Yes, absolutely yes.

'Time to put some protective spells' Anara thought to herself and waved a few arcane signs in the air with her hand. Three translucent bubbles appeared around her, each a bit bigger than the other inside, that will ensure she has some time to avoid any psychic attack and get to the research. Next, she would have to actually find the possible teleportation spell or the basis for one.

Anara was a fast reader, she could skim through a hefty book in a few hours with ease, but time was of the essence. So she had to use a spell to aide her find what she needed, problem was, the spell is very costly. She concentrated inside, feeling her connection to all the surrounding world, all the movement and exchange of energy and information all around her, channeling the energies of the universe.

The somewhat fogginess in that connection taught her that her Mana reserves were running low, Anara could usually feel the spin of the planet, how the two moons orbited it and what was the roughness of the surface of those moons. But now it was almost impossible for her to feel the moisture outside.

She didn't consume any source for a few days, and like always it threatened to run out and cut her from magic right when she would need it most. 'I need to remind myself to replenish before doing anything stupid' she thought to herself, looking at her last vial of Mana essence she had stolen from the Archmage's stores.

She wasn't that helpless without Mana, she still had her wits and could punch quite well. But Mana was the connection between her and the arcane energies, without it she could not use the arcane spells, do living essence manipulation or do her telekinesis. She just couldn't take the arcane energy from somewhere else in the plane of existence and **** it into what she needed.

Using spells required an arcane energy delivery into the formula you were setting up, you will set up the ingredients, or if you have another spell that substitutes those ingredients and use it as well. Most existing magic users were this kind of arcane spellcasters, people who learned how to use ancient spells written in different books, much like the one Anara held in her hands.

Using a person's own body energy and the exchange of it to have influence on the person was tricker. There were fewer people who could do that as a whole, it didn't require any arcane knowledge, formulas or ingredients aside from a living being to manipulate. It was one of the reasons those magic users were usually called 'Manipulators' usually with disdain due to people not trusting those with too much power over life, as well as the "tainted blood" connotation it had. A living essence manipulator was able to use an arcane energy delivery in a direct touch, to influence almost any change on the body, either healing the body or hurting it. They could also influence the subject's mentality, from emotional state to memories and thought. For those reasons Manipulators were often blamed for heinous acts really shitty people didn't want to admit they did, Manipulator lynches weren't uncommon. It wasn't common for Manipulators to study arcane spellcasting, aside from Anara there were only two people in her studies who were able to do that.

Anara was in love with the thought of knowing more, she wanted to discover all of the universe's secrets. Her distinct connection to it was her drive, she always had the feeling she could do so much. Her mentor described her as an 'efficient conduit', as he put it. She could channel more arcane energy than other magic users in her vicinity, creating stronger effects and sometimes even denying other users the ability to cast anything, although that required her to channel the arcane energy for something really powerful so it will all flow through her.

From what she understood, Mana was the substance that allowed a clear flow of arcane energy from the universe to where a magic user was channeling it. The more a magic user used the energy to cast spells or manipulate the living environment, the more energy flowed through them, slowly clogging up the conduit. Anara always equated the process to a pipe that had viscous and chunky fluid passing through it, the more use it gets, the more it clogs up, Mana is just used to unclog the blockage, that simple. Powerful magic users were people who could either produce more throughput of arcane energy or those who had access to unknown and powerful magic, Anara was hoping to become one by being both.

She already was a powerful magic user, for her effectiveness as a conduit alone. But aside from that Anara had access to a type of magic she never saw anyone use, and judging from the book most people think is inaccessible to mortals, she could easily influence the forces and different energies of the universe, her ability to change the direction of forces, their strengths and the use of true telekinesis and not a cheap floating spell imitation, set her aside from any magic user she had encountered. Her mentor was wary of other people finding out about this ability and marking her as a target for it, he advised her to keep this ability a secret until she's powerful enough to ensure the study of that ability won't have any negative results on her.

The connection between her telekinesis, manipulation of an objects position in the universe by applying constant ****, to manipulation of forces, like gravity or imparting a **** on an object so that it will move on its own without her concentrating on moving it using telekinesis, and the connection of those abilities to teleportation, the ability to change position in the universe by just choosing to be somewhere else. That connection proved too appetising for Anara, as the book's title suggested it will make her the most powerful magic user to exist, borderline on being as powerful as a goddess, although she was aware she won't actually become a divine being just by having access to that elusive knowledge.

She downed the last vial of Mana she had on her, the spell she had to cast requires a lot of energy. Anara will essentially be gathering all the tiny, to the point of being invisible, creatures that floated in the air around her, then she will impart consciousness and intelligence on them and coarse them to search for the knowledge she needs. So instead of just her reading the book, it will be tens of thousands of beings reading the book, each reporting back on any findings directly to her.

She quickly drew the arcane symbols in the air, burning a bit more of the energy to substitute missing ingredients, while a door locking sounds was heard somewhere beneath her. As soon as the door closed a strange humming sound began to vibrate through the room, the outermost bubble started to shimmer, Anara knew she didn't have the luxury of time anymore, and had to commit finishing this.

Author's note

If you need any further explanation about the overly convoluted magic system, you can jump on 7.1 Magic System for more information, hope I didn't kill you with the length of this chapter and the explanation.

Cheers!