Norbert swung his sword wide as he spun around, the monkeys rushing forward as his blade met resistance, chopping down the wave of white-headed towards him. It was useless. Each one he struck down, two more replaced it. The cage they constructed out of their flesh meant Norbert couldn't jump away as he continued swinging around, spinning himself with his blade.

In the first revolution, he pushed them back, and in the second revolution, around the monkeys reaching his blade. On the third, they were on him. Leaping forward as they grabbed his arms, Norbert made it through two lines before the number of bodies slowed him down, his progress halting as he was held still by a hundred hands.

Each one gripping into his body, and then the pain happened. His backpack was torn from his body, the straps digging in and tearing as it was ripped from him. Losing sight of the contents immediately, he swung his sword down, something smashing into his hand, forcing him to let go of the sword, now flying through the air.

Hearing the distant sound of pain as if something had been hit by it before two objects plummeted to the ground. A monkey covered his view as it grabbed him by the helmet and started whipping it around from side to side.

He was looking at the sides of its hands, seeing its try and strain, wanting to crack his head like a walnut. He was happy for the helmet and the protection it provided him for the moment, not wanting to imagine what it would do to his body or how long he could live.

A pain came from his arm; Norbert looked down, and his right arm had been ripped off completely. Norbert only caught a glimpse of the monkey before it disappeared in the mass, another fight with its arm happening over there.

He pushed the energy into his body, trying to strengthen it as much as possible and repair the damage, reinforcing the bones and the skin so he wouldn't need to regrow them.

A chunk of flesh was ripped from his thigh as another bit into him. Its teeth quickly went through his flesh, feeling a jolt and numbness in his bones as it stopped the monkey from going further. The creature ripped around, taking out its chunk, Norbert forcing energy throughout it.

Spinning around, trying to break free, kicking out any way that he could escape, but it was all pointless. Everything ripped from him: fingers, toes, hands, feet, arms, legs, knees, waist, everything was taken from Norbert.

Still forcing energy to heal himself, the small nubs that it created gorged into his chest, broken and smashed, just a head and a torso being tossed around. His helmet is still intact as Norbert was thrown around and passed from one set of monkeys, taking everything they could from him and more so.

As he looked around, they became more manic as they went on. Norbert wondered why as he was passed around to another group. They seemed more significant than the others, gorillas nearly twice his size. Its fur no longer pure white like the others; Norbert saw lines of purple throughout their fur, looking someone added highlights thinking they would look cooler, adding to the intimidation. Sadly it did.

With their skulls, the gorillas smashed anything that came in their path. Finally, the monkeys fled as the ten or so gorillas charged through before grabbing Norbert and continuing what they did before, taking piece by piece of him as well, their hands twice the size of the monkeys previously, the fingers like bricks as they just tore Norbert to pieces before he healed himself back up, the energy within his body depleting at an alarming rate, as Norbert started to produce flesh and use the energy to live off, not healing his guts as it would take too long.

Norbert continued; the energy slowed as the gorillas gorged on him, taking turns as they neatly took pieces from his stomach. They were turning Norbert into a finger food platter as they smacked their gums, eating him.

His energy depleted as the gorillas needed to wait for their turn at Norbert. One got annoyed at it, grabbing Norbert by the head as it dug its fingers into Norbert's helmet. His chin broke as it lifted from underneath, pulling with all its might to get at his head.

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SCREECH

The sound of the metal faceplate disconnecting and breaking off, Norbert feeling the wind on his face, the breath of the gorilla breathing down at him and staring up at it as the gorilla screamed at Norbert, taking the helmet for a cry of protest.

Norbert bore his teeth in return as he screamed, an almighty roar putting everything he had into it.

The gorilla moves its hand closer to clamp on Norbert and stop him from speaking out. As its finger came closer, Norbert bit into it, unable to get through as the gorilla protested, pulling its hand away from Norbert, shock on its face for what he did.

Norbert smiled; at least his last moment would still be fighting and not giving up. As he licked his lips, feeling the blood on the back of his mouth as he balled it up with spit, ejecting it from his body, Norbert felt the energy within him come alive.

Lapping at the blood it just had as it fell into his stomach, Norbert saw everything in a new light from the onslaught of power it gave him. Focusing on healing himself, he concentrated on one area as the gorilla looked back at Norbert.

Focusing it on his left arm, Norbert formed it across as the gorilla returned; the idea in his mind became queued, only two digits coming together. As both the gorilla's hands came together on top of his head, Norbert felt his skull start to be crushed, the bones grinding within.

Putting all the energy he could within it, Norbert flicked the two digits he made, placing everything in there before hearing a crack, the gorilla's hands covering his eyes.

***

Norbert did not know how much time had passed; as his eyes opened, the small passed, energy within his body forming naturally into a hand, coming right off his shoulder and looking up at the sky, he saw blood rain down on him. It is red with light amounts of purple. Closing his eyes as he let his mouth slacken, the gorillas Norbert not knowing where but the monkeys soon to return, as the blood came down onto him, feeling droplets going into his through his mouth, his tongue taking on a coppery taste, the very air itself having the aftertaste.

The energy within his body taken from the blood was already healing him; Norbert felt his body being healed without his permission, the cracking of bones and the rearranging of guts to be in their proper place.

Lying there, mostly naked, Norbert groaned in pain and annoyance; most of everything he had was now gone, torn off him and now who knows where. Remembering the books and coins he had in his backpack, Norbert bolted up before groaning in pain, his body not fully healed.

Unsticking himself from the ground, his limbs feeling tingly afterwards, Norbert looked around the area, now knowing why there wasn't anything around him. The gorillas all turned to mush, what remained of their body parts flung around this forest section.

Looking down at the ground, a deep furrow appeared, the dirt being blown away as he saw insects and worms crawling across the stone hallway barely a meter down. Beneath him, the roots slowly start to grow again, forming and covering the scene he did.

The energy within his body was stagnant after the use. Norbert shuddered at the thought he would need to recover it, remembering the high amount of energy received from the gorilla's finger. Sighing in annoyance and discomfort, he was about to bring himself, hoping he wouldn't become a vampire, as he limped to the closest piece of body he could see.

Seeing the arm of one of the gorillas, its hand still primarily intact, Bert looked at its finger, seeing one of the digits slightly bitten. "The cycle of life," Norbert said as he bit into the arm, the taste making him want to throw up, forcing it down into his body as he chewed the bits.

Spitting the hairs that came with it, Norbert stripped it off and continued to eat. Norbert swallowed, the energy within him filling up. Norbert finished off the arm as he tried to distract himself.

Looking around, Norbert felt his energy back to what it was before he unleashed the first wave that tore at the wall, creating the crack.

Norbert looked at the rest of the bodies, knowing what he would need to do next, not wanting to waste the energy that these came with, not knowing when he would have the next opportunity. Walking towards the closest tree, the trees now in the area thicker than before, their barks taking on a sheen to them.

Drumming his finger against it, hearing it thunk in return to the sound. Holding his hand, Norbert balled into a fist, holding it there. Norbert breathed in, feeling the energy now coursing around his body. Pulling it back, Norbert sent his fist flying forward with as much force as possible.

THUNNNKKKK

Pain shot up Norbert's arm as if nothing had happened; the tree remained with only a tiny imprint. Shaking his hand out as he felt the energy within his body, nothing having been depleted in the strike. The numbness went through his hand as he looked at the spot, wondering how many times he would need to strike the tree before he could repeat the results.