Rowan had heard descriptions of the Gate. He’d never seen it. Even if he had wanted to, the King’s Army guarded the Heart of the modern Empire and none could come close to even watch the Gate. The best was a glimpse from the edges of the Queen’s Gardens.

The chariots passed a ring of soldiers. A gruff man, whose insignias Rowan couldn’t fathom, spent minutes examining the papers handed by Zacharias, before handing them back and waving them through.

Now, they were approaching the Gate proper, and all aboard were gawking.

The Gilded Gate of Britain was a tall circle of golden metal. Rowan thought it might be real gold, although no one could be sure. However, the Gate was engraved by fantastic representations of animal heads. There was a boar, a lion, a wolf, and far more. Some heads were even stranger looking, and Rowan had to admit he had no idea what kind of beast could sport one of these.

The centre of the Gate, however, was filled with light. It was like looking at the sun, but without being blinded. There was no way to describe it in proper words. He’d heard that some people had thought they were looking at the heavens through the Gate when it first appeared. As he was seeing it for the first time, he understood why.

Their chariots were directed to a side. There was a constant flux of people in and out, almost all of them carrying large sacks on their backs. Rowan recognized the tell-tale sign of people loading or unloading some great cargo. He was not mistaken, as he followed the lines of people to see huge chariots being loaded with bags.

“Power crystals, those.”

Rowan turned his head. Sirius, who was standing at the driver’s seat had turned toward his charges to explain the spectacle.

“That’s the engine of the Empire’s progress. We use a ton of those every day, for repairs or new things.”

“How do they work?” asked Rowan. To his surprise, Sirius replied.

“No one knows. They store power, which you can use. Once depleted, they take time to recharge, but they do on their own, without having to do anything. Tinkerers have adapted them to all kind of use.”

The new employees of the Artefact Hunter Company jumped from their chariots after being prompted by their bosses.

After talking with yet another soldier with an ornate uniform, Zacharias came back.

“We’re going in. Make a line, we don’t want to disrupt the loading of today’s packs. We get fined if we do… and I will put that on your wages. And it will be enough to wipe almost all of your two years.”

“Now, once you’re through, you will be in a great courtyard. I will not be there, but one of our people will be. Move to the centre immediately, and wait for instructions. Oh, and you can have a look at the Interface while waiting. You will know what I’m talking about after crossing.”

Rowan found himself surrounded by unknown lads. Some of them were already looking familiar from the dormitory, but he hadn’t memorized everyone’s face. None of them was talking anyway. The sheer presence of the Gilded Gate was enough to silence the most unruly employee.

He followed the line to the side of the Gate. Each of the other men walked to the Gate where it looked like the light coming out was… reaching and grabbing them. The spectacle was quite disturbing, and if he hadn’t known better, Rowan might have wetted himself or fled from the grounds.

But lots of people had been crossing the Gate for 16 years. Sometimes daily. So… surely it was safe.

He reached the Gate’s border. The man in front of him nearly hesitated, then the light absorbed him.

And Rowan walked into the light.

Rowan Smith Rivers

Health: 153/153

Mind: 172/172

Endurance: 186/186

Aether: 161/161

Effective level: 1

Level 1 Shieldbearer

Experience: 0/1000

Strength: 16

Dexterity: 15

Agility: 14

Constitution: 15

Stamina: 18

Wisdom: 14

Focus: 15

Presence: 14

Fortitude: 17

Intelligence: 16

Milestones: None

Skills: None

The courtyard Zacharias had spoken about bore little resemblance to any courtyard Rowan had ever seen. It would have been much better to call it a plaza. An expanse of some marble floor polished and shining. It seemed almost a sacrilege to walk across such a place.

There was a crowd at the centre of the plaza. A man wearing something… that looked like a suit of plate armour. The people surrounding him were all wearing ratty clothing. Rowan suddenly realized that was the same kind of ordinary clothes he wore. It just felt out of place compared to the plaza. Or the man waiting for them.

He remembered that Zacharias had given them instructions to get to that place. He started when a flash of light to the side attracted his attention. Glancing toward the location, he saw one girl, looking slightly bemused. He smiled, then swallowed his smirk. He had probably looked as disoriented when he’d appeared… wherever they were.

Walking toward the centre, he saw one more of the flashes. For a fraction of second, a pillar of light had appeared at the edge of the plaza, before vanishing and leaving a boy standing there.

Rowan reached the centre, but the man standing there didn’t pay any attention to him. He realized that he was probably waiting for all of them to arrive before giving them instructions.

What had said Zacharias? Oh. Use… the Interface. While waiting. The Interface was… this floating text he’d saw, at the edge of his perception?

He supposed it was. In a way, it explained some things. The 18 ‘sta’ score he was supposed to have apparently… measured his Stamina. He assumed it was possible. He could work long hours and keep going. Apparently, he was well above the average man in that. And the ‘for’ that Sirius had talked about on the Docks was obviously Fortitude since that one was at 17.

Rowan noticed quickly that the Interface seemed to be divided evenly between some physical measures, and some more mental ones. But the other parts were more mysterious. Well, except for his name, which was obvious.

The mention of having no Skills was vexing. Although… what counted as a Skill for the Labyrinth? Rowan was pretty sure there were more than five descriptions of his physical state and more than five mental ones. His faith was nowhere to be seen, even though he considered himself pious enough. He never missed the office.

The part about milestones was far stranger. And what was Aether? And what were the levels mentioned?

Rowan nearly jumped. Merely focusing on the last part brought him some additional text.

Shieldbearer

(tier 1)

Required: 18 STA

Provides:

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

+1 Milestone/15 levels

Shieldbearer Milestone: +3 STA, +2 STR, +1 CON, +1 FOR, +1 PRE, 5% shield use

Skill set: Equipment / Defensive

That was… sort of helpful. Apparently, Shieldbearer was some kind of category, tied to levels. Which made sense if it was labelled as being Level 1.

Rowan suddenly made the mental jump. Zacharias had said each of them – except Edna – would receive a specific Profession upon entering the Labyrinth. So… Shieldbearer was a Profession then. And he was measured as having Level 1 in that…

The flashes had ceased. Rowan assumed that it was because everyone had entered the Labyrinth. But apparently, that didn’t include Zacharias. Or Sirius. Or any of the other main Company employees, except for the man who had been waiting for them.

The plate wearer waited until the last girl had reached the centre of the plaza. Then he raised his voice.

“Listen to me, everyone. You now have access to your personal Interface. It will remain with you from today, until the moment of your death. And maybe into Heaven, but nobody told anyone about that.”

He laughed.

“I’m pretty sure the Devil won’t let you keep that if he gets you as a guest. You'd probably kick his ass with it.”

“Now, there was one girl that had supposedly two possible…”

One girl raised her hand. Rowan recognized her from the earlier courtyard. Edna.

“That’d be me.”

“Which Profession did you get assigned?”

“Mender, m’lord.”

“Drop the milord. I’m not a noble. The only noble in the Company is the Earl, and he’s never set foot in the Labyrinth. Can’t. He’s hoping we bring him riches enough to compensate for that.”

He checked a piece of paper.

“You’re good. I don’t know what Zacharias has for you, but I’d hate saddling someone with a new Profession already, even if it’s a tier 1.”

“Quick introduction. All of you have now a Profession. Having a Profession is a requirement in the Labyrinth. If you don’t have one, you’ll end up at the Gate going out. And you can try to cross the Gate all you want, you’ll end up outside again.”

Someone asked, “Is that why you said the Earl can’t get into the Labyrinth?”

“Good. Yes, that’s exactly why. The Earl of Carnavon has no potential above 16. Without one at 18 or higher, he cannot receive even a tier 1 Profession, and thus can’t enter the Labyrinth. Nobody’s ever found a way around that. All of you have one value that's high enough. And yes. There’s a lot of nobles who hate the fact that commoners can get into the Labyrinth as they please, while they’re not able to.”

“Now, we’re not where we need to be. So we are going to head out that way.”

He raised his arm, pointing to the side of the plaza. Rowan saw a great marble gate, with ornate columns.

“There’s transportation waiting for us outside. It won’t be long, and we will be at the Company’s real headquarters, where we will begin teaching you the ways of the Labyrinth.”

He concluded, “until then, don’t try to do anything. You do stupid, we dock your pay for the month.”