Jonathan reached out, pressing the palm of his hand against the wall. Void energy traveled down his arm, and erupted in a narrow spike. When he removed his hand, there was a small crack in the elemental shield.
Jonathan raised an eyebrow. Normally, his abilities shredded through any other elemental manifestations. For that not to be the case here, either the shield had an immense amount of power invested in it, or its maker was more skilled than Jonathan at elemental manipulation. Either were possible, but it was more likely to be the first case. It was the defense mechanism of an entire city after all, one with so many people that it was like a titanic anthill. There were easily millions, if not tens of millions, of competent elementalists there, just by statistics alone. Out of those, there were certainly many Earth elementalists, as that element was one of the most common to cultivate.
Jonathan put his hand back, and initiated a constant stream of destructive power. His gauntlet started to glow a deep purple from the channeling, his hand beneath blazing with violet fire. The shield began to crack like glass under a hydraulic press, slowly but steadily. More and more elemental power started to pour into the vacuum he was leaving, acting almost like water. Jonathan continued to press through, using his Negation aspected Void energy to keep the area he was working on clear.
Jonathan began to walk forward, using the strength of his body to help push through the shield. Physical strength always interacted with elemental power in strange ways, and what happened here was akin to pressure fusing metals. Pressure increased the reaction rates of mundane physical interactions, and it did much the same here.
With greater power behind his assault, Jonathan could push the Void into the shield with a mechanism beyond simply using his will. Eventually, the cracks reached a critical point, and for about six feet in every direction, the wall shattered. A pulse of light raced away along the shield, most likely a notification that it had been breached. However, it didn’t really matter. By the time it was acted on, Jonathan would be long gone. He raced through, and Eliza hurriedly did the same, just before the wall closed behind them.
Stolen novel; please report.
The rock here was older and conceptually denser than the rock outside. It contained a weight of ancient power that had not been present outside the wall. The energy emanations of an entire city, especially one as gigantic as the one here, had imbued the world beneath it with a portion of its power. The comforting solidity of Earth, from a city that had stood for eons, resolute and secure. The vast and fluctuating presence of Life, from the gargantuan engine of billions that dwelled above.
The difference was also present physically, and Jonathan immediately found it much more difficult to break through the rock. He had to reduce his speed significantly, moving at around the same speed as a high end train, rather than a fighter plane. He wasn’t used to going that slow, at least outside of leisure situations. It felt like he was being weakened, his strength leeched away by the universe as punishment for his failings.
The time ticked away bit by bit until he finally broke through into what looked like a drainage tunnel. A small river of foul smelling water rushed by below, carrying chunks of detritus at high speeds. He had emerged onto a small walkway running along the length of the tunnel, giving him a good vantage point. The tunnel itself was made out of mossy bricks, about twenty feet wide. There was a small opening on the other side, and a set of stairs leading up.
Something stirred in the filth, and a geyser of water rose up. It gyrated in the air, before forming into a vaguely humanoid shape. Before it could do anything more than splash a bit of water around, Jonathan erased it from existence with a wave of his hand and a flash of purple fire. With a look at Eliza, he leaped over the divide, and started up the stairs.
