[Advancement complete!] [Gaze Upon Fate 1/1] [You have climbed beyond the Second Realm! You have become a seventh-rank Supernatural person! You have gained one Ascension!] [Please select an Ascension path.]
Elliot watched the messages pop up on the Difference Engine, his gaze settling on "Gaze Upon Fate."
He still vaguely remembered that when Vanessa advanced to the middle rank, her required task had been [Gaze Upon the Starry Sky], while the task for the high rank was [Gaze Upon Fate].
"So Vanessa looking into my eyes counts as gazing upon fate?"
That made sense. Elliot could indeed manipulate Vanessa's fate.
What made him somewhat curious, however, was how other Supernatural people on the [Spirit Vision] path were supposed to complete their tasks.
Surely not everyone had a Difference Engine behind them.
"The records in the Secret Library call it 'Examine the Self,' but the Difference Engine calls the task 'Gaze Upon Fate.'" Elliot carefully mulled over the meanings of those two phrases.
"In other words, I should find the part where 'self' and 'fate' overlap."
At this thought, a trace of confusion appeared on Elliot's face.
Fate ought to be something far more nebulous, so how could it be found within the "self"?
Could everyone's fate have been fixed from birth, written into each person's "self"?
That sounded like some kind of philosophical sophistry, but this was a world where the Supernatural and gods existed. There really might be an authority such as [Fate] that wove a destiny for everyone.
But within the self...
Elliot pondered for a while, his eyes slowly widening.
There really did seem to be a part of the self that could foresee fate.
-Spirituality warnings.
Everyone received a few hints from their spirituality over the course of their life. It was almost absolutely