"Why would it be impossible? Nothing is too difficult for someone determined enough. Nothing in this world is impossible," Rex said calmly, looking at Kael'thas's stunned, incredulous expression and secretly savoring it.
Kael'thas's initial disdain, the look that made it clear he thought nothing of Gilneas's magical expertise, had not escaped Rex's notice. Seeing Kael'thas so astonished now was immensely satisfying.
"The principle behind your Return Scroll is spatial magic, more or less like a Portal. But Prince Rex, you must understand that although a mage's Portal is powerful and can lead anywhere, it has its limitations. Usually, the destination must be somewhere the mage knows, preferably somewhere he has visited and left a magical marker, before he can pinpoint it. Even putting that aside, Portals cannot be used in places that suppress magic or have powerful Magic Barriers. Dalaran, for instance, prohibits mages from opening Portals." Kael'thas regained his composure. His initial shock had simply come from how astonishing Rex's claims were. There were many mages among the High Elves, and research projects undertaken by their kingdom had explored much the same thing Rex had described.
The High Elves had been researching this for over a thousand years. During that time, they had halted the work more than once, always because too little progress had been made at too great an expense. Years later, another gifted mage would propose a project and restart the research. Yet after more than a thousand years, the High Elves had made little progress. Suddenly hearing that Gilneas had succeeded had caused Kael'thas to lose his composure.
"Words alone prove nothing. Naturally, we must demonstrate it!" Rex knew that persuasion alone, however eloquent, would have little effect. So, just as Kael'thas regained his composure, Rex delivered this decisive blow.
No matter how much anyone said, nothing was more convincing than the facts.
If Kael'thas had still suspected that Rex's claims were false a moment ago, he no longer did. Whether they were true would soon become clear. No one would tell a lie that could be exposed so easily.
"How do we test it?" Kael'thas asked gravely. If it really worked as Rex described, this Hearthstone was extraordinarily valuable. The High Elves had never abandoned their research in this field precisely because they recognized the value of opening Portals through sealing barriers. Consider Dalaran: if someone could open a Portal and march an army straight through it, taking Dalaran from within would be easy. The same applied to Gilneas. The Greymane Wall would become a joke.
Of course, because mages' Portals were so overwhelmingly powerful, Azeroth had many ways of countering them. The High Elves knew more about these than most, since all of Quel'Thalas lay under the protection of Magic Barriers that kept them safe. If those barriers became ineffective, the defenses the High Elves had built over thousands of years would be little more than a joke. That was why they had pursued this research tirelessly, repeatedly stopping and restarting it, yet making little progress.
"This token serves as the Hearthstone's destination marker. Wherever you are, as long as you remain on this continent, tearing up the Return Scroll will bring you back to wherever this token is," Rex explained, turning the token over in his hand before passing it to Kael'thas. "Testing it against sealing barriers is simple. Both Dalaran and Quel'Thalas have powerful ones. Prince Kael'thas, you can return to Silvermoon City through a permanent portal, leave the token there, then come back to Dalaran and tear up the Return Scroll. Passing through both sealing barriers should prove everything."
Seeing how tempted Kael'thas was, Rex smiled and added with a hint of humor, "But I wouldn't recommend that. You would have to make several extra trips, Prince Kael'thas, and that would be quite a chore. The simplest method is for me to keep the token while you return to Silvermoon City and tear up the Hearthstone."
"Very well. I'll return to Silvermoon City immediately." Kael'thas acted decisively, unable to bear waiting even another quarter of an hour. He stood, carefully placed the Hearthstone in its box, and put it into his Spatial Ring before telling Rex, "Wait a moment."
With that, Kael'thas hurried out of the residence. Because of Dalaran's Magic Barrier, there were only two ways to open a Portal within the city. The first was the simplest: if someone had the strength to break through Dalaran's Magic Barrier, he could disregard it and open a Portal. The other was to go to the Kirin Tor Council in Dalaran.
As one of the Kirin Tor's six Archmages, Prince Kael'thas had the authority to open and use Portals there.
Incidentally, opening a Portal was not something any mage could do at will, nor was it a cheap, commonplace skill. Unless a mage specialized in Portals and studied them constantly, it was generally something only an Archmage could accomplish.
"Prince Kael'thas!" Many passing mages greeted him with bows. Unlike Rex, Kael'thas enjoyed great prestige in Dalaran.
Ordinarily, Kael'thas might have paid little attention to human Kirin Tor mages, but he treated his fellow High Elves well enough to offer a brief reply. This time, however, he ignored even his own people. Upon reaching his destination, he wasted no words. A staff appeared in his hand, and he slowly moved it as he began chanting. A surge of magic first burst from the staff, then resonated with the magic within him.
A Portal slowly appeared before Kael'thas. As soon as it fully formed, he stepped straight through it and vanished before the gathered Kirin Tor mages.
The sight left the Kirin Tor mages deeply puzzled. Although Kael'thas had the authority to use Portals, he could not simply act on his own; he still had to register their use. Dalaran enforced this requirement strictly, fearing that demons or other intruders might slip into the city.
(End of chapter)
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