Kapitan

The cowboy looked at Resi with a sense of wonder. He had never seen this kind of power before, even after all the places he had been to.

The cowboy stood up and took his cigar out of his mouth. A pungent yet aromatic smell filled the surroundings as the smoke coming from the cigar wafted all over the place.

He put the cigar in between his fingers and looked up at the sky, his eyes closed as if he was contemplating life. He walked away from Resi towards an empty space. He raised his hand, which caught everyone off guard.

The Defending Tip were afraid of the man who materialized out of nowhere like thunder. This was all way out of their league since they could be considered mere mortals compared to others.

Even Bang flinched as he saw the cowboy raise his right hand. The cowboy was facing away from Bang, which made his intentions even mysterious.

The pressure around Bang multiplied as he felt a pressure forcing him to fly up. He tried to hold on to whatever he could, grasping at the grass like a man on the edge of a cliff.

This force was unnatural. It did not feel like the power that most of the people here could display. It did not agree with the fundamental way with how powers worked in this world. He got that feeling as he was forced to fly towards the cowboy.

Bang looked to his left and saw Ligi's unconscious body floating to the cowboy. Even Resi floated to his right towards the same spot.

The cowboy had focused his attention on the trio, and Bang could not do anything to stop it. Ligi and Resi were unconscious, so they had no way to escape at all.

Bang, Ligi, and Resi were forced to sit together in front of the cowboy. His back was facing them as he took another breath from the cigar.

He exhaled a big smoke, which propagated all over their surroundings. The smoke fogged everything in the Dreaded Valley except the spot where the cowboy and the trio sat.

Bang's fight or flight response triggered as he was forced into a corner with nothing to protect himself with. He closed his fists into a ball as it trembled in fear and anger.

He did not want to die yet.

The cowboy's cigar was now halfway done. A large amount of the cigar was just ashes that had not fallen off yet. The cowboy tapped his cigar on the air, and the ash fell on the ground, leaving tiny embers floating in the air.

The cowboy turned around and faced the trio.

"You."

Bang did not dare look at the cowboy in such close range. He heard the cowboy call him, and he flinched. He was the only one conscious in their party, so the cowboy was definitely talking to him.

Bang forced his head to look up and stare at the cowboy, his eyes dancing as he did so. The cowboy only had a deadpan face, concealing any emotion that would give Bang any indication of what he was thinking.

"You are their Kapitan, correct?"

"..."

Bang did not answer because he did not know what the cowboy was talking about. The context clues behind that question led Bang to believe that the cowboy was talking about being him Ligi and Resi's leader, but he was not sure.

In these dire times, he turned to his reliable system.

'Hey system, what's a Kapitan? I'll buy the information.'

The system did not respond to Bang. He felt it was weird that the system ignored him in such critical times. He tried to access his system, but it was gone.

It was as if he had no system to begin with. He tried to access his main quest, but his mind came up blank. He tried to access the store, but he did not find it.

Bang's heart sped up as it felt like the system had abandoned him. He had not answered the cowboy's question for what seemed like an eternity. He was scared that the cowboy would be angry at him and kill him on the spot.

"Hmm....looks like the education system here failed. You do not even know what you are."

The cowboy calmly spoke to Bang, yet it felt like every word out of the cowboy's mouth struck fear in his heart.

"You are a Kapitan. These two people beside you are your Familia."

Bang listened to the cowboy's lecture. His conjecture was right; the correct term for a leader was Kapitan. That meant that his crew was called a Familia.

Bang was transmigrated here in this world. It was only natural that he did not know the correct terms for being a group leader. The only problem was that even Gotang never mention the word, Kapitan.

It seemed like only the cowboy knew of the real term for a leader.

"What is your Intent?"

The cowboy emphasized the word 'intent', which made Bang guess about its true meaning. Like the word 'Kapitan', 'Intent' must also be a term for something related to a Familia.

Bang's eyebrows furrowed as his mind raced, thinking about the true meaning of the word. The cowboy seemed to guess Bang's thoughts as he answered Bang for him.

"Intent is your power."

Bang does not have a power. That was the very thing that drove him crazy when he transmigrated into this world. He did not have any ability, unlike Ligi.

The only thing he received when he transmigrated was his system, if that could even be considered a power.

"I have a s-"

Bang did not want to anger the cowboy, so he tried to tell him of his system. When he started to utter the word 'system', his mouth stopped working as if it was out of his control.

"S-"

He tried to speak again, but it seemed like his mouth did not want to say 'system'. The only thing that could control his body other than himself was his system. That meant that the system was still inside him all along.

Bang could only guess that the system did not want to be found out by the cowboy. That was the only explanation as to why the system did not answer him the first time.

Now that he knew the system was hiding, Bang had no choice but to lie to the cowboy. Sweat filled his palms as he hoped that the cowboy would overlook his lie.

"I-I don't have any Intent."

"Don't lie to me."

As soon as Bang finished his sentence, the cowboy already caught him in his lie. Bang's heart stopped as he looked at the cowboy's face, trying to judge his current reaction.

The cowboy tipped his hat further down to hide his eyes but only intensified the gaze coming towards Bang.

He did not know what to say to the cowboy without lying. The system did not give him any instructions, which meant that he would have to deal with it himself. He steeled his heart and spoke with a soft voice.

"Instructions come to my head that will lead me to whatever I want."

Bang did not technically lie, which seemed to be enough to convince the cowboy as he did not interrupt.

"Hmm....clairvoyance. That would be useful."

The cowboy put his cigar in his mouth and bit on it as he rubbed his rugged chin. He seemed to think to himself and ponder on Bang's Intent.

"You are too weak to challenge me. Did you summon me?"

Bang looked up and shook his head. He distinctly remembered Isiah drawing figures on the holy grail, which led to the cowboy being summoned.

The smoke cleared, and Bang could see the Dreaded Valley once more. He looked back and saw Lobo and the Defending Tip look at the cowboy with wary eyes. He was the only one barely standing while the others laid on the floor.

He looked forward towards Isiah, towards the perpetrator of this summoning, and found that he was already gone. Amid all this chaos, Isiah took the chance to flee with his crew along with Andy.

Isiah left the Dreaded Valley, leaving Bang to deal with the aftermath of his actions.

Bang's blood boiled as he thought of Isiah's cowardly actions. He balled his fist, digging his nails on his palm. The cowboy noticed his anger and presumed that someone other than Bang summoned him.

"You have talent. It will not be long until you and your Familia outgrow this little piece of land."

The cowboy looked up to the heavens as if he was gazing into the secrets of the universe. His eyes twinkled as the dim light reflected on him.

"Your Familia seems to be in distress. Did someone die recently?"

The cowboy seemed to guess that trauma that laid inside Resi and Ligi. Bang was also grieving for his mentor's loss but not as much as the two beside him.

The cowboy spread his hands and touched the foreheads of Resi and Ligi. He then turned his head towards Bang and spoke.

"Once you and your Familia are strong enough, challenge me again. I will grant you one wish, money, power, anything, even resurrection."