The group filed away in the courtyard. A small chariot, horseless again, was waiting. Amelia pointed toward it and ordered, “Hop in.”

They climbed aboard and seated themselves.

“Wait for me. Getting my gear.”

She scrambled toward another, slightly taller building. The five watched each other, looking vaguely embarrassed.

Luther started, “what do you think it’s about? I don’t understand this clothing stuff.”

Dick nearly replied, then whipped his head back to the building, as Amelia came out. The group stared again.

She still had the same leather jacket than before, but she replaced her skirts with a pair of leather pants and high boots. Her outfit looked more like a version of the Quartermaster’s, with more studs and fewer chain links sewed in. She’d completed it with fingerless leather gloves. A pair of short swords hung on both her sides. She looked toward Ada.

“See, I told you. You’ll see a lot of us wearing that kind of stuff all the time.”

She climbed aboard. The driver pulled a small board with a pair of wires, and the carriage started, going out of the Company’s compound. The group settled to wait.

Amelia waited until they reached the border of the town before starting.

“Listen up. We’re headed to the countryside, to a place where I’m going to show you the basics of how to progress in the Labyrinth. But first, you have to understand why we’re doing it.”

Luther raised his hand.

“Yes?”

“You sure you’re not the army? My brother, he went there, and it looks like how they do things…”

“We’re definitively not the army. We do a few things like them, mostly because we need to break you out of your bad habits fast. But the King’s army values discipline, obeisance, following orders, standing at attention and all kind of things we don’t want. Well, except obeisance, maybe.”

She paused a bit, then elaborated.

“The army likes you to follow orders. We want to teach you to anticipate orders. How to react and work out the situation on your own, and go for it. Because that’s how you get there. The army is nice to have to hold territory, like if we run into the French. But the exploration and salvage work… that’s people like us.”

She immediately dashed their hopes.

“Now, you’re not going to explore and stuff. What you’re going to do mostly for those two years of your contract is go where we know everything, and we’ll show you what to expect. But we’re not going to give you bad habits, because a few of you might be genuinely good at the Labyrinth, and we’re looking to get a few more good ones.”

“That’s how you joined that Company?” asked Ada.

“No. The company is brand new. When the Royal Labyrinth Company was broken up after the scandal last year, Zacharias jumped to get his licence. Most of us were in the old Labyrinth Company, but we wanted out, like many. I haven’t regretted it a second.”

She added, “The raw recruits is something he wants to try. Almost all outfits are experienced Professionals, pushing out in the Labyrinth, but Zacharias thinks it’s better to have a pool of recruits growing and ready to reinforce us. Because it’s not easy to recruit high Professions, there’s lots of competition. Those people are extremely good and they tend to stick with each other, so you need to recruit entire teams at a time. Zacharias’ pockets aren’t infinite, unlike the Labyrinth.”

She stood straighter.

“Now time for the basics.”

The group reached a meadow, next to a small wood. Amelia stood up and shooed them out of the chariot.

“Okay. Combat and Profession stuff. We are going to fight some beasts.”

The group looked at each other, completely taken by surprise.

“You could probably do some combat solo, but it’s best to learn in a team. Having the right Professions around means you’re less likely to run into a problem you can’t handle. We’ve tried to make you into a good mixture of Professions, based on which kind of recruits we got.”

She pointed at Rowan, who startled.

“You, you are the Shieldbearer. That means you are the frontline of your team. When something attacks your team, your job is to make sure it attacks you instead of the light clothed ones. That’s why you got armour, to protect you. And a shield, because of your Profession.”

“Uh…”

“Get used to it.”

“Can’t someone else…”

“No. In the Labyrinth, your Profession defines what you are, and what you do. Demonstration. Fullmore? Which of you is Luther Fullmore?”

The boy raised his hand.

“I’ll use you. Time for a forced unlock.”

She fished in her hand and threw a small stone. Luther caught it awkwardly and looked at it. It looked like a small dull gemstone. For a moment, Rowan thought she’d handed him some power crystal, but the stone looked more mundane.

“That’s a focus. It will help you a bit. Now, I want you to hold that stone into your fist and point that in the direction of that wood there.”

Luther closed his fist and did as told.

“Now, focus on the stone. On what it feels like. How hot it is in your hand. How it… Eyes open!”

Luther immediately opened his eyes.

“When I say focus, I don’t want you to ignore everything. It’s a bad habit. Keep your eyes open, for god’s sake.”

The boy opined.

“Now, focus again. Look toward the wood, and feel your energy around that stone. Feel it in your hand.”

Luther stood there for a few seconds, looking silly with his closed fist held horizontally. Then, while Rowan was starting to fight a burst of laughter at the ridiculous pose, the boy started.

“It feels like…”

“GO! DO IT!”

All of the group jumped back as a small ball of fire came out from Luther’s fist, speeding away toward the grove. It impacted a tree, splashing fire around. Small flames started to lick the bark, with smoke pouring out.

Amelia started clapping.

“Got it on your Interface?”

Skill unlocked: Fireblast (unranked)

Fireblast

Aether/Offensive

Rank 0: Fire damage 25 (+4.5), range 15yard (+1), cost 40 Aether.

Luther gulped, looking at his fist.

“Now, you know what it’s like to be an Arcanist.”

“I can… throw fire?”

“Yes. Among other things. Now gimme back my stone.”

Luther looked curiously at the small stone.

“You don’t need it anymore. Give.”

He walked and dropped the gemstone in Amelia’s hand.

“That focus stone is good because it makes it easier to learn how to do a Fireblast. You can learn without it, but it’s more complicated. But once you do, you’re good. You won’t need it again.”

Ada looked like she was on the verge of fainting. Silas had made huge eyes.

“So, that’s what it means to have an Arcanist Profession. They can use skills from the Aether/Offensive sphere like the one Fullmore just demonstrated. The rest of you can’t do it, no matter what.”

She looked at the group.

“Now, the idea for today is that each of you gets several skills that are of use within your profession. That’s easy for some. Take Rivers here…”

Rowan perked. If he could do something like Luther’s fire…

“As a Shieldbearer, you’ll find out skills when using your shield and weapons. And being beat on.”

Rowan suddenly gulped. Being beat on felt like a bad idea.

“Hicks, I’ll show you how to start your real Profession after your first fight. The rest of you, it’s time for practice. Pick your weapons, all of you. Yes, you too Walsh,” she added looking at Ada.

She started toward the tree grove, then turned back.

“Wait for me. I’ll be quick.”

The group looked at each other, apprehension written on all their faces. Silas looked like he was going to ask something, then thought better of it.

Suddenly, Amelia ran out of the grove, at a speed that astounded them all. She reached the group, then turned back toward the trees.

“Incoming. Rivers, move front.”

Rowan looked at her, then decided not to ask further. He advanced, watching carefully the trees. Whatever she had sought, it seemed to be something that might follow her…

A small wolf came out running from between two trees. Rowan started to move back, only to find himself blocked from behind by a hand on his back. He guessed it was Amelia’s, but the hand was absolutely unyielding, like a stone sculpture. He could only stare at the slavering beast coming toward them.

Weaned Grey Wolf

Level 1 minion

Health: 59

Mind: 26

Stamina: 28

Aether: 0

“Slam it with your mace while you put your shield up front. The rest of you, wait for now.”

Rowan gulped as the wolf rushed him and tried to jump toward him. He reflexively moved his shield between him and the wolf pup and tried to push his mace weapon into the wolf’s teeth.

Skill unlocked: Block (unranked)

Block

Equipment/Defensive

Rank 0: Effective shield defence rating x 2.01, cost 10 Endurance.

Skill unlocked: Deflect (unranked)

Deflect

Equipment/Defensive

Rank 0: Neutralize base attack, 30% success, cost 30 Endurance.

Rowan blinked as the pages appeared in succession in his own mindscape then shrank into near nothingness. But the wolf didn’t wait and started to bite at his hand.

Weaned Grey Wolf hits for 5, doing 2 damage (defence rating 32)

Rowan nearly panicked as he felt the teeth thru his glove. He started wailing with his mace on the wolf’s head, but the beast didn’t let go.

Amelia surprised him.

“Ok, the rest of you, use your weapon once or twice. If you get a notification of a skill unlocks, stop after your first.”

Rowan noticed a hand with a dagger coming from his side. A side look confirmed that Silas was tried to poke the wolf.

“Come on, all of you. Hit that cur at least once. That means you too, Walsh. Use a knife in each hand!”

Rowan was trying to strike again with his own mace, as Luther smashed the end of his staff onto the flank of the wolf, who had dropped back on the ground. The wolf was…

Weaned Grey Wolf

Level 1 minion

Health: 11

Mind: 26

Stamina: 24

Aether: 0

… weakening?

Luther’s staff stabbed again, and then Rowan’s mace connected as well. The wolf gave a loud yip and fell on the ground.

Weaned Grey Wolf: 102XP/4 contributors = 11XP.