A formation such as this lock on the portal can be opened by a high-ranking mage quickly. But for a low-ranking mage like Henry, this kind of lock would be very hard. The sole reason for this is the ability to perceive the runes in the formation.
Runes are a mystical language that is very hard to learn. Even for a mage runes are very hard to learn. And because of the power that runes hold, a mage could only handle a few runes at a time. And while handling a few runes, it can take a lot of toll on the mage's mind. That is why as the rank of mage increases, they gain the ability to draw and perceive more runes at a time.
Formation such as this was too complex for a Rank-1 mage. That is why he would have to break the formation into various parts. And then he had to figure out the function of each part. After fully understanding what each part does, a mage had to find some sort of weakness in the formation…
