Kailen appeared at a very far away place in the mountain range. Currently, he was on top of a very large tree. His gaze shifted. Activating the Principle of Space, he spotted four individuals moving up a forested region in the mountain range.

"Damn it. No response from the other side. It seems those guys really died. Is someone protecting this Kailen Darkhaven from behind the scenes? He could not have dealt with them by himself, right?" One of the four, an individual with the lower body of a bunny and a humanoid upper body and face, hissed, trepidation evident in his voice.

Another, a human, replied, "It could be possible that they had some unforeseen accident and died. I don’t think the target is strong enough to deal with them." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"I agree," a gnome chimed in. "What she’s saying makes more sense. The guild sent us as backup to handle Kailen Darkhaven in case the assassins fail to do the work. Let’s focus on that."

A tall person in a strange cloak, someone with scales running through her body, added, "We will have access to the principle fragment of the guild for a whole year if we manage to get rid of him. It’s actually a good thing those assassins encountered an accident and died. Good for us."

Kailen smiled from the tree. "Oh... these fellows just made my plan easier."

A cold light flashed through his eyes.

As the four proceeded uphill, they spotted a large corpse of a chimera-like beast before them. The leader, the tall person in the strange cloak, gestured with her hand for them to halt.

"We need to be careful. Could be some powerful beast that killed it. If we proceed, there could be trouble ahead," she said. "I suggest we take a different rou—"

Before she finished talking, an extremely large shadow was cast on them. The group of four looked up. A creature with the tail of a fish, the limbs of a lion, and the head of a serpent was headed in their direction. It was very large. It blotted out the sky.

Before they could even move, a feeling of death encumbered them. Several space tears appeared where they were standing, erasing several parts of their bodies into the void. They could not even scream before they knew how they died. The creature stared at the dead corpse of its kin on the ground. It picked it up and bolted towards a different direction.

"The plan worked. It didn’t return."

Kailen melded with the void. He reappeared above the mountain peak. He floated in the clouds. He arrived at where he had killed the chimera creature. The principle fragment was still there. He didn’t hesitate. He activated the Principle of Space and felt a strong connection to the space principle fragment.

He heard the whispers of the space principle fragments. It was faint at first, but the whispers became clearer to him with time. He started comprehending the profundities the principle fragment was whispering to him, the principle fragment growing fainter with time until it eventually weathered away.

Another year had gone by in a flash.

Kailen finally opened his eyes. He was stronger than before. However, he was still at the rank 1 transcendent stage.

"Do I stay or do I go back?" Kailen thought.

Just when Kailen was in thought, a holographic text appeared before him.

"There’s an emergency in the district? The guild wants all guild members around?"

Kailen melded with the void and disappeared.

****

Dawnseer Guild.

Guild Assembly Hall.

Several guild members were seated in the hall. The higher-ups of the guild had already arrived.

"What’s going on?"

"The last time the guild had a meeting like this, it was a chaotic beast tide in the Castelan District."

"Don’t tell me a chaotic beast tide is imminent?"

"Is that why we have been summoned?"

Several whispered among themselves. Kailen was currently seated somewhere at the back of the hall. He seemed extremely inconspicuous.

"Is this seat taken?" Kailen heard a feminine voice. The person sounded very polite.

Before he could reply, another person chimed in. "I don’t think so. This is the mysterious loner of the guild. The newbie who joined the guild recently, Kailen Darkhaven. I don’t think he’d reserve a seat for someone."

The duo sat beside Kailen. Kailen recognized them. They were really talked about in the guild from what he knew from two years ago. The tall, slim, busty female elf was called Westeria, ranked 50th on the premium ranking of the guild. The male werewolf with deep red eyes was called Nyxin, ranked 40th on the premium ranking. According to rumors, the two were even dating.

Nyxin was a rank 2 novice-stage transcendent and Westeria was really powerful, among the rank 1 novice-stage transcendents in the guild. Kailen didn’t say a word to both of them. He just nodded calmly to them and minded his business.

"Where are the others?" Westeria said to Nyxin.

"Oh, the others on the ranking. They are at the front."

"I see."

"If you both want to sit next to one another, I can slip away?" Kailen was not comfortable with them talking across his face.

The duo looked at him and nodded. Kailen switched to Nyxin’s seat and Nyxin switched to Kailen’s seat. Nyxin was able to sit close to his girlfriend. The duo continued bickering. He gave Kailen a thumbs up.

Kailen simply nodded. He was neither warm nor unreceptive. He was not here to make friends. He didn’t have the time to do that in the chaotic region of the universe. Every bit of time he had was precious. With every time wasted, his life and that of his loved ones were at stake.

Nyxin didn’t mind. Kailen Darkhaven was a loner, just like they said he was. He respected Kailen’s boundaries and kept to himself. He continued bickering with his girlfriend.

Finally, someone floated towards the podium. It was Guild leader Dawnseer.

It was time for the guild members to know the reason for this emergency summon.