History

Magic is a rather spiritually draining experience. It's just not very comfortable using your mana pool. It doesn't really affect you in a way that would affect doing things in real life.

The industrial revolution was the downturn of magic. At the time of WWI, about 80% of the population of the world could cast 1 spell, and about 40% of those could cast more than one At the time of the Cataclysm, 20-30% of the population could cast 1 spell and about 10% of those could cast more than one. High-powered combat spells are either family or military secrets

That being said, it's common knowledge that magic is a thing. People who are a powerful mage are often well-known in their communities, and carry high-profile jobs.

Classes

Magic has been around for longer than written human history. On the surface, Magic defies the laws of thermodynamics, which have stumped physicists ever since they were proposed.

There are two different ways to tap into magic: you can exert your will on the universe (Control), or you can be a conduit for the universe to exert its will (Harmony). These two ways are polar opposites of each other, and when they are used for the first time (during the studying process, as you of course have to try to cast the spell to learn it) change the mage's body irrevocably. This is fundamental to why each mage class has an opposing class.

The 8 mage classes are: Magus and Animist, Kelvinist and Stormshaper, Technomancer and Earthshaper, Biomancer and Druid. The first class in the pair is Control and the second is Harmony. The interesting thing here is you can choose between Control and Harmony for each pair, instead of having to stick to one for all classes, which is a subject of study on its own.

In the case of "how is a spell part of a class?" the spell's characteristics determine the class; the class does not determine the spells. The classes were established in ancient Greece, when it was noted that certain spells were incompatible with knowing other spells. So whenever a spell was invented, the universe would "decide" what class it is.

Class Characteristics

• Magus: Force and Waves. This can be described as Time, Light, Gravity, and Force. Magus spells are the most versatile of the classes, and it also usually has the more difficult to learn spells. It is the class that has the most impact on the fundamental laws of the universe.
• Animist: Spirits. As Magus is the physical universe, animist is the metaphysical. Usually misunderstood and as such has a bit of a stigma throughout history as necromancers. This class also features blood magic, which is another reason it has a stigma.
• Kelvinist: Heat and Cold spells. Can also produce light to a lesser degree.
• Stormshaper: Wind, weather, and electricity. Most of these spells are really loud.
• Technomancer: Invention. This usually manifests as spells that summon arms and armor, holograms, tools, and buffs that focus on the human condition. The Technomancer rune is also uniquely versatile, allowing for much wider ability for magic to work with mundane inventions. Technomancer became a lot more popular with the invention of electricity, even while magic as a whole declined, as it has a finer control of electricity than Stormshaper, though it does not have the power.
• Earthshaper: Stone, dirt, geography, things to do with the earth. The spells often focus on melee and defense. Lava is a high-tier Earthshaper thing as well. This class features spells that use stamina as their energy source.
• Biomancer: Flesh mage. Manipulating the caster's flesh is easier but higher tier spells can manipulate others' flesh. Features Acid.
• Druid: Plant mage. Communes with nature. The typical "druid" of old is usually a combination of this class and Earthshaper. Has a slight secondary affinity with water.

With the classes above listed, you might notice that there is some overlap. This overlap actually results in spells that are "classless," due to sharing one more traits with multiple classes that do not tip the scales in one direction or another. These spells are overwhelmingly weak spells, as stronger spells inevitably have characteristics that will tip the scales, whether they are obvious or not.