Kang Mirae was trying really hard not to panic. She had no clue where she was, and her only companions acted like this entire ordeal with sinking into a lake and resurfacing into a completely different location was a daily kind of occurance. She sat silently on the grass as the healer, Jin, studied her body. He shined a light into her ears, eyes, and tongue, then measured her breathing. After checking her arms and legs for bruising and scratches, he began asking her a bunch of silly-sounding questions, such as, "What's 5x7?" or "Where do your parents live?" "Spell my name backwards," and, "If you were a puppy, how many tails would you have?" When Mirae answered all questions without any major hesitance, other than to ask, "Why the hell do you need to know...?" he concluded that there was nothing wrong with her.

"Are you sure it's her first time going through a portal?" he asked the others and began packing up his tools into a pink box labeled "Jinnie's Emergency Kit" in bubbly letters. "She shows absolutely no signs of Delay. It's highly unusual."

"Well, since she is a Catalyst, I wouldn't be surprised if both her body and mind were resistant to certain... drawbacks that we have to deal with," Jungkook pointed out.

"Can someone explain to me what this bloody Catalyst is?" Mirae finally stood up. "I played along with your insanity, but I'm really getting tired of being the center of attention and yet the only one still in the dark."

"How about we explain it over lunch?" Jimin suggested. "You must be exhausted after that long trip. I know I am."

"How about you explain it right here and now?" Mirae fought back, but just then her stomach let out a long growl. The boys laughed.

"Lunch it is," Taehyung sang.

"I'm not eating anything you give me. I don't wanna die just yet."

"Don't insult Jin's cooking, he'll only end up force-feeding you more, until you finally find something you like," Taehyung warned.

"Lunch sounds great and all, but don't you guys think she should go see Morgana first...?" Jungkook said.

"Who's that?" Mirae asked.

"Morgana Warwick. She's the Mistress of this Academy."

"Academy...?" she hesitated. All she could see was the pond, hills upon hills of grass, a forest to the east, and a mountain range to the west. Certainly no place to study anything, other than maybe nature.

"Come, we'll explain on the way," Jungkook helped her stand up and the five of them headed up the hill.

"This entire island is part of the school grounds. The Academy is where people like us study various skills in order to become Guardians of the Guild," Jimin said.

"What do you mean by 'people like us'? What kinds of skills do you study? And what do Guardians do? What in the world is the Guild?"

Jimin laughed at her outpour of questions.

"By 'us' he means people with special connection to nature," Jin told her. Ah, so it is a school for agriculture after all, Mirae thought.

"The skills differ depending on your school year. You start with simple physical and mental skills, such as meditation, or developing muscle strength. Then, you move on to more advanced things, like potioneering, finding a familiar, or elemental studies..." Jimin continued.

Waaaait, this is definitely not about agriculture.

"Potion...eering? Is that what you said?" Mirae's jaw dropped.

"Yeah, you know, like the No-Sleep Elixir... Beautifying Draughts... or Healing Spirits."

"No, I most definitely don't know," Mirae was now more in awe than scared.

When they got to the top of the hill, a whole new world opened before them. Below, a village stretched as far as Mirae could see, and it was quite the sight - the rooftops ranged from pink to orange to blue, as if the buildings were color-coded. A river ran across the northern side of town, and the streets were busy with people.

"Welcome to Camp Centrum," Jin spread his arms, as if presenting Mirae with a palace.

"All this is the Academy?" she asked. "I expected maybe a couple of buildings..."

"This is only a sixth of it. There are five other camps surrounding this one. As Jimin said, this whole island is the school," Jungkook explained.

"So you study here... potioneering, and the likes."

"Well, we did. We already graduated," Jimin said. Mirae looked him up and down.

"How old are you again?"

"Old enough," Jimin huffed and the others laugh, as if some kind of joke had passed among them. "Besides, age has nothing to do with it. Attendance and graduation from the Academy is fully dependent on one's skills."

"I see."

They continued toward camp, passing a large arena, where a bunch of kids were practicing sword fighting ("Please tell me those are plastic!"), and a well, where people were lined up with their buckets to take turns in picking up water. Mirae could have sworn she saw water escape one woman's bucket and smack a boy in the face when he touched her lower back uninvited, although the woman didn't even raise a finger.

For looking so old-fashioned, the school sure had an interesting student body. The people in the streets ranged from 8-year-olds playing tag, to teens carrying shopping bags, to an elderly man walking what could only be his pet bear. It also didn't take long for Mirae to realize that many of the people here either really loved cosplay, or simply were not human (a fleeting idea that ran through her mind, but didn't even surprise her anymore so she didn't dwell on it). Some people walked with heavy-looking, feathery wings on their backs, others had whiskers and tails. And although most looked just like any regular person she knew, many had a very particular look, with elongated ears, long legs, and stringy hair. Mirae couldn't help but think of the elves from Lord of the Rings.

"So... what kinds of species are dominant in this, uh... school?" she asked when a person of unidentifiable gender literally floated past her.

"Well," Taehyung began, "I'd say the Centrum is mostly Humans."

"I think she means our whole world, Tae," Jimin pointed out. "Earth is highly lacking in variety. You must be really weirded out right now," he looked at Mirae and she nodded vigorously.

"Although most of us are indeed Human, Evren, as a dimension, is home to many creatures," Jin said. "Angels, Creans, Nymphs, and of course, Elves, are the other highly-intelligent beings," he confirmed Mirae's suspicions. "Oh, and Merfolk, but they live secluded, usually. The Academy has a special underwater branch for them."

"And what are Creans?" Mirae asked.

"Jimin, would you like to clarify?" Jin smiled at him. Jimin sighed and took off his pink hat, making Mirae realize that he had no ears. He then closed his eyes and tensed up, looking as if he was holding back a big burp. Suddenly, with a little pop! whiskers appeared on his cheeks, furry ears on his head, and a long, pinkish tail grew out of his back, slipping out through the top of his pants.

"Creans are born with animal-like features. In the Academy they teach you how to hide them, though, just like Angels can hide their wings, and Elves can shorten their ears," Jin explained.

Mirae almost let out a squeak.

"That's really freaking adorable," she blurted out, now seeing Jimin in a different light. They all stared at her.

"You think it's... adorable?" Jimin frowned.

"Yeah, look at you! You're half mouse, goddamn it!" Mirae said before realizing she might be offending him. "I mean... not that it makes you look any less mature, of course," she quickly added.

"Right..."

"Why would you want to hide these, though," she pointed to his ears.

"Creans have a rather difficult history, you see," Jungkook sighed, as they continued into the center of town. "Especially in this country. They were first brought to Astrid hundreds of years ago, and sold into slavery. Nasty stuff. And, although that practice has been abolished since, the stigma remains among other species. So, many Creans try to hide their background. In particular those who work for the Guild."

"There are people who think they are better than others simply because of their background, you see," Taehyung said sadly, and put his arm around Jimin's shoulders. "Bunch of idiots. They fail to take Creans seriously, even though they make up some of the best Guardians in the country. I mean, look at our Jiminnie! Astrid's number one Warrior!"

Taehyung's explanation only brought a new set of questions to Mirae's mind, but before she could even ask them, Jungkook spoke up and they all stopped in front of a four-story house. It looked kind of like a Barbie doll house, with pretty pastel colors on the walls, and little flowers, and the front lawn surrounded by a white picket fence. Although Mirae had to admit, the fountain in the shape of a peeing dog threw off the image a little bit. Above the front door hung a sign that read, "Mistress Morgana Warwick's :)"

"We're here," Jungkook said.