[Wh-what do you mean? Why are you suddenly asking that?]
Alam replied nervously while fiddling the strings of her cardboard wings.
I kept staring at her straight in the eyes.
"Surely you're aware about what happened to me on the 20th floor. The changes that my seal brought upon myself."
My status window emerged as I thought to summon it.
As the forged land's warden, Alam certainly could see the window as well.
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[Serafina Magda Zeref (★★★★) Lv.18 (Exp 16/150)]
[Class: Archsaint]
[Strength: 13/13]
[Intelligence: 132/132]
[Stamina: 35/35]
[Agility: 20/20]
[Skills: Dominion Lv.1, Heaven's Eye Lv.2, Alchemist Hands Lv.1, Divine Touch Lv.1, Sorcerer Soul Lv.1, Myriad Elemental Arts Lv.1, Judgment Rain Lv.1, Destructive Void Arts Lv.1, Ars Magna Lv.1, Demonslayer Lv.1]
[Seal Slot: 1/1]
[1: Wings of Ananta (U, Lv.1)]
[The essence of the Eternal Serpent which hold the power of the universe.]
[Effect: All Stats +25%, Mana Overflow Resistance +50%, Fear Immunity, All attribute defenses +60%]
[Exclusive Skill 1: Transformation]
[Exclusive Skill 2: Blessing of Malaikat]
[Exclusive Skill 3: Absolute Perpetuity]
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I barely recognized my own status window anymore.
All these changes were due to my seal that saved the Raid Team on the 20th floor.
And that seal had done more than saving our lives.
"There's no use hiding things from me, Alam. My seal showed me a vision in the zeroth floor."
The fairy jumped at my words.
[You went to Floor 0?!]
I nodded.
"My seal revealed me quite a lot of things while I was asleep. A particular scene in the imperial palace piqued my interest quite a bit."
Alam started scratching her head with confused expression.
[The vision about the prince's contract acceptance would only be shown in the 4-star promotion.
[If you're a 4-star hero at summoning, it would be shown during your 5-star promotion. And if you're originally a 5-star, it would be on your 6-star promotion.
[I supposed your powerful seal immediately lifted all those blocks on your memories.]
Blocks on heroes' memories.
When heroes were transported to the forged land, their memories on the truth about what happened to Dunia was restricted. Blocked.
The degree of restriction depended on how strong a hero was upon their summoning, which was classified among their star ranking.
The star promotion removed those memory blocks one by one until the hero attained the full truth behind Dunia's demise and the forged land's formation.
But would the heroes learn everything that I witnessed in my vision?
"Would they also learn about the pact made by the Samsaran goddesses with a certain entity from Moebius?
"That the heroes are just object of entertainment for the master that rules the forged land?
"How our mission to save the world is just a game to this master we entrust our allegiance to?"
Alam could only stare back at me silently with bewildered eyes.
She knew about all of these as well.
It was all over her face.
"Answer me, Alam. If we are to continue trusting each other, then I needed you to be truthful to me now."
Upon my declaration, the winged fairy sighed with submitting expression.
[Heroes would eventually figure out on their own that their ultimate purpose is to entertain their master.
[Once you climb higher in the tower and gain access to all the forged land has to offer, you would realize that heroes are nothing but pawns that master uses for their simple pleasure. Especially now that you've cleared the 20th floor.
[I didn't really intend to hide this from you, Serafina. I actually expected you to figure it out pretty soon.]
Alam's tone was sincere and genuine.
I could not detect any lie from her so far.
And her words aligned with what I already suspected.
"So the missions, the Quintal Trials where we risked our lives in, were truly just a game to Sigyn, our master?"
Alam nodded.
[Correct. I'm sparing you the complicated details for now, but basically Master viewed the missions just the same as how you considered the mock battles in the Tactical Post.]
My eyes widened with shock upon her reveal.
"The missions were just simulations to them? They did not consider the battles to be real?"
Alam nodded again with bitter look.
I turned my gaze to the window, toward the lobby where we resided in.
"What about the heroes? Does Sigyn know we are real people?"
The warden shook her head.
[Each of you are just fabricated persona to Master. Artificial Intelligence or AI in short.]
So that was what the term stood for in the Tactical Post.
That made things much clearer.
With Alam's answer, I turned to a large bookshelf in the room.
"So to Sigyn, we're basically fictitious characters in a novel."
I said.
But then I thought of another thing and threw my gaze toward all the room's furniture.
"No. More like dolls that they could play around and dispose with."
Alam nodded once more.
[That would be an appropriate comparison.]
It would explain how Sigyn had been treating the heroes.
All the sacrifices they ordered through synthesis and scouting.
On one hand, I was glad that Master did not think the heroes were real people.
It would be too disturbing to think that Sigyn put the heroes through some horrible things in the forged land while knowing full well we were humans.
At least I now knew they delivered those drastic judgment and orders out of ignorance of the truth.
On the other hand, how feeble our fate must be since Sigyn did not think of us as real people.
According to Alam, we needed Master to climb the tower.
But Sigyn could cast us off and abandon the mission to save Dunia should they got bored of playing with us.
What would happen to Dunia then?
[I wouldn't worry about Master, if I were you.]
Alam said suddenly.
"Why shouldn't I be worried?"
I asked her back.
The fairy simply shrugged and smiled.
[Haven't you seen how much effort they've been putting to prepare and clear each boss stage? You're their Vice-Master. You should know what I'm talking about.]
Alam had a good point.
Looking back, Sigyn was truly determined in conquering each Quintal Trial.
They made us train and level up for ample time before challenging those difficult missions.
Collecting all the necessary resources and preparing sufficient equipment and supplies.
Hinting us about the mission's goal and danger, relaying suitable strategies, and even commanding us and issuing correct instructions in the battles.
They had also been rewarding and punishing the heroes in just manner so far.
It did not seem Sigyn intended to abandon the climb anytime soon.
From what Jonah said earlier, it seemed Master was actually preparing us to climb further in the tower.
"What kind of being is Sigyn, anyway?"
I asked Alam.
So far Master was just an abstract invisible figure in the sky which relayed orders through the warden or signals through the Tactical Post.
But I wished to learn more about them now. Especially after what I had seen in my vision on the Floor 0.
[A lot of classified information has been leaked to you by your seal, anyway. So I suppose it's alright to tell you a bit about this too.]
Alam said while sighing.
She went on.
[Master is a being that lives in a higher dimension called Earth.
[They're human similar like you, heroes.
[But they don't have the same powers as the people in your world do.]
Interesting.
I would like to learn more about this Earth.
But for now I had other matters to investigate.
"Then what power do they have for them to be able to rule over the heroes in the forged land?"
I asked.
Alam obligingly answered.
[The fact that they live in a higher dimension is power itself.
[By using the forged land as a medium, a master could intervene with our dimension.
[That intervention itself generates power that allowed heroes to perform missions that could change the world's fate.]
The wordings she used pointed me to a term I had been meaning to investigate.
"The Intervention Points. Those are the power you're referring to, right?"