The temple was obvious, its spire towering over every other building in town, which was probably supposed to represent something. Alas, no-one in our village was particularly religious, so I had no idea what. Its windows were not just glass, but stained glass, each one telling a story. In one, a hero was slaying a dragon. In another, a different hero was curing a plague. In a third, someone was turning an empty desert into green farmland, green stems shooting up from dry yellow sand.

  The few times I'd been here with Dad to transport produce, he'd always scoffed at that last one, complaining that even if such Skills existed, there was no way to level up enough to afford them just by farming.

  I may not have had the best education in the world, but I wasn't under any delusions about my place in it. Things weren't too bad. It wasn't as if Mum and Dad were unhappy, and the baron kept the canton safe and secure. Our food quality may leave a lot to be desired, but never in my life had we gone hungry or thirsty. It was just... as Joe said. When our homes, jobs and even our Skills were decided for us, there wasn't much space for dreaming.

  Still, Skills were Skills and Stats were Stats, and I was quite looking forward to the improvements that would be bestowed on me by the System.

  There were already a few carts parked outside the temple, a group of adventurers sitting in each one. As we pulled up to join them, a few kids sprinted out of the temple, laughing as they ran just a little faster than they should be capable of. One of them tried to jump into their cart without using the step, misjudging it and cracking a shin into the wooden panel.

  We all winced.

  "Okay, out you get," said Grant. "Head inside, and a priest will direct you where you need to go."

  "And try not to fall victim to unlock euphoria," sighed Joe, watching the injured kid writhing on the floor, clutching his leg. Hopefully, he hadn't broken it.

  Our group of nine kids entered the ornate doors of the temple. I'd never before been inside, but now that I had, I was somewhat disappointed. It was big, but I didn't see the point. Why did they need all the space? They didn't seem to be doing anything with it. The wide area and tall ceiling meant that mere candles stood no hope of lighting it, and the stained windows blocked much of the daylight, leaving the interior rather dingy.

  Still, I was supposed to be on my best behaviour, so I nodded politely at the priest who directed me to join the queue of children, even though the queue was bloody obvious and I really didn't need to be told where to go.

  Simon and John joined behind me, John looking a little cowed. Simon too, of course, but the expression was far more at home on his face than our usually arrogant acquaintance.

  The queue moved quickly, each child stepping up to the altar, touching an orb, wobbling for a few seconds as the System suddenly made them more than they were, then jumping back down. Without exception, everyone looked a lot happier leaving than coming. I'd heard an adult comparing getting your first Stats to sex, which seemed like a strange comparison to me, but the expressions of those who were done certainly implied they'd enjoyed themselves.

  I'd need to make sure I didn't do anything quite as stupid as shatter my knee trying to get back into our cart...

  Another group of kids joined the queue behind us, another cart-load presumably having arrived while the group in front of us finished, and then it was my turn. I climbed the stairs, wondering if I looked as nervous as the kids before me. It wasn't as if there was any real reason for it; unlocking someone's System was completely routine, and everyone had the same Stats. It wasn't as if I'd unlock and find myself at a high level, or with pre-existing Skills. Nor had I ever heard of the opposite happening; touching the orb and not unlocking the System. At best, someone might find themselves with a Mark or two, conferring some minor effect.

  I reached the top of the stairs, and under the watchful eye of a priest, I touched the orb.

  I gasped as I was bathed in a completely alien sensation. While it didn't feel at all as if someone had chucked a bucket of ice-cold water in my face, there were certainly parallels to be drawn. I felt as if, having previously missed an entire night's sleep, I'd just woken up from a solid twelve hours. As if I'd spent my entire life with my head stuffed with cotton, but someone had suddenly ripped it all out. As if I'd just downed an entire barrel of strong coffee.

  I felt like I could run to the moon and back without even breaking a sweat. I was probably grinning stupidly, just like the kids before me. Mum's oft-repeated warning replayed itself in my head—unlock euphoria is misleading, and I'm not as strong as I feel—but even if I was only a fraction as strong as I felt, merely jumping into a cart should be easy.

  "Okay, down you go," whispered the priest, reminding me that there was an entire queue behind me. Right, I needed to move.

  I turned and descended the stairs in a single leap, being far lighter on my feet than I should have been.

  In the corner of my eye, I saw Simon grinning at me. John tutted disapprovingly, but right now, I didn't care. He could tut all he liked.

  Besides, I'd bet he'd behave in exactly the same way when it was his turn. I felt good.

  I hurried out of the temple and skipped back to the cart, where I very carefully climbed the step like a normal person, however certain I was that I could leap into it.

  "Hah. Someone's certainly suffering from some serious unlock euphoria," laughed Grant. "Still, at least you haven't injured yourself. Here, use this."

  I wasn't that bad, was I? I'd even climbed into the cart properly, and hadn't fallen over once. But my complaint died unspoken as he held out a small, brown gem. My first skill crystal! I gratefully took it.

  "Yes!" I said aloud, and the crystal crumbled to dust in my hand, carefully watched by Grant and Joe who, on top of protecting us, were presumably employed to ensure we bought the Skills we'd been assigned.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "You don't need to talk to System prompts," laughed Joe as Simon climbed into the cart and took his crystal in turn.

  When John turned up, they didn't even offer him one. I actually had no idea what he'd do with his first skill point. I was aware his family were peasants—one rung up the social ladder from the serfs that me and Simon were—which meant that he could pick his own job rather than being forced into farming, but he'd never mentioned what it was that he wanted to do. He was far more emphatic about what it was that he didn't want to do.

  The other six kids bounced into the cart behind us—all of them receiving a skill crystal of their own, although I wasn't sure if they were all farmers—and it wasn't long before the cart was trundling back the way it had come. Just like Dad had said, we'd be back in a jiffy. Or, at least, a few hours, which was probably too long to qualify as a jiffy, but not that long. Maybe I'd even be back in time to join Dad in the fields and earn my first experience points.

  It still felt that my thoughts were rushing along at a hundred miles an hour, but the others in the cart seemed to be drifting back down from their highs.

  "Wow, that was a rush," commented Simon.

  "Sure was!" I agreed.

  "You're definitely still rushing," said John, glaring at me. "Don't you have any self control?"

  "Of course I do!" I answered. After all, I'd climbed into the cart properly, rather than leaping in like I could have done.

  Grant peered at me suspiciously. "Actually, the brat might be onto something. You're still grinning like a madman. Aren't you used to it yet? Or did you do something silly, like immediately assign all your free stat points?"

  "Of course not!" I complained. "I haven't even opened my Status yet!"

  Which was a damn good point. I had access to my Status now. Why hadn't I even looked at it? Yes, at level one, everyone's were the same, but that was no excuse for not basking in the fact that I had a Status.

  I blinked. That wasn't right. Each level gained granted five points in Stamina and Mana, a single point in each other Stat, and until the first growth milestone at level twenty we got five free points to distribute as we wished. I had double that. Not only that, but I still had a skill point despite buying [Farming].

  I had a Mark.

  "Is something wrong?" asked Grant.

  "Uh..." I answered uncertainly as I brought up the details of [Ancient Soul].

  "Hey, what's wrong?" asked Grant. "You've gone as white as a sheet."

  "As white as some sheets," mumbled Joe.

  A ten times experience multiplier. That was insane! I could grow as much in a year as someone else could in a decade. Two decades, even, given that my gains per level were effectively doubled.

  No, it was even better than that. Each level required more experience than the one before. Since I'd have better Skills and Stats, I'd be able to gather experience more efficiently than someone else of my level. The effects would compound in a way beyond simple multiplication. My two points in Processing and Reasoning weren't sufficient to work through all the implications off the top of my head, but I didn't need to do any complex maths to know that my Mark was bonkers.

  I resisted the urge to add my free points to my mental Stats. No wonder I had unlock euphoria worse than anyone else; my Stats were double theirs! Increasing them further would just make things worse. I first needed to get used to what I had.

  "Are you ever going to answer?" asked Grant, pulling me back to the real world. Everyone in the cart was staring, not only including John, but even Gavin at the front. Even Barry was twitching, but given that he was driving, he didn't have the leeway to turn around.

  The attention meant that I needed to give some answer, but my new mental Stats screamed that I shouldn't give the full answer. Not until I'd talked with my parents. It didn't take a genius to work out that the Mark was life changing, and that leaking information about it to strangers—not to mention John—risked it changing my life in a way that was not to my advantage.

  "I have a Mark," I admitted, which was perfectly true. "It's given me an extra point in each Stat," I explained, which was equally true.

  Grant peered suspiciously, which was understandable. Why would I have been so shocked over an effect that I'd only even notice for the first few levels?

  "... per level," I added.

  Grant raised an eyebrow, while Joe whistled.

  "Nice," said Gavin from the front. "That's a massive boost to your Stat gain for your first twenty levels, and a pretty big one for the next couple of growth milestones, too. Even if it'll drop off in usefulness at the higher levels, it'll still be a huge help in getting there."

  I saw John glaring in the corner of my vision, presumably jealous, but when I turned to glare back, his furrowed brows relaxed and his mouth curled up into a smirk.

  "It is indeed a nice bonus to gaining levels. Of course, you still need to gain those levels in the first place. Shame you only have a life of farming to look forward to. What does that give? A hundred experience points for a full day in the fields?"

  As much as I tried to resist, I felt the corners of my mouth curl up into a smirk of my own.

  A hundred? Was that all? Then I'd 'only' be level two by tomorrow, and four within a week. Whatever method he was planning to use to level, let's see him match that.