Chapter 3: Over a Thousand Years

Drip, Drip, Drip,

"Arghh... urg... Mhm... my head, what's going on? why does it hurt so much...

why does it feel like I just walked out of a furnace? what happened to me?...

Where am I?

What is this place?"

As the water drops fell on his forehead, he slowly opened his eyes trying to take in his surroundings, the place was dark and it felt a little damp and gloomy. He blinked a few times as he couldn't process the information his eyes were sending his throbbing brain.

After adapting to the dark and damp environment, he was able to see quite well in the dark, he turned his head left then right and took in his surroundings, trying his best to hold back the pain he was feeling all over his body. There were grayish-brown rocks all around him it looked like he was in a crater underground or in some kind of cave, or maybe it was the bottom of a dried-up lake located underground, he really couldn't tell.

Looking up at the ceiling it was just the same Rocky soil as the grayish-brown rocks around him, 'Did I fall...' he wasn't sure what happened to him.

After some time spent in observation, he closed his eyes and took deep breaths in preparation for what he was about to do next. He then fought through the pain and started to move, he wanted to get up, the pain he felt had gotten a lot more bearable, it wasn't as bad as when he had first woken up.

After finally pulling himself off the ground staggered a bit, he started to walk, he aimed to leave this place, there was nothing down here but rocks. He took a step and was surprised by how light his feet were, his body had felt like a ton of bricks only a moment ago, he continued his movement as he approached the wall.

The only opening he had found during his observations was a few meters above the ground, vines or roots were growing on the walls, almost like this was somewhere underneath a Forest. He was not in a cave or pit, it looked like there used to be some kind of lake here or maybe an underground spring, but it had obviously dried up.

He took one more looked around after getting to the wall and placed his right hand on a vine. 'An underground lake huh, how did I get here___ Ouch ouch ouch... my head hurts, it's a little hard to breathe down here, I can't even think properly, I should first get out of here before I think of anything else.' He started climbing the walls using the vines as rope, lucky for him they were quite sturdy. He climbed up to the crack in the wall he had noticed earlier on and found himself in a very narrow tunnel, it wasn't large enough for him to stand or crouch he had to get on all fours, so he started crawling.

After a while the tunnel started broadening, it had gotten a little bigger, enough for him to no longer be on all fours, as he slowly got up and started to walk, the tunnel seems to slant slightly upwards which he thought was a good thing. The pain he felt was now getting better, the air was getting better as well, there were no odors or smells almost as if his nose wasn't working and he could not pick up on any scent. He didn't think about it too much as his only priority was getting out, he had seen some other openings in the tunnel that lead who knows where. He decided to trust his sense of direction as he felt he had a good one, and also take the part that leads upwards.

It's been more than an hour already and he hadn't seen a change yet, the tunnel looked the same since he started walking on his feet.

He was starting to doubt his sense of direction, but at the moment something else was going through his mind.

'My head still hurts quite a bit, but my body feels fine now, how long have I been walking for now, yet I don't feel a bit of fatigue. I must have quite a lot of stamina, hee hee, in more ways than one aha haha... sigh, I'm an idiot, I should focus.' after amusing himself in thought he started to walk faster.

Two hours later he finally saw light, he had broken into a jog for some reason in the last hour or so. He then climbed out of the tunnel, the exit was steep but fortunately, there were more vines here, unlike the tunnel.

The first thing he saw was the big bright moon, the moon lit up the area almost as well as the sun did at day. Taking a moment to adjust his sight he felt a cool breeze, it blew past him and touched his entire body, yes, it touched everything... that's when it hit him, he had finally realized that something precious was dangling in the wind____ he was naked.

Feeling a bit embarrassed he frantically looked around, luckily there was no one there 'Phew... that would've been embarrassing.' After his sigh of relief, he started to look around again, in a more composed manner, his eyes widened as he took in his new environment. There were trees all around him, it seems to be a forest with incredibly tall trees and strange vegetation around him but even with the height of these trees he could still see that there was a building at a distance to the east (Or what he assumed was east) it looked to be some sort of castle. After organizing his thoughts he decided to head for the castle if just to get some damn clothes.

Now that he was finally out of the tunnel he could breathe much better and his sense of smell seemed to have returned, his headache was milder now so he could now think clearly. As he walked towards the castle he started to think about who he was and how he ended up underground, he couldn't remember much but he finally remembered something, his name.

Tyler Falls, but he still couldn't remember what happened to him or how he got to that dried-up spring or lake. After more than 30 minutes of walking, he saw the entrance/exit of the forest, there were strange large birds perched up in the tall trees at the entrance/exit watching him. Apart from some strange insects, he hadn't seen any other living being on his way. He finally came out of the forest and saw the castle some distance away, the castle was insanely large and wide, it looked like the size of several football stadiums, although it was hardly noticeable Tyler could see the outer walls were partially destroyed.

Tyler walked forward towards the castle, he wasn't that far of and after walking almost 100 meters to the castle, he felt his body pass through something, he was a little confused. 'Was it my imagination?' he ignored it and kept walking, for some reason he could feel imaginary eyes staring at him since he entered the forest, the moment he noticed he was naked.

After passing through one of the openings in the outer walls, he soon arrived in front of a huge double door one of which was on the ground having been rammed through. He had entered through the side of the castle and had to circle to the front to find this entrance. He noticed the front gate had also be smashed in, this place must have been invaded at some point in time, he entered the castle and was amazed, although the entire place was covered in a thick layer of dust the view was still fantastic, he was pretty sure he had never been in a castle before or he wouldn't be this impressed with what looks to be an abandoned castle.

The walls were lined with gold and the ceiling was designed with colorful jewels that emitted white light that illuminate the entire hall the moment he had stepped a foot in. For a castle that seemed to be surrounded by a forest, the walls didn't seem old or show any signs of decay, the only damage in the castle was the damaged outer walls.

"This place should be abandoned right? I just hope there is no dangerous wild animal here, it seems well built almost magical, definitely belonged to royalty, hopefully, they left some clothes behind before they fled, or maybe they were killed off. Even if the enemy took all the valuables there should still be some servant's clothing right?" Without waiting for a response from whomever he was talking to, he started to walk down the hall in hopes of finding some clothes to cover himself up and feel a little more secure.

There were two staircases in front of him, both leading up to different locations, there were also two large doors that lead to the right and left. The ceiling of the castle was incredibly high, it was almost as if this place wasn't built for humans. Tyler had no idea where to go, from what he saw outside it could take him days just to explore the entire castle. "Oh well, might as well just start from the bottom and make my way up slowly, hopefully, I find what I want down here." Making up his mind he picked a door at random and heading in the direction, any room he stepped into was lit up by the jewel-like crystals in the ceiling.

•••••

In the castle West wing, Seventh floor,

After spending what seemed like hours looking for clothes suitable for him to wear in the various rooms, Tyler finally found some. He had found some old clothes earlier in the servant quarters but they turned to dust the moment he touched them, he didn't know how long this castle had been abandoned, it didn't seem like more than a few months at first but now he felt like it must have been a couple of years and maybe even a few decades, judging by all the clothes he had found so far crumbling to dust.

The castle didn't have much, it seems he was right and this place must've been raided, as anything of value had been taken. The rooms only had furniture that might've been too large to be moved and nothing else, everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and the air was stuffy. Each room he entered was illuminated by colorful crystals in luxurious Chandelier's, he was a little surprised those weren't stolen as well, the castle seems to be separated into four wings he had only been able to search one wing so far, luckily this was where the chambers were located so he had found some clothes.

He was now wearing brown linen trousers and a brown shirt he found in one of the fancier rooms, his underwear was from one of the floors below he looked like one of those startup characters from an old RPG game. After settling his first priority or mission, to get dressed, he sat on a sofa located in the largest room he had found on the highest floor on this wing, there were no damages to the room he figured it must've been reinforced. This was obviously the king's room so as the only one in the castle right now he figured one of the safest places in the castle was the king's Chambers after locking the door with the lock that surprisingly still works he sat in the relatively cleaner sofa (Still covered in dust) to get some rest, he wasn't tired but still felt mentally drained after all he had been nursing a headache for more than five hours now.

'Sigh... I should try to sleep it off...' Tyler thought as he rubbed his temple with his right fore and index fingers. He then leaned back and closed his eyes trying to relax and fall asleep.

10 mins later, although he was very relaxed and his headache was almost non-existent he couldn't fall asleep 'hmm I feel like my body is rejecting sleep like I have been sleeping for too long already, how long was I unconscious in that place?' Tyler unknowingly started massaging his temples again not because of the headache but in a bid to recover his memories.

As if reacting to his wish he started to remember something. 'This is not Earth, am I in another world? did I die? No, no... I was a war prisoner, I fell during the raid on this very castle. Damnit, what kind of a messed-up situation was I in. I remember I fell through a crack in my cell to that underground lake and sunk like a rock straight down to the bottom since my legs were broken in the war so I couldn't swim. I thought I was going to drown, I already said my last prayers and hoped to lose my virginity in the afterlife or if I somehow get reincarnated again but this is still Neron right? and I'm still in the Demon continent. I couldn't tell by the forest but the castle, WAIT! this is the Demon King's Castle and I just walked in here like an idiot.'(Stands up)

He remembered, this was another world filled with magic, he wasn't sure if this was a parallel earth or a different planet and how he came here he couldn't remember yet, just that he had spent some time here and participated in a war that leads to his current predicament.

'No, wait if the castle is abandoned that means the demon King is dead right. Phew... I need to figure this out fast so I get out of here, even if the demon King is dead there must still be some powerful demons alive, it's impossible for the humans and dwarfs to completely kill every demon in the demon continent even if they outnumbered the demons 4:1 they can't compare in strength. That was why they had used such a messed-up strategy. Damn, how long was I under? judging by the look of this place it should be a few decades or so, how am I even alive. Did that lake had powers of healing and hibernation, is that why it was under the demon king's region. Poor guy probably couldn't use it when he was about to lose, hehe, I'm getting carried away. Anyway, I'm not a mage or sorcerer but I had the minimum talent in magic even though my magic was so bad it couldn't even get me an E Rank adventurer's license. I had to brutally learn swordsmanship but if it's just to tell what year it is I should be able to do it.'

After rambling and lampooning in his head for a while, he got up and walked towards the balcony, it was still night so it would give him a better result if he was directly under the stars.

He looked up and uttered a spell... Time Appraisal!, the date and time flooded his mind.

The year 1467

Tyler stared at the stars from the balcony dumbfounded, he couldn't believe what the stars were telling him.

"You're kidding right, how?

How have I been sleeping for Over A Thousand Years!!!!".