The group started along the brook. Jonas turned after a bit, looking back toward the marble plaza. It stood in the middle of the valley, completely undisturbed. For a moment, Jonas wondered how it could be so clean if there was no one around to maintain it. Then he filed it under some Labyrinth special thing.

Hearing Labyrinth rumours and experiencing the real thing were two entirely different things. Ira was probably having a field day – of the two, he was the one most interested in the exotic realm. Or rather, had been. Now, he suspected he’d learn far more on the topic than he ever expected to.

They moved in a file, following the valley. Slopes rose sharply to small mountains to the sides, with the brook – was it named Virman? – making its way along the centre of the valley leading out of the plaza area. For all the exotic nature of the Labyrinth, the view looked like one you’d expect from the English countryside.

Except for animals, Jonas realized suddenly. No birds. You had birds everywhere, even in London. But nothing in the skies here. No rodents scampering in the brush. No lizards or insects wandering on the ground. The only beast they’d seen so far was the “ocelot” cat.

Guss was the first to break the silence.

“So. If we’re going to be in the Labyrinth together for a while… Maybe we should know each other better. I am… was a store clerk in Mayfair. Before becoming a Mender, that is.”

“Why ‘was’?” Alton asked.

“Because if I’m a Professional, then I won’t stay a clerk for long. Or at least not in Mayfair. Do you know why the King mandated everyone gets their letters and basic numbers?”

Jonas had a flash of inspiration.

“For the Labyrinth?”

“Yes. Cousin Luther says that about one in 350 people has enough potential for a Profession, but the King is smart. They say he used to be mad, before the Gate. I don’t know about that, but seeing how the Labyrinth shows you all those numbers and text, I think the King wants every British subject to be ready in case.”

“Even the girls,” Laura said.

“There’s nothing wrong with female Professionals. They get the same potential numbers. With only 1 in 350, Britain needs everyone it can get in any Profession they can. What’s your biggest potential?” Guss asked her.

“20. 20 in Strength.”

“See. You’d be probably one of the strongest girls around now. As strong as me, at least, since I’m 20 as well.”

“But that Breaker Profession doesn’t sound like…”

Jonas interrupted her to derail what looked like a similar complaint from her earlier one.

“I don’t think the Labyrinth takes what you like into account. It takes your highest potential, and that’s what you get. Besides, it’s not like we can change it. Or can we? Guss?”

“No idea. Cousin Luther said you take new Professions after a while, but I have no idea if he meant you keep the old one or not. He just said that it’s complicated to get his next one, for instance.”

Seeing Laura’s pinched face, Jonas could feel that she still wasn’t happy about the situation. Being a girl alone with five boys could already be considered borderline scandalous if she was anything but gutter trash, but the idea that she was supposed to break things was clearly not fitting her ideas of what a girl should be doing. He tried to change the mood.

“What about you Laura? Where are you from?”

“I live in Lambeth. I work for one of the new textile mills. The crystal-powered ones. There are a dozen girls like me, and we do all the work of adjusting the cloth.”

She smiled, a new sight after the saddened face.

“Those things tend to snag all the time. For all my boss says about modern technologies, it’s not perfect. So we have to stop the mill and put it all back in the proper place and restart often. It’s hard work, but not like mum said it was back when she was young.”

“Modern seamstress, then?”

“We don’t do clothes themselves. Just some fancy cloth bolts for other shops to make stuff from. It’s one of the largest ones in London. We spin cloth for nearly a fifth of London or so says my boss. It pays well, which is why I jumped on it to make me a nest egg before I marry.”

She suddenly sobered.

“I was always fixing things and putting back machine parts in place. But now… the Labyrinth wants me to break things?”

Alton interrupted them and pointed forward. Drinking from the brook was another cat.

Younger River Ocelot

Level 3 minion

Health: 65

Mind: 29

Endurance: 34

Aether: 0

“I think it’s more about breaking beasts rather than stuff,” he said.

“Can’t we avoid him?” Laura asked, her tone dubious.

“The thing is, now that we all have Professions, we probably need to raise our Professional level. That’s what they all do in the Labyrinth,” Guss said.

“But I’d like to go back to London as fast as…”

“And the best way to do that is probably to grow our vital numbers. Because that one’s slightly bigger than the previous one, and I think they will keep on growing as we move out of the valley,” Jonas theorized. “As long as we keep up, we’ll be safer.”

Some of the boys opined while Laura remained obviously dubious to the scheme.

The cat raised his head and turned toward the group.

“And here it comes. Remember, everyone, try to hit him. Hopefully, you’ll get some skills appearing while I knife it,” Alton said.

As before, the cat started to lope toward Ira. There must have been something about him that made him a cat magnet.

“Lemme guess? You hate cats and that one knows it?” Alton joked.

Ira backhanded the cat jumping on his mid-section with his gloved hand. The presence of the chainmail protecting his hands made him more confident, but the cat’s claws found purchase and he felt the small, but real bite pinch on his hand, as numbers materialized in his mind, along with a new descriptor.

Skill unlocked: Repel (unranked)

Repel

Personal/Defence

Rank 0: Push enemy out of efficient attack range. Cost: 1 end/inch.

This time, even Jonathan and Laura stepped in to pummel the cat with their own fists. But the main source of damage to the beast was still Alton and his small knife.

Skill unlocked: Jab (unranked)

Jab

Personal/Offence

Rank 0: Add 25% of STR or DEX to normal weapon physical damage on a front strike. Effect of armour reduced by 2%. Cost: 1 end/dmg.

The fight against the cat lasted less time than the previous one, thanks to the two extra combatants’ fists falling on the lithe frame. Alton escaped with only a few scratches after the ocelot turned from Ira to the source of the pointy hits.

Younger River Ocelot: 108XP/6 contributors = 18XP.

They also got less experience each than with the previous cat, but this time, everyone had their share. Jonathan was quick to spot the fact that, somehow, there was a small wooden handle coming from under the cat’s corpse.

Refurbished Breaking Hammer

Main hand

Starter equipment

Requires: none

Provides: 5 physical base damage (+10% of STR)

Jonas looked at the hammer for a few seconds, then silently handed the item to Laura. She looked at it incredulously.

“Seems to be yours. It says Breaking in the name. And you’re the one with the Breaker profession.”

For a moment, it seemed she would object again. Then, she sullenly grasped the proffered small weapon.

“Notice we seem to get an item every time we fight one of those cats,” Jonathan said.

“What of it?” Alton asked.

Jonas snapped his fingers.

“All of them say ‘starter equipment’. Anyone noticed that our normal clothes didn’t get any Labyrinth description.”

“So?” Ira asked.

“So, the Labyrinth is trying to give us some basic Professional clothing and weapons.”

“You talk as if the Labyrinth was some kind of angel watching over us.”

“Don’t know about any angel, but… something gave us Adjustments to be able to stay in it. And now, we’re getting equipment to help us get started.”

They kept on following the brook across the valley. At one point, the brook emptied into a small pond, from which an even smaller brook snaked away. After that mini-lake, the sides of the valley flattened, until they were more or less in a hilly countryside rather than a well-defined valley.

They encountered about six more of the level 2-3 younger ocelots and even once a level 5 with slightly higher values. As surmised by Jonathan, each feline corpse yielded some random piece of so-called “starter equipment”. All in all, they collected a pair of boots, a folded threadbare monkish-looking robe, a plain small sword, a pair of fingerless leather gloves whose make wasn’t familiar to Jonas, another piece of chainmail and a pair of cloth wraps labelled as being intended for hands.

Each time, they tried to guess the Profession that would fit the object. They settled on Guss for the monk robe, which went over his shirt and trousers, and the chainmail piece was obviously for Ira again. They ended up attributing the boots and two gloves more or less at random. Alton removed his own shoes to put on the long boots, which fit him perfectly. The sword went to Ira as well, since he was always getting attacked first.

The former serving boy tried to swing the blade a bit, getting some familiarity with the weapon. He attempted some moves in empty air, slashes and thrust attempts. He admitted to Jonas that it felt a bit easier than he’d feared, but he was certainly not a “professional” swordsman.

With those new weapons, the fights went shorter. Laura had gained her first skills once she started to use the hammer, and for no discernible reason, Jonathan ended up getting his own first skill after the fifth fight.

Skill unlocked: Notice Attack (unranked)

Notice Attack

Environment/Defence

Rank 0: Detects a non-standard attack. The targeted team member has a 5% chance of escaping its effects. (no cost)

This one caused a lot of guessing on the part of the group members once he read out aloud the descriptor. Did that work on its own, or did the skill need something specific to determine who was in the team or not? And what was a “non-standard attack” anyway? More questions to which they did not have answers.

However, while Jonas was pondering the meaning of a team in that description, he felt another prompt coming out of the Labyrinth’s ever-helpful peripheral vision space.

Request assistance from Jonathan Marc Gilbert?

Yes

No

Curious, Jonas mentally picked Yes. Immediately, Jonathan’s head snapped toward him.

“What is that… invitation to help? Do you need help?”

“I was considering how you would determine what a team is for the Labyrinth… and well, the Labyrinth prompted me. I wonder…”

Jonas looked at each of the other four, triggering the same assistance request. Another sign appeared in his inner vision as he considered the team.

Team

Professions

Health

Mind

Jonas Sims

Aetherist (1)

182/182

183/183

Jonathan Gilbert

Watcher (1)

182/182

171/171

Ira Heard

Defender (1)

206/206

183/183

Guss Fullmore

Mender (1)

192/192

193/193

Laura Harvey

Breaker (1)

183/183

182/182

Alton Raby

Pointer (1)

193/193

192/192

“Well, that might simplify things. If only…”

“If only what?”

“If only I had a skill. I’m the only one among you without one now,” Jonas said dejectedly.

Jonathan Bennett Gilbert

Health: 182/182

Mind: 171/171

Endurance: 173/173

Aether: 186/186

Effective level: 1

Level 1 Watcher

Experience: 125/909

Strength: 18

Dexterity: 18

Agility: 19

Constitution: 18

Stamina: 17

Wisdom: 18

Focus: 19

Presence: 19

Fortitude: 17

Intellect: 18

Defence rating: 1

10% faster levelling

Milestones: Adjustment II

Skills: Notice Attack (rank 0)

Equipment: Flimsy Fingerless Leathers

Watcher

(tier 1)

Required: 18 FOC

Provides:

+2 health/+3 endurance/+1 mind/+6 aether per level

+1 Milestone per 15 levels

Watcher Milestone: +3 FOC, +2 INT, +1 WIS, +1 STA, +1 CON, 5% team defence

Skillset: Environment / Defence