by using it. Or if it started causing some abnormal reaction within her body.
"Trying out my reflexes and speed can wait," she murmured to herself. "For now, let's play with my senses."
The young lady walked back to the hole she made at the base of the hill.
She peered at it once again.
The first time she did it, all Callisto saw was the darkness of the void. Just nothing.
However, using her golden eyes to sharpen only her sense of sight, she began seeing something.
"Ooh..."
First, the wall surrounding the hole. She could not help but be amazed at the fact that she could now see it and its details rather vividly.
Something that was only possible by either pointing a light inside, or by using her golden eyes.
At the very far end, she could see the rock she threw to create the hole.
"It's like I have a built-in night vision camera or something in my eyes."
Callisto finally turned away from the hole. She wanted to see what more she could do with a sharpened sense of sight, as well as how far she could enhance it.
In a completely ordinary and unsuspecting fashion, she turned towards the direction where the afternoon sun's glow was beaming at.
Of course, Callisto wasn't looking straight at the brightest star in the galaxy. But her gaze hovered straight at that bright ray of sunlight.
Beam!
"Ah—WAAAHH!!"
The young lady stumbled backwards before falling on her butt, squirming about on the grass, clearly in a total discomfort.
"The sun... so bright!"
Covering her eyes futilely with her hands, Callisto's cry drew the attention of the tourists just like how she threw that rock at the hill earlier.
"What's that?"
"What's with that girl?
"Is she okay?"
A concerned middle-aged man and his son—a teenager like Callisto—came to her side. "Are you okay, Kid? Hey, Kid!"
The middle-aged man's voice put Callisto's pained squirming to a stop as she made a response. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Some dirt just entered my eye."
"Are you sure," the young man insisted, a frown contorting his features. "You're writhing like there's more than just dirt in your eye."
Shortly after a brief pause, Callisto sat back up.
Removing her hands off her face, Callisto lifted her chin as she looked at the concerned middle-aged man and his son, her golden eyes glimmered with an assuring glow. "I'm fine now. Sorry for the trouble."
An awkward laughter left the silver-haired girl's lips.
Meanwhile, the young man's gaze widened upon seeing the silver-haired girl's smile.
He was stunned.
Not only from that simple, timid expression, but also at how beautiful Callisto is.
A tinge of pink creep up the young man's cheeks as his gaze lingered on the young lady's white face, drawing him in like a moth to a flame.
His father's voice would pull him back to his senses.
"Oh, I see," The concerned expression on the man's features disappeared. "Glad to hear that. Well, me and my son are having a picnic over there with our family. If you need anything, you can come to us."
Callisto's gaze followed the middle-aged man's finger that was pointing at a direction where a woman, his wife, and their two young children were looking back at them.
Callisto shot a grateful smile at the middle-aged man and his son. "Yes. Thank you so much.
A sense of relief washed over the middle-aged man's facial features as he and his son headed back to where they were having a picnic.
On the way, the young man looked back at Callisto. His gaze lingering on her fleeting image for a bit longer than necessary before turning away.
Callisto watched in silence as the two children staying at their picnic spot with their mother ran towards the father and the oldest son.
Seeing them exchange smiles and laughter with one another made the young lady feel warm in her chest, a familiar feeling that a drew a tender smile on her face.
"What a nice family," She muttered.
Callisto stood back on her feet, patting off the dirt and grass stuck on her clothes. What happened to her just now reminded her of the durian fruit incident.
A bulb suddenly switched open in her mind as she raised a finger in the air.
"Fool me once, uh... It doesn't really fit actually. Oh well. At least I know not to take my senses lightly when I make use of them now."
In another attempt to make herself anything but suspicious, she took a moment to just walk a bit and look around the park, but keeping her golden eyes active.
She would occasionally turn towards the families who were having a picnic, more particularly the one with the middle-aged man and the eldest son who approached her out of concern and kindness.
She did it once. Then twice. And then, the third time, her eyes met one of two kids who was sitting next to his older brother.
Sharpening her sense of sight allowed Callisto to see the young boy's features vividly as if she was right in front of him.
A soft smile contorted Callisto's lips as she waved her hand at the boy.
The silver-haired girl could see the boy's expression light up as he returned the gesture to her.
The boy turned to his older brother, almost like he was climbing up on his shoulder.
Out of curiosity, Callisto sharpened her sense of hearing to find out what the boy had to say to his brother.
"Bro, she waved at me! Look!"
The elder son followed his little brother's gaze, a flush of pink coloring his cheeks as he felt the silver-haired girl's eyes met his.
Callisto waved at the older brother, drawing the same gesture from him and a big smile arching his lips.
Although it was clear Callisto was looking their way, the girl's focus was now solely towards herself.
"I've been in this state for some time now, but I still don't feel anything weird in my body at all," Callisto murmured to herself, a bead of sweat running down her left cheek. "Is tampering with my senses not enough to cause any reaction? Am I still being reserved with my power?"
Callisto returned from her senses as she noticed the parents waving at her, inviting her to come to their picnic spot.
"We got snacks," shouted the middle-aged man.
The young lady's cat ears perked up at the mention of some nibbles.
"I'm gonna need to exert myself a bit more. After accepting their kind offer, that is. It'd be rude not to, right, Elesis?"