The climb up the beanstalk was long and ardorous. Days passed as they climbed without food or water scaling what seemed like an infinite wall. What was worse was the chilling and evil feeling many of the engravings gave off as you touched them. At the point when Wolf felt incredibly fatigued he would tap into his Heart Chamber and circulate a little mana into his bloodstream.

The mana was like a sweet tonic from the gods, washing away his fatigue and sending new strength into his limbs.

It was also addictive.

Every time he drew mana out of his heart chamber he felt a thrill of power and pleasurable feeling hummed through his mind.

Fuck this feel good.

The climb itself was not difficult, merely long and unending. In his past life Wolf had gone through a phase where he had become obsessed with rock climbing. Mostly focusing on indoor climbing he had reached the peak ametuer level before he stopped after a hurting his shoulder. That was back when he had big money, fast cars and spent all his spare time training various things that captured his interest.  

As he climbed he felt his old techniques come back. His back leg flagged out as he transitioned into a smooth side-pull as he gracefully extended up to the next hand hold. He had always found climbing as meditation in movement, much like Yoga. As he got more and more into the zone the fact that he was in the beanstalk faded away and he lost himself in the ballet of movement that was climbing.

He deliberately let his muscles tire to exhaustion before letting a flood of mana cascade over them bringing renewal. As he continued this process he slowly felt his senses begin to expand as he entered a strange mental state. The clumsy way he had been grabbing at his mana smoothed out and he felt he only needed to draw upon a tiny trickle to keep going. Wolf suddenly had an insight as his muscles fatigued. Not everything needed mana in the same way at the same time, his forearms were usually the quickest to exhaust due to how much they were used in gripping.

Rather than bullishly grabbing the mana out of his heart chamber he gently began to coax a tiny wisp out into his bloodstream. As it flowed through his blood he he let it drift inactively as it circulated through his body. Then as it passed through areas of his body that were critically fatigued he would activate the mana and it would burn up as it nourished specific parts of his body.

The more he practiced this technique the better he became at it until after several hours he felt very adept at manipulating small streams of mana in his body. Not only had his consumption of mana gone down dramatically, but its effects seemed even better. It was like a soft and gentle tide pulling the water in and out of a stream.

Finally after what seemed like a lifetime a faint white light could be seen in the distance. Wolf stared at it trying to make out what it was, but it was like looking at the sun and he felt his eyes glaze over.

“We are almost at the summit.” Joysich’s voice echoed out. “Hold on for a little longer…….climb into the light!”

Wolf looked around and saw No1 and No2 were struggling as they climbed. There faces were flushed and their muscles trembling as they neared the white light. No2 slipped slightly and dangled by one arm before he hauled himself up and clung to the wall.

“My mana is running out.” He yelled and there was a trace of fear in his voice as he looked down. It was a face Wolf had seen in many new climbers as their endurance began to fade and they realised how high they were.

“No2 listen to me.” Wolf said as he cast his voice out.

“Don’t look down. Only look up. You’re gripping the wall with more strength than you need to. Grip it gently with only the amount of strength you need to stick to the wall. Your only a few moves from the top. Relax and stop wasting your strength by being tense.”

Wolf saw No2 nod his head across the gap, but saw he was still struggling. So he slowly began to traverse sideways around the beanstalk to make his way over to No2’s position. No1 had also had a similar idea and began to climb closer to No2.

Soon No1 and Wolf were on either side of No2 as they all marshalled their strength for the final ascent.

“I’ll come help too.” Joysich said as he began to traverse above them onto their wall.

A tiny drop of something splashed onto No1’s face as he clung to the wall.

“What the fuck was that?” he said as he wiped at his forehead with his arm. He looked at the suspicious blob for a moment before he drew it towards his nose and sniffed.

“Fucking Jesus.” Wolf roared as he snapped his head back away from the offensive substance. “Joyshit you fucking asshole!” No1 yelled.

“I…..it was an accident!” Joysich cried. His emotions were unsettled as he had never encountered such a situation before. Even as he spoke he felt his butt cheeks still quivering wanting to release their deadly goods.

“Ok ok….just climb up into the white light….I’ll see you on the other side!” He finally yelled before scurrying up into the light. Wolf looked up and saw Joysich’s naked ass and hairy balls disappear into the light as his body faded away.

“Ok the naked tool is gone now.” No1 said in a whisper. No2 immediately stopped shaking and his eyes were firm and resolute again. Wolf looked at the two kids in shock for a moment before he realised he had been had.

“Your not tired at all are you?” Wolf said.

“Tired? Fuck no. I could climb this wall forever.” No2 laughed. “I’ve been climbing since I was a kid. In and out of houses carrying all sorts of shit hahaha.”

No1 smiled as he gazed at Wolf with a look of calculation in his eye.

“Listen up old man. This is what we figure, we got no way to tell how much of all this is bullshit or not. Joystick has already fucked us a couple of times and I for one don’t plan to keep getting fucked by him. The only thing No2 and I know for certain is you really are a fucking janitor.” No1 said with a serious face.  

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In fact No1 was not certain of this at all. He had already decided that there was a reasonable chance Wolf was some kind of plant. But he figured if he was a plant it was best to begin to pull him into a fake alliance to see what information they could pump out of him.

“So what’s the play?” Wolf asked curious to see what No1 thoughts were. Though he was only 17 and never went to class it was not like No1 was stupid. Wolf was well aware No1 and No2 had been rolling on the streets since they were young and were well versed in working the edges of society. But then this was also an area, in a different field, that Wolf was very adept at.

“Hard to script it yet.” No2 said. “We don’t know what is on the other side, but this whole thing stinks and I don’t plan to get shot up on the front lines for these cunts. We stick together, share information and have each other’s backs.”

Wolf looked at No2 in surprise. He had assumed that No2 was basically just No1’s follower, but perhaps he had seriously underestimated him.

“Look Mr Wolf, sure we gave you a hard time at school. Let’s face it, you’re a first class cockhead. But that was then. We know you used to run some corporate fraud and shit like that. Got caught with your hand in the till and why the fuck you never fled to a desert island somewhere god only knows. But we recognise you got some skills. From our side we know how to run our game, our shit is locked. If you don’t sell us out we won’t sell you out……we really mean that.” No1 said with a warm and genuine look on his face.

Wolf looked at No1 and No2 in the eye as he nodded his head and returned a trusting, friendly expression.

These kids want to play me? You’re a hundred years too early! Wolf thought as an old feeling rose inside him. The dangerous predatory side of his personality had begun to slowly awaken.

Wolf had made it to the top of the corporate ladder where every relationship was a knife that could be twisted into your back. Prison and the streets had been easier to survive in comparison.

No1 smiled as he saw the trusting look on Wolf’s face.

Hahah this guy’s a total sucker. He thought as he shared a look with No2.

“Well as long as we are all buddies now I was considering climbing back down and seeing if I could use my mana-field to exit back to earth.” Wolf said.

No1 and No2 turned serious as they considered the idea.

Suddenly a powerful emotion washed over Wolf and saw himself climbing the beanstalk and unlocking incredible powers. The corpses of his enemies stood underneath his feet as he stood at the summit of power like an invincible god. The motion thrummed through him in a wave as the hunger for power and glory overwhelmed him.

King….Become a King!

No. A simple thought formed in Wolf’s mind as he forcibly disengaged himself from his raging emotions and managed to stand outside of them. Wolf shook his head as if to clear the emotions out and saw No1 and No2 clenching the wall as their faces twisted.

He reached out and slapped them a couple of times before they shook free from their delusions and turned their raging eyes onto Wolf.

“Settle……….before you do something stupid think for a moment, just breathe and control yourselves.” Wolf whispered as he did the same.

Wolf was now certain that there was some kind of emotional manipulation happening inside of him due to the [12 Chamber-Heart] scripture. Wolf had tasted power before and was once one of the wealthiest men on the planet. He had supped on the dizzying heights of power and been cast down into nothing eventually living on the streets. He understood the high of the chase, of closing the deal of gathering influence and power until he was like a god to those around him. He had already been down this road and was familiar with its scent.

Ever so carefully he flexed his mind and felt at the edges of the [12 Chamber-Heart]. He could feel it in his mind pulsing and sending out a hunger. His heart-chambers began to ache with the need for more mana and he could already feel the push to unlock the next world so he could absorb a second engraving.

This thing is semi-sentient. Wolf thought in fear as he slowly withdrew his mind. It didn’t seem trying to withdraw was going to be an option and he needed to move forward incredibly carefully if he was to understand what was really going on here.

“Alright if we are sharing info…..i don’t know what your experiences were when you acquired your Totems but I believe the [12 Chamber-Heart] scripture has some kind of influencing effect.” Wolf said quietly.

No1 and No2 struggled as the words washed over them.

“I agree it’s like an unending thirst for power. It’s focused on the heart chambers.” No2 said.

“I felt it when I got my Totem. The hunger.” No1 whispered.

“Look I don’t know what the fuck it is, but clearly it wants to force us to keep climbing. So let’s keep going up, but we need to be careful. Very, very careful.” Wolf said.

“You know I think looking forward, we will not be fighting the enemy. We will be fighting ourselves and the enemy is in us. The war will be one for the possession of our souls.” Wolf finished while he gazed off into space with the look of a powerful leader.

No1 and No2 nodded slowly as Wolf’s words of wisdom washed over them. Then they began to climb back up towards the light. Just as No1 was about to climb into the light a look of recognition appeared on his face and he paused and looked down.

“That…..that was a line from the movie Platoon you old bastard!”

“Shameless prick.” No2 shouted as he followed No1 up into the light.

Wolf coughed as a bashful expression spread across his face.

Dammit. That movie was released in 1986 who knew these kids watched old movies.