Aegis prevents pieces marked for destruction from being destroyed. I might be wrong but i think the ascetic doesnt mark itself for destruction, it removes it self from your militia
After 20 turns it turns into Cycad, the cycad says “after 20 turns turn into cycad”, but it does what the tendril says it does. Their just accidentally swapped
Well if you chonk your balls with items all the time then they can get pretty high. Some balls also gain stats during battle, like commando. And some give stats in shop phase, such as ball of ice