Yea magic was discovered over time rather than all at once. A mage born in the capital was discovered to possess magical ability that gave him certain mastery over light. The magic was so new it actually terrified the strongest magical institution in the land, and so they made a "request" for him to study in their institution. At the time the mage was involved with a woman. Not wanting to be separated from her, he refused. Of course the institution insisted even allowing the woman to live with him, but again he refused. He did not want her to give up her livelihood when he could never give up his magic for her. After a while even the local government placed pressure upon the mage, afraid of what his abilities could do, and he was sent away. On the birthday of the woman he loved he sent her a letter telling her to look to the night sky. With an uncontrollable magic, he lit up the sky with thousands of light projections that shown brighter than all the other stars. It was said that the purpose of it was that there were not enough stars in the sky to express how much he loved her, so he simply had to keep adding more to show her how infinite his love for her was.