The Bard, Rafael, held my eyes and slowly began to answer my question.

Yes, sir, you see. The moment we reached the shore. Oh, by the way, you never asked. We are on the Sharkbites coast. A pier run by an extensive training conglomerate operates here. On the easter port, it's…

I'm familiar with the geography; get to the quest part.

I didn't want to snap but wasn't looking for a lore lesson. I just wanted the man to get to the point. But he was a bard, a storyteller by trade; I couldn't be mad at him for wanting to set the stage for me.

Well, everyone on the ship, the moment the storm cleared and we made it past the Barren Sea and into the Ocean Major, we received a quest.

What quest?

Well, it said. It wasn't a good one.

Get to it. Good one, bad one, I need to know.

The Bard, lacking any confidence, with the color drained from his pale face, was at a loss for words. Oh, the irony, I thought. Your class begs for center stage, but when you have words that I'm dying to hear, you get shy with me.

The big man, Shadeo, broke in between mouthfuls of the fish medley, his being from a bowl that could barely be called that. The staff probably got tired of refilling the bowls and gave him the kitchen pot instead.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

It was more mocking us than a quest.

Try as you may, the survivors shall fail.

That's the quest, word for word. The quest title is here. I'll share it.

Dazing out, staring off into the sky, and accessing his system, Shadeo produced a blue text box.

{Try as you may; all survivors shall fall}

[ 2/7 ]

Is there a completion counter?

My words spat out, to which Shadeo replied coldly.

Yup, that's how many of us have died already.

The table chilled after the news of the system's macabre quest at our expense. My thoughts took over. The dark ones, the ones that tended to think the worst. They began to fester and grow.

Opening my quest log, I searched for the one they had.

But to my surprise, it wasn't there.

Instead, I had this, in a blood red with hellish tones, horns, and skulls surrounding it, pulsing with a fury that seemed to live.

{ Watch them all burn }

(2/999,999)

What the fuck? My fist came down crashing with a force that I couldn't control, a fury, a scream, then with snapping, the wood underneath my force split beneath its weight.

Woah woah, Shadeo bellowed as he lifted his precious pot.

The Bard hopped and skipped out of his seat and over to the fireplace as if the heat could protect him.

Before me, the quest loomed like a glowing demon staring deep into my soul. My hand bloodied, I stared down at the table that indeed stood the test of any drunk and powerful man before them. Most had protection spells, limiters placed to protect the realm's property. One couldn't simply destroy that which belonged to the people of the realm, yet I had, without trying to.

Silence fell over the inn. Every noise that hides away came out to the forefront.

Thiers's eyes darted towards me. In the heat of everything, of the moment, of how the system was laughing and toying with us, I felt a surge of emotion—a surge of power cresting and billowing within me. Shaking, I felt like a ticking time bomb. Everything on the island had taught me, everything that pushed me forward, would be ruined in one fatal blow.

A creaky door swung open, and a voice broke through.

I don't fucking believe it, it's you. Cap, it's really you?

I turned, body clenched, my soul filled with a fire that burned onto a familiar face. A face that was only just a boy, a broken boy who had had his soul and ambition crushed by a raid gone wrong. Here, he stood in front of me. Looking solid and healthy and grown.

Everything that welled up withered away in me. Every bit of rage was gone.

All that I was left with was a smile.