LXII: Fate.

Destiny is a bitch, a very flirtatious one, who asks you out, pays for your dinner, wants to reproduce, and takes you to the hotel she booked. Just as you are about to arrive, she grabs your balls hard, slaps you, spits on you, and then leaves the room, leaving you strangely hurt, used, and sad. 

You don't know why he did it when you ask him for an explanation after crying for a long time, he tells you that "it had to be like this", no explanation, no details, and then leaves you, not to see you again for a good couple of years. Then you get married, have kids, and then this bitch shows up in the form of prostate cancer because you can't have anything happy in this life.

Ok, after describing what I, as a writer, sometimes understand about fate in some novels and plots, let's get to the important stuff. The path of destiny that Ron chose was a simple one, but effective for him. He didn't need to see the distant future or the distant past, no, why? He also didn't need to see things that were going to happen, he wasn't interested in living a set path.

So he chose to see multiple futures, multiple pasts, and multiple presents. Well, the only simple thing about it was to write it down, but in the matter it was complicated. He couldn't do it all the time, it was a terrible mess for his head, he didn't have to see all the states of time at the same time, no, he could choose which one he wanted to see. 

But for his ability to make sense, he needed a medium. From something as simple as a word to something more esoteric like magic residue, hair, or the like. But his ability was not limited there, he could also adjust how far he could see, with a limit of course, though that limit depended on the endurance of his mind and energy.

Sure, he couldn't see thousands of years back or forward, but a week was enough - he could also feel the guidance of fate, plus he could see luck and make small manipulations to that very esoteric aspect Ron was the scariest team member. Not stronger, not more skilled, no, it was HE who instilled fear. 

He led his teammates with frightening micromanagement, seeing different futures and choosing the most appropriate one, you could even say he could "force" some aspects he wanted, although it was indirect and very difficult.

But imagine your enemy dodging an attack, only to realize later that he was forced to take it because Ron decided it, using that immovable aspect that Fate has, although it can be circumvented once you know it. After all, Fate is a bitch, but a very, very flexible bitch. 

Nevertheless, his ability to lead his companions allowed him to be in the strategy room, to be him, from behind, one of the reasons why the elves felt so much pressure, even though they had their seers and such, that competing with Ron could only balance things out at best. 

Yes, it was that scary. Even his energy wasn't as outstanding as Seone's, and even though he was also spirit energy, most of his power was in his visions, and he barely had any movement abilities, even if they were broken, which didn't change the fact that he lacked attack power. 

Perhaps it was a stereotype among beings associated with fate, but the elves were aware of this problem of his, so Ron was about to face a direct threat to his life. 

We already know that powerful beings can block Ron's ability to spy on them, whether it's the powerful woman in the dungeon, the masked woman, or the Elf Queen. There are also materials and even techniques, whether magical, vital, or spiritual, with the same ability, though they are somewhat scarce and difficult to use. 

It was an elven assassin with a rare spell to hide from divination who took on the task of assassinating him, given directly by the queen. No one else could do it unless they learned the spell, but for now, he was the only one in the kingdom with that ability. Ironically, learning the spell was up to fate, that bitch.

As Ron prepared to sleep in his tent, his sixth sense sensed danger. Quickly, his body seemed to fall into space and he shifted, ethereally passing through the tent and out into the open. His forehead was beaded with sweat, for even with his rainbow eyes he could not see into the future.

He could see himself in different timelines doing different actions in the future, but he couldn't see it attacking him, as if it had never happened or would never happen. This puzzled him, and he even used clairvoyant techniques to see through illusions and see things that no one could see but found nothing. 

The assassin was surprised by Ron's quick reaction, soothsayers, seers and the like rely heavily on their foresight to the point of obsession, even to eat they have to do a quick divination just in case, so they usually avoid direct conflict due to their lack of aggression, leading to a very low sense of crisis. 

But it seemed Ron was not like that, and the faint murderous intent the elf unleashed was enough to alert the Seer to the impending danger. Now that he was exposed, the assassin decided to drop the matter and strike again later, but he sensed that things were suddenly getting a little strange.

The other tents disappeared, the moon or the stars were gone, and it was just him and Ron in a strange and silent place. Hiding his entire presence, the Assassin wondered if this was some kind of spell or domination technique, something that existed on this continent, no one would want to miss out on such a great advantage as having their own space, though that was something only the best wizards or knights could do.

However, this was not a domain or anything like that, but rather a large-scale illusion unleashed by Ron. He didn't have any attack techniques and didn't feel the need for them, why? 

Because fighting was never his thing, and since he could gain support points, his future survival was assured. By the way, this wasn't just true for him, everyone could earn assistance points, don't forget.

Anyway, Ron had other means, since he didn't have the means to fight, he simply wouldn't do it, he'd better concentrate on what he was once good at before he died, weaving lies, manipulating the mind, and directing the situation the way he wanted, something he could use without relying on his ability to see the future or the past. 

Then the assassin began to see strange things, like fluorescent mushrooms sprouting from the ground, some strange crystalline-looking insects appearing from nearby trees, and the rumbling of footsteps of a distant enemy approaching his direction.

He didn't understand what he saw, but Ron just smiled. The land in his past world was a normal land on the surface, but it was riddled with strange and fucked up things, not to the level of Seone's world, but it had its unique specialties. 

Fluorescent mushrooms began to emit strange spores, which the elven assassin avoided inhaling, lest he be poisoned in some way, but that wasn't the purpose of the spores at all. The crystalline insects, as if they sensed something delicious, pounced on the spores to eat them, and soon whitish tentacles emerged from their bodies, as well as the growth of some fungi on their bodies.

This image was simple, nothing a trained assassin hasn't seen before, in fact, he's seen worse in his line of work, but here Ron's specialty of illusion is unleashed. He went to great lengths to replicate the abilities of these mushrooms, which had memetic, Cognito-dangerous, and even severe mental contamination abilities.

In his previous life, these mushrooms parasitized an entire village and spread through the human senses, and even knowing about them was dangerous, except for a special kind of person who was immune to such things. That's why the vision of the future or the past couldn't affect Ron's psyche, something that usually happens to people who can influence fate and use it. 

But the elf, despite being a special and advanced life form, was not spared, and with the carelessness of his will, he was caught. Although he tried to protect himself from the terrible influence of these mushrooms, it was too late. Now covered in mushrooms, especially one on his head, he came out of hiding and approached Ron.

"Hey buddy, you want to know the truth? Corporations are secretly controlling us. The Russians have satellites that send out waves that control Bill Gates' microchips, the ones they put in the vaccines that give you autism by the way.

Look, brother, don't you want NFTs? They are the future... I liked Madame Web's movie, it is cinema," the elf started saying incoherent things to him, who felt trapped in his own body, he could only feel but not act.

He felt a strange urge to have an opinion, to feel superior, to say that he knew the truth and that he should wake up the others, but even he, an elf who had no idea what he was talking about, could feel that the words coming out of his mouth were nonsense.

The fungus could control the will of its host and make him commit abnormal acts, say things that would convey the information of his infection, and spread like a plague, as he was creating this illusion, he did not know why, but he felt he should ask his male companions for help in giving a series of lines to those controlled by the fungus in his illusion.

It was then that he realized his friends were a bunch of weird geeks younger than him, some twenty-somethings who probably spent a lot of time on the Internet and had a sense of humor he didn't quite understand. Fed up with the bullshit the elf was saying, he undid the illusion, but the elf was still saying stupid things.

 His illusion had lasting effects on those affected, and he had other aspects he didn't get to use, he only went straight to one of the more drastic ones because he didn't want to deal with the assassin for too long, who knew if there was another similar one that could be hidden from his ability, he didn't want to just give him the bareback just to be killed later.

"Although capturing him is a meritorious service, then I can use my illusion to break his spirit, kill him mentally, and thus gain points," Ron said to himself, then he carried the elf on his shoulder, causing some people who were awake or on guard to notice him.

The next day, the story of a stupid elf who spoke gibberish and tried to make you his boss by selling strange products made headlines in the camp. The story is 100% true, the poor man wanted to kill one of the main strategists of the army, but with one look the elf became a fool.

How could a member of such a proud and, though humans would like to deny it, powerful race stoop so low with a single glance? The rumors grew more and more exaggerated, to the point where Seone heard a version of the gossip ..... I mean rumor, that he liked it very much.

"They say that one of the strategists is the avatar of an ancient god who psychically communicates with his body, but the assassin interrupted this communication during his assassination attempt, so the ancient god looked at him and made him completely stupid for his insolence," Seone told his companions during a meeting in front of the campfire.

The only person who listened to him was Alex, who listened earnestly as Seone told his nonsense, and as time went on, began to add more content to the story.

"They say the strategist has such a shiny bald head.... Hey!" Seone groaned from the bump on the head that interrupted him as he turned around to find Ron looking at him with a smile on his face and eyes shining with beautiful multicolored light.

"Come on, what's this about his bald head being shiny?" it was just a smile, but Seone felt the real terror at that moment.

Indeed, bald heads are evil, though it depends on who they are evil too.