Society of Academic Magic

"So many new initiates, Master Karras. What is happening out there?" The pair of aged men slowly strolled through the halls of their ancient temple, a structure erected hundreds of years prior to their residency, a monument to the mysterious ways of magic, the paths that one could follow. Karras sighed, contemplating the question carefully. His parter, Taren Rel, kept his gazes on the outer wall, through the windows so he could watch the new cadets begin their first set of lessons. They were kids, the whole lot of them, barely of consenting age.

Master Karras spoke softly. "My friend, I do not know. The other masters and I have sensed the coming storm, but we don't know where it is coming from."

-----

Since the return of magic to the world, everything has changed. We're not longer divided by sex or country of origin. We're divided by the works of light and darkness. This is not to be mistaken for good and evil. Thats a matter for the individual to decide for him or her self. You don't get a choice; once your expression of magic surfaces, you are sorted within 4 days of discovery. It's the great equalizer, really; two parents with affluence to light may still sire a dark child. Pedigree dissolved almost instantly. There was no way to know what you were going to have, or what talents you were going to have.

Not long ago, however, the world took notice of a small village in Asia, when a fourteen year old boy discovered he could use both sides of magic equally. Obviously this threw a huge monkey wrench into humanity's perception of the world and magic. How could someone use both sides after we spent generations as one or the other?

Unfortunately that child was viewed as a monstrosity and was killed by an angry mob, but not before he laid waste to their numbers until the very end. But that started something. There are whole camps now. There are entire villages for these grey-area people, where we can learn about them and they can learn about themselves.

(To be continued)