The sun sank lower, and the park shadows grew longer, stretching across the paths like reaching fingers. Lior shifted on the fountain edge, eyes flicking over the grass where a few late joggers passed. The cube in his bag throbbed faintly, almost lazily, like it was aware of the approaching evening. The Veil whispered softly under his skin, hinting at movements just beyond his perception.
Kai plopped beside him, brushing off a speck of dust from his jeans. "You've been weird all day. That's a record, even for you."
Lior forced a casual shrug. "I'm fine. Just… thinking."
As they sat, Mara walked past on the other side of the fountain. She didn't notice them, and Lior didn't know who she was. Yet the Veil flared ever so slightly, alerting him to a presence stronger than his own stage. It was subtle—just a ripple—but enough to make his stomach tighten.
Kai nudged him. "You staring at that girl again?"
Lior turned sharply, catching her retreating figure. "What? No… I wasn't—" He trailed off, sensing the faint aura the Veil revealed. She moved with a controlled ease, deliberate and confident. The hum in his mind told him that she wasn't just another person in the park—something about her was different.
The two friends walked slowly along the winding path, the crunch of leaves beneath their shoes mixing with distant laughter. Lior tried to focus on ordinary sights—the fountain water, the sky painted in dusk colors—but the Veil kept tugging at him, whispering of currents he could barely grasp.
"Lior, you've been quiet since we got here," Kai said. "Something up?"
"I… I just feel like there's something in the park," Lior admitted softly, keeping his eyes on the ground. "Something… unusual."
Kai laughed lightly. "You say that about everything, man. It's just a park. Chill out."
But Lior couldn't. A faint flicker of movement caught his attention—a shadow behind a tree, too precise, too controlled to be random. The Veil flared again, signaling a Stage 2 presence just beyond him. He clenched his fists lightly, though there was nothing he could do. At Stage 1, he had no power to confront it yet; he could only watch and sense.
The park's ordinary rhythm went on around him—children running, joggers passing, birds calling. Yet beneath it, subtle currents flowed. Lior felt them like threads weaving invisibly through the world, tying people together, hinting at the powers lying just out of reach.
Kai yawned. "Come on, man. Let's at least enjoy the sunset before it gets dark. You're scaring yourself over nothing."
Lior allowed himself a faint smile and looked at the sky, letting the soft glow of evening wash over him. But deep down, the Veil hummed insistently, a reminder that the world was not as simple as it seemed. Shadows, currents, hidden powers—they were all there. And one day, he would have to step beyond his Stage 1 limitations to face them.
For now, though, all he could do was sit, watch, and wait.