63. One hour left

'Arcane, How is the progression?'

[Marrow cells completely replaced. I estimate 60 minutes until the entire body cells are completely replaced]

'Keep me informed at each 10 minutes'

[As you wish]

But Mack could already feel in his bones that a change was occurring in his body, literally.

His healing was improving as new cells replaced the old ones.

The most crucial part was for his body to evolve the marrow cells. The rest of his body cells would be replaced eventually, if given time.

But Mack also knew that if he waited for this to happen outside the runic circle, it could take days or years for that to happen.

Because of this, Mack needed to stay every single minute possible inside the runic circle.

It was not like he had an option either. His bones were still broken, and he was so weak that he could barely lift a finger.

His body had yet to adapt to this new Essence density.

Mack started to chant the mantra again in his mind.

And just like that, time flowed.

[50 minutes remaining]

Mack stopped chanting and tried to firm a hand on the ground. He was trying to sit.

~crack~

His right arm bone broke even more, and a tip came outside of his skin, and blood poured out of it.

Mack could not care less. It was old blood. If he could he would bleed himself out to make things faster, but he barely could sit, he didn't have any strength left on him for anything else.

Mack entered the position of the nameless breathing technique.

But his broken arms and rib cage didn't help.

He would need to improvise today, only mimicking the breathing, without the correct hand positions.

Mack even suspected that the hand positions were only there as a guide for newbies, as what mattered was the breathing pattern and muscle contractions on the solar plexus.

Mack finally could sit.

But the scene looked anything like a movie.

Broken bones, blood pouring out of wounds and around him a runic circle that if looked from afar, looked like someone was inside water or a very dense air atmosphere.

His arms hanging at the side of his body like a doll used by a puppeteer.

But if one looked at mack eyes, they would see how wrong they were.

This man had not eyes of someone that was suffering countless tortures at the same time.

He was furious.

Because in front of him, Raz was fighting alone, dozens and dozens of mages that keep coming in an unending tide.

Raz had not a single rest until now. He was fighting for hours without stopping.

Mack knew that eventually Raz would run out of stamina. He could only hope that he could hang in there for 50 minutes.

As Mack himself could do nothing now unless try to use the mantra and the breathing to speed up the process.

[40 minutes]

Said the Arcane in Mack's mind.

'Will the Essence crystals run out before?'

[Hard to estimate. Right now, both are ending at the same minute in my calculations]

'I'm counting on you. Inform me of any change.'

Said Mack in his mind before refocusing on his mantra and breathing.

[As always, master]

But Mack heard something odd this time.

The word master.

It was the first time the Arcane Legacy used it.

But Mack had no time to lose thinking about this.

He had to focus on healing faster.

And right now the only thing he could do was to use those meditations techniques from the book.

After a few minutes of using both, the breathing and the mantra, the odd feeling of using them at the same time came again, like in previous times. As if both were part of something major but were missing a piece.

Mack stopped.

He looked at Raz fighting and how beautiful his movements were, even being simple and direct. It was like a dance.

'A dance'

Mack suddenly thought of something crazy.

'Everything can influence Essence, right? Even a single thought can influence it at some degree.'

[Correct, even normal humans in a place with scarce Essence, just like when they miraculously heal from some terminal disease after praying for a god.]

Mack thought over and over and he would risk. He had nothing to lose. It was not like the mantra and the breathing were having visible effects either.

Mack was doing because it was all he could do.

Mack pulled his broken legs close to him and used his right elbow as a support on his right leg to try to stand up.

~stumble~

He fell.

His right arm broke even more.

[30 mimutes]

'I should probably just stay still and wait. But I can't bear it. What if only one minute is what separates the line between Raz being alive or dead'

'I can't'

Mack thought over and over and mustered all his will to stand up again.

Just like a butterfly coming out of his cocoon. Mack was broking his old shell to have a new one.

~break~

Mack broke his left arm in another place, but this time was able to stand on one knee.

The pressure caused by Essence was too heavy. Any slight movement could break a bone.

Mack used both broken arms over his right leg again. Broken bones protruded from all places over his body.

Right now, Mack looked like a victim of a car accident, but he was still trying to stand up.

One could only imagine the will someone must have to still try.

Mack felt so much pain right now that even was hard to breathe. His mind keeps asking him to stay still and go sleep.

But he mustered all his willpower to stand up.

~break~

Another rib was broken.

But Mack stood up.

In two feet.

Broken bones all over his body and blood pouring out of it unending.

Mack raised his head and looked straight ahead.

The fight was still going and more and more mages came. Raz killed ten and twenty came. It was an unending swarm of mages.

'The army must be close for them to be able to send so many mages'

Mack closed his eyes.

He had the music. The mantra.

He had the rhythmic. The breathing.

The only part missing was the movements.

'If I fail. Im doomed'

There was no looking back now. Mack could not count on his luck as he knew he had an extremely bad luck. If he made a bet, he would bet a hundred times that the runic circuit would stop before his body healed.

If that happened, Mack would be as good as a punching bag for the mages.

[It seems you are right. The Estimation for the circuit stopping is lower than your healing now]

'How much?'

[5 minutes difference. Impossible to calculate outside the runic circuit. It could be hours or days if you are outside.]

'Its settled than'

"Its do or die."

Said Mack aloud, already dragging his broken leg over the dirty red ground.

And in the next second, the eerie mantra permeated the surrounding woods.

Everyone stopped fighting, something inside them was stirred by that voice. Something deep inside them

They looked at the origin of the voice and saw a man inside a runic circle with Essence pressure that could kill any of them.

The man was standing up, chanting that eerie mantra like song with a body full of broken bones that came out of his skin.

Completely naked and with blood covering most of his body.