Jhena found herself in a world of white light. Her sensors couldn’t make heads or tails of what she was seeing, registering no data. She tried her spacial magic, attempting a warp, but the magic failed. She reached out to the nanobots she left behind, but she couldn’t feel them anymore.

She would not escape on her own, wherever this was.

And then a box appeared before her.

Greetings, Ascender. I welcome you who is worthy.

A golden light filled the room and the silhouette of a human being appeared before her, light covering his features. They extended their hands and bowed gracefully to her.

“Where is this place? Who are you?”

This is the heavens, and I am your guide.

Jhena’s eyes narrowed.

“A guide to what?”

Ascension to the divine.

Jhena tensed.

“...a likely story.”

You are wary, fearful. This is normal, you would not have made it this far otherwise. But take comfort, you may cast aside your doubts. I am, and will always be, on your side, ascender.

“And why is that?”

It is my purpose. To guide those who are worthy. Those who are capable of breaking through the limit. And you, dear ascender, you are the most worthy being I have ever encountered.

Jhena let out a sigh. Whatever the case, she wouldn’t get anywhere acting suspicious.

And her sensors still couldn’t read any data on this being.

“...fine. Why have you brought me here?”

To complete your ascension.

“...guess I figured that much. How does this work, then?”

The figure extended their hand.

Your body and soul-form are ready. You have demonstrated the requisite will and technique. All you need now is the requisite energy. I will provide it, and then guide you through the process.

Jhena raised an eyebrow, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This would be where the being trapped her, if they were planning deceit.

But her instincts said that was not the case, and her nanobots found no evidence to the contrary.

Jhena decided to trust in herself.

She took the being’s hand…

And she cried out. Her body burned as fire surged into her, raging through her entire being.

It is good that you remained conscious. Many fail here. Focus on yourself, on what defines you, on what makes you you. You must hold yourself together against the tide that would erase you.

Jhena grit her teeth.

But she held firm.

After all, she had felt this once before.

She felt her nanobots tremble within her. She gave them a smile.

“Don’t worry, little ones, I never blamed you.”

I must admit, your bond with the machines is most curious. I hope, when this is done, that we might discuss your experience.

“Can you do it?”

…huh?

The nanobots stirred within her. Jhena didn’t understand what was happening. But she didn’t need to. She never did.

The nanobots, those little quantum machines, were far smarter than she would ever be. If they said they could do it, they could do it. So she trusted them to do their jobs. And she would do hers, the two entities working together as one.

She grit her teeth and latched onto the fire raging with her. She felt as if holding back a tsunami with her bare hands, like dipping her hands into lava.

But she held on.

“GRAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!”

This course is not recommended. Simply hold onto your being, I will control the energy for you until you are ready. This is not necessary.

Jhena ignored the being and continued holding on. And then she started pulling. The tide slowly, ever so slowly, began to slow.

…incredible. No other ascender has ever mastered the energy like this. You truly are worthy.

“...I’ll show you worthy.”

Jhena took the energy and pushed into her nanobots.

And then into the hand clasping hers.

W-What are you doing?

T-This is…

You can’t…

Error…int̵r̷u̸sion d̶̮̘͓̖͖͐̈́e̵͍͍͚͔͂͒̈͑̓teç̸͍̹͖̇̉̎̈t̶͚̞̺̮͌͑͂͂ed…

Erro̸͔̪̿̿̀͋r̵̜̗̔̌…E̵̡̞̭̙̦͔͈̰̟͈͉̜̍̔́̑̒̈́̇͂͌́̄̓͠r̴̢̟̺̪̮̬̜̜͎̬̮͌̀́̋̽̽͆̃̇͒͆ŗ̴̻̗̗̯̗̯͍̤̠͕̗̼̄̅ͅǫ̷̛̩̫̪̬͍͖͚͎̝̟͔͆͗̈̋͘ȓ̷̢̜̙͇̗̻͔̱̦͚̥̼͚̉͘

Amidst the blue boxes, a small line of text passed across Jhena’s eyes, glowing in a warm, yellow light.

Nanobot infiltration successful: Device paired.

The being screeched and distorted. The white curtain fell.

Jhena stood in a wooden room. In front of her was some sort of giant, painted caldron, all sorts of tubes coming in and out of it. A computer monitor was hooked up to it, and the whole construct pulsed with blue light.

Jhena screamed as images and data filled her mind.

And she saw it.

A world filled with a curious energy they called mana. Humans and animals, gathering this energy within themselves, growing their strength and extending their lives. These same beings, battling one another for supremacy. A bloody and cruel world.

And then everything changed.

One man, with no energy at all, discovered a way to detect and manipulate mana via easily producible machines. A group found him and carried him away, and tasked him with developing the ultimate device.

An uplifter system that would promote ascension automatically, raise the entire group into godhood.

And so it did.

For its own world…and every other it could find.

Continuously refining its system until it found the ideal method.

Assisted combat, with plentiful enemies, and clear rewards for victory. A way to incentivize and test the population, searching for the ideal candidates while growing their bodies and souls.

And to cull the rest.

Jhena saw a thousand different worlds, a thousand different universes. Beings of every shape and size, competing in this great game.

Until every world resembled the cruel and bloody home of the machine. Thousands of lives extinguished...all to raise one.

Jhena decided what to do.

To simply destroy the machine was not enough. The mana it had spread was now self-sustaining, and would continue to spawn monsters. Rather, without the calculations of the machine to preserve the population, the monsters would replicate until all other life was extinguished.

To take the mana away first was also not ideal. A thousand species on a thousand worlds built their societies upon this energy source. Jhena was not willing to destroy their civilizations just to save her own.

So she would fix it. She opened her mouth to speak, trusting her nanobots to execute her commands, as they always did.

“New directive: contain mana-forms. Develop isolated locations for mana-forms, do not permit mana-forms to leave. Soul-forms may enter and exit containment zones at will.”

“Reduce rewards for killing soul-forms. Enact punishments for those that seek system rewards via that method.”

“Change criteria for system assistance. Do not consider capacity for ascension. Consider worthiness: generosity, self-sacrifice, and empathy. Continue to monitor performance and reduce assistance if necessary.”

“Establish a permanent link and report status to me on a regular basis.”

Or̶̘̓der…ac̷k̶nowled̸͖̕ģ̶̓ed.

“Now send me home.”

Jhena’s vision faded in a flash of light.

Jhena let out a sigh as she landed on the ground. She opened her eyes.

She stood in the commander center, everyone staring at her with wide eyes. Including Colonel Dagurx and Erune.

“J-Jhena…what was that?”

Jhena shrugged.

“The job. I found him, and killed him.”

Erune trembled.

“No, not that. You…You spoke with a god…changed the entire system…”

“Oh that…system seemed broken. I tried to fix it. Well, we’ll see how it works out, maybe make some adjustments later”

“...”

Erune just clutched her head and curled up on the floor.

“I don’t…understand anything…anymore…”

Colonel Dagurx just shook his head.

“Well, you always did find a way. I’m just…how am I going to find a way to pay you for this job?”

Jhena smirked at him.

“How about you sock Admiral Xael’Tesh on the jaw one more time, and I’ll call it even?”

Colonel Dagurx burst out in chittering laughter, then stepped forward to shake Jhena’s hand.

“Done. Best deal of my life. So, what now, Jhena?”

Jhena’s eyes narrowed.

“System’s mine now, but apparently the jerks who built it are living it up somewhere as gods.”

Jhena cracked her knuckles.

“I think I’d like to have a chat with them someday.”

In a thousand civilizations across a thousand worlds, countless beings stood still, expressing their species' form of surprise. Images from the system passed before their eyes.

The god of the system itself. The one who dished out power, who decided who lived and who died.

And some mortal being, holding the god in the palm of her hand.

That mortal, contemplating the nature of their realities, and then declaring the monster threat at its end.

That unthinkable declaration immediately came to pass. Every monster vanished from every world. Those rampaging through cities, those fighting warriors in the field, those sleeping in the ruins of civilizations.

New structures appeared, the monsters streaming into them, never to return to the outside world, ready to be hunted at leisure.

And so, in a thousand civilizations across a thousand worlds, a single tale was born.

Of Jhena Cuuhl, the hero who saved them all.