Legendary Extraction: Kingdom Builder in a Ruined World
Chapter 48: Learning From Raya [2.]

Chapter 48: Learning From Raya [2.]

"And the second option?" Elias asked.

Raya, who sat calmly beside him, turned slightly and replied, "The second option is quite simple. It involves isolating a fraction of your consciousness."

Elias raised a brow. "Doesn’t sound much safer."

"It’s much safer than the first," Raya said. "Unlike splitting your consciousness into separate active minds, this one doesn’t need that. Instead, you just isolate a small part of your consciousness and separate it from the rest. That part becomes a sealed and private space. You can store thoughts and memories there, and unless you allow it, no one else can access it."

Elias leaned back slightly, thinking it over.

Raya continued, "Of course, this method has fewer advantages than the first. You won’t get improved multitasking or expanded thinking like you would by running multiple consciousness streams. But what it gives you instead is security. Secrecy."

He frowned a little. "And how exactly does it keep my thoughts safe?"

"For example," she said, "if someone tries to search through your mind or memories, they won’t be able to see into the isolated part. Even better, it doesn’t look hidden. It blends into your normal thought patterns, making it seem like it’s not even there. To most people, especially those untrained in soul techniques, it’s completely undetectable."

Elias nodded slowly, his interest growing.

"Unless the person trying to read your mind is more skilled than you in this area, they won’t even realize you’re hiding anything," she added. "And even if they do notice it, as long as your soul is strong enough, they won’t be able to break the seal and get inside."

"So I can hide important thoughts, secrets, memories... all locked away where no one can reach them?"

"Yes," Raya said with a firm nod. "Anything you want protected."

Elias let out a quiet breath, clearly impressed.

No wonder humans and the other races go so far to capture Arcane beings. This level of soul control... it’s not a small thing.

In this world, physical and magical strength are what humans and the other races focus on most. That’s why their bodies are powerful—but their souls are weak.

It made sense. Other than the Arcane race, the rest of the races in this world naturally had poor talent in soul cultivation. That’s why they were so easily affected by soul attacks, illusions, and memory probes. It’s also why they place such high value on capturing members of the Arcane race—beings born with a natural gift for the soul arts—so they can use them to boost their own defenses.

He had always been annoyed by the way both the system and Alia could freely access his mind and memories, invading his thoughts whenever they pleased. Yet it hadn’t even been a full day since he gained Raya as a subordinate, and now this problem was already being handled.

Raya went on, "Also, this method doesn’t only protect hidden memory fragments. You can build similar defenses around the rest of your consciousness too. It’ll help block soul-based attacks or mental intrusions. But this isolated space, in particular, is most useful for hiding things from internal sources—like the Lord Seal Spirit or any other beings that share a connection to your mind."

Elias smiled. "This is great. I think I’ll learn this second method then."

Raya met his eyes. "Shall we begin?"

He gave a small nod. "Let’s do it."

"So, it’s like this..." Raya began, her voice calm and steady, her instructions clear and focused.

What followed were long hours of mental effort.

She guided him through the Arcane Race technique patiently, using soul diagrams and spirit constructs, carefully weaving each step into his mind. Elias followed closely. Thanks to his already vast consciousness—likely due to his Earth-born mind merging with this body—he adapted quickly.

It wasn’t easy, but it was smooth. With Raya’s guidance and his own strong will supporting every decision, he successfully carved a fragment from his main consciousness. Then, gently, he cloaked it, sealed it off, and hid it deep within the folds of his inner mind.

By the time he opened his eyes, the sun had already shifted in the sky.

It was done.

He had successfully isolated a piece of his consciousness.

It wasn’t perfect yet. He’d still have to improve it and make it stronger as he grew—but for now, it worked. And for the first time since arriving in this world, Elias felt a refreshing sense of peace.

He finally had his privacy. A place in his mind where he could think without the system or Alia listening in.

Just then, Alia’s cheerful voice echoed in his head.

"[Congratulations, Master! You finally got the privacy you wanted~]"

Elias chuckled softly. "Yeah... I really did."

But before the moment could last, the system’s grumpy voice followed right after, clearly irritated.

> [Hmph. What is there to hide? Your thoughts and memories are worthless to me anyway. Tch... humans and their secrecy.]

Elias rolled his eyes and leaned back, ignoring the system’s usual attitude. The simple joy of finally being able to think freely was too good to let anything ruin it.

Then he felt a pulse through the bond he shared with Vael.

Vael had finished his task.

Though their bond didn’t allow for full communication, they could still sense each other clearly. And right now, what Elias felt told him that Vael was either done or calling out to him.

Without hesitation, Elias stood and left the building. Passing through the territory’s barrier, he headed straight into the Embergrove Forest, using the bond as a kind of tracker to find Vael’s exact location.

He moved quickly, weaving through the dense trees.

As he got closer, the scent of blood thickened in the air.

And then he saw it.

The area ahead was covered in red. Blood stained the ground, and over a hundred beast corpses were scattered across the forest floor. Each body was marked by precise slashes, the entire scene was carnage.

Elias smiled faintly and stepped forward.

From the edge of the area, Vael appeared. Calm and quiet, his expression as unreadable as ever. He walked forward and gave a small bow. "Master."

Elias looked around. "You did well."

Vael gave a small nod. "I wanted to hunt more... but most of the nearby beasts have retreated. Once they sensed the slaughter, they went into hiding."

Elias nodded in understanding.

That was expected. Even unintelligent beasts followed instinct. When they sensed something too dangerous, they either ran or hid. It made sense that once Vael entered their territory and began tearing through their numbers, the others chose to flee to save themselves.

Vael didn’t say more, simply standing by Elias’ side in silence.

Elias scanned the scene once more. There were enough corpses here to keep him busy for hours. Honestly, it was more than enough. He planned to extract resources from some, and raise others as undead. Most of the undead would be used later—to fuel Vael’s evolution.

But both resource extraction and necromantic work required EP and mana.

And his current supply of both was limited.

Still, he didn’t waste time.

He got to work, beginning with the extractions, moving from one corpse to the next.

After that, he carefully began raising undead. He chose bodies with the least damage first, so he could conserve more mana during the process.

As his mana ran low, he crushed a few KP and used them in the system’s store to buy low-grade mana potions. Each time his mana dropped, he drank one and let the recovery fuel the next batch of undead.

Over and over, he repeated the process.

Hours passed.

By the time he finished, Elias finally stood up straight again.

His extraction points were down to two after gathering most of what he needed and converting the rest into undead. He knew managing that many in actual battle was impossible right now as they depend on his mana to stay active. But that wasn’t the current goal.

Most of them were meant to be used for death essence.

But that would come later.

Right now, his EP was far too low. So, he would keep the undead intact for now. Once he recovered more EP, he’d begin the next step—killing off the weaker undead, gathering their death energy, and feeding it to Vael.