Outside the plaza, they found themselves in the country. Rowan watched with large eyes. He’d never left London his entire life, and the sight was alien to him. Large expanses of grass, with little else.

Standing watch besides the portico to the marble plaza were two guards. Like the company man, who had yet to introduce himself, they wore full plate armour like a knight from ancient times. A tabard with the Union Jack completed the armour, indicating their affiliation to the King’s Army.

“That your newbies, Baxter?” asked one of the soldiers.

“Aye. All set for their first day in the rest of their lives” answered Baxter.

The transportation referred to by Baxter was a set of chariots. However, unlike the chariots back in London, these didn’t have horses harnessed. Rowan spotted sets of large blue faceted glass to the sides over each wheel.

He realized he was seeing those power crystals. Everyone knew about power crystals, which fuelled modern devices, but you seldom saw one. The fountain he passed yesterday was powered by some, but those were buried deep inside. Presumably to avoid thieves.

The group climbed aboard the two chariots. As before, the girls climbed first, moving to the end of one, and kept their distances from the boys. That didn’t seem to deter some who tried to chat them, but they all studiously ignored the bothersome ones. Then, the chariots started, and Rowan marvelled at the smoothness.

Silas had managed to climb next to him. Harland was apparently on the girl’s chariot. The sly guy. Dick from his dorm was at the end of the chariot.

“So, Silas? What your profession?”

Silas stayed silent for a few seconds, lost in his thought. He then started.

Watcher

(tier 1)

Required: 18 FOC

Provides:

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

+1 Milestone/15 levels

Watcher Milestone: +3 FOC, +2 INT, +1 WIS, +1 CON, +1 STA, 5% perception effects

Skill set: Environmental / Defensive

“Watcher, So you watch things?”

“No idea what it does. Maybe I’m going to guard things. You?”

“I’m Shieldbearer. That one seems easier to understand.”

Rowan suddenly realized something.

“That Zacharias fellow… he said that Edna could be Mender or Watcher. Does that mean she’s got some high Focus, like you?”

“I think so.”

The chariots moved at a fast pace. Rowan thought them slightly faster than a horse-drawn chariot would be. Despite the apparent speed, the smoothness of the ride dispelled any sense of danger. From a distance, he spotted a large number of wooden buildings. Apparently, they had towns in the Labyrinth. Probably no cities like London. London was unique.

They crossed into the small town and the chariots slowed down. It seemed to have quite a population, but they were all strange. They wore garbs unlike most of the people back in London. He saw men in heavy robes, like judges. And… was that a woman in leather trousers? What the?

“Silas. Hey, Silas. See that?”

Silas goggled.

“How come she walks around in that? Doesn’t she have a sense of decency?”

More boys had noticed the passerby and were calling out the strumpet. She turned and frowned. Then, in a smooth movement, a large dagger appeared in her hand and she sliced vertically.

One of the boys screamed. Rowan stretched his neck and saw him holding his hand… it looked like he had a finger missing. Did the woman CUT his finger? Really?

She yelled at their driver, “Keep your noobs in their place, vazey! Next one that points me, I’ll cut him more than 20 health.”

Baxter stood and yelled.

“Stop being stupid. Told you, you do stupid, you’re docked pay. Keep your hands inside.”

The chariots turned to a side street and Rowan finally spotted a banner with the now-familiar sword and staff crossed. They reached an entrance with a sign saying “Artefact Hunting Company” and went in.

The boy with his sliced finger was still screaming while two of his comrades were helping him. Rowan spotted Sirius in his blueish monk garb coming that way. He raised his hand, and Rowan could have sworn that, for a second, some light had appeared in the cup of his palm. The boy’s scream cut.

Rowan turned his head and looked. The boy was wiggling his fingers… all of them? How had his finger regrown? He realized suddenly that Sirius must have done it, in some way. Was Sirius some Christian saint, maker of miracles? He couldn’t see how else he’d done so.

“Move in the court. And keep your mouths shut,” said Baxter.

Rowan now spotted Amelia, Zacharias, and most of the people that had been back at the company’s house in London. There was some kind of wood stage. The recruits crowded themselves next to it.

Unlike in London, it wasn’t Zacharias that started. Rather, the honour was bestowed to Amelia, who came with her slightly bored look.

“Welcome to the Infinite Labyrinth. And congratulations. You are now officially categorized as Professionals, people that come and go through the Labyrinth.”

“We’ll start with an introduction. Then we’ll sort you and outfit you. Then, we’ll split you up in three teams and start showing you what you will need to know.”

“First. The Labyrinth obeys strict rules. Outside, the hand of God is light, and your lives free. Here, there are sharp rules, and you cannot break them. There are laws of the Labyrinth. Don’t bother trying to avoid them; you can’t.”

“You’ve all received a Profession. If you don’t have a Profession, you can’t enter the Labyrinth. To get a Profession, you must have at least one high potential. Outside the Labyrinth, your potential may or may not come to fruition. Here, it is always at its best. If your Focus is high, you will notice things, no matter how lazy you are. If your Strength is high, you will be powerful, even if your childhood has stunted you. That’s the first gift of the Labyrinth.”

“Now a taste of what’s to come. You all have received what everyone here calls a tier 1 Profession. That’s all you can get as a normal person. But now that you are in the Labyrinth, you are no longer an everyday person. I told of potential, and here, in the Labyrinth, you can raise that potential. And when I say raise, I mean far beyond the realm of normal possibilities.”

“Now, if you haven’t done so, look at your Interface, and focus on your Profession. It will tell you what statistics this Profession increases, and what it requires.”

She paused, waiting for those who hadn’t already checked to look at. Then she grinned.

“Now, if you lied back in London and you haven’t learned your letters, you’re fucked. Because we will ask you what’s in there, and if you can’t answer… well, we’ll know you can’t read it. And if that happens, then we’ll just march you to the mining companies and hand you to them. They don’t need you to use your profession, they just care that you can enter the Labyrinth. And when you’ll have reimbursed your 72 pounds, then maybe you’ll be let go. But that’s not going to take 2 years in the mines, believe me.”

She looked at the crowd. Rowan felt safe. At least on that point. But he knew now how they were confident to spot fakers. Unless you knew exactly how the Labyrinth displayed your Interface and what it said, you’d be unable to pretend.

“At the moment, you are all level 1 with a tier 1 Profession. That’s good enough for this Zone. You are in the first British Zone of the Labyrinth. It’s called Grailburg. And no, we didn’t name that. The Labyrinth did. Now, try to focus on where you are.”

Rowan thought that felt silly, but tried anyway. To his surprise, a new section of the Interface appeared in his mindscape.

Location

Zone: Grailburg (tier 1)

Locale: Plains of Normarron

Recall: Grailburg, The Plaza

Recall: 21 hours, 33 minutes

Gates: 0/1

Fast travel: none

“Everyone good? Now, Grailburg is the first tier 1 Zone we’ve encountered. It is easy enough, and we’ll use it as a training ground. It’s a territory that’s a tenth of the size of Home. Ireland, I mean. You can’t leave it.”

She added.

“It’s also slightly crowded, and there’s nothing very useful to be gotten here, except for the Power Crystal mining that goes in the southeast. But it’s handy enough for your first levels before we move out to better places. Now, something important. Pay attention.”

“Your Interface must have shown you something called Recall. You can use a Recall once per day while in the Labyrinth. At the moment, it will bring you back to the Plaza where you appeared when you entered the Labyrinth. DO NOT USE IT. If you do, then you walk back to town. And we’ll dock your pay for that day because you’ll be wasting our and your time. Everyone understand me?”

She waited a second before bellowing.

“EVERYONE UNDERSTAND ME?”

The recruits nodded.

“EVERYONE UNDERSTAND ME? I’M NOT HEARING ANYTHING.”

There were shouts of ‘aye’ and ‘yea’.

“Better. When I ask a question, you answer, you don’t stand there looking like bumpkins.”

“Now, we’re going to split you, outfit you and take you for a short familiarisation. Nothing better than a quick immersion in the Labyrinth to feel its reality. So, you’re going to be put in teams of six. Five of you, one of us. Keep tabs on your team. Unless we have problems, we’ll keep you in that configuration for your training.”

One hand rose.

“Oooooh. I see a question. Someone is curious. Curious is good, but don’t overdo it. Too much curiosity will kill you once you’re deep in the Labyrinth, more surely than a scaffold dropping on you back in London. Yes?”

“Do you all have Professions?”

“You didn’t listen? Everyone here has a Profession. You can’t be in the Labyrinth without one. Me? I am a level 33 Light Swinger. That is a tier 4 Profession, which is far beyond what you are. I’m a woman, but with the grace of the Labyrinth, I am far stronger, faster, smarter, wiser and so on than any of you. So behave in your teams, because any of your teachers will be able to take you and break your back on their knee if they want to.”

Rowan turned to Silas, standing next to him.

“I think this woman is very angry.”

Silas snorted.

“I think they’re all so powerful they consider us scraps of dogfood. Remember what she said about raising our potential? If you think about the Milestones in your Profession, that’s what she said. Every milestone, you grow more powerful. Like yours, you might get stronger every time. You’ll soon be better than a circus man.”

“I wonder what’s Sirius’ Profession.”

“Or what a Light Swinger does,” added Silas.