"Ugh… frick!"

Sylvester didn't think a single bolt of lightning would be this strong. He felt his feet being pushed back so much that he had to take steps back to stay standing. Besides that, his light shield felt warm and slightly cracked in a few places.

But the game was all about pushing oneself. So he focused and put more light magic on his shield, making it thicker and sturdier. At the same time, he pushed his physical body to the limits by trying to hold his ground.

He also tried to obstruct the path of the continuous lightning bolt by throwing occasional chunks of earth at it. He was proficient in all elemental magic, after all. Though only the elemental magic was intent-based, the runes, incantations and other complex forms of magic required training, study and actual process.

Boom!

The chunks of the earth would blow up instantly, though. 'How long can she keep on going?'

He looked at Lady Aurora, and she appeared not even tired from her continuous attack. She even seemed to be smiling. However, it didn't look good with the combination of her thunderous powers.

He, too, chuckled, albeit grunting next, as he remembered something from his previous life. 'Good god, she's the second coming of Palpatine.'

Thud!

He knelt down knowingly as he needed a better grip. 'I need to push back as well.'

Sylvester thought about all the attacks in his arsenal. Soon, he came up with the idea of using triple-layered Earth and Water runes. The Fire was useless against lightning, as was Air, so this was the only way to go.

So, he went ahead and started to cast the runes behind his shield that he stopped powering. In a few seconds, it was supposed to break apart. He infused water into the ground around himself and raised it. His goal was to create a straight line of raised earth and fight against the oncoming strike until he could reach Lady Aurora.

It was dangerous as he couldn't see anything at the front, but this way, he'd be free from real physical force that stopped him from moving. At the same time, he could use as much material from the ground as he needed.

Boom!

Boom!

It seemed as if a long tall cuboid erected out of the ground and moved forward slowly. Sylvester, behind everything, pushed ahead with his hands facing his front, holding three intricate giant runes, layered one above the other, two brown and one blue.

The water in the ground would take a little time before boiling apart in steam and also blowing apart. That would allow Sylvester to move ahead and raise more land.

The process was tough on his body and solarium reserves. Nevertheless, he pushed himself to the limit, though also being careful with his leg as things were not right there.

Boom!

"Stop!" Lady Aurora roared and ceased her attack. "You did great, Sylvester. Came so close to me."

Sylvester also stopped and removed the raised land. To his shock, he had come so close that they were merely a metre apart. But Sylvester was not happy, as he panted and accepted the reality. 'This was her weak attack, and I struggled so much. I hope I never have to face a Grand Wizard anytime soon.'

"That was one good exercise." He said and calmed his breath. He was conscious enough not to lose all his magic in training, as the primary goal was to level Lady Aurora up, not him.

"I will go harder than the last time, also from closer." He alerted her before walking back a few metres, placing his palm near his chest, and facing outward.

Lady Aurora had decided to do the same as the last. She covered her arms with an invisible electric current to make them act like a shield. "Got it."

He started singing the hymn, and the halo appeared.

Boom!

…

Time in Ender Village passed fast as Sylvester found himself extremely busy. First thing in the morning, Sylvester and Lady Aurora would deal with the increasing mist. Then, he would train with lady Aurora, focusing more on her than on himself.

After that, he'd spend his day trying to manufacture syringes, long tubes and hanging glass bottles. Making Saline was the easiest part, though. What was Saline? It was a mixture of Sodium Chloride, also known as salt, with boiled water. Making them was something even ordinary villagers could do as long as hygiene was maintained.

"Making the glass bottle is the easiest part, even making the tubes is not hard. But making the syringes will require a higher quality of crafting. First of all, we need thin steel sheets." Sylvester was trying to teach a few Blacksmiths he had recruited so they could teach the rest when they'd arrive.

He showed them the whole process and asked the Inquisitors to come and help. The wizards ended up smoothening and fastening the glass-making and needle-making processes.

By the end of the second day, when Sylvester and Aurora returned after their harsh training, the first prototype of the needle was prepared. All Sylvester needed to do next was create a holder for the needle.

By night, Sylvester had created the first complete prototype, and the testing was to be conducted. First, Sylvester connected everything and held the glass bottle high up. Then, he opened the stopper made of a ball bearing and metal frame.

Tap!

Tap!

Soon enough, water droplets started falling from the needle. Sylvester knew it would work, but he was worried about the consistency and speed. He wanted to avoid ending up damaging the villagers instead.

"My lord, this is brilliant!" A healer from the ranks of Inquisitors exclaimed happily. "With this, we can even give medicinal potions to the patients."

Sylvester was happy that the people realised how great this little invention was. "Indeed. But you don't always need to put a whole bottle of saline into someone to give medicine. If it's supposed to be a small dose, then we can use something called an Injection. If we have time, I will show it as well. But for now, get to work and create as many needles as possible. Remember one thing carefully, never reuse a single needle on more than one person. Understood?"

"Yes, lord bard!" The five blacksmiths, two bright mothers, three glassmakers and a dozen or so inquisitors saluted him together. Then, they rushed back to the basement lab Sylvester had set up under the monastery.

'I should get this invention recorded in the Inventor's Registry of the Church. Who knows, someday someone might make a better version of this.'

"How do you come up with all this?" Isabella asked from the side.

Sylvester shrugged. "Necessity is the mother of invention, Isabella. We needed to feed water to the people, and we all know our body is majority water. So I just used common sense, an idea, and the help of a few talented helpers."

"If that was the case, then why didn't anyone in the past come up with such a thing?" Isabella asked further.

For that, Sylvester could only make guesses. Because, as far as he knew, the society in this world seemed to have stagnated. Not much has changed in the past five thousand years of recorded history.

"Well, the reason is simple. The peasants are mostly illiterate, and they are usually busy farming or doing other chores from morning till night. So none have the time to think. As for nobles, you folks have access to the best magical healers, so you do not need to invent something. As for Clergymen, we have magical healers available at all times. Do you see the pattern? Nobody ever had the need or time to think." He explained the best he could.

Lady Aurora came to his side and tapped on his head. "May the lord give me some of your brains as well, for you certainly are above all us peasant mortals with no brains?"

"Hah, come on, lady Aurora. You're probably one of the youngest Grand Wizards in the history of mankind. If anything, you should be the last to be envious of me." he chuckled.

But Lady Aurora's face turned serious instantly as she glanced into his eyes. "You are seventeen and already an Archwizard. Sylvester, it takes more than sixty years on average to reach that rank. Most don't even reach Archwizard rank in a century—and here you are. If the speed continues, we may see the youngest Grand Wizard in history."

Isabella's jaw fell agape. "Really? But how? What makes him so different?"

"Eh, probably blessed by the lord or something. Look at his face. He's either a womaniser devil or Solis incarnation himself." Lady Aurora jokingly left the room to help the workers.

Though Sylvester was left with a self-question too. 'I have asked myself this again and again. Why can I rank up so fast? Felix just recently became Master wizard, and even that's considered very fast. Gabriel is still stuck at Adept wizard rank. Is my Light Magic helping me somehow?'

Sure enough, not only the world but his own body was a mystery to Sylvester—something he hoped to unwind slowly with time.

'There is so much work—so much mess. I hope the whole Duke Daemon situation gets sorted soon.' He muttered and went off to work as well.

…

In the coming days, crowds started arriving at the Ender Village. Dozens of Bright Mothers, tens of healers, and hundreds of blacksmiths or glassmakers. Of course, Sylvester would pay them a small wage from Monastery coffers that they could later reimburse from the Holy Land.

With a slow but efficient process, he trained all the people to form a supply and service chain. The healers and Bright Mothers were responsible for taking care of the fallen, while the rest were to make the tools.

Sylvester and Lady Aurora also intensified their training since they now had more free time.

Boom!

In the same old open field, Sylvester blasted a full-powered, wide and strong Wrath of Heavens. It was the same that created a hole in the strong mist of the Soul Eater demon.

Woosh!

Lady Aurora appeared to struggle this time and got pushed back. She gritted her teeth as her whole body started to radiate blue lightning.

"Aaaarrrgh!" She shouted as veins popped all over her head. It was not hurting her much, but she was finding it hard to push against Sylvester's light. This means that Sylvester's current strongest move could not kill a Grand Wizard, but it could surely push one back.

But Sylvester didn't mind as he knew that slowly, with every level up, his moves would get stronger too. Not to mention, he was working on a new wide-area move.

Bam!

She got thrown away finally and fell to the side. The beam of light got sent away into the sky, only to disappear like a shooting star.

Sylvester went close to her and gave her a hand. "You are making some progress. Before you couldn't even stand a second there."

Lady Aurora gritted her teeth, however. "It's been seven days, and I still don't feel the level-up. This is not working."

"Calm down, slow and steady wins the rac… What's she doing here?" He stopped speaking as Isabella appeared, running to them.

"Sylvester, you have a letter from the Holy Land. I thought it was urgent, so I brought it here." She panted and breathed out words.

Sylvester hurriedly took the letter and tore it open. "It should be importan–"

He suddenly stopped speaking, and his face changed from always calm and confident to one of rage. His golden eyes widened and shook, and his brows furrowed.

"Sylvester, what happened?" Lady Aurora asked with urgency.

"M-My mother… She's been stabbed."

________________________

GT = 1 Bonus chapter.

Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.

APE TOGETHER STRONG!