“Eagle Five, you are go for pre-launch checks.” A voice spoke up over a radio, an elven woman nodding her head with a smile. She was dressed in a form-fitting bodysuit, sitting within a tightly enclosed cabin.

On her wrists, ankles, and neck were silver bands. These were magic items which were based on the ‘EVA Combat Suit’ found in Vision Expanse, creating a self-enclosed environment without restricting the user’s mobility or energy flow. “This is Eagle Five. Hibernation pods are on standby, engines powering on. All crew members are in their assigned positions.”

She flipped through a series of practiced commands on her console, ensuring the viability of the different systems. “All systems check out. Ashlin, we are go for launch.”

Today marked a historic moment for Desbar, as the first manned interplanetary voyage was being launched. Within the control room, dozens of demons as well as select members of other races were standing by and watching, monitoring various systems. The man in charge of communicating with the craft nodded his head. “Understood. Eagle Five, prepare for launch in 10, 9…”

His voice was not simply being sent to the spacecraft, a sleek metallic vessel with a curved tip. It was also being broadcast across the various news networks. While it was by no means the only piece of news for the day, there was no denying just how important it was.

“... 3, 2, 1, engage.” His voice trailed off as three rings of yellow light formed beneath the thrusters. Slowly, the red and black craft lifted into the air, released from the clamps holding it in place. The rings of light seemed to rotating, kicking up a powerful wind beneath them as they carried Eagle Five higher into the sky with every moment.

“Altitude five thousand feet.” The elven pilot reported, monitoring the displays in front of her. “Seven thousand. Ten thousand. Altitude twenty thousand feet. Initiating second stage boost.” After she said that, an additional red ring appeared beneath the three yellow rings. Suddenly, the speed of the craft increased drastically, rocketing higher into the atmosphere.

Angling the craft to properly leave the planet’s atmosphere, the pilot once again spoke up. “Alright, boys. If you look to your left, you will see the vast expanse of nothingness that will be our home for the next few years. If you want to wave goodbye to your friends, I’d suggest looking to your right.”

There was a series of chuckles from the rest of the crew as they looked in both directions. They had been through numerous simulations, as well as test flights within Vision Expanse. However, this was the first time that they were seeing the real thing in their own world.

“Exiting the upper atmosphere, switching to pulse propulsion.” After the pilot said that, both the red and yellow rings vanished from the thrusters. Instead, they began to emit a faint blue light. This light briefly pulsed, offering small bursts of momentum to stabilize the orbit. “We’ll be making one lap around Desbar, and then it’s off to Sorii. All crew members, please enter your hibernation pods to ensure a safe journey.”

“Eagle Five, we’ll be monitoring your progress every step of the way. Ashlin out.” As the voice spoke up, the elven pilot let out a small sigh of relief. Standing up, she stretched out her arms until her shoulders popped. A quick sweep with her mana was enough to let her know that the rest of the crew was already entering their own hibernation pods.

These pods were slender, metallic tubes with a transparent screen over the front. As they slipped in, a faint light began to fill the tube. Within each pod, there was a headset that the user put on in order to activate the other functions of the pod.

Eagle Five used the newest model of mana-power generators. However, there was no ambient mana within the void of space for the generator to feed off of. This meant that they needed active minds within the vessel itself in order to keep a constant stream of energy. Of course, there was backup fuel as well, but that was for emergencies only.

In order to keep the minds active, these hibernation pods had been specially designed. Using enchantments that slow time while providing the necessary sustenance for survival was enough to keep the body alive. But if that was done, and the crew was merely put into cryostasis, the mind would be asleep. This had been solved with the headset. Instead of cryostasis, the enchantments were combined with this headset to log the crew members into Vision Expanse for the duration of their journey.

Thankfully, a set of dimensional portals had been used in order to route the network to the ship. So long as they were logged in, and their body not forced into a state that shut down their minds, they would continuously produce ambient mana that the generator could then feed off of. At the same time, their pods were connected to the various systems of the ships, allowing them to have live updates and status reports in case they were needed.

Giving a small nod, the pilot moved out of the cockpit to enter the habitation room. Given her position, she was the only one not permitted to enter hibernation until a full day after the craft had left the planet’s orbit. She could only wait patiently while monitoring the ship and crew.

It’s so beautiful… A voice spoke up from within the pilot, causing her to smile slightly. Her familiar was currently inhabiting her own body, seeing through her eyes to stare out at the green and blue world through the windows.

“Yeah… yeah, it is.”

“Finally, they launched.” I said with a relieved sigh, shaking my head. They had waited so long in order to have the optimal conditions for their trip. Now, it was only a matter of time before they truly began expanding.

I took a moment to look through the various systems of the craft, thinking about their effect. In truth, the hibernation pods weren’t such a bad idea, but it made me think. If they could create dimensional portals like that to feed the internet to the ship, why couldn’t they just feed the main power supply through the same portals?

Was it just a precaution in case of a power failure planet-side? Or maybe just a matter of energy efficiency. Either way, I had other questions that needed answers, and those answers I couldn’t get on my own. So, with a moment of focus, I sent a message out towards Sarah.

EverLasting: Hey, Dale. Everything going alright?

Thankfully, it seemed like she wasn’t busy, given that she answered almost immediately.

EarthForceOne: Yeah, I just learned about something, and was hoping that you could elaborate on it for me.

EverLasting: Sure thing. Guessing it must be pretty big if you didn’t ask your System Companion.

EarthForceOne: Yeah, I imagine this might be beyond what she can explain to me until I get at least some answers on my own. What do you know about Subordinate Gods?

There was a long pause after I asked that question. It was hard to tell if she got distracted by something on her end, or if the question itself was somehow hard for her to answer. Thankfully, it only took a couple minutes for her to get back to me.

EverLasting: Dale, you didn’t become a Subordinate God, did you?

EarthForceOne: No, not me. Someone else in my world did.

EverLasting: Oh, good! It’s really troublesome to break that link, and the first Master Gods are almost always companions.

EverLasting: Anyways, you wanted to learn more about them?

EarthForceOne: Yeah. For instance, why is it even a thing? The last stage of ascension is such an easy thing to pass, I can’t imagine anyone going through the extra steps to create a shortcut.

Another pause, and in the back of my mind I could faintly hear an almost maniacal laugh coming from Aurivy’s room. Filing that under ‘ask about later’... Probably has something to do with the martial art I gave her.

EverLasting: Wait, someone used external divinity for the last step?!

EarthForceOne: Yes…?

EverLasting: Okay, yeah, that’s a huge waste. Honestly, external divinity can be used to supplement any step of the ascension process. However, once it is done, the divinity of the person undergoing the procedure is permanently altered with the brand of the Master God’s own divine energy. That way, they can only ever have a single Master God, and anyone that their Subordinates get would then have the same brand passed down to them.

EarthForceOne: Okay, so it isn’t a case where a subordinate can also be a master, then. But, you mean that another god could actively help someone ascend by assisting them in their evolution?

EverLasting: That’s right. It’s actually a pretty common thing for higher power universes to have gods convert the mortals of an entire world to be their subordinates. The Master God is able to gain access to the domains of their subordinates, and can borrow divine power from them.

EarthForceOne: Well… now I just feel bad about making myself go through all of that pain.

EverLasting: Don’t. Like I said, it’s not a good thing when one of us becomes a subordinate god to a companion. There is never going to be a higher order of god than a True Divinity, after all. If you ascended to become a False Divinity as a subordinate to a True Divinity, then the only way that you would ever be able to escape the shackles of the subordinate role would be to completely remove your Master God from the world’s system and never put them back in.

So, I’d have to essentially cut them off in order to do it. I mused inwardly, shaking my head. I wasn’t sure what all the downsides would be to becoming a subordinate god, but I could easily say that it was likely better in the long run not to have any restraints like that. This way, I might even be able to establish my own subordinate network to grow stronger…

EarthForceOne: So, before I risk completely shattering someone’s existence, and maybe blowing up a planet while I’m at it, how exactly does one help a mortal ascend with their own divine energy?

EverLasting: It’s actually pretty easy, just a drawn-out process. Using your own divinity, you perform the steps that they would need to take to evolve for them. So, you would merge your divinity with their body and/or soul, and the burden on them would drastically decrease. There is naturally still the risk of failure, but it is far easier than a personal ascension. After all, without the need to control their own energy, the evolving party just has to not flail around too much as they bear the pain of having their body and soul torn apart.

I could already think of some people that would be worthy of becoming subordinate gods, but… slowly. This wasn’t something I wanted to rush too much, in case they were going to take the chance to evolve on their own.

EarthForceOne: Last question. Is it necessary for someone to undergo the evolution to Perfect Self or Perfect Soul before they receive assistance evolving?

EverLasting: Necessary… no. But it does help, like a lot. Perfection is the limits of mortality, the gateway to divinity. Honestly, the ideal candidate for divinity would be someone that has obtained perfection in both body and soul. Wherever their perfection is, it eases the process of evolving to divinity. To skip that step is a bit dangerous, and should only be done after ample practice.

Noted, not something to suggest to Tryval for doing on Alme. At least, not yet. Alme Dien should be about halfway to the limits of what her mortal body can handle. Given that, there is plenty of time for Tryval to learn how to safely deify her before she is in any danger of...well, popping.

After thanking Sarah for her information, I ended the conversation while thinking about what would soon be happening within my own world. It was still a few days away from the invasion, but I didn’t want to go down and warn them quite yet. First, there were things that I wanted to see.

Obviously, after Jonas, the next most likely mortal to ascend to deity status should be Tsubaki. However, she has never made an attempt to push that boundary. Now that Jonas himself has already done so, it is a matter of letting things develop and letting word reach her that a mortal has become a god.

Hopefully, Jonas won’t mention his ‘subordinate’ status in his report, so news of that particular feature won’t reach her. If it does… given her personality, I could see her adamantly refusing to become a god unless I make her my subordinate god.