After an entire day of laying on the ground, Mack finally could move his fingers again.

The increase in Essence density really made him heal faster.

And was not only his hands that benefited from that. But his entire body felt better too, and he could feel less pressure from the Essence.

What Mack didn’t knew was that his cells being replaced in such an environment made him special…. very special.

Mack put his hand on the floor and forced himself to stand up. But this time the Essence felt less pressuring than yesterday..

He was adapting to the environment, and at a fast pace.

Then, like a psychopath, Mack grabbed the knife on the floor and started to stab himself in several parts of his own body.

He did avoid vital parts when stabbing himself, but even so, the blood gushed from his arms and skin non-stop, just like a dying pig in a slaughterhouse.

Not even five minutes later, the blood stopped flowing out of his body, and was coagulating while healing. Seeing that, Mack restarted his cutting and stabbing session, every time changing or alternating between places he cut himself.

The only way for him to adapt faster was to have more blood being produced.

Or…..

~Tap Tap Tap~

Increasing, even more, the Essence Density around him.

Mack started to pace around the bloodied floor. Every step or two he would cut himself again in some nonvital part of the body.

~Tap Tap~

Every step made on the bloodied floor carried the sound of someone walking in a street after a rainy day. It was really a rainy day. But what was raining was blood, his own blood.

And just like this, a long day of torture started.

After a few hours of this torturous endeavor Mack stopped counting the steps. But was far from 5 thousand steps already. If he could move he would take another step, otherwise, he would just stab himself and wait until he could move again.

He guessed that his body should be out of blood if was on Earth but here…. He lost in a day more blood than what a few humans could have in their bodies.

Truly a magical thing. Essence seemed to help not only in increasing his healing rate but also supplying what his body needed to produce more cells.

“Will I not need to eat anymore?”

Mack could not avoid asking himself this aloud, since this realization made a lot of things easier for him. After all, he had food for only five days.

He initially thought he would be starving by now and extremely exhausted.

But, for his luck or not, he felt energetic and not a bit hungry.

Coming to this sudden realization, Mack went forward with his plan with even more gusto.

~Tap Tap Slash Tap~

If one looked at this scene, one would think it was some bizarre cult ritual.

A man, naked, covered in blood, slowly walking and stabbing himself, and behind him a trail of blood.

Mack was not some super human that did not feel pain. But true to be told. He was numb to physical pain already. He suffered so much over the past weeks that this was literally a walk in the park for him.

After a few more hours of this insane and inhuman training, it was time for a break.

Mack was mentally exhausted.

He walked in the direction of the safe zone, not stabbing himself anymore, and by the time his two feet crossed the line drawn on the floor….

~swish~

He fell with his face on the ground. Outside the safe zone.

To his surprise, he was on the other side of the safe zone. Not the side he entered.

Mack stood up and looked behind him, to confirm what just happened but still could not understand. Did he break any unknown rule and was being punished?

Mack turned his body and raised his foot to try entering the safe zone again…

~stumble~

“What the hell?”

Mack was back to the other side of the safe zone.

With his face on the floor and legs over his own body, Mack was looking more like a ragged potato bag than a human. A naked potato bag. Tossed to a corner.

But this time Mack saw with the corner of his eyes that he actually passed over the entire safe zone, that was around 5 to 10 meters, in a blink of an eye.

Mack had no clue of what was happening.

The Essence around him was restored to normal since he passed thru the entire safe zone. So this was not related to the Essence Density.

“Wait!”

Mack stood up.

He was mentally exhausted, so he did almost everything like a machine would do, in automatic mode, without thinking.

He focused his eyes and shook the dizziness and sleepiness out of his mind.

Instead of trying to walk to the safe zone now, he chose to walk around. To see if what he was thinking was really happening.

Tap.

He walked one step, and Mack vanished from where he was appearing 5 meters from the spot he was earlier.

This time, not stumbling.

He looked behind to confirm.

“I just can’t fucking believe in this. What the hell? Did I become Superman? or The Flash? No way!”

Mack moved his feet. And again, he vanished and appeared 6 meters from where he was earlier.

Just like a kid with a new toy. Mack started running from side to side. Appearing and disappearing from time to time. Until he finally got used to this new kind of speed and force.

And controlling his new strength, Mack walked normally to the safe zone. This time without stumbling or falling, just like a normal human would do.

Mack grabbed his clothes and put them on. Then after a few minutes of resting and eating something he already felt less mentally exhausted.

He grabbed his backpack, the pistols, and the knife and walked outside the safe zone.

Looking at the endless tunnel ahead, Mack felt anticipation for the first time in weeks.

He was eager for the next tests and what magical things they would bring.

Mack took a step in the direction of the darkness in front of him.

“Its time to finish this gate.”

Said the man, vanishing from the spot he was earlier. But this time he did not appear anymore.

Just a blurred image of a man could be seen moving along the dark tunnel.

And if one could see this man’s face, they will see that he was smiling.