"Is there anything to be surprised about?" Arthas glanced at Kael'thas. "How prosperous was the elven civilization back then? Their magic system had also developed to its peak. Even if they lost the Well of Eternity, the knowledge passed down for ages still remained."
"But… how did they manage to survive for ten thousand years in a ruined city?" Jaina's face also showed undisguised surprise. She had previously thought that the "residents" Arthas mentioned referred to the lingering spirits of the dead.
"That I'm not clear about. Those strange magical tricks, you mages should know better than I do."
Arthas shook his head with a smile, not revealing the dark truth hidden within Eldre'Thalas.
The Highborne's past magical techniques were indeed unparalleled. After losing the Well of Eternity, they were inevitably affected by something similar to a "mana addiction." This terrifying side effect of mana deprivation could easily destroy a person's spirit and body.
The Highborne of Eldre'Thalas naturally encountered such a situation and were initially severely affected by mana addiction.
To prevent the survivors of the disaster from losing their lives to this ridiculous and tragic side effect, the mages of Eldre'Thalas made a very bold decision.
Extracting energy from the Arcane Web was not enough for the daily consumption of the Highborne. In fact, for most Highborne, it was better to simply die than to barely survive by consuming such weak magic.
The elven mages naturally could not accept this situation. The knowledgeable mages quickly found a bold, dangerous, but effective solution.
The Arcane Web permeates the entire universe—which is what mages often refer to as the void. And those creatures that can survive in the void with their physical bodies undoubtedly have extremely high efficiency in drawing energy from the Arcane Web.
A crazy idea naturally emerged in the mages' minds. Although the Highborne's predicament was caused by demons, these elven mages no longer cared about that. They just wanted to live normally.
Would the Highborne, who were already mad with thirst for magic, still care about such trivial matters? What they urgently needed was an energy source that could relieve their mana addiction symptoms, even if it was like drinking poison to quench their thirst, it made no difference to them.
Finally, the remaining elven mages used the city's last remaining materials to create a strict cage, capable of controlling most demons. Within this cage, they once again used an evil summoning circle to summon a powerful Elemental Creatures from the Twisting Nether.
After this demon was summoned into reality, it immediately began to go mad. He roared and slammed against the cage set up by the Highborne, attempting to break free from the magical restraints.
The mages turned pale with fright at the demon's roars and his mighty resistance. Once this monster broke through the cage, they no longer possessed enough power to capture him again. At that point, all living beings in Eldre'Thalas would be slaughtered.
Fortunately, luck was on Eldre'Thalas's side this time. The mages' preparations were quite thorough. The demon ultimately failed to break through the cage they had prepared. After this demon gradually exhausted himself and calmed down, the mages began to try to extract magic from him.
Although magic corrupted by fel could affect one's mind, they tried their best to minimize this negative impact, making it bearable, merely causing one's personality to become a bit more irritable.
After imprisoning the demon and extracting his energy for daily life, the residents of Eldre'Thalas seemed to return to their old days of not worrying about magic. But in reality, everyone knew that this was just a superficial illusion.
The survivors of Eldre'Thalas retreated to the city's core area, where Queen Azshara's library and treasury were located. The other areas were completely abandoned, and the corrupting aura of the powerful demon that had been summoned gradually began to rot other areas, also attracting many other corrupted creatures.
They made their homes in the abandoned areas of Eldre'Thalas, and the Elemental Creatures in the unattended greenhouses and pools were also vitalized by Eldre'Thalas's increasingly active energy. However, because that was corrupted magic, most of these Elemental Creatures could not escape the fate of being corrupted.
Furthermore, the Highborne stayed behind closed doors, completely ignoring the situation in other areas, which led to the current chaos in Eldre'Thalas, with low-level demons, satyrs, and corrupted Elemental Creatures everywhere.
Ordinary adventurers entering such a complex and extremely dangerous city would probably disappear without a trace in minutes. Only this luxurious expedition team led by Arthas dared to step into this forgotten city.
Moreover, the expedition team currently in Feralas is not the full contingent. Brann, hearing that Arthas was leading a team to explore an ancient elven city, immediately offered his help free of charge.
Of course, he used the name of the Explorer's League, not the Ironforge Dwarves, which Kael'thas did not refuse, because he was already looking to gain more trust within the Alliance, and having Brann come was also a gesture of goodwill.
Besides, the Explorer's League is only interested in ancient artifacts and peculiar tools. Magical creations and knowledge that might be lost to the outside world are not as attractive to the dwarves.
The only thing to worry about is whether Brann will cause any trouble for the expedition team—let's hope not.
More than a week later, in front of Eldre'Thalas's towering city walls, the Alliance flag and camp were set up. Kael'thas, along with several mages, had already begun to decipher Eldre'Thalas's magical seals, attempting to open its long-sealed gates.
But it seems they encountered some technical difficulties. Eldre'Thalas's magical seals were methods never recorded in High Elf history. It would take Kael'thas and his team some time and effort to decipher these seals.
"Why don't you go look at the magical seals there?"
Arthas asked Jaina.
"Why should I go?" Jaina found it strange. "Kael'thas and those elven mages have advanced in magic for at least several centuries. In terms of knowledge reserves… I might not even have one-tenth of theirs.
Not to mention, what they are deciphering is originally an elven magical seal, which is too different from the magical seals I once studied. After humans learned magic from the High Elf, they almost developed a completely different path."
She felt that if she meddled there, not only would she not be able to offer any constructive advice, but it would also be counterproductive—the High Elf were very secretive about their unique skills, and if Jaina were there, they would probably procrastinate even longer.