Just to give a little background...Started a full on mage and Im about 90 hours in(100 on my dual wielding warrior)...I've never been an avid user of magic since Morrowind, but i figured I'd start now...Lvl 28...Magicka 330...Destruction 89, Restoration 69, Alteration 52...not too worried if thats a [censored] build Im doing pretty fine on expert...Anyway, I was sent on the misc(I think it was misc) quest to go clear out some vampires outside of Solitude...I entered the cave and slowly crawled through like I usually do...First two vamps I see I set up a fireball and wait for the right time so i can hit them both...but right then I notice that while Im holding the fireball my magicka starts to regen...I know that while you hold a spell it usually doesnt...also even when charging up a staff for some reason...needless to say, going through that cave was a cinch seeing as how my magicka regen was happening almost constantly, even though it was combat regen...So I left the cave thinking "awesome, I wont have to worry so much whats around the next corner"...but when I started up another spell to check and see if it still worked it didn't...So Im wondering...is that the norm and my game is messed up or was that just a lucky glitch for me in that cave? Also, kind of a side question...I've selected the perk Ward Absorb and haven't seen any magicka restored...Is that because Im using too much magicka in the ward itself to notice? Im an adept in restoration and using greater ward but Im just not sure...Thanks in advance guys!

TL;DR
Magic regen while holding a spell...is it normal? Wards don't seem to absorb magicka with perk

It's a side effect of a College of Winterhold quest. I think the one for the Illusion master where you purify energy nodes or something.

It does wear off and you'll never get it back.

Hmmm...I have that quest...So is it for every node you do or just the first? Guess I never thought to check my status effects...Thanks