I really don't understand how magica works in Daggerfall. I have 71 INT and only 35 magica. Recall costs me 66 so I can't cast it. I'm a level 3 and every time I've leveled, I've used most of my points to up my INT. So I don't understand how I can get it increased. Recently in loot, I found a pair of leather boots that said "when used, increases wisdom". I put them on and my INT goes to 101. My magica goes to 48. Can someone enlighten me on how this works? I don't see anything in the wiki that explains it (only how to best level up).

Well a quick way to get a high magicka is with the penalties/bonuses of custom classes...
Did you choose a none-custom class?
Perhaps it had 0.25 magicka or something like that...