Fire Emblem always starts you with a level 1 character of the upgraded class (essentially level 21). They shouldn't be used very much, though, or your team will be seriously underpowered later in the game.
edit: Sacred Stones was broken because you could fight random battles or use the two bonus areas to level. You could ignore those, of course, but since they existed it hurt the game a little. I want to play Path of Radiance on the stripped for the US version Maniac mode.