"My name is Sydra Glass," Sydra says, following Solomon inside the tower, "Could you tell me what you meant by restoring my powers?"
Raising his hand, Solomon stops Sydra from saying any more, "Hold on, I need to fix my tower first. It became a wreck after my apprentice betrayed me,"
Standing in the middle of the tower, Solomon raises his hand and creates a small green tornado above it. Spinning out of Solomon's hand, the tornado starts to make its way around the tower, with everything it touches losing its stone casing.
"Now, while it is cleaning the tower, you and I can discuss your situation," Solomon says, sitting down behind his now mahogany desk, and pointing towards a wooden stool for Sydra. Once Sydra had pulled the stool over and sat down, Solomon began asking him questions, "Could you tell me more about the man who sealed your powers, and the weapon he used to do it?"
Nodding his head, Sydra explains everything he could remember about the man, and the blue sword he used. He also mentioned the interesting insignia on the man's jacket, explaining to Solomon how he had never heard of a group using that insignia before.
"It seems that I have been petrified longer than I thought, for the Sky Vipers to have gotten to the stage where they can send out assassins. But what surprises me the most is who they sent out," Solomon says, revealing the name of the group that Holan worked for, "Also, you said that the man who attacked you resembled the same man in one of the paintings on the second floor, except a bit younger,"
"That's right, I thought he might be a direct descendant or something," Sydra says, watching as Solomon stands up and heads up the stairs. After a few seconds, Solomon comes back downstairs with a painting that had been restored to its original appearance. The painting showed a scene of a sword dropping out of the sky and into the hands of the man that attacked Sydra.
"This is a painting of my apprentice, whose name was Holan, and the time he acquired the Sky Seal Blade," Solomon says, handing the painting to Sydra, "His ability is total stone control, and it has the ability to bring him back a decade after his death. The only downside with him being brought back is the fact that he doesn't remember any of his previous lives,"
Turning the painting back and forth, Sydra can tell that the man in it, and the man that attacked him are one and the same, with the only difference being the one in the painting having a scar running across his hand.
"What happened? Why did he betray you?" Sydra asks, placing the painting down on the desk.
Sighing, Solomon glances at the painting with a sad look, "I'm not completely sure. All I know is that when the sword chose him, he changed for the worse, and created the Sky Vipers in the process,"
'A weapon falling from the sky seems a little suspicious to me,' Sydra thinks, his gaze wandering over the sword in the painting. The longer he looked, the more tempting the sword appeared to him, but he was quickly snapped out of his trance by Solomon clearing his throat.
"Now then, about my idea for making it so you can use your powers once more," Solomon says, standing up once more, "Follow me,"
Getting up, Sydra follows Solomon up the stairs and through the second floor. Heading to the back of the room, Solomon moves a large painting to the side and shows a hidden staircase that leads up to another floor.
Seeing the surprise on Sydra's face, Solomon begins laughing as he heads up the stairs, "I bet you didn't know there was a third floor, did you? You should be even more surprised to find out that there are actually a total of thirteen floors to this tower, each one holding a different purpose,"
The third floor was full of herbs and materials for making potions, and there were already a few beakers brewing different ones. Stopping at the far end of the room, Solomon picks up a purple potion and hands it to Sydra, a light smile on his face.
"I made this potion earlier when I was getting the painting," Solomon says, watching as Sydra raises the potion up to his face and studied it, "Although it can't unseal your powers, it will allow you to use your other powers without worrying about them becoming sealed,"
Unstopping the potion, Sydra downs it one go, feeling the potion immediately take action. With the potion swirling inside of him, Sydra notices that the seal restraining his other powers has become calm, and is no longer trying to trap his reaming ones.
"Although this will help in the short run, there is a way to unseal my other powers, right?" Sydra asks as he places the empty potion bottle onto one of the tables.
"Yes, but it requires two things. The first thing is a staff called the Staff of Wisdom, which is hidden deep within Shatter Marsh, and the other thing is the weapon used to seal you, The Sky Seal Blade," Solomon says, pulling a map out of his pocket.
Opening the map, Solomon points toward a swap deep into the Listless Forest. The swamp is marked with a cross, and there is some writing near it saying to be wary of the Silverback Crocodile.
"What does this mean?" Sydra asks, pointing towards the sentence about the crocodile.
"Oh, that? I wouldn't worry about it, it has already been over a hundred years since that was written," Solomon says, waving his hand back and forth.
Not convinced, Sydra squints down at the map, memorizing the words, 'If I want to get my powers back, I need to get that stuff, but I don't want to risk my life along the way
After discussing the plan a little while longer, Sydra left the tower while Solomon stayed behind to get some work done. Other than the map, Solomon also sent the red Wisp with Sydra, to help guide him through the Listless Forest.
"I'm glad your okay," Sydra says, watching the Wisp float around giddily, "After you disappeared into Solomon's mouth, I wasn't sure I'd see you again,"
Over the next few hours, Sydra talks aimlessly to the Wisp, until he feels his foot sinking into the ground. Pulling it out, Sydra shakes the muck off his boot before looking around. "It seems we entered the swamp, but it doesn't look much different than from before,"
So far, Sydra had been walking across solid ground covered in leaves and grass, which was why it startled him when his foot sunk into the ground that matched everything else. Hesitant by taking a step forward, Sydra finds himself walking on solid ground again.
"It seems that the swamp will go back and forth for a little bit, before it fully turns into a swamp," Sydra says as he picks up a long stick. Poking the stick into the ground, Sydra uses it to test if the ground is solid or not before stepping onto it.
Over time, more and more places turn out to be part of the swamp, hidden under a layer of sticks and leaves. This brings Sydra's progress to almost a full halt, as he has to test in multiple directions to be able to go further.
Annoyed at his slow pace, the Wisp flitters around Sydra's head, making buzzing sounds everytime he completes a full circle.
"Would you knock that off, it's not helping," Sydra says, swatting his hand at the Wisp. Suddenly, the Wisp stops moving, but it's buzzing sound becomes much louder, causing Sydra to look up, "What do you..."
A few meters away from Sydra is a metal staff sticking out of the ground, it's two-prong end flickering with magnetic aura. "Is that it? The Staff of Wisdom?"
Approaching the staff, Sydra holds his hand above it, shivering as the magnetic aura reacts to this presence. Pulling his hand away, Sydra turns to the Wisp, "What do you think? Should I touch it?"
Seeing the Wisp bob up and down, Sydra smiles and wraps his fingers around the staff. The moment he makes contact with it, the end of the staff lights up, and a silver sphere appears between the two prongs.
"I guess that is its attack mode?" Sydra wonders, placing his other hand on the staff and pulling on it. To his shock, the staff doesn't leave the ground, but the ground does move with it.
Falling backward, Sydra watches as the staff raises out of the ground, it's bottom connected to a long white pillar. As the pillar continues to emerge from the ground, four feet appear, the a back covered in silver spikes connects them.
"Silverback...? Silverback Crocodile!" Sydra yells as he watches four silver eyes open on top of a long triangular snout. Opening the snout, the Silverback Crocodile roars before its silver teeth snap shut close to Sydra's head.