Entering the white light gave a similar feeling to entering the Beanstalk. Reality turned and shifted and there was a feeling of discombobulation as space readjusted.

Soon reality reasserted itself and Wolf found himself face down on some kind of warm wet surface. He reached out and his hand slipped in something as his eyes tried to readjust. All his senses were out of whack as a dull ringing sound echoed in his ears.

What the fuck. Wolf thought as he levered himself up on something soft and mushy. Whatever he had his hand on gave away as the mush rose up to the mid part of his forearm.

Finally his senses began to readjust. His sense of smell kicked back in and a horrific stench assaulted him as he half gagged. Shaking his head he swallowed as he tried to breath through his mouth to avoid being overwhelmed.

“Argghhh fucking christ.” Wolf spat as he levered himself up into a sitting position. His eyes began to come back into focus and he could detect an intermittent flashing. As his eyes readjusted at last, he could see the room was in total darkness and every few seconds it would be illuminated by a pale light that would flicker on and then disappear.

In between the flashes of light Wolf saw a body on the ground covered in red paint.

Except it wasn’t paint.

“Wha…” Wolf intoned as he stared down at the body. The vacant eyes of Joysich stared up at nothing and half of his face was missing.

“Joy…..Joysich?” Wolf whispered as he stared uncomprehendingly.

Finally he looked down and realised his arm was half buried in what was left of Joysich’s stomach.

“Blaaargggggghhh!” Wolf vomited as his mind reeled and he desperately backed up.

The light flickered off.

His back hit something and he spun around as he grabbed it. Large hands wrapped around his throat as he felt himself being carried backward through space until his back smashed against a wall.

A fetid breath washed over him as he sensed something close to his face.

The light flickered on.

Wolf saw a large humanoid creature with a decaying face reach out and try to bite into his flesh as it choked him.

“No no no no no.” Wolf gibbered as he wrestled the creature in the half light. He punched out a few times but his blows had no effect. Shifting his body weight he tried to twist the creatures grip but instead they both fell to the ground with the creature on top.

The heavy weight of the creature pinned him as its mouth went for his throat. Just as he thought he would die, the will to live surged through Wolf’s mind and the survivor in him arose with a vicious glee.

“Fuck your mother!” Wolf hissed between his teeth as he remembered he had mana. Tapping into his heart chamber he felt mana flow into his bloodstream and his body grew stronger. With his life threatened he felt the [Black Sheep] in his heart chamber faintly awaken and a thread of a dominating aura leaked out into his mana-field.

Emotions cascaded through him. The image of a black sheep standing on top of the mountain as the lessor sheep bowed down before it blinked into his mind. Even as he felt the power roar through him he knew instinctively that this was different to the [12 Chamber-Heart]. That scripture was a cold relentless hunger to devour. The [Black Sheep] was different. It was like the aura of a king or an Emperor.

“Come get some bitch.” Wolf snarled as he forced his thumbs into the decaying eye sockets of the creature and forced its head back. The [Black Sheep] aura spilled out of his mana-field and into the creature as he touched it and he felt the creature weaken suddenly.

Seizing the moment Wolf lashed out with a punch and left a sizeable dent in the creatures head. Wedging his knee between them he flipped the creature over and then began to rain blows down upon its face until he felt its skull give way. Reaching in he wrapped his fingers around its brains and ripped them out.

As the creature died he felt a surge of mana being released at its death and the [12 Chamber-Heart] automatically flared to life inside him and began to suck in the mana like a child on its mothers tit. Wolf jumped off the body while taking in his surroundings ready to ward off against another attack as his adreneline pumped. In the flickering light he saw No1 and No2 across the room covered in blood with several creatures ripped apart at their feet.

Fuck they took out at least three each!

For a long moment Wolf stood their breathing heavily as they all stared at each other.

“Well……..shit got real.” No1 whispered. “You ok old man?”

Wolf slowed his breath as he tried to regain control of himself as he stopped tapping his mana. After the climb and the fight he felt like there was only a little mana remaining in his heart chamber. That was until he killed the creature. Now he felt bloated from absorbing so much energy.

“I’m alive.” Wolf replied. “Which is more than I can say for Joysich.”

“Yeah. Poor cunt.” No2 said as he shivered.

“What the fuck happened?” Wolf said as his breathing calmed.

“Dunno. You know as much as as. We came through and appeared right here next to a bunch of these zombies eating Joysich. Halfway through the fight you appeared.” No1 replied.

“How can this be, I thought Joysich was all suped up? If we can kill these fuckers how did he die?” Wolf asked.

“Check the door.” No2 whispered.

Wolf looked at the entrance to the room which housed a 10 inch thick reinforced door that had been smashed open. An enormous fist sized dent could be seen in it.

“Check it. There are definitely bigger and badder things in here than just these zombies. Something put Joysich down like a dog.” No1 observed.

“Shit. Whatever it was its still here. We were like 5 minutes behind Joysich.” I added and saw No1 and No2 shit themselves.

“Fuck this light is going to give me an epileptic fit.” No1 joked as it continued to flicker.

How the fuck is their even a light? Wolf wondered as he stared at the ceiling. There were a number of stones socketed in small holes. Most of them were dull but two of them seemed to have some kind of power source and continued to flicker.

“Ok I don’t about you two but we have to get the fuck out of here. If whatever got Joysich comes back we’re fucked.” Wolf said. No1 and No2 nodded as they stepped aside.

“What are you doing?” Wolf asked.

“Getting out of the way so you can lead.” No1 said.

“Me?”

“Well you’re the only adult here bro. We’re just kids man stop been such an irresponsible fuck.”

“Ok but you better watch the back you little cunts. I need one behind me on my left and the other behind to the right. That’s all an old formation we used to use when I was in the army reserves.” Wolf said as he moved forward. No1 and No2 looked at each other and nodded as Wolf moved out. They adopted the positions Wolf suggested and carefully followed closely behind him.

In fact Wolf had never been in the army reserves. He had invented the formation on the spot for one purpose only. If a big fucking zombie came charging at him he could jump straight backwards with nothing directly behind him. In that scenario the monster was most likely to attack whatever was now closest. In this case either No1 or No2.

Edging out the door Wolf saw the lighting was better outside. A long tunnel extended to right and left of the exit. Wolf looked down and saw a half chewed leg down the right side so he automatically went left.

Don’t follow the chewed leg. Seemed like good logic.

The tunnel was illuminated by a fading soft light as they hurried down. Distantly screams echoed in the tunnel and they all froze for moment like deer in the headlights.

Wolf turned to look back down the tunnel towards the area they had emerged from. The end of the tunnel now just looked like a pitch black hole into hell.

The screams are behind us. Wolf thought as the tried to triangulate where the sounds had come from. Slowly they bagan to move forward again, stopping every now and again at the slightest hint of a sound. Further up the tunnel they found several human bodies ripped apart. Some of the bodies looked like they had been ripped and clawed while others had huge holes in their chests as if a cannonball had been shot through them.

“Check this out.” No2 said. He had found a short three foot sword under one of the bodies. After rolling some of the other corpses over they found another two.

As Wolf picked up the sword he felt a zing go through his mana-field. It almost felt alive in his hand as he held it as if it was made out of mana.

“Which way?” No1 asked and Wolf looked up to see he had forged ahead and was standing at a three way split in the tunnel. They all gathered at the intersection as they looked down into the darkness.

“One direction is as good as another.” No2 shrugged.

Thadump……thadump…..thadump.

The sound of footfalls began to echo out in the tunnel.

Wolf’s eyes darted down all three tunnels as he constantly moved his head to try and work out which direction the sounds were coming from.

“Can you see anything.” Wolf whispered as he continued to scan.

“I can’t see jack shit.” No1 hissed as his knuckles grew white from tightly gripping his sword.

All of sudden shapes emerged from two of the tunnels as a large number of zombies ran into the half-light.

Within seconds they almost upon No2 as he cleaved the head of the first one and back-pedalled.

Luckily for Wolf he was at the back of all three of them at this stage and he turned around and sprinted down the only tunnel empty of zombies. He made it about 20 metres before he saw a small group of zombies walking towards him.

“Behind as well.” Wolf yelled as he backed up.

Three zombies got their hands on No2 and began to drag him down as he struggled. No1 swung his sword and lopped the heads off two zombies in quick succession and gave No2 the chance to regain his feet. A thick mana permeated the air as their heart chambers sucked it in like a vacuum cleaner.

Within moments the three of them stood back to back as the zombies closed in.

“Fuck we’re gonna die.” No1 whispered as he spun his sword. “Old man……..we put that video of you shitting on reddit. It went viral. You should know that before you die.”

“Fuck you kid.” Wolf whispered back as the zombies closed in. “You should know that first bottle of homebrew I gave you last year tasted like horsepiss for a reason. This daddy put actual horsepiss in it.”

“You dog-hole cunt.” No1 whispered. “I’ve always hated you.”

“I hate you too you piece of shit.” Wolf said as he gripped his sword tightly and yanked on his mana.

“But you know what? This Old man won’t die easy!” he roared as he charged the zombies. His mana hit his bloodstream like an avalanche as he drew on it hard.

He kicked the first zombie in the chest and as it flew back in the air it caused several zombies behind it to fall over. Like snake he shot forward and began to slash at the zombies heads.

SPLAH

SPLAH

SPLAH

Zombie heads exploded as he surged forward carving a path of destruction in front of him. Wolf had no idea how to use a sword properly, but then he didn’t need to. The mana surging through his body made him stronger and faster and he used the sword more like a hatchet as he hacked into their flesh.

As their bodies blew apart the mana thickened in the air and the [12 Chamber-Heart] flared and sucked in the mana in an endless stream. He could feel the power of the scripture and its hunger for more mana.

These zombies are fucking food for it. Wolf realised as the mana was sucked into him.

Deeper inside his heart chamber he felt the [Black Sheep] stir. Its aura began to bleed into his mana-field and a terrifying energy of repression began to bleed out in front of him like a cone.

As the zombies walked into it their bodies began to slow and weaken. Wolf barely noticed the effect as he cut through like a madman. Emotions surged through him as the [12 Chamber-Heart] got brighter and brighter and an ancient impulse entered him.

KILL…..KILL…..KILL……

“MUHAHAHA!” Wolf laughed as he lost himself in the madness. A larger than normal zombie surged forward and punched Wolf in the face as two others latched onto his legs and began biting.

Wolf barely felt the blow as he punched the big zombie in the face with the hilt of his sword and kicked his legs free. He stomped on the zombies head at his feet and stabbed the big zombie through its head.

Behind him No1 and No2 desperately fought for their lives as the [12 Chamber-Heart] also whipped them into a frenzy.

No1 had six zombies hanging off his arms and legs as he tumbled to the ground. They began to bite his body as he screamed and tried to fight free. Finally his [Sleeping Giant] began to awaken and an enormous surge of power spread through his physical body. It flooded into his mana-field and then his mana-field fully retracted and disappeared inside his body causing his muscles to bulge.

"Get Wrecked!" No1 hissed as he exploded up from the ground.

It was like his untapped potential had been awakened and he was filled with a glorious power. He dropped the sword as a mob of zombies were wrestling him and began use his fists instead. At close range they were like devastating clubs as his fists punched right through the zombies bodies. One after another he flung zombies around like they weighed nothing and were ripped apart in his hands.

As the fight had progressed No2 had become slightly separated from Wolf and No1. As the zombies surrounded him he despaired as he knew he would be the first to die. He felt the fingers of a zombie pierce into his chest as it quested for his heart.

As the fingers got close to his heart a deep spike of fear burst through him as his mind trembled. Just as the fingers lightly touched his heart something primal awakened. [Bogeyman] awoke and No2’s fear was absorbed like water into a sponge as it was transformed into a strange energy.

No2 stared into the zombies eyes as it bore down on him and the fear-energy spread out into his mana-field. His mana-field began to warp and within seconds No2 emanated a horrific undead aura. His mana-field twisted the light around him and he looked bigger and more powerful like a super powerful zombie.

The tide of zombies paused as if sensing an Alpha predator as they began to fawn and back-pedal. The strength of the [Bogeyman] thrummed through him and No2 instantly knew his appearance had changed into what his victim feared the most.

Some kind of zombie boss. No2 thought as he struck out. Instinctively he knew how to manipulate his mana-field as he poured more mana into it making him seem even more powerful and dangerous. The more afraid the zombies became the more powerful No2 grew as he felt [Bogeyman] feed on their fear like a meal.

“Hahahaha…..i’m not trapped in here with you! You’re trapped in here with me!” No2 cackled as he spread more fear through their ranks and exploded into action hacking and slashing as he shoved through. He saw No1’s discarded sword and picked it up in an instant as he swung two swords against the horde.

"Duel wielding mutha farkers!"

Zombie after zombie died under his hand until finally he swung his swords into empty air as none were left.

Panting he turned around to see No1 and Wolf staring at him in horror. He moved forward and Wolf raised his sword as if to strike at him.

“Wait…..guys it’s me!” No2 said as he backed up.

“No2?” Wolf whispered.

No2 released the mana he was directing into his mana-field and felt the mana that was infused with the fear-energy drop away. Soon No2 returned to his normal appearance as they stared at him.

“What the fuck was that?” No1 asked. “You looked like a big ass zombie!”

“It’s my Totem bro. [Bogeyman].”

“Well………shit.”

All this time the mana from the dead corpses was still being absorbed by all of them and suddenly it reached a critical level.

“Fuck can you feel that?” Wolf asked as his heart chamber trembled. It felt like the mana he had absorbed had reached some important threshold. A strong vibration occurred in his first heart chamber as the space suddenly pushed out and doubled in size. Instantly the mana in his heart chamber which had been full a moment ago seemed small within the cavernous space.

It was like he had some kind of breakthrough.

Looking up Wolf could see No1 and No2 had experienced something similar. Despite the doubling of space inside the first chamber his heart had not gotten any bigger.

It’s like some kind of pocket dimension. Wolf mused as he wiped blood off his sword. Slowly he saw the [12 Chamber-Heart] begin to fade back to normal as the mana and adreneline washed away.

"ungghhh." Wolf grunted as he instantly dropped to his knees as pain washed over him. He was bleeding from dozens of wounds and his face felt like it had been hit by a truck.

No1 and No2 had also gone deathly pale as their strength washed away.

Wolf tried to tap mana but only a small sickly stream answered his call and it felt withered and ugly.

Shit. Must be overuse. I guess nothing comes without a price. Wolf thought as he struggled to stand only to find himself collapsed on the floor. Even though anger rose in him the logical part of his mind understood that this made sense. Nothing comes without a price, on earth or in this new world. The feeling of being a god was partly an illusion as the power burned up their bodies.

As Wolf lay their an enormous shadow fell across his body. He tried to look up but no longer had the strength to even move his head. He felt a dark presence extend to cover him as it probed into his mana-field and covered him in a thick black mana that took his breath away.

"Hello little humans......my don't you just all look delicious." a deep voice whispered.