Chapter 3: Over a Thousand Years (2/2)

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!!!!”.