If Ashok chose to expose the truth hidden by the Tower for so many years, the repercussions would fall squarely on his shoulders. At best, he mused, his life would become far more complicated.
The mages loyal to the Tower were predominantly commoners—individuals who had found their way through sheer talent and determination. 'That's what they say' thought Ashok. The reality is far less noble. Most of them are rejects, people who couldn't gain entry into the Academy.
Nobles, on the other hand, relied on their bloodlines, their deeply entrenched magical traditions diverging from the methods the Tower propagated.
'Revealing that mages had gone missing due to the fissure?' Ashok thought. It wouldn't stir the pot much. The world already sees the common-born mages of the Tower as expendable—a cruel truth, but a truth nonetheless. 'But if I exposed the Tower Master's injuries...' that would be an entirely different story.
