[quote=Lucius Cypher]
Hold on Reaper, before I put these into the records, let me get this sorted. Currently all student-mages have at least access to their "Novice" level of magic now, correct?
[/quote]

Yes. IT takes about 10 years to make a master mage, here's the basic understanding. It takes 1-3 years to advance to another level, which why the Acts are around that long IC and cover a lengthy time span. The reason is this, 1-2 years to learn basics/something new then another year to build up endurance/stamina for what you've learned.