Jung wanted to probe this mystery but restrained himself. Whatever waited for him would happen regardless of his actions, and he had no desire to delve into excess information.
This was especially true when he was on a trip and despised the idea of getting bored. Besides that, he was confident that the system wouldn't disclose more, or that her data might even be limited.
Fortunately for him, the carriage held other passengers, and he had people to talk to.
Most of them were elderly, yet their passion never wavered, and they spoke non-stop. Jung enjoyed their company, but conversations hardly contained anything noteworthy.
As a result, after two days of everlasting ramblings, he became fatigued. There was no excitement around him. No players or monsters to cure his boredom.
'I miss my sidekicks, my losers,' he thought bitterly.
The only occasional sparking reactions were caused by the system when she commented on something. Even though Jung got closer to her, the erected wall still lingered.
She felt bad about her disappearance and the loss up to this moment, and Jung could tell that from the way she talked.
[You have five more days to go,] she announced, like concluding a report. [You are going to meet someone and will find out what's happening in the world.]
"I like the sound of that," Jung said eagerly.
Expectedly, after half an hour, the transport stopped near the one small village, and funnily enough, four new passengers emerged, and all of them were young, maybe a bit older than Jung.
He smirked, greeting them loudly. "Welcome to this humble carriage."
His enthusiastic ovation immediately drew attention.
There was a gender balance in this new group.
The first girl who sat far from Jung appeared no older than 15. She radiated a noble yet snobbish aura, and her blonde hair and green eyes were mixed with her childish features.
The second girl, clad in a black uniform and dark hoodie, sat next to him. Not much could be seen about her, but she should be the same age.
As for the boys, one of them resembled the blonde girl, and unlike his twin, he was livelier but not aloof.
Compared to them, the last guy looked gloomy. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his face was covered in fresh bruises, signifying that he was recently beaten.
Jung examined them with interest, not hiding his curiosity. "Names?"
The blonde girl observed him, but her thoughts were clear on her glaring face. "Why do you care?"
Laughing and not caring about his other listeners, Jung said. "I am tired of these old folks and want some fresh companions to entertain me."
"I am Astra," the second twin said before his sister could argue. "She is Leora. As for these two, I don't know."
Jung looked at them, waiting for their introduction.
"I am called Mira," said the girl next to him. She sounded awkward, but her manners were polite. "And he is Ronan."
Ronan, the gloomy and older boy, didn't show any care about this discussion, closing his eyes to sleep, he ignored them altogether.
"Now I know why they beat you up," Leora called rudely.
But the target of her words couldn't care less, he turned his head in a different direction.
Jung watched how the scenes unfolded. He knew that something like this would happen; teenagers were an annoying bunch, but luckily, his determination didn't falter.
"What interesting fellows," he said even more loudly. "Heading to the academy?"
Leora was the first one to answer. "Not your business." She was consistent with her attitude.
"I want to cut your dirty tongue," Jung said with a smile and a voice with no emotion, sending chills to the listeners. "It would be fun, right?"
His words brought silence. The girl was stunned, as no one had ever dared to speak like that, and she didn't know how to respond.
Even Ronan opened his one eye and smiled secretly.
As for the Astra, he didn't like Jung's attitude but couldn't articulate anything against him. "Pardon my sister," he locked his eyes with Jung. "She has no experience with strangers."
Mira, the hooded girl, stayed quiet as she observed the entire interaction. She had nothing to say on that matter but was quick to change the subject. "Ronan and I are planning to attend Arcane Academy; I might guess you too?"
"Yep," Jung answered briefly, and, based on others' reactions, they were heading with the same intent.
From this point on, the exchanges flowed naturally. Mira and Astra had high emotional intellect, and talking with them didn't feel draggy.
Mira was a sage archetype and showed Jung how insightful the girl was, much like his mother. Her listening skills were excellent, and she loved to convey wisdom.
Astra had the same qualities, but he was more on the emotional side and represented a caregiver archetype. With his empathy and understanding nature, one could feel how much he cared about any topic they covered.
Leora didn't reveal her archetype, but Jung read her like a book. She was, of course, a rebel, and her actions reminded him of how he acted at home, particularly with Baki.
Ronan stayed silent the entire time, and not much could be said about him. Yet, Jung saw the same mark he had once seen on Elara's head. The boy was a Ruler Archetype, and his outlook could be blamed on that.
Jung carried the topics and stopped at the most important issue. His carriage left right after the actual change started. Two days went by, and he had no means to contact the outside world to gather intel about the whole situation.
Luckily for him, right after two days later, he met new companions who might know more about the occurring circumstances.
And he was right. Mira became even more talkative and mentioned a couple of points he wanted to hear.
According to her, people in her village talked about the Fracture, not the one the entire Maskera knew of, but the new one that would shake and possibly destroy the world.
She said that these people were ordinary residents, but they talked about the second cataclysm. Most of them associated it with players; some believed that they were saviours sent by Acrheons themselves.
Jung listened attentively and tried to come to conclusions. 'It means this world will face a second Fracture?'
He wanted to ask the system for confirmation, but as always, she was one step quicker than him.
[Everything you heard is true. In five years, the world will face a second, much stronger force from the moon, and the prophecy foreshadows humanity's downfall.]