Reincarnated as a Doomed Extra

[Selas' Perspective]

After taking my time to annoy the Holy Knight, I moved away from the Saintess' room and sat on one of the benches next to one of the stained-glass windows.

I felt like the Saintess was the only person capable of giving me clarification on what was happening inside my body, so I wanted to meet her quickly. Unfortunately, she had something more important to do than look at my body.

When I saw that I had nothing to do, I decided to try testing the theory that had been stuck in my head for a while.

For your information, the way to increase the proficiency of your element was by understanding the element conceptually and elementally at the same time.

The elemental side was easy, as it was done through practice and creating spells for the specific element and so on, while the conceptual side was understanding the composition of the element itself from its roots, which was difficult.

But not for me…

In fact, I envisioned that all the elements and mana itself might revolve around one basic and very simple thing.

Thermodynamics.

In total, there were four laws of thermodynamics.

The zeroth law - thermal equilibrium.

The first law - the law of conservation of energy.

The second law - the law of entropy.

The third law - the impossibility of reaching absolute zero.

….

Among the four, I was more interested in the first law, the law of conservation of energy.

The zeroth law defines the concept of temperature as a fundamental property in physical systems, while the first law states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but rather transforms from one form to another.

The second law, the law of entropy, states that entropy itself in an isolated system never decreases, but rather increases over time. It also defines the direction of natural processes, such as heat flow from hot to cold. Also, there was a famous expression that says: "There is no 100% energy conversion process without losing some of it as useless heat."

Finally, the third law. At absolute zero, the movement of molecules stops, and the entropy of matter becomes constant.

Now, I think things are clear to everyone.

Wait, what?

You don't know that?

Were you filling your ass with information in the classroom or what?!

It's basic physics and chemistry, for crying out loud!

Take phones, for example, it was impossible to make them without knowing and understanding thermodynamics, which the inhabitants of this world did not know.

So how did they do it?

Very simple.

It was because of mana…

If this world operates with mana and depends on it for almost everything, why wouldn't the physical and chemical rules be formed on mana itself?

Returning to all the previous laws, and with our knowledge of thermodynamics, its basic energy was thermal energy.

So when removing the energy around which all these rules and laws are formed and replacing it with mana…

Correct.

This alone makes these laws change in line with my theory…

The concept itself will transform from thermodynamics to magical dynamics!

So the laws would be something like this:

The zeroth law - magical equilibrium.

The first law - the law of conservation of mana.

The second law - magical entropy.

The third law - the impossibility of reaching absolute mana.

I felt my heartbeat quicken and my lips twist into a big smile.

This was the discovery of the century!

"Hehe, I'm really a genius…"

However, this wasn't exactly what I wanted.

This discovery was undoubtedly huge. If I gave it to people, I would undoubtedly become a pioneer in this field and might get the reputation of a genius or something similar.

After all, the Kingdom of Valheim was famous and proud of being the largest producer of artists and philosophers, so there's no need to say the impact I would have.

But what I wanted was something greedier than this. Something more beneficial to me instead of benefiting others.

[Elemental Mastery]

[Darkness]

• Proficiency: 2%

• Mana Flow: Fast

• Resistance: Immune

[Frost]

• Proficiency: 5%

• Mana Flow: Fast

• Resistance: Immune

[Water]

• Proficiency: 5%

• Mana Flow: Stable

• Resistance: Highly resistant

Proficiency…

In one way or another, it was like a measure of your ability to use your element in the best, most extensive, and most powerful way, which I was aiming for like any other magician.

This was natural. If I wanted to become stronger, I had to increase proficiency, and as I said earlier, the way to increase it was by understanding the element elementally and conceptually.

It was known that the proficiency of elements stopped at a certain level. Even if a person trained and created countless spells, they would not advance further.

'What were they calling that again…?'

Ah, right.

The limits of the lesser races.

The majority believed that the lesser races did not have the right to master magic completely and that it was a flaw in them so that they would not reach higher stages.

For example… a god.

But that was just nonsense. They lacked the necessary knowledge to reach higher stages. There is no such thing as a flaw that prevents everyone equally from progressing.

It was an ugly excuse.

Anyway, I'll test what I want now since it was just a mental thing, not to mention that there was a screen in front of me that would tell me whether what I was doing was right or wrong.

I looked towards Julius, specifically the door behind him that he was guarding.

For some reason, the bishops came out about three minutes after they entered. And now, more than ten minutes had already passed since Solon entered there…

I let out a tired sigh and returned to focusing on my elements.

From my point of view, water was the easiest in terms of understanding, followed by frost and then darkness.

I was sure that the darkness element would be a pain in the ass. After all, even I, who came from a modern and advanced world, didn't know much about it.

All I knew about darkness was that it was neither matter nor even energy. It's simply the absence of light.

…Eh?

Wait, this…

[Darkness]

• Proficiency: 7%

"…"

My body froze and my eyes widened as I looked at the floating screen in front of me.

"This…"

Five percent… It increased by five percent because of that only…

Suddenly, I closed my eyes. I felt like monitoring the progress in proficiency would make it stop for some reason. It's like pretending not to care in front of the PlayStation disc for it to work.

Anyway, besides that darkness is a natural state that occurs in the absence of light, darkness is not a thing, nor can it be produced. All we can do is create conditions where light is absent to produce it.

In space, darkness is not a complete absence of light, but rather an environment where light spreads without being reflected or scattered by other objects…

I was sure there was more about darkness, but that's all I know…

I opened one eye hesitantly to take a quick look at the floating screen.

[Darkness]

• Proficiency: 21%

"Yes!"

I shouted happily, making Julius jump in his place in surprise and raise his sword cautiously. He looked ridiculous, but I ignored him.

"Kuhkohukohuho"

I was sure I was laughing madly now, but I didn't care, not at this moment.

I stared at the floating screen with eyes that held a crazy gleam inside them.

"I finally found you…"

My golden finger.

My cheat.

Upon this realization, I immediately strained my mind to the highest possible level and sorted all the information I had gathered during my school and university years to the surface.

Everything.

….

'A basic element for life because of its unique properties as a solvent and thermoregulator.'

'In its liquid state, it is more reactive with its environment….'

Between the marathon of thoughts swirling in my head, faint whispers slipped from my mouth, making me look like a delusional person, no doubt.

"The solid state of water, but it is more complex because it requires a deeper understanding of how heat and pressure affect the arrangement of molecules…"

"Hah… hah…"

From the intensity of my excitement and my immersion in the matter, my breath became ragged and out of control, but it was worth it.

'It's definitely worth it…' I thought as I looked at the floating screen in front of me with the biggest smile I've put on my face in both worlds.

I really found my golden finger…

[Elemental Mastery]

[Darkness]

• Proficiency: 21%

• Mana Flow: Fast

• Resistance: Immune

[Frost]

• Proficiency: 55%

• Mana Flow: Fast

• Resistance: Immune

[Water]

• Proficiency: 55%

• Mana Flow: Stable

• Resistance: Highly resistant