"Academic and ambient magic are very much different kinds of things. Before people knew a lot about ambient magic - and sometimes even afterward, if no one who knew about it was around, or if it was a rare kind of ambient magic - people used to mistake it, the natural magics especially, for the work of spirits or elementals. And sometimes craft magic just looks like ordinary talent, and craft magic breakouts can look like ordinary accidents. Academic magic has signs almost everyone can see, but ambient magic usually isn't obvious to anyone but ambient mages, and often not even then."