"Ah, my head."
Layton groaned as he woke up in the forest, with the rain beating down on his body. Although he was curious as to how he got here, the splitting headache and cold clouded his mind and slowed his thinking.
He quickly stood up from the cold and dirty forest floor and ran to the shelter of some larger trees to rest. As he hugged himself tight in an attempt to warm himself up, he started to recall what had happened to him.
After a few minutes, he figured out his current situation. It turns out he had crossed into another world and from the memories left by the previous owner of the body he was residing in.
"This was a world that had wizards," Layton thought excitedly. As excitement filled his heart, he considered himself lucky. He was fortunate enough to cross into a body with the same first name, so he didn't have to worry about changing his name. Although the original owner was only 16 years of age as opposed to Layton's original age of 25, he was still satisfied because he found out the body had some knight training and was stronger than he was in his past life.
Layton quickly calmed down and focused on the identity of his body. Layton Michele—that was the name of the former owner of this body, who was a noble. But his family had declined over the years and settled in a rural village outside the kingdom after his mother died giving birth to him, and his father died in a hunting accident a few months ago.
Layton had searched his father's belongings and found some stones with a map leading the way to the kingdom of Dane, where, according to the stories his father had told to him since he was young, he could find a port and be tested to see if he could become a wizard.
Following the untimely death of his father, he ventured out, heading toward the kingdom. Halfway through, however, he encountered misfortune—having been stung by the thorns of a rare dreamer vine, which causes hallucinations. The poor kid had a weak will and had died minutes after, allowing Layton to cross into his body.
The more Layton recalled of his predecessor's life, the more he couldn't be more satisfied. Layton had always been tired of his previous life, and as a lonely orphan, he didn't have anyone he missed or who would miss him. And now, in this new life, the previous owner of his current body had no emotional drama he needed to take care of and had left a strong body with the memories of swordsmanship and knight breathing, which was enough for the current Layton.
Layton cleaned off the dirt that hung on his cloak and checked his pockets to make sure the amber stones and few gold coins were in his pocket before setting off once more towards the kingdom.
It had been three months since Layton first came to this world, and he was already very close to his goal. The only port in the whole of the Kingdom of Dane was being unveiled in front of him. In the past three months, Layton had exercised his swordsmanship with a stick and whatever implement he could find, according to his body's previous memories, and while doing so, found out the sword skills were extremely useful for controlling the body. And since the route marked on his map didn't have a lot of danger, Layton had used his whole time to keep on practicing. When he was hungry, he hunted and foraged. Although he had a knight breathing skill, he avoided practicing because the demand for nutrition was high, so all his efforts were on swordsmanship. With unrelenting efforts and outstanding talent he himself was surprised to have, Layton had been able to control his body to a degree he never thought possible. His muscles could be controlled at will, and with his memories from Earth, he tried creating special moves that relied on muscle control, according to various whimsical ideas he remembered viewing on the internet and succeeded.
By the time he was out of the forest, he joined a caravan that was passing by and headed toward the port. By showing his skill, he was hired as an extra guard by the merchants and had followed them all the way to the port.
One had to say Layton's luck was good. Throughout the journey, they were only attacked by wild beasts and no robbers had attacked them on the way. Also, he had been practicing with the other mercenaries and had racked up a great deal of combat experience, as Layton guessed that in this new world, he would need it very much.