Hio was currently cultivating at the far side of the beach where no people often go. It's been five months since he started sensing the essence around him. His Star core's size also grew by an inch and he can now sense up to 30 miles radius.
"Prince Hio, I think it's time for you to take a rest." Butler Elie appeared by Hio's side in essence form.
Hio then nodded without asking questions and ended his sensing training. He was planning to achieve 33-mile radius of essence sensing by the week and add a mile range to his current sensing radius by 2 days of continual training, but due to the side effect of his talent, he decided to stop today's cultivation.
"Damn this 'rare' talent." Hio complained after his spiritual manifestation vanished.
After resting for a while, Hio proceeded to the beach front property they bought for their vacation. It was supposedly a celebration right after Hio's successful awakening but his eagerness to learn magic prevented them to do it earlier.
"Bro we're here to celebrate not to cultivate, take a rest, will you?" Kio greeted his brother when he arrived at one of the huts they built.
"I'm a Capricorn, it runs in me." Hio just responded bluntly and sat beside his brother.
"What? Being competitive?" Said Leo who just came.
"If you don't know yet, fishermen caught a lot of fish from the far side of the bay. Deep see fishes. Its due to the lack of essence under the water that the fishes went to the shallow." Leo added and sat at the other side of the hut.
"You see bro, Earth's essence is deprived that's why cultivators who are at the bottleneck of the master commander is leaving the earth to find more opportunities from other planets." Kio explained seriously as he put his arms at the back of Hio's shoulders.
"And I am robbing it because of my talent." Hio sadly said.
"Nope and it's just for now my dear little brother." Kio said and comforted his little brother.
"When you learned how to control your talent, you'll also learn how to control its side effect which I think there's a possibility that it is another talent." Leo added smilingly comforting his brother.
"You mean I can choose which essence I'm gonna devour while healing?!" Hio excitedly asked with a bright face.
"Yes, that is after you learn how to control the essence around you." Kio added.
"Teach me how!" Hio said excitedly.
"Bro, butler Elie is your teacher not us. He's the one to decide when should you be controlling the essence." Leo said apologetically.
"Fck."
"But I think he'll be teaching you soon. If you learn how to control yourself first from overdoing your cultivation." Kio added.
Hio went silent when he heard his brothers' advice.
His newly developed talent is high ranked due to its effects. It's rare to have a healing talent amongst cultivators, but Hio's talent is rarer for he has a fast-regenerating ability and at his current condition, his talent is in a passive state. Meaning, he cannot control when must it be activated. Even if Hio got a simple bruise, his talent will automatically activate to heal him.
But his talent comes with a backlash of another talent. Due to his excessive essence sensing on his first try, his healing talent cannot cope up with Hio's injuries. As a result, His core power developed another passive talent which connects to his Healing talent. Devourer.
Every time Hio's regeneration talent activates, his devourer talent will also be activated, consuming essences around him converting it into energy that helps his regenerating talent, heal faster. The amount of essence Hio's devourer absorbs depend on how seriously injured he is, but mental damage and internal injuries consumes more essence that physical ones.
"Sigh… I think I'll have to strengthen my foundation first before widening the boundary of my sensing radius." Hio talked to himself and planned his next step to cultivation.
He was about to start cultivating again to try his new idea when someone tightened their hold over his shoulders.
"Eyyow!! Once again, we came here to take a rest and have a vacation. Not to be a more competitive shrimp." Kio said warning his brother.
"I was just trying to—"
"To be competitive again. Come on eat. Replenish your energy so your essence consumption will reduce." Leo cut his reasoning and handed him a food.
Hio went silent and just ate his food together with his brothers.
He's planning to cultivate and try his new method during the evening, but his brothers dragged him to the sea side's night market. Leo and Kio knew that their brother will do what he's planning as soon as possible if his mind is not diverted, even if he hasn't had enough rest. And that may cause his regeneration and Devour talent to take effect again.
The three of them walked together to appreciate the scenery and landscapes around them. It was a lively evening at the beach and lots of tourists and stalls are everywhere. Chatters and fun music can be heard.
They also stopped by a vendor who is selling street foods.
"This is my favorite!" Hio happily said as he picked a stick and poked some food
They ate a lot from what the street vendor is selling, Kwek kwek, fishball, dynamite, lumpia, and chicken skin. They purchased and tasted every dish the vendor is serving. They also bought coconut juice for beverage.
Once they got enough, the three of them went back together to their beach front and grab some beer.
When they got back, Hio started helping the servants with the preparation of their sleeping cottages. He's also there to ask for butler Elie's permission with his new plan and setup for his cultivation. While the other two built a campfire and sat there to drink their beer.
"Hey, kuya Leo have you noticed something unusual?" Kio asked after taking a sip from his can while looking at the fire they built.
"Yeah??" Leo asked turning his attention to his brother.
"People seems…. odd. Not all of them. But I sensed that some are acting strange." Kio said feeling unease.
"Like what?" Leo asked.
"Their movements are synchronized. Like robots." Kio can hardly explain what he sensed.
"Krong, some people might have accidentally did it. Do not overthink on it." His brother told him. "Tomorrow let's see if you can still sense that uneasy feeling of yours." He added and took a sip of his drink.
"Seems like you guys are having a serious talk, may I jive in?" Hio said from their back and sat at the middle of his two brothers.
"Nah was just having an argument on where will we start our trip tomorrow." Kio said easing the serious atmosphere.
"Oh right, about that." Hio paused and gave his brothers an awkward smile before continuing what he's about to say. "Can I only come with you guys for half a day? I got my permission from butler Elie to reroute my way of cultivation and he agreed to my proposal so I'm planning to try and do it tomorrow afternoon." He said without breathing.
His two older brothers looked at each other first before answering Hio.
"Fine with me." Leo said as he shrugged his shoulders.
"If that's your wish then, so shall it be." Kio answered with a smile.
Hio breathed a huge air of relief when he heard his brothers' response.
"Whew Thanks guys, I thought you're gonna object with it." Hio said with a smile.
"What??? Of course not! Bro, we love you so we'll go with your plan." Kio said with a bright smile.
The three of them proceed with their conversation and invited their servants to join them at the campfire.
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Kwek kwek, fishball, etc.- are street foods commonly sold in the streets of the Philippines.