I agree with both changes.
1. Remove the repeated "we help our friends" line.
You already used it recently. Repeating signature lines too often weakens them.
2. Start in Solmere with the warehouse.
This is much stronger because it lets the townsfolk actually witness the beginning of the portal project. Readers get to see the reaction of ordinary people as Jax starts casually building something that should be impossible.
It also creates a nice progression:
Guild promotion
New mission tease
Jax immediately starts changing the world
Portal reveal
Crystalshire arrival
That feels much more satisfying.
Here's how I'd rewrite it.
The World Gets Smaller
The meeting with Guild Master Kaelor Fangmere ended far later than any of them expected.
Drinks had been shared.
Ranks had been updated.
A new mission sat waiting in Jax's inventory.
And somewhere in the neighboring kingdom of Blackthorn, a mountain apparently had ambitions.
As they stepped out of the guild hall, Bunny looked down at the new status displayed in her System.
S-Rank.
She looked at it again.
Then a third time.
"Does anyone else feel like we're getting away with something?"
Nyxian immediately raised her hand.
"Constantly."
Llandra shook her head.
"You cleared an A-Rank raid dungeon in record time."
"That doesn't make it feel less strange."
"It does not," Zee agreed.
Jax laughed.
Then pointed toward the old warehouse district.
"Come on."
"Where are we going?" Bunny asked.
"To change transportation."
The Vixens exchanged looks.
That answer somehow raised more questions than it answered.
The abandoned warehouse district wasn't nearly as abandoned anymore.
Workers moved lumber.
Stone masons repaired walls.
Merchants negotiated contracts.
Several food vendors had already claimed corners of the street.
Hope was surprisingly good for business.
The moment Jax arrived at the largest warehouse, people noticed.
Whispers spread.
Workers stopped.
Tools lowered.
Nobody interrupted him.
But everyone watched.
Jax entered the empty warehouse and walked to its center.
The Vixens followed.
Outside, curious laborers gathered near the open doors.
Not enough to interfere.
Just enough to witness.
Jax ignored them.
A circular foundation had already been prepared.
Forty feet across.
Reinforced stone.
Crystal channels.
Mana conduits.
All waiting.
The System chimed.
ADVANCED ENGINEERING SPECIALIZATION AVAILABLE
DIMENSIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
LEARN?
"Yes."
Knowledge exploded into place.
Not information.
Instinct.
Runes.
Anchors.
Flow ratios.
Stabilization arrays.
The Vixens watched his eyes lose focus for a moment.
Then sharpen.
Jax immediately started moving.
Mana crystals were placed.
Channels adjusted.
Support pillars realigned.
He worked with the confidence of a master craftsman.
Which would have been less alarming if none of them had ever seen him build one before.
Bunny leaned toward Zee.
"How does he know what he's doing?"
"He usually doesn't."
"What?"
"He learns it five seconds before he needs it."
"...that's horrifying."
"It really is."
Hours passed.
Workers continued gathering outside.
The structure grew.
A ring.
Then a framework.
Then something far larger.
By the time evening approached, the warehouse had become too crowded with spectators for anyone to pretend they weren't watching history happen.
Jax stepped back.
Satisfied.
The gateway stood complete.
Forty feet tall.
Covered in runes.
Layered with crystal arrays.
Beautiful.
Impossible.
"Moment of truth," Jax said.
The workers outside collectively held their breath.
Mana surged.
The ring ignited.
Light spread across its surface.
Not violently.
Not explosively.
Gracefully.
Like liquid glass suspended in the air.
The warehouse fell silent.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
The impossible had just become real.
A doorway appeared.
Beyond it—
A corridor.
Long.
Clean.
Artificial.
A place that should not exist.
Bunny blinked.
"That's it?"
Jax nodded.
"That's it."
Nyxian pointed.
"We spent all day building a hallway?"
"A very important hallway."
The Vixens followed Jax through the gateway.
The corridor felt strange.
Not magical.
Not dangerous.
Simply... separate.
A place between places.
Their footsteps echoed softly as they crossed the transit chamber.
One minute later, they reached the far door.
Jax grabbed the handle.
Opened it.
And sunlight poured through.
Crystalshire.
Hundreds of miles away.
The Vixens stopped walking.
Bunny looked behind her.
Then forward.
Then behind her again.
"...No."
"Yes."
"We walked."
"Yes."
"A week."
"Approximately."
"WE WALKED A WEEK."
Llandra laughed.
Actually laughed.
Zee sat down immediately.
Nyxian covered her face.
"I hate this."
"You love this."
"I do. That's why I hate it."
A familiar voice echoed through the laboratory.
"Oh good."
Eldrich appeared from behind a stack of equipment.
Wild hair.
Coffee.
Bow tie.
Complete confidence.
The scientist looked delighted.
"You're all intact."
The Vixens froze.
Jax narrowed his eyes.
"Eldrich."
"Yes?"
"You said the gateway was safe."
"It is."
The scientist nodded confidently.
Then paused.
"Oh."
Jax already hated that tone.
"Oh?"
"The first five exploded."
Silence.
Complete silence.
"You never mentioned that."
Eldrich blinked.
"Oh."
Another pause.
"I didn't tell you that."
"No."
"My mistake."
Bunny pointed at him.
"YOUR MISTAKE?"
Nyxian looked personally offended.
"That feels like information we should have had."
Eldrich adjusted his bow tie.
"To be fair, this one didn't explode."
Nobody found that reassuring.
Not even Jax.
The argument lasted exactly three minutes.
Then everyone became distracted by the reality around them.
They had walked from Solmere to Crystalshire.
Not teleported.
Not flown.
Walked.
One minute instead of a week.
Merchants would use this.
Families would use this.
Guilds would use this.
Kingdoms would use this.
Wars might be fought over this.
Jax looked through the open doorway toward Solmere.
Then back toward Crystalshire.
The implications were endless.
And this was only the first gateway.
Somewhere behind him, Eldrich took a sip of coffee.
"You know..."
Everyone groaned.
"...if we increase the anchor density, I think we could connect three cities."
Jax smiled.
"Let's keep it at 2 for now. But let's make more portals."
Eldirich smiled. "That we can do."