Still inside his mind’s eye Wolf stimulated his mana-field and emitted a pulse that sent his senses out to cover the walls. Like a sonar it began to bounce off the walls and bring him back energetic impressions. He couldn’t help but shudder at how terror inspiring these creatures were. The ancient humans must have been incredibly powerful to have not only defeated them, but to have enslaved them for all time.

He found that every now and again he actually recognised some of the monsters. They were creatures from human myths and legends that had been passed down since ancient times. Others were engravings of beings that he could not recognise as they had no firm shape.

As he moved his senses over the walls the words of the philosopher Nietsche washed over him.

Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster…..for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.

Wasn’t accepting one of these monsters into his soul the same as becoming a monster himself? Wolf shuddered as he continued to search as his emotions roiled. He had no easy answers his fears. As the questions flitted through his mind the hunger filled him again relentlessly driving him like a baby screaming for its mother’s milk.

Is it controlling me somehow? He asked himself in fear. His mind had been invaded and overwhelmed by the history engravings on the floor and then whipped into action by the scripture. Wolf felt driven by powerful thoughts and emotions he couldn’t fully understand and a sliver of fear invaded his heart that he had somehow been taken over. The [12 Chamber-Heart] began to glow more forcibly as Wolf began to pull his senses away from the engravings on the wall.

Shit I have to complete it.

Tucking away his fears to the back of his mind Wolf resolved to survive the current situation before exploring his fears more closely. He didn’t plan to be anyone’s puppet.

Fuck, I just wanted to be a janitor.

As Wolf searched he tried to find something powerful and intimidating. He figured that if he was going to have a monster in his soul then it may as well be a bad ass one. As he scoured the walls he finally felt a resonance near the middle hidden under layers of other engravings.

He passed his senses over it and all he could see was what looked like a horn and a fang. It gave off an incredible aura of power, but without the sense of evil some of the other engravings had. Reaching out with his mind he called to it and felt it resist with all its might. Suddenly the [12 Chamber-Heart] Scripture flared like a sun in his mind and dragged the engraving kicking and screaming into his mana-field.

It fought like a wildcat as it struggled against the relentless pull of the scripture. Just as the scripture seemed to be in control a phenomenal power burst forth from the engraving and a terrifying repressive force rippled out. Colour began to bleed from the world as everything slowly turned black and white and Wolf felt his mind fading away. For a moment the engraving almost broke free, but the scripture exploded in in power and slowly began to drag it back in. Suddenly the resistance stopped and the engraving flew throughWolf’s bloodstream and into his first heart chamber. Wolf felt the chamber swell slightly as the being settled into place.

A moment passed and then another.

BOOM.

A shockwave passed through Wolf’s heart as he felt the power of the engraving fully bond with him and the name and shape of the mighty being presented itself inside Wolf’s mind.

With great difficulty Wolf opened his eyes and saw that the others were already complete and were leaning against the wall waiting for him The stench of shit filled his nostrils and he saw Joysich resting on the opposite side half naked. Because he had shit his pants he had tied his shirt around his waist to cover up his junk.

Slowly Wolf stood up as if he was getting used to his body. Though his mind felt exhausted his body was brimming with energy. He felt far stronger than he ever had in his entire life as he clenched and unclenched his fist.

“Well done all of you. Although there are countless thousands of engravings in this part of the beanstalk, the reality is each one is unique. When you take the engraving into your hearth chamber it becomes a Totem and is no longer on the wall. These Totems are the legacies left by the ancient humans, without them we wouldn’t have any chance of battling the undead and creaturs on the other worlds with our current knowledge and power.”

“The heart chamber has 12 chambers. Each chamber can hold a different Totem. As we unlock each world and enter a new part of the beanstalk we will be able to acquire new Totems, or what we truly hope for is to rediscover the technique to create Totems in the first place. One day if we can open the floodgates to humanity these engravings we use to make Totems will all disappear very quickly as billions of humans devour them. So these Totems are a non-renewable resource and as each human dies on the battlefield these Totems are lost forever.”

"So the only question left is what Totems you got." Joysich finished.

“I got the [Sleeping Giant].” No1 said as his eyes brimmed with power.

“I got the [Bogeyman]” No2 said excitedly.

“The Bogeyman?” Wolf asked. “You can’t be serious? Is the Tooth Fairy up their as well?”

“Not here, but it is in the entry point controlled by the Russians. It’s a seriously powerful Totem.” Joysich said.

“Well fuck me. Next thing there will be a Santa Claus.” Wolf laughed. When he saw Joysich’s serious face his smile fell.

“There’s a Santa Claus?”

“You don’t want to know some of the deadly beings that are imbued in the engravings. Anything you have ever imagined in your worst nightmare is on here in some shape or form.” Joysich said seriously. “There are no weak engravings as such, though some are stronger than others.”

“Well what the fuck did you get old man?” No1 asked impatiently.

“Well that is…..i guess I got [Black Sheep].”

“Black Sheep?” No1 asked.

“Yep.”

“What like a dragon-sheep with big ass claws and red eyes?”

“Nope it looks like……..well a normal black sheep.”

Silence descended for a full minute as they all stood there.

“I can’t say I have ever heard of any Totem so………normal.” Joysich finally said.

“Hahaha you got that straight Joystick.” No1 boomed. “Old baldy got ripped off hahahahaha.”

“Fuck you kid what does your giant do? Probably just sleeps all day which means your Totem matches your lazy ass.”

“Dun worry old man I can shave your Totem and use its wool as blanket for my giant!” No1 joked.

“Screw all you cunts I was happy being a janitor and now I’m in this fucking beanstalk with some fucking sheep living in a hole in my heart.”

“Well it could be worse. Joystick’s Totem is the diarrhea monster!” No2 said. Clearly he had be saving up this joke for some time now and had been waiting for the right moment to unleash it.

“Hahahaha yeah probably defeats his enemies by drowning them in shit.” No1 added.

“Shut the fuck up all of you.” Joysich said menacingly. He didn’t know what was wrong with him but he had to utilise all of his muscle control to constantly clench his butt cheeks to prevent further shit from leaking out.

“Apologies Captain.” Wolf said with a respectful look on his face as he glared at No1 and No2, before looking back at Joysich. “But I really do need to ass you one more question.”

“Don’t” Joysich said.

“Baldy your assing him too much” No1 shot out.

“Please stop.”

“Don’t butt in Joystick.”

“Guys.”

“Your jokes stink old man.”

“GENTLEMEN!!!” Joysich screamed. His powerful voice hurt everyone’s ear drums as the shout rebounded off the walls of the beanstalk.

“In case it had escaped your attention there is only one way out of here. We have to climb up until we reach the next world. An impossible feat usually, but you now have access to mana. Draw down on the mana pool in your first heart chamber if you get fatigued. Just touch it slightly and let it filter into your blood. We will teach you proper techniques on how to strengthen your body through this method later.”

“For now let me lead you to the top. Follow me gentlemen as we conquer the beanstalk!” Joysich finished with a noble air.

At that point everyone looked up into the high walls that faded into an endless black.

Joysich walked over to the wall and started climbing. As he turned around Wolf realised that there was nothing covering his ass. The shirt which was tied on his front only covered his cock and balls leaving his backside exposed. A splattering of dried brown liquid covering his cheeks and as Joysich moved upwards you could see it was on his legs as well.

“Oh hell no. I’m not climbing behind Joyshit. I might get some dribbling.” No1 said as he chose a different wall. Joysich went bright red as he ignored the comment and continued climbing. After a quick moment of thought, No2 and Wolf also nodded and avoided the wall Joysich was on. They chose different sections of the wall and began to find their own way up.

These…… fucking….. guys. Joysich thought in fury as he began to climb.