Club in hand, Jordie made his way over to the wounded Tempest Minotaur as carefully as he possibly could.He didn't want to spook it and have it accidentally throw a lightning bolt in his face or something. He might've been a bit greedy over the idea of such a high ranking reward, but he also didn't know whether or not the System came with a revival system and he really didn't want to find out.
[Host is not yet authorized to access that function], the System suddenly chimed in.
"...I can't tell if you're mocking me or being serious right now."
[The System is always serious.]
"Maximum care it is", Jordie replied while being even more careful with his steps. As he got closer and closer, he couldn't help but wonder if his club would be enough to take out the dying minotaur as quickly as possible.
"Just because I'm gonna kill it doesn't mean I want it to suffer..."
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"Is this...how my final moments go? Dying at the hands of a little human?", she thought as she saw the human walk slowly towards her, a crude club in his hands.
She knew about the humans, she had fought them many times before. Many times they had come to take away her kin, their young. They always had arrogant faces, greed in their eyes and hate in their hearts. Up until she and her tribe had broken them. Then they turned into snivelling cowards.
Everything about this human boy screamed weak to her. If she was in her prime, she could easily annihilate him with a single flick of her finger. But alas, poison was coursing through her veins and her blood loss was severe. She could only watch this frail little human clumsily attempt to sneak up on her.
When the boy got within hitting distance, she could sense the hesitation in both his face and stance. "Was this his first kill?", she wondered as she turned her head towards him.
She locked eyes with the boy as he suddenly paused, startled by her action. Too much fear, she thought. Not enough...hate.
The boy and her kept staring at each other for what felt like an eternity as a tense silence building between them. As she stared, she saw that the boy's hesitation turn into determination. A moment later, she turned her back and closed her eyes, accepting her fate.
"Well...at least he doesn't know about-"
"Waaah! Waaah!"
At that moment, the cry of an infant pierced the silence.
"Oh dear gods, it's a mama and her baby...", she heard the boy say, followed by the sound of a weapon falling into the water. At this moment, she turned to face the boy, ready to lash out just once more in order to save her child.
But as soon as she turned her head, she didn't see a pair of killer eyes full of greed. Instead, she was greeted by a pair of eyes full of compassion and grief...and starlight.
"Huh..."
Her confusion began to deepen as she saw the boy suddenly take off his backpack and began digging through it.
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[What are you doing?], the System asked, [Aren't you going to "defeat" this high level monster and reap your rewards?]
"No. I'm going to save it", Jordie replied while digging through his backpack. While on his rather haphazard journey up to this point, Jordie had made use of his [Analyze] skill to identify any useful plants or minerals he came across and shoved them all into his special System-made backpack.
According to the System, the backpack could store up to 500 kilograms worth of items without encumbering the wearer. The only issue was that the bag ran on "magic grab bag" rules. He could store anything in it, he had to manually search through it though.
[Are you serious? You know that's a high level monster, right?]
"Yes", Jordie answered while tossing a Hazelnut Shiitake over his shoulder.
[And that it could easily kill you like a fly, right?]
"I am painfully aware of my own mortality, yes", he answered again while throwing aside a piece of Amber Tin to his left, "Where is that antidote herb..."
[So then why are you-]
"Look here magic-science System thing", Jordie suddenly shouted, "in case you forgot, I have already died once and I am painfully aware of what's it like to not have people help when they have the power to do so and vice versa. So I refuse to sit by the sideline while I can possibly help. Even if it is a monster that could kill me..."
With his piece said, Jordie returned to the task of sorting through his pack to find anything that could aid the dying mother minotaur.
The System fell silent, surprised at their host's sudden outburst. When the System had initially taken up residence in Jordie's mind, it made sure to analyze both the contents of his memory and personality. From it had initially saw, Jordie should be a rather neutrally minded fellow, mildly hyperactive to be sure, but not one normally prone to such altruistic behavior.
[Initial assessment of host needs to be re-evaluated...]
"Okay, then let's see if this stuff works", Jordie said to himself as he gathered up an armful of herbs and potions.
Jordie had managed to dig up every possible antidotal and medicinal herb that he had gathered so far, along with the beginner health potions that came with his equipment. Even though his [Analyze] skill informed him that the full medicinal power of these herbs could only be drawn out via Alchemy, Jordie still wanted to at least try.
"If I can't go for quality, I'm at least gonna try for quantity", he thought to himself.
But just as readied himself to go and attempt to tend to the wounded monster, he saw that the Tempest Minotaur was no longer laying down, but had managed to sit herself upright. She had readjusted herself as to hold the crying minotaur baby in her arms, while staring directly Jordie.
"Oh. Uh..."
Jordie awkwardly stood there as the Tempest Minotaur kept staring at him. He made an offering gesture of all the medicines in his arms towards the Tempest Minotaur, seeing if it would help.
The Tempest Minotaur stared at him and the armful of medicine for a moment before slowly shaking her head.
"Oh...", Jordie said sadly, his posture drooping a bit.
The Tempest Minotaur just ignored his sadness, making a "come hither" gesture towards him.
While Jordie was rather confused by the gesture, he decided it would be a good idea to just go along with it.