The manor was surrounded by a scenic garden with a tall wall further out marking the perimeter. There were also people out minding the garden, gardeners I assume. Deciding on discretion I used the hedgerows partitioning the garden into quadrants as cover to reach the perimeter wall unseen. The gardeners continued their work caring for strange plants unabated as I scaled the 3-meter stone wall and dropped to the other side.

A forest... green and healthy.

The biospheres of a vast majority of worlds I've visited have been damaged from either from conflict or unchecked pollution and left what little plant life remaining withered, sickly.

With great enthusiasm I ventured into the wilderness, I crept around the manor compound until I found a road, or as I see it, a simple dirt path. I opted to stay out of the open areas of the path and instead moved parallel to it, staying in the cover of the forest of tall leafy trees.

Keeping the path to my left, I trekked through the wilderness for a time until I encountered a junction where the path merged with a larger dirt road. It showed signs of frequent use, a good indication of nearby settlement.

Looking down each direction, I determined it was safe to cross before dashing across to the safety of the foliage on the other side. The brush tugged at my cloak as I passed through to the forest proper and just as I slowed down, I heard it.

The rhythmic beating of earth, it was closing and fast.

I hunkered down in the brush and waited for the source to come into sight.

*Th-thump, th-thump, th-thump, th-thump*

A manor guardsman came into view riding upon an oddly familiar beast. I stared at his mount as they approached from the manor’s path until it clicked. The beast is called a horse, I had thought they went extinct centuries ago... but evidently not as there is one right before my eyes.

I want one...

Agh! No... Now is not the time for that, I can’t allow myself to be distracted right now.

I followed the guard with my eyes as he approached the junction, he took the road to the left and departed at a full gallop. He is likely heading to the nearest settlement; no doubt to spread word of my escape. Normally, I would have just offed the man to delay things, but two factors pretty much guaranteed that would have gone poorly for me.

1.) I have never used this particular bow before.

2.) It’s been over a decade since I last held one.

With the current situation I think my best bet is to go deep into the woods and sharpen my skills before I start traveling the countryside. My pursuers will most likely stick to the roads and populated areas while they search for me anyway. My red hair paints a rather large target on my back, I'm sure that will be the main part of my description. I'll have to do something about it before I set out, that’s for sure.

So... the plan....

Part 1, hideout in the forest until the heat dies down.

In the meantime, I’ll sharpen my skills and temper my body. As good as I feel now, I also feel strange... I can’t put my finger on it, but I feel lighter and stronger, yet at the same time I feel sluggish and clumsy. It’s like my arms and legs had suddenly gotten longer, while losing some combat related muscle memory.

Part 2, gather intel about the world.

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I know next to nothing about the primitive world I find myself. Although that old gun I found looked promising, it is evident that these people are significantly inferior technologically to what I'm used to and experienced on other worlds. I need to find where this gun originated if I'm ever to get off this rock, even if I find nothing but ruins, I’m sure I could rig up something. I was apprenticed in my youth to one of the greatest engineers in the legion after all. The old goat would roll in his grave if I couldn’t do something as simple as getting an old hulk flying again. Hhm...

Great, I feel sad now.

With a sigh I stood up from the bushes and walked deeper in to the woods, for much of the day I searched for an acceptable campsite further in. I needed a site with readily available access to water if I was going to be exerting myself regularly, while also being easily defensible and preferably concealed. The spot I eventually settled on was next to a small stream in a grove of trees that grew tightly together.

I spent some time to set up camp, gathered stones from the stream, dead wood for a fire, and felled some young trees for timber. The short sword I grabbed proved invaluable in my efforts, it was something like an elongated bowie-knife. It was perfect for hacking through things, though a bit heavy.

By the time the sun finally set I had built a good enough fence to keep the animals out at least. All I had needed to do was plug the gaps between the grove’s trees for a little security. My next project was to build a simple shelter to shield me from the elements. I leaned a piece of timber against one of the larger trees of the grove, dug a small trench to prevent water flooding in, and used smaller bits of timber to form ribs before adding a roof of tiled squares of moss as a roof.

It was cozy little den if you asked me.

Night had fallen by the time I finished building, it was a starless one devoid of light. I was drained from the events of the day, it was rather stressful to wake up in that cell on this strange world. I could certainly use a night of uninterrupted sleep after that, so I climbed into my newly built shelter and wrapped myself tightly in my new cloak. I fell into a dreamless slumber that dark night.

I awoke at the crack of dawn the next morning with an ache in my back and was thankfully still in my woodland shelter. I climbed out of my hut into the early morning fog and ate a quick breakfast of bread and cheese. There are things for today's addenda I must attend to and the first was to dust off my skills with the bow.

It's funny, when my father thrusted a bow into my arms years ago, I thought he just wanted to watch me struggle with something for once. But now here I am standing in this green wonderland armed only with a few blades and a damned bow. If he could see me now, he would have sprouted off something to me along the lines of “I told you so.”

Ha...

I selected ten arrows from my quiver and got to work. I stood in the middle of the grove with my bow and practiced archery for the first time in over 15 years.

My first round was... terrible.

I made 5/10 of the shots... and by that I meant, I hit the tree around the target while the rest went into the dirt.

*sigh* This is going to be a long morning.

I begrudgingly retrieved my arrows and tried again and again until I started making solid groupings. It was progress, but not good enough. I need perfection if I'm going to crush my enemies and get through this. So, I redoubled my efforts, changing distances, shooting on the move, trying my best to make the motions of drawing and firing second nature.

Hours later I stopped for lunch, I had another chunk of bread and cheese with some water from the stream to wash it all down. The bread was rather hard and the cheese was grainy, but all things considered it wasn't that bad. I've had much worse tasting meals in the past, though some meat would be nice...

I think... I’ll try my hand at hunting tomorrow, shooting stationary targets can only get me so far after all...

The next task for the day is to go through the ten combat forms of the legion. The first six teach the mechanics of hand-to-hand, three short blades, and the last one the sword. The ten forms, or the path of war, was developed early in the Blood Legion’s history to train a legionary’s mind and body for war. It was the very foundation of the Legion’s training regardless if they’re a regular, elite, or meck pilot.

The way my body ached from just half a day’s travel, the way my back burned from just a few hours practice... I’m seriously out of shape. The forms will go a long way in building me back up to where I once was. As I currently am, I have been rendered too soft for soft for my liking.

I stripped off all my armor, unstrung my bow, and stored all but my blades in the shelter. I then settled into the stance of the first form in the middle of the grove and started from there. I paid little attention to the passage of time as I worked my way through the forms, my focus razor sharp as I worked to hone my body into the weapon it once was.

I kicked, punched, stretched, and contorted through the first six forms, my body burning with the effort. As I flowed through the last portion of the 6th form, my body trembled from the exertion, and just as I finished something most strange happened.

Text like that of an old-style control prompt appeared across my vision seemingly out of nowhere.

<+25EXP Added>

I froze.

“What the fuck was that?”

XXXXXXXXXXXXX Citadel City, Kingdom of Atox XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Greetings to you, honored Archmage. I carry an urgent missive for you, it is from your estate.”

Announced a castle servant dressed in blue and gold finery marked with the crest of the royal family, he bowed before an aged man in fine robes black as night. As he addressed the mage, he presented to the man an envelope marked with flowing golden script.

The wizened features of the man twisted into a frown at the interruption, he hated being disturbed during his afternoon tea. Though he still accepted the letter and promptly dismissed the servant along with his personal attendants for privacy.

The Archmage, now alone in the sitting room, opened the letter and unfurled its contents. He read the letter in its entirety, his expression growing dark as he set it aside.

"His majesty is going to be most displeased...”