The dry earth that had filled their sight for the past few days started to dwindle slowly as they approached more fertile land, patches of grass began appearing here and there until they were met with a full-blown jungle, a jungle of the likes Ellis never saw before
If the blue leaves inspired a graceful and serene feeling in her when she finally got up the cliff the sight that met her eyes upon setting free form the desert was the exact opposite, it was messy and vibrant, a myriad of colours seemed to have been splashed at the trees here and there, no two trees were alike in anything but their general shape as the bark, leaves, and even roots had every colour from the seven hues of the rainbow
"Master, are those trees poisonous?"
Ellis asked with major concerns, doubting whether he master brought her here to get another dosage of some new toxin that balances the ones shredding at her legs
"Poisonous? No, why do you ask"
"Oh, no reason just curious"
"I see, if you want some more poison though do tell, I'm sure there are plenty toxic beasts in these lands"
Giving him a pitiful look she noticed the sly smile on his face, realizing that he was teasing her after seeing through her thoughts
"While it isn't poisonous you should be careful, every creature living in this terrace had to fight tooth and nail to get their spot, there will be no small tribes that try hard to survive and only individuals who have ascertained their dominance or are heading into the depths of the jungle, every one of them is strong in their own way, of course there are also some roamers like us who are here for perhaps treasure or opportunity, they would very strong and brave or desperate, either can be very dangerous"
"I understand Master, I shall be careful"
She assured and lead the way into the terrace...
"? Wait, this is a terrace??"
She suddenly noticed the abnormality in the warning as no matter how she looked this was an entire jungle while a terrace should be a small, somewhat open, garden of sorts that was near a building
"Indeed, you will understand once we get near the centre"
It didn't seem like he was going to explain further so she didn't pursue the matter, terrace or jungle her job wouldn't change
As they came close the smell of lavender assaulted their nostrils, it was afternoon, the sun coming down and the scent fit the atmosphere just right, relaxing the somewhat tense Ellis
When the trees obscured the sky as they entered the colourful land the relaxing feeling became even more prominent, the vibrant colours, the hot rays of the sun skimming her skin through the covers of the leaves and the stuffy smell all made her let go of her worries and focus on enjoying the moment
Seeing her fall into a trance YuJu shook his head and started to focus on his surroundings with much more vigilance, ready to defend her while her mind and body got used to the strangely calming atmosphere
"!!!"
She flinched seconds later, waking up from her trance in alarm which in turn surprised him
"Already awake?"
That shouldn't be so, it usually takes a full-blown minute for most visitor to snap out of it if they quickly dove into the jungle as they did now, he could shrug it off since he was more than used to this place but she should have at least spent half a minute
"What was that?"
She turned back and asked with swirling purple eyes, those energetic orbs were contrasting the relaxed pace of the jungle
'Her aura? No, it doesn't have such traits, what could it be?'
While thinking he gave a brief explanation of the place's unique trait
"The Rainbow Terrace is a place of many wonders, the most attractive and special one is Impassioned Hue, the reason your feeling calm right now"
"Calm? That did indeed last for a second, now I feel more agitated than I ever did"
"Agitated? That shouldn't be... Hmm"
He felt like he got the answer for her peculiar reaction but couldn't pinpoint it in his mind, like when a word is at the tip of your tongue but you can't recall it no matter how you try
"For now just pay attention to your surroundings and let's cover as much distance as we could before dusk, I will think about this later"
Deciding to try his hand at figuring it out later he urged Ellis to speed up before night comes
"Master, should we rest in that cave?"
"Caves mean danger, everything that looks like an abode is dangerous in these lands for it means some powerful beast has made it their home, don't look down at the beasts in this land, the weakest of them is just slightly weaker than that darned turkey lizard"
Since he didn't know the origin of that strange beast he gave it that awkward but strangely suiting name
Learning of the beasts surprising strength she chose not to look for any more resting area's at least not to stay in them, rather avoid them with pleasure
Soon the sky's colour started to change with the sun dipping into the horizon, as it did the smell of lavender started to recede and was very quickly replaced by a myriad range of smells that wasn't too easy for Ellis to point out with how quickly her emotions were changing, one thing for sure though every second she got a certain feeling she would feel another opposite feeling balance it out soon after
YuJu was watching the surrounding and had no time to notice her strange condition, and with her being the one walking at the front he missed her angry flashing expression that transitioned into an apathetic face with still purple orbs feeling as cold as ice
All that was temporary though the sun soon escaped the grip of the sky, throwing the quite jungle into darkness where the roars of beasts rang from afar, much deeper than where they were situated
"This is far enough, we will stay here until dawn, once the sun is back in the sky properly we will start heading in more"
Ellis nodded and the two jumped onto one of the large tree branches, leaning on its body as they relaxed rest their tired feet
By now YuJu could see Ellisis swirling purple eyes one again except this time they were slower than just a minute ago
'This stated becue of the Hue for sure, but what exactly is making her respond to its effect as such'
Unlike before where he couldn't find any clue to the issue or where knowing the problem required extensive research that he couldn't provide the time, this was quite different, he knew the answer, at least he felt he did, only some more analysis was needed to know the what the Hue triggered to cause this strange phenomenon
"What are you feeling Ellis?"
"Feeling? Well, as of now I feel restless I believe also..."
"Also?"
"I may be mistaken but I smell a very pleasant scent in the air, like that of a flower, sweet and relaxing"
"That would be the smell of Nigella, a common flower you can find on earth even"
pαпᵈα-noνɐ1·сoМ "Does every region in here smell like different flowers?"
"No, this is the effect of the Impassioned Hue"
He said then stopped, but Ellis's demanding fiery eyes he rolled his eyes and lazily explained
"Impassioned Hue is a phenomenon that is created by the trees of this land, they exude smells and energy depending on the time of the day, or to be more precise, depending on the energy they receive, and what bigger an energy source than the sun and the moon in the sky to feed such a massive terrace? As the sun and moon progress through the day and the month the energy changes accordingly, the main seven colours are the prominent synergy with those from the sky thus the smell and feeling you can sense change depending on what 'hue' is being activated"
Ellis's eyes looked slightly starry like a kid impressed by a bedtime story, except she wasn't getting sleepy at all, in fact she was about to jump from her seated position in eagerness to know more
"So your saying, the smell of lavender and the agitation came from the trees?"
"Lavender scent, yes, agitation, however, should have been a sense of calmness instead, and now should be the time if relaxation that eases you into sleep unlike your restless state"
The both of them frowned as they sank into thought about how to deal with the situation at hand, as for looking for enemies? It was rare for there to be nocturnal creatures at the edge of the terrace as all who'd fall under the soon to come hue would slowly slip into slumber, and that time was slowly approaching
Mist started to form above the trees turning into roaming thin clouds, clouds that didn't ascend into the sky but came down at the sleepy occupants of the green land, enveloping them with its soft embrace and drawing them slowly to their sleep
Even YuJu started to feel sleepy, their several days journeying through the desert had him stay up all the time while Ellis got short but very much needed naps
'I don't want to sleep...'
He resisted the mist's effects, the tired feeling assaulting his mind, and the exhausted body calling for rest, to occupy his hazy mind he thought and thought about Ellis's strange condition
For hours he pushed his drowsiness with sheer will, and the assistance if Ellis's puzzling situation bugging his mind, even so he hadn't come up with a single reason that made this reaction happen
Turning his eyes toward the source of both his motivation and the current dilemma he saw two fidgety eyes staring at him, twitching to glance in every possible direction before settling on his eyes once again, repeating this restless process over and over
'She not asleep yet? How is that possible? Every effect the terrace should have she is showing the opposite of, as of trying to counter....oh'
Finally the word he was searching for
"Ellis"
He called out the dodgy woman
"Yes Master"
An almost instant reply reached him
"When the sun was coming down did you feel anger? And was it soon replaced by something else?"
"Indeed I have but for a brief moment, apathy very quickly overtook it, then came the current feelings"
"I see, then it should be your skill"
"My skill? Aura Master causes this?"
"No, the other one, Equanimity"
Equanimity did? Ellis's face looked to ask but instead of asking outright she checked the skill's description once again
_________________________________
-Equanimity: A calm mind requires acceptance, a clear mind requires balance
_________________________________
The description felt more like a puzzle but when put together with this situation she could see an inkling to its meaning
"If I'm not wrong Master, this skill is about taking in the effects on the mind and countering them with opposite ones to keep my mind in a normal state?"
"Perhaps so, Skills are a mysterious thing, sometimes they mean exactly what you think they do and sometimes they hold much more within, the reason being skills are universal so something that you might understand others might not, what you take from the skills description depends on what you know of the world itself, the more you lack in knowledge the less you understand of its functions"
This made her even more intrigued, it was very clear she was a curious person even though she was otherwise usually quite and not as expressive, since she was unable to sleep or rest she started thinking about the varying uses for the only three skills she had
With her looking distracted yet also very watchful of the surroundings, and the fact that he had nothing to focus his mind on, YuJu could only surrender to sleep reluctantly, knowing the place, or nowhere, that awaited him
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