Super Hydlide/Castle in the Sky

Now that you obtained the Cloud Stone from the boss at the top of the tower, drop back down to floor 198. Notice that there are clouds around the outside, particularly below the middle window. You can actually exit through the middle window, to find yourself in the Heavenly City.

Heavenly City

When you first arrive in the Heavenly City, walk around to familiarize yourself with its layout. You won't get a lot of useful information out of its citizens at first. And you have to be careful not to fall off the sides of the city or you will fall to the ground below, although if you possess the Cloud Stone you will survive the fall.

Equipment store

Equipment	List price	Weight (g)
Leather Mail	500	3000
Chain Mail	5500	5000
Medicine	50	100
Antidote	100	100
Expensive Medicine	300	100
Life Water	10000	300
Cross of God	10000	1000
Stone of Warrior	5000	1000
Food	250	500
Super Oil	1000	500

There are four buildings of interest in this city:

A) Inn

There is an Inn here just like the on in Forest City. It costs 1000 coins to stay the night, and you will awake refreshed and free of hunger at 7am. Stay here at least once whether you need to or not in order to get this city included in your Move spell, so that it's easier to return here whenever you like.

B) Magic school

There is also a magic school here, like the one in Forest City. However, this magic school is a little different in that it will only teach advanced magic spells to Clerics and Monks. Fighters and Thieves can not learn these spells, so this school is useless to them.

C) Castle in the Sky

This castle is a special area that opens up into its own map, as shown below.

D) Store

There is only one store here, but it sells a number of interesting items. It only sells basic armor and no weapons. But there are some very expensive items that are worth picking up if you can afford them. Life Water can bring you back to life if you lose all of your hit points. Equipping the Cross of God will slightly boose your Armor Class while equipping the Stone of Warrior slightly increases your attack power. If you can't afford them now, be sure to come back for them whenever you can.

Castle in the Sky

Upon entering the castle, you may notice an abundance of guards. But everyone that you speak with in the castle seems to be very relaxed and unconcerned. Speaking with the king, he even wonders why he was given the title at all. At first glance, the only useful thing in the whole castle is a guard on the right side, outside the storehouse, who gives you free herbs which restore your magic points.

It's not immediately clear what objective you're trying to achieve while you're here. If you wander around enough, you may notice a guard off to the left of the king. When you speak to him, he mentions that the Water Palace is right below you. That may not appear to help you much, but there's something else in the scene that you might notice. Expand the spoiler below for an explanation.

The secret of the Castle in the Sky

In the scene where the guard mentions the Water Palace, there's a hole in the clouds. You can actually reach this hole by walking around the outside of the castle until you reach it. When you do, if you have the Cloud Stone, you can drop in and survive the fall to the Water Palace below. This is the only way to reach the Water Palace initially.

If you'd like a hint on how to obtain an incredibly powerful secret weapon early on in the game, continue reading the spoiler below:

A second secret in the Castle in the Sky

There is an incredibly powerful weapon hidden inside the castle. It does tremendous damage and it happens to be very light. Unfortunately, in order to claim it, you'll need to carry an incredibly heavy weapon with you or you won't find it. The heavy weapon in question is the Silver Sword, the 10,000 gram weapon that can only be obtained by searching the middle of the three uppermost tombstones in the cemetery. Once you collect it, you will be incredibly weighed down, making movement difficult. If you happen to have the Weight spell, you could try casting it for some relief. Assuming you can still move around, you should cast Move and return to the Heavenly City. Make your way back to the Castle in the Sky, and head for the room in the upper left corner where a bunch of guards are standing by. With the Silver Sword in your possession, examine the upper left corner of this room. Search the floor and you should find the Light Saber, one of the best weapons in the game.