3 C03. 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 felt a little damp and gloomy. He blinked a few times, unable to 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. 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, some kind of cave, or perhaps 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, preparing for what he was about to do next. He fought through the surging pain and started to move. He wanted to get up; the pain he felt had become a little bearable, though still intense. It wasn't as bad as when he had first woken up.

Finally pulling himself off the ground, albeit staggering 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 as if this were 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 look around after reaching 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; luckily for him, they were quite sturdy. He climbed up to the crack in the wall he had noticed earlier 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 seemed 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; his only priority was getting out. He had seen some other openings in the tunnel that led who knows where. He decided to trust his sense of direction as he felt he had a good one and also take the path that led upwards.

It had 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; it lit up the area almost as well as the sun did during the 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 he sighed with 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 seemed to be a forest with incredibly tall trees and strange vegetation. But even with the height of these trees, he could still see that there was a building in the 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 just to get some 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 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 off, 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 been 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 looked to be an abandoned castle.

The walls were lined with gold, and the ceiling was designed with colorful jewels that emitted white light, illuminating the entire hall the moment he 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, and 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 led 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 headed in that direction. Any room he stepped into was lit up by the jewel-like crystals in the ceiling.

In the castle's 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 seemed 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 chandeliers; he was a little surprised those weren't stolen as well. The castle seemed 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.

Ten minutes 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. Damn it, 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 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 led 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 can 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 have 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?!"