Nick groaned and stretched out, becoming aware he was once again in the real world. I kind of miss sleeping and dreaming... Though, I would trade nonsensical dreams for what I have now any day. Nick turned over and looked at his alarm clock, his eyes shooting open. 6:54? What the hell? Why am I still asleep?
Nick stood up as quickly as possible, tripping over his legs and falling to the floor. He recovered quickly, throwing on a t-shirt and shorts before running to the living room. "Mom?" He nearly shouted, his voice having a slight bit of panic to it.
"What's wrong, honey? Bad dream?" Faith asked, looking back at him from the couch.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" He asked, slightly out of breath from the amount of energy it took to quickly get dressed and run to the living room. He was extremely out of shape, though that is to be expected of a man who spent his entire life sitting down.
"Ah, I figured I would give you a day off from your lessons and let you sleep in. You have been through a lot these past few days, you should have a little bit of time to relax. Also, if you don't want to sleep in again you can just set the alarm on your clock."
"Oh... Alright." Nick was grateful that he had a day off, though he was not quite sure what to spend his free time doing. "Well, I'm going to go exercise and take a shower." Nick figured that would be a good morning routine.
"Just don't overwork yourself, you need to give your muscles time to heal. I will have breakfast ready by the time you get out of the shower." Faith turned back to the television, she seemed to be watching some kind of reality show.
"Alright." Nick pushed the limits of what his body could do over a thirty minute workout before relaxing in the shower for thirty more. He was grateful that he could exploit the healing magic of the other world to skip the unpleasant muscle pain that was going to come. After getting dressed and brushing his teeth he made his way to the kitchen where he could smell something cooking.
"Just in time, I made eggs and bacon. I already put yours on the table." Nick wasted no time digging in. "I've been thinking about my shopping trip Friday, I think I will get you a laptop, phone, tablet, and I'll also buy you a wallet. I'm going to open a bank account for you on my way home, so you will need a place to put the credit card."
"Wow, sounds like a lot." Nick reached for his glass of orange juice, seeing the juice shake slightly though thinking nothing of it.
"Well, think of them as all the birthday and Christmas presents that I would have got you had you not been paralyzed. I want you to be a normal boy, so you should have all of the expensive toys all of them have. Not to mention you will need a laptop, phone, and credit card when you start going to school." Nick shrugged in response, taking a sip of his juice. "Also, you will be able to call your father whenever you want."
"Oh, yeah, I haven't talked to him in a few weeks... He has no clue what is going on."
"I called him and told him, his excitement was immeasurable. I could hear that much. He hung up on me though, so I assume he is trying his hardest to get on the first flight back."
"Yeah, that sounds like dad." The rest of breakfast was filled with casual conversation about the things they usually talked about. After breakfast Nick spent all day on the computer, he wasn't staying in the castle in that other world for free, they expected things from him. He spent a lot of time looking up stuff about guns, things he could tell them that he had not previously known.
After looking at stuff about guns for a few hours he decided to watch YouTube, getting caught up watching random and weird videos for hours on end. He also found a few channels that he decided to subscribe to, one was an exercising channel and a couple others were gaming channels. At seven o'clock he was called to dinner where nothing of importance happened before going back to YouTube where he zoned out for an hour before heading to bed at nine.
When he climbed into bed it did not take long for him to drift off to sleep. After a second of rest he once again woke up in this fantasy world, a world that others could only dream of and write about. As he opened his eyes he was met with the same room he had went to sleep in. The curtain to the window at the foot of his bed was still open and no light was coming through the window.
It must still be night time here. Or early morning, rather. Nick stood up and walked over to his closet, when he opened it he saw exactly what he had left in it previously. The suit he had worn and a loose fitting dress shirt and dress pants combo. No way in hell I'm going through the trouble of putting on that suit...
After getting dressed in the shirt and pants he hung up his pajamas. He was also forced to wear the shoes he had worn the day before as they were his only pair of shoes. He waited in his room for what must have been an hour before a knock at his door. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. Finally. Without someone to lead the way I would get lost.
Nick opened the door to reveal a young butler who bowed upon seeing him. He was a few inches taller than Nick and seemed to be in his early twenties. Once the butler stopped bowing it did not take long for nick to notice his red eyes, but Nick had seen too much to be surprised at this point. "I am here to lead the way to the bathhouse, sir."
Oh, right, bathhouse... Despite having to be washed by other people his whole life, the concept of a bathing with others was weird to him. He was barely paying attention to the butler the night before when he had told him about the bathhouse. "Lead the way..."
"Yes, sir." The butler began to lead Nick around the castle, it took at least twenty minutes to reach the bath house. "Here you are, sir. When you enter, you will find a series of baskets. Pick a free one, put your clothes inside if it, and take the towel. Once inside the bathing area you will need to rinse yourself off before entering the bath."
Nick nodded, tentatively opening the door and walking in. Inside there were a couple older men undressing and heading into the main bathing area. God, this is strange. After undressing and heading into the main bathhouse his mind was completely taken off of the situation by the architecture. It was different from anything he had ever seen.
Nick had seen a couple ancient bathhouses through documentaries and textbooks, but they all looked filthy. This bathhouse was incredibly clean, everything was white with gold trim and the ceiling was high and looked like something you would see in a temple. Pillars that held up the ceiling were placed throughout the bathhouse, they looked Greek. Wow...
After almost a minute of looking around Nick finally broke out of his daze, heading to a stool beside a faucet on the far wall. After rinsing off he finally got in the bath, it was a lot hotter than he expected it to be, but still pleasant. Bathing seemed to be a pretty social activity in this world, everyone sitting and groups, talking and laughing as Nick sat off to the side in silence. However, this was still new and weird to nick so its not like he was sad about people not talking to him. Nick closed his eyes and relaxed.
"Hey!" A voice said from beside him. It was a friendly tone, but still loud enough to rip him out of his relaxed daze. Nick jumped slightly, looking to his right where the voice had come from. "Sorry, did I scare you?" The man talking seemed to be around his age, maybe a few years older. He had bright blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Ah, I was a bit startled... I didn't expect anyone to talk to me. Everyone seemed to have their own groups and I don't really know anyone..." Nick settled down, trying his best to not make this awkward.
"Well, you know me now. We even talked a little bit yesterday." The man smiled, though Nick was confused. He had never seen anyone who looked like him in this world.
"I'm sorry, I don't remember you..."
"Ah, yes, I suppose the room was quite dark. I am Marshall, Crown Prince of Asterra" Marshall held out his hand for Nick to shake.
"Ah! Your highness, or, your excellence? Or... Your majesty?" Nick was extremely flustered, he was in the presence of royalty after all. "I-I'm sorry... I have never met royalty, or anything, before so I don't know what to do in this situation...."
Marshall laughed. "Well, you can start by shaking my hand. Don't worry too much about formalities, you are an honored guest after all."
Nick shook the prince's hand, still reeling a bit from the shock of the sudden appearance of the prince. "Um, so, Marshall... What are you doing here? Don't royalty have a separate bath?"
"Sure, though I like coming here." Marshall sighed, leaning up against the side of the bath as he sunk further into the water. "I like to come here and talk with the others, it gets lonely if I just live the life of the model prince. Besides, it's good to know how others feel about the general state of affairs."
"Ah, I suppose so... Though I can't say I relate."
"I also came to talk to you, I'm curious about you and the world you came from. However, I don't expect you to give me a lesson here. We will talk more in the future so you will have many chances to tell me all about it."
"I'm not sure how much useful information I can give you, I never really went outside much."
"I'm sure you can tell me enough. And now, nothing is stopping you from exploring your world." Marshall stood up, wrapping his towel around his waist. "Well, I can't stay in the bath all day. You should probably get out soon, too."
"Yeah, I have been in here for a while..."
"Also, if you need a good trainer I can make some recommendations. You look like a skeleton." Marshall laughed, walking away. Nick was in a hurry to change his look, so someone the prince recommends would not be a bad idea. Considering the prince's physique, anyone that trained him would surely be able to help Nick out.
After a few more minutes Nick got out of the bath, the once hot water had started to feel lukewarm to him. He made his way to the room that held his clothes. Once he changed and exited the bathhouse he was met with the butler that had escorted him. The butler once again bowed, the constant bowing felt a little bit awkward. "His highness, the crown prince, has directed me to give you the grand tour, if you wish to have it."
"Ah, yeah, a tour sounds like a good idea." Nick had no idea what he had gotten himself into. It took several hours of walking, but he got a full tour of the castle. Or at least the bottom floor which was the only floor he was currently allowed on. He also got a feel for the general layout of the place. Nothing was particularly hard to find, it just took a lot of walking to get to.
"Was the tour sufficient, sir?" The butler asked, coming to a stop in front of the door to Nick's room.
"Ah, yes, I think I have a good idea of the layout of this place now." It was a bit much to take in, but he could wrap his head around it.
"Do you need me to do anything else for you right now?"
"Ah, no, I'm good."
"Very well, if you need anything approach any servant you can find and ask them for help." The butler once again bowed, walking away to do whatever it is butlers do.
I should probably go get treated for muscle soreness now... I'm starting to feel it. Nick walked to the medical ward, where a nurse showed him to a bed. "Your doctor will be right with you." The nurse said, walking away to go help another patient. After a few minutes, Katrina appeared.
"Lay down, I'll take care of the pain." She told Nick, walking up to the bed.
"So, are you my permanent doctor?" Nick laid down on his back, looking towards Katrina as he talked.
"Ah, yes, normally people don't have a specific doctor, but you are a bit of a special case." It was obvious that Katrina was told about Nick's situation, though he did not know to what extent.
"I suppose so." After ten minutes he was out the door again, now heading to one of the few gyms on the ground floor of the castle. He eventually settled on one, there were a few other people in it, there were four kids that all looked to be around his age and three older men anywhere from twenty to forty years old. "I guess this will have to do, then."
The gym was large, it could easily accommodate up to thirty people at once if needed. There were weights, rubber mats, pull up bars, dulled swords, and almost anything else you would need for a medieval workout routine. There were no treadmills. but you could run around the room if you were looking to get some cardio in. The room, surprisingly, looked rather modern besides the lack of light bulbs and machines. Nick decided to start with some basic weight training.
After twenty minutes of weight training, which is all it took to completely wear out any muscle group he could target with the weights, he began to jog around the room. Luckily there was a water faucet in the room he could drink from to keep himself from dying. After doing all he could with jogging he began to do sit ups and squats. At the end of it all Nick collapsed onto one of the couches that were in the room. He was covered in sweat, his fancy looking clothes completely soaked.
Nick began to look around the room at the others who were working out. They were all pretty impressive, especially the ones around his age. They were all dressed in some kind of medieval tank tops, t-shirts, and/or shorts. "Huh, I should really ask for some of those..."
Nick rested on the couch for a while, resting his strained body. Nick looked outside, with his knowledge of the sun he could see it was noon. "What the hell am I supposed to do all day besides train? Seriously. I can't even read to learn about this place... I wish I could watch some YouTube."
Nick daydreamed for a couple minutes before realizing something. Ah, can't I just go get healed and do this all again? It seems almost like I'm cheating... Cheating or not, Nick was bored. Nick went and got healed, worked out, healed, worked out, and healed again before he decided to give it a rest for the day. He could already feel himself getting stronger, it was like four days of workouts all in one day.
Man, I'm fucking exhausted. Even if I can get healed, I guess I still need to eat to keep my energy up. Nick was making his way to the mess hall, he hadn't eaten all day today in this world and he couldn't stand the hunger anymore. The mess hall looked similar to school cafeterias which he had seen online, though it was different. It was like a cafeteria mixed with a restaurant. Nick went through the process of getting his food and finding a table, it was some kind of steak and mashed potatoes.
Huh, I hope this is beef... Nick cut off a small piece and put it in his mouth, it was not beef... But it tasted amazing! Nick dug in, he was so busy eating that he was startled when somebody knocked on the table as if it was a door. "Mind if I sit here?" Someone asked, their voice was deep and booming.
Nick was sitting at a two person table because there were none for only one person. "Ah, I don't mind..." Nick looked up at the man, he looked to be in his early thirties and had an extremely rough exterior. He had facial scars, in fact he had a lot of scars on his arms and what Nick could see of his torso as well, and his clothes looked a lot more worn than what everyone else wore. He looked like he jumped out of some fantasy drama show. His hair was short and he had a five o'clock shadow and a tanned skin tone.
"Thanks, little man." The man said, he was right to call Nick little. Compared to this man's large frame Nick was like an insect. He was almost as tall as Captain Draper. "Name's Trak, what's yours?" Trak asked, holding out his hand for Nick to shake, he had a friendly grin on his face.
"Ah, my name is Nick, nice to meet you. I have never heard that name before." It was a weird name to him, but it could be as common as 'John' in this world for all he knew. Nick gave the man the firmest hand shake he could manage, he remembered hearing that a firm handshake was the key to a good first impression. He had forgotten to give the prince a firm handshake when they shook hands due to the shock of meeting the prince face to face suddenly.
"Ah, yes, the name is not very common in these parts. My father gave it to me, he told me it is a strong name I can take pride in." Trak stabbed his steak with his fork, lifting the entire steak to his mouth as he took a large bite. "I have heard your name a few times, it is a good name. Though, not as good as Trak." Trak's words were muffled by the meat in his mouth, but luckily Nick could still understand him.
The man's accent sounded vaguely Russian, a strange accent to hear in a foreign world but it was likely due to the translation spell or coincidence."Yeah, I'm not that fond of my name, but it is my name." Nick would have liked to have a more unique name, but he was fine with the name his parents chose for him.
"Ah, not many are truly fond of their birth name, I didn't like my name for the longest time either. But, after many years, I grew fond of it."
Nick and Trak continued to talk for the remainder of the hour as they ate, though it was mostly Trak talking about his home while Nick listened. Nick learned that Trak came from a far away land in search of adventure, he was a mercenary who too jobs at the local adventurers guild, which Nick had just learned existed. He learned Trak was currently in the castle to collect payment for a job, or quest, he had done for the royal guard. It seemed like the royal guard often hired him to do jobs when they weren't willing to spare the man power.
After they finished their food and conversation they parted ways, Trak was off to do god knows what while Nick returned to his room. The talk with Trak was a welcome distraction, but it was still day time and he had officially run out of things to do. Nick changed out of his dirty clothes, putting them in a laundry basket which he was told to leave outside at night so they could get washed and returned. He got dressed in his pajamas, laying in his bed with nothing but his thoughts as he waited for time to pass.
A few butlers came by as time passed to ask him if he needed anything, he asked one of them about getting the clothes he had seen people wearing in the gym. The butler said he would see what he could do and update him in the morning. Several hours passed, Nick was starting to get tired and he was completely bored. "I need to find something fun to do with my time in this world..." He mumbled out loud to himself as he closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.